Woodmans BMW/SWM

XR400 guys are whipping themselves into frenzy over these motors,, 440cc 6speed electric leg etc.

Wanted to go for a ride but was racking my brain to think of where to go that I haven't been before. Took a while but had heard of a wee ride called the Leatham valley that fitted the bill. It is a little under 100kms from here (Richmond) on the Wairau plains road then about 50kms ish give or take a few side tracks in and back so a 300 km almost exactly ride today.

What a fantastic ride, the track was awesome, the scenery was superb, the river crossings were easy although a couple were deeper than they looked, I dare say this wouldn't be a river crossing friendly ride if we weren't in a drought.

Pics.
This is a wee sidetrack that I can't remember the name of (wry? wey? something like that) zigzags up very high above the valley floor.
Carried on down the track and just followed the main road ignoring the numerous sidetracks for another day until I got to the end of the road where there is a hut.
Had a drink and an explore(found a bullet) and took some pics.


Geared up again and rode out a tad quicker than the ride in to be fair. What an awesome track. Highly recommended. Was going to go back through Renwick and over the Maungatapu but decided to just ride back the same way via 88 valley. The wairau road doesn't have a lot of traffic aany more since the Kaikoura road has re-opened which was nice.

Amazing what one awesome ride can do to get your mojo back.

More pics

88 valley rd

Nice, will have to check it out.

We did 88 Valley/Kerr's Hill twice on Sunday. Blatted down to Murch for lunch with the outlaws, then home via Braeburn and Porika.

88 Valley/Kerr's Hill are a lot easier on the moto than the treadly! Done them a bit recently both for training rides and races. Nice places to ride, on whatever.
Lot easier on the moto

Kerrs hill? Hmmm wonder if I have done that? will have to have a looksee.

Will have, just don't know its name. It's the road from the bottom of Reay Saddle, from Stock Rd past the gun club, across the Motueka River, then winding up and over Kerr Hill to the Korere-Tophouse Rd.

Blue Glen road? https://goo.gl/maps/7cEKfetdj982

I've been up there a little way but never fully explored.

Today I went for a ride and didn't take any pictures so you will have to use your imaginations.

Rainbow then beer and steak sandwich at Monteiths ale house in Hanmer. Beer was nice, sandwich was a ripoff. Jollies pass through the Molesworth then Taylor pass road, gas up at havelock and home.

Rainbow is in very good nick as is the Molesworth although both seem to have that slippery pea gravel all over them.

Friggen hot in the Molesworth, like waves of heat hitting me, hottest conditions I ever ridden in. Bike didn't overheat but was running 90-95 degrees for most of the trip and ran like a top.

I don't believe you... Pics or it never happened

Great stuff...................
Thats a neat piece of riding through there
Have you taken the SD out for a demo - be interesting to compare the 2 ECU wise

only 128?

you had plenty of time for pics!

No dealer here, but wouldn't mind having a go on one. Wouldn't buy one though as I reckon this bike with the mods is a better bike. Recommend the seat concepts seat too as my ass only started getting sore at about the 400km mark.

Also I reckon keeping the air filter really clean makes a difference to the throttle response issue if yesterday was anything to go by.

Just changed the D606 that I put on in Alice Springs and noticed that the wheel bearings felt a wee bit notchy. No worries I thought, I will fit the spare bearings
that I carried in Oz just in case of a catastrophic bearing failure, so I bashed out the three old bearings.

Well aside from the fact that my spare set was only two bearings and even they were the wrong size it went quite well. Sorta lucky they didn't fail in the middle of nowhere really?

Moral to the story is "Don't believe everything you read on the internets"

Do you carry tools enough to bash out bearings in the middle of nowhere? I suppose a rock and screwdriver would do it... Then again a hammer could be a great tool to carry. Never carried one myself though...

No not specific bearing bashing tools, but yeah screwdrivers, spark plug socket and a rock would do. I am confident I could improvise. Don't usually carry bearings anyway, but thought it wise for the oz trip.

It's easier to find locals with suitable tools for basic tasks, than it is to find the exact bearings/parts.

In a similar vein, it's easier to find someone with the skills to use the special tools you carry, even if you don't have the skills yourself.

But sometimes ya just gotta make do:

Exploring on the west coast. Got lost a few times and still can't find lake hochstetter but found some really cool roads while looking for it. Was planning on just pulling over somewhere and tenting but it's not as easy as it looks finding somewhere to camp so am staying tonight in a cabin in moana.
as you can see by the gps this is lake hochstetter. It is actually an overgrown gorse track nowhere near Lake hochstetter. Mr gamin needs to have a re think about this one.

More pics from today.