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Citroenjunkie · 03-11-2017, 10:58 PM

I'm home!

What an awesome ride! It took 8 hours door to door and used about 20 litres to do the 560kms from Auckland to Dannevirke.
I learned a lot along the way.
1. I love adventure bikes, especially Zongie. Roadworks, unsealed gravel, potholes, mud covered surfaces used to freak me out and I'd end up holding up traffic as I gingerly rode my sports bike over them. Now stand up and crack on! Preferably with the throttle wide open.
2. 250cc bikes have more than enough grunt. No I didn't set a new speed record, but I did pass a hell of a lot more than I got passed, including a few 650 bikes from a number of we'll know makers.
3. I'm quite capable of picking up a 175kg fully laden bike. Yes it fell over. Yes it was my fault. Yes I know that making a low speed u turn on a steeply cambered road is foolish and no my downhill leg isn't as long as I'd have liked! Did I damage the bike? No the crash bars and corner protectors on the panniers work perfectly. Only the smallest scratches. The bike didn't loose any fluids even though the steepness of the slope meant that the wheels were higher than the handle bars for a bit. And with the "butt to seat squat thrust" technique we were vertical again in seconds. No damage except to the ego. Interestingly the only vehicle which stopped and came back to help me was a lowered ute filled with rowdy backward facing cap, youngsters!

4. Zongshen is the Chinese for,"will run underwater!" When I bought my bike a month ago I looked up the long range weather forecast. Torrential rain was promised.

it won't happen to me I thought. Well it did. I rediscovered the dubious joys of the slow cold trickle into the crotch. The gradual numbing of the fingers as my gloves absorbed litre after litre of water. The squelch of saturated socks as I moved my foot to change gear. Did the rain spoil my ride? No way! I had a ball.
As I was riding through the fourth patch of impenetrable rain I looked at the sad little people in their climate controlled cages and thought, "Suckers, you don't even know you're alive!"
I'll have a go at loading the pictures I managed to take in the dry moments, but I'm already planning my next trip, somewhere dry maybe?

03-11-2017, 10:58 PM	#3
Citroenjunkie Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Dannevirke, New Zealand Posts: 47	I'm home! What an awesome ride! It took 8 hours door to door and used about 20 litres to do the 560kms from Auckland to Dannevirke. I learned a lot along the way. 1. I love adventure bikes, especially Zongie. Roadworks, unsealed gravel, potholes, mud covered surfaces used to freak me out and I'd end up holding up traffic as I gingerly rode my sports bike over them. Now stand up and crack on! Preferably with the throttle wide open. 2. 250cc bikes have more than enough grunt. No I didn't set a new speed record, but I did pass a hell of a lot more than I got passed, including a few 650 bikes from a number of we'll know makers. 3. I'm quite capable of picking up a 175kg fully laden bike. Yes it fell over. Yes it was my fault. Yes I know that making a low speed u turn on a steeply cambered road is foolish and no my downhill leg isn't as long as I'd have liked! Did I damage the bike? No the crash bars and corner protectors on the panniers work perfectly. Only the smallest scratches. The bike didn't loose any fluids even though the steepness of the slope meant that the wheels were higher than the handle bars for a bit. And with the "butt to seat squat thrust" technique we were vertical again in seconds. No damage except to the ego. Interestingly the only vehicle which stopped and came back to help me was a lowered ute filled with rowdy backward facing cap, youngsters! 4. Zongshen is the Chinese for,"will run underwater!" When I bought my bike a month ago I looked up the long range weather forecast. Torrential rain was promised. it won't happen to me I thought. Well it did. I rediscovered the dubious joys of the slow cold trickle into the crotch. The gradual numbing of the fingers as my gloves absorbed litre after litre of water. The squelch of saturated socks as I moved my foot to change gear. Did the rain spoil my ride? No way! I had a ball. As I was riding through the fourth patch of impenetrable rain I looked at the sad little people in their climate controlled cages and thought, "Suckers, you don't even know you're alive!" I'll have a go at loading the pictures I managed to take in the dry moments, but I'm already planning my next trip, somewhere dry maybe?
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