New Start button / Kill switch / Mudguard

Friday 16 Jan 2009

Bought a new switch block from GP Honda Mt. Maunganui for $40 and fitted it around at Wobblies place. Looks very similar to an NSR250 Start/Kill switch.

A new one from the Yamaha dealer would have had to come from Aussie at about $120

No more "teaspoon start". Cool.

Also bought new front mudguard from Bayride Yamaha. $131.

The Big Trip South: Overview

Start Tauranga 30/12/09 45750km
Arrive Wellington: 46567km
Depart Nelson for Picton: 46687km
Depart Wellington for Whangamomona: 47800km
Arrive Putaruru: 48365km
Finish Tauranga: 09/01/2009 48520km

Total: 2770km over 11 days. (8 days me riding, 1 day Shane riding)

This was an absolutely great trip. I was unfortunate to injure myself and need to pull out of the second day of the Dusty Butt.
The scenery and terrain on the Dusty Butt was spectacular. It was easily well worth it. I am keen to do it again next year.
For me personally, I found the Dusty Butt to be very easy riding. Even the sections that are described as more challenging are quite easy to ride. I guess this just comes down to individual competency. I would think that any reasonably experienced trail rider would find the going quite easy. I rode a 1992 jap import XT400 which probably struggles to put out 25 horsepower. This is easily powerful enough for the Dusty Butt. A lighter bike with better suspension would be great, but no more power is actually needed. I even suspect that a Suzuki GN125 with knobbly tyres could get around, although it may have trouble in some of the water crossings. (but I have only done the first half of the DB1k) Perhaps I may try it next year :-)

I think it is great that a few guys off the biker forums are willing to go out of their way and organise this officially unorganised event. Even though the corner I crashed on is a known hazard that catches out a lot of people, I feel like a bit of an idiot/liability for crashing and having to rely on others to help me out. I did a lot of adventure riding in the North Island leading up to this event to try and get myself together as a reliable, responsible and independent unit that could get through off my own back. I am very grateful and indebted to those that went out of their way to help me out.

My 4 month foray into adventure riding has been really great so far. It has been more enjoyable and satisfying than I expected. However it is worth noting that I have always been a bit of a "hard charger" when it comes to road riding and trail riding. Perhaps it is not so wise to burst into adventure riding with the same "hard charging" attitude. Adventure riding places you into situations where you can be a long way from help should anything go wrong. Road riding and trail riding is not the same in this respect.
It will be interesting to see if in the future I am able to adjust my riding style to take into consideration the requirement for a wider safety margin when traversing more remote terrain.

The Big Trip South: Day 11 - 9th Jan - Home

We all went down to Waihi beach to have a swim and do some boogey boarding. I just walked into the surf up to my knees as I was not keen to try swimming with sore ribs.

Departed Athenree about midday. Home 12:30pm.
Tank almost completely empty.
The bike had survived the trip better than the rider.

The Big Trip South: Day 10 - 8th Jan - Athenree

Got tyre about Midday in Putaruru. Mitas E-09 140/80 - 17
2 tubes and 15 min labour.(Labour $16.90) Tyre at 30 psi. Phils Motorcycle centre. Tubes $30.46 each. Vee Rubber 120/90-17 Heavy Duty Made in Thailand. New Mitas 140-17 rear about $148 + $9 freight

New tyre has 14mm of tread on it. Old tyre has 7mm of tread on it.
Old tyre fitted at 42940. So 7mm of tread wear over 5425km or 1mm of tread wear every 775km

About 1:00pm after Hawky had helped me to get the rear wheel on the bike I was off.
I would like to thank Hawky and his wife very much for getting me out of an awkward situation.

I rode over the Kaimai ranges and turned left into Poripori Rd near the Ruahihi powerstation.
Then on to Athenree where I met up with Rodders and Hil at there beach bach.
We went up the road to a friends place and had a good dinner/bbq.

The Big Trip South: Day 9 - 7th Jan - Waiting for a tyre

I went into Phil's Motorcycles in Putaruru with my rear tyre to get it fixed.
The damage to the inside of the tyre soon became apparent and it was decided that I really needed to buy a new rear tyre. They did not have any tyres that I wanted. I was in no real rush to get back on the road and home, so I decided to order a Mitas E-09 from Palmerston North and get it delivered overnight (about $148 + $9 freight)
Meanwhile I got the bike shop to order in 2 heavy duty 17" rear tubes. One for the bike and as a spare.
I went back to Hawky's and spent some time looking around his farm, doing dishes, cleaning the microwave and just generally chewing the fat.

It was nice to spend a day relaxing on the farm.
Filled up Hawky's ute with petrol $57.76

The Big Trip South: Day 8 - 6th Jan - Punctures & Putaruru

I woke up in a cabin at the Whangamomona campground.
Had a shower and put some money on a tree stump near the campground office. I only had about $17.50 and should have paid $20. I figured that the attendant would prefer not to be woken up over a matter of $2.50. Left Whangamomona about 7:30am.
The ride through to Taumaranui was great at that time of the day. There is approx 20km of gravel and a 200m tunnel.
Breakfast in Taumaranui with Colin at a cafè. Fuelled up $14.00 8:42am.
Massage by Colin's father a naturopath.
I rode on to Tihoi where I suffered a puncture in the rear tyre. I replaced the tube with my spare 17" front tube. This was quite a mission to do with a suspected cracked rib as I was quite weak. I headed off down the road feeling quite proud of myself for being able to repair the puncture given my painful state.
The puncture was caused by a spoke breaking off at the hub and somehow then putting a hole in the tube.
Unfortunately, the inner of the tyre had been ruptured and was rubbing against the poor quality tube. After only 5 km the rear tube punctured again. This was not good. I now had no way to fix the puncture. It was a very hot day and I was tired and hurting from the stress of having to repair a puncture with sore ribs.
However, I was now far enough north to be within about a 45 minute drive to my nearest friends.
I rang my dairy farmer friend Hawky. He said he would be able to pick me up in his ute after milking the cows. This was great news.
I parked the bike at the nearest farm letterbox 2033 Whakamaru Rd; Mr Brown.
It was bout 3:00pm. I wandered up to the farmhouse, introduced myself and explained my predicament. The couple who owned the farm were very inviting and hospitable. I soon found myself sitting in the shade in a deck chair with a glass of iced water and a few biscuits. I had a nice long chat with both of them. It was great to have a nice rest and recuperate.
About 6:30pm Hawky picked me up in his ute and we went back to his farm at Woutu near Putaruru. The suspension in his ute was not as plush as that of the XT400 and I found the ride quite uncomfortable with my ribs hurting. However, I was not complaining.

The Big Trip South: Day 7 - 5th Jan - French Pass & Wellington to Whangamomona

Topped up fuel in Nelson
Breakfast at Rai Valley
Rai Valley to French Pass to Bulwer Pass to Rai valley. 9:15am to 12:30pm. 180km. Brake fade esp. rear.
Fuelled up at Rai Valley Motors $21.49

I was running a bit late and so had my head down as I charged through Queen Charlotte Drive into Picton. I arrived at the ferry with the last of the cars rolling on. No problems.
Crossed on ferry, Depart Picton 2:30 arrived Wellington about 5:30pm. Interislander $122.00
I wanted to get to Whangamomona on the "Forgotten World" Highway and stay the night there. To get there before dark was unlikely so I was on a bit of a mission to get there as soon as possible to ensure being able to get a place to stay before The Pub shut. I guess I could have simply rung ahead but that would be too easy.
The road from Wellington to Levin was quite annoying. The motorway seems to have a speed limit that changes very frequently and changes to a road through the centre of sattelite towns then back to a motorway. I quite intensely dislike this section of road.
Fuelled up at Wanganui BP 12.59l $17.49
Topped up in Hawera about$5
Arrive Whangamomona Pub 10:15pm.

The publican was able to supply me with a pie and a pint.
He advised that I could stay in a cabin at the campground 500m down the road for $20.
I got talking to some people in the Pub and they seemed quite amused that I had just come from Neslon, via Fench Pass to Whangamomona on an XT400 with a suspected cracked rib. One guy commented that "You read books about guys like you". Another that "That man deserves a DB".

I left the pub and checked into a cabin without waking the camp owner.

The Big Trip South: Day 6 - 4th Jan - DB1k Part 2

I was too injured to ride so got a lift back to Nordie's house in Nelson with Ms Topo.
I had left my bike at the Rotoroa clubrooms. Shane was going to take care of getting it back to Nelson. The plan was for me to fly back to Tauranga and worry about picking up the bike after I had recovered sufficiently to be able to ride.
I booked a flight to Tauranga for the next day $433.
I went down to Lambretta's cafe for 11:00am to meet up with the one day riders.
I went to sleep at Nordie's for about an hour from 1pm to 2 pm. When I awoke I was feeling much better and the pain level had reduced significantly. I rang Shane and asked if he could ride my bike back to Nelson as I felt I would now be OK to ride the bike home. Shane was able to do this but had to hand over the driving of the support vehicle to Mrs Jatz.
This was great. Things were working out OK. I cancelled my plane trip ($15 cancellation fee)

Later that evening I was present at the 18th birthday of Ms Nordies son. A bit of fun.
Later Nordie, Jatz, Shane, Aslan, HelenOfTroy and Mrs Jatz turned up briefly and I got my bike back. They all looked as though they had been on a bit of a mission!
Shane seemed to think that the XT400 needed its air filter cleaned and slightly lower gearing. I totally agreed. He had been using a teaspoon to short across the broken start button. A source of much amusement. He kindly handed me the teaspoon so I could continue to use it. I didn't tell him that I had previously organised my tankbag to have a teaspoon in the side pocket that I intended to use instead of a screwdriver. One thing that struck me about Shane was how similar his and my thinking seemed to be.

$40 to Shane for 2 tanks of gas for the XT

The Big Trip South: Day 5 - 3rd Jan - DB1k Part 1

Slight delay in the morning waiting for the support wagon to arrive.
Set off on the Dusty Butt 1000km 2009 at approx. 6:30am.
There were 8 of us on bikes doing the 2 day version of the DB1k:
TuckerBag - XT400 (Me)
Jatz - DR Big 750
Topo - KTM 640 Enduro
Nordie - DR-Z400 (borrowed)
Ham - DR-Z400
Aslan DR650
HelenOfTroy DR650
Padmei - KLR650

There were 2 support crew in the "Smurf" Hilux
Shane
Mrs Jatz

I got a puncture going over first section; Maungatapu. It was a rivet (see pic) that had worked its way through my rear tyre. Shane driving the suppport wagon was of great help repairing the pucture. The spare rear tube I carried was actually a front tube. Luckily Shane had a spare 17" rear tube in the support wagon.
Rode through to Blenheim and the Onamolutu trail.
[ more text here, but largely covered in Nordies report at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=421480&page=3 ]

Crashed on Ryan's Corner in "The Rainbow". Lost a handy wooden stick and a DryRider rain suit. Broke front mudguard and starter switch. Was now using a screwdriver to short across the starter switch to get the starter motor to turn.

I have been doing trail rides for about 16 years on my CR250 and KTM360SX. And I have been road riding for 25 years. Over this time I have encountered my fair share of nasty corners. However, I have to say thet Ryan's corner is by far the most deceptive bend I have ever come across. I'm not too sure exactly what it is about the corner but somehow I felt safe as I approached the apex and was about to get on the gas to power out of the corner when I came to the sudden and shocking realisation that I was quite simply going way to fast to make the bend. I can't really remember exactly what happened next but looking at the wheel marks it seems that I chucked the bike sideways and jumped on the brakes, only to career (at pace!) off into the boggy ditch. I can remember the front wheel twisting violently to the right on entering the bog as I speared off the bike and landed backwards into the thankfully softish grassy wet dirt bank. The impact winded me for a long time (about 3 minutes it seemed?) and I was quite concerned that I had done some major damage to my internals. I managed to stand up but almost immediately fell over again. Pretty soon some of the other riders arrived and got my bike up onto the road. I was very sore and suspected a broken right shoulder blade. However, I was able to get back on and ride the bike (for about another 2 hours?) to Lake Rotoroa. It was great to have the other guys there to help.
We stayed the night at the Lake Rotoroa Rowing Club.
I had a bit of a sit down on arrival at the club house. I wasn't feeling too good. I soon began to feel quite a lot more pain and wasn't looking so good. Mrs Jatz kindly gave me a plate of hot food, a fancy type of spag bol, and after I finished eating Ms Topo drove me to the Murchison A&E with HelenOfTroy coming along as well as she was the medical expert. I was given some pain killers and told to take it easy. It seemed that I may have cracked a rib. The treatment for which is rest and painkillers. We got back to the clubrooms about 12:30 at night. I really need to thank everybody involved in helping me out with getting through this crash injury.
I had a pretty average sleep that night.

$10 to Padmei for accomodation.
Fuelled up at Shell in Blenhiem at 10:52am. 9.25l $12.75
Fuelled up at Caltex In Hanmer Springs $29.64
Petrol money to Jatz for trip to Murcheson A&E $20
A&E consultation fee $25.

The Big Trip South: Day 4 - 2nd Jan - Ride to Nelson

Crossed on BlueBridge depart Wellington 8:00am $105.00
Rode over the Queen Charlotte Drive. If I had known about it I would have turned off at Pelorous and headed to Nelson over the Maungatapu to come into Nelson along the Maitai river.
Visited Bronny in Nelson for lunch.

Dusty Butt 1000km 2009 riders BBQ at Werewolf's house in Nelson.
Got to meet all the guys off the forum and others as well.
At riders briefing we were all sternly warned about "Ryan's Corner" in "The Rainbow" part of the ride.

Rode back to Nordie's place with Jatz (DR BIG 750)
Nordie had kindly offered up a few places to sleep in his house on the forum. Very good of him to allow complete strangers into his house.

The Big Trip South: Day 3 - 1st Jan - Ride to Wellington

In the morning we packed up the tent and loaded up our bikes. Then we went into Wairoa for lunch at a cafè. Fuelled up at Wairoa $17.53, 11:13am.
I departed Wairoa about midday and heade to Hastings to see if I could pay a surprise visit on a freind "Roo". Colin headed north along the east cape to see Dave at Waihou Bay.
I got to Roo's place to find that he had gone to the horse races. Never mind.
Fuelled up at BP in Hastings 7.31l $10.15. Bought a map of the North Island, about $8.
Took the more eastern road which added about 50 minutes and 50km to the trip. This road is quite twisty and I had a real ball through here on the XT. (See Map)
Fuelled up at Mobil Masterton 13.15l $17.88

Then it was just over the Rimatuka's and into Upper Hut.
Stayed the night in a cabin at Harcourt Holiday Park, 45 Akatarawa Rd, Upper Hutt. $35

The Big Trip South: Day 2 - 31st Dec - Hike Panekiri Bluff

Colin and I got up early as we had a 9 hour hike ahead of us
The track rises about 600 metres from lake level to the top of the Panekire Bluffs.
I was able to unzip a section off my tank bag and use it as a back pack. We tied the tent onto the top of the tankbag pack. Colin had a pack that he had tied to his bike's pack rack and used that.
It took us about 5 hours to reach the Panekiri Hut. We were fairly exhausted by the time we got there. We rested for about half an hour and topped up on water. Then headed off across the bluffs and down to Onepoto Bay. This took about another 4 hours. The views out over the lake and east out towards Wairoa were fantastic.

We hitched a ride back to the campground from the end of the great walk at Onepoto Bay.
We were too tired to see in the new year.
Wind was blowing hard on tent about 2:00am.
Got out and tightened guy ropes.

About 3 tents in the campground were gone in the morning. Wind was too much for some.
Cost about $10 each to camp the night.

The Big Trip South: Day 1 - 30th Dec - Lake Waikaremoana

Before departure I placed the front and rear wheels of the bike on my bathroom scales.

The front weighed in at 80 kg.

The rear actually went past the 120kg max and round to about 30kg. So this works out to about 160kg. (10kg between 120 and 0 on the scales)

I weigh in at about 100kg with all my riding gear on.

So the total weight of the bike with me on it rolling down the road is 340kg!

Fuelled up at BP Te Puna $17.76, 8:34am.

I rode to Rotorua via Oropi Rd, Moutain Rd, Mangatoi Rd and Pyes Pa Rd just to get in some gravel.
Topped up fuel at Rotorua about $5
Rode to Lake Waikaremoana to meet Colin at the main campground at Opourau Bay (Home Bay)

On the gravel road to Waikaremoana I got to test out the the new front tyre. It was incredible. One particular section of the road was hard packed clay with gravel pressed through it. It was raining lightly and looked very slippery. The front tyre just gripped the road so well I could hardly believe it. I was having quite a bit of fun pushing hard into the corners and being slightly amazed at just how much traction was available. In the end I was pushing so hard into the corners that I started to scare myself a bit. The front Mitas E-09 never gave even a slight hint of letting go. I never got it to slide. Very impressive.

Met up with Colin about 1:30pm at the Opourau camp ground.
Colin and I jumped on a water taxi to Waiopaoa Hut $35
Hiked about 50 minutes to the Korokoro campground.
Walked up to the Korokoro waterfall and back. This took about 1.5 hours.



Pitched tent and went for a brief swim.
Ate some brown trout that some fellow campers caught.
DOC fee for camping was $12.00 each (from memory).

The Big Trip South: Preparation

I bought a new front tyre Mitas E-09 90/90-21. $115 + $9 freight (45750 km)
When putting new tyre on to replace the Kenda I had a lot of trouble with pinching the tube and was using a crap "Made in China" puncture repair kit.
Ended up buying 2 new tubes: Kenda Tuff Tube 80/100 -21 at $15 each
Also bought a spare rear tube. It was an IRC 100-17. Despite asking for a heavy duty rear 17" I was supplied with a poor quality front 17" tube. Unfortunately I did not check the tube at the time of purchase.
Bought a pair of new Aerofast tie downs for the ferry trip. $36
Bought another 3 months rego $72.50 up to 04/04/09
Bought a gas canister for my little gas cooker $8
Bought a new gear lever from Bayride Yamaha $45.50 (but had $34.80 refunded from purchase of incorrect lever)
Bought some Motul DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid $17.50
Bought a head mounted torch and rechargeable batteries from Dick Smith for $50
Bought a down sleeping bag from Katmandu about $190
Bought a polyprop top from Katmandu for about $20

Bought a bunch of stuff of Hakan for the XT400 for $335 including about $12 freight.
New front sprocket $25
New rear sprocket $$35
New X-ring 520 chain $135
Brake pads $50
Foam air filter and pre-filter $50
Clutch and brake levers $10
Gear lever $20

I fitted air filter and pre air filter. Bike seemed to go a little better and made a bit more noise due to increased induction roar.
I didn't bother to replace the sprockets and chain yet as when I bought the bike the previous owner stated that they were not too old. They did still look to be in good condition.
I also meant to bleed some fresh brake fluid through the brake lines but I forgot.

Contents of my luggage:
Tank bag:
I treated the right hand side pocket as my toilet bag. Toothbrush, toothpaste, half roll of toilet paper and 6 plasters wrapped in plastic bag, tweezers, mobile phone and charging cable,
Left hand side pocket contained: tyre pressure gauge, torch, head mounted torch, visor cleaning rag.
Main compartment: Sweatshirt, deodorant, soap gel, maps and tickets, gas burner, gas bottle, roll-on insect repellant, track pants, t-shirt, singlet, socks, underpants, drink bottle.
Lower compartment: Raincoat, spare plastic bags, tank bag rain cover, book for reading.

Top Box:

Sleeping bag, tent, mattress, hat, towel, mini pillow, tyre levers, dirty washing, polyprop top, medium rope.

Rack Pack:

Tools, tie downs, spare rear tube, sandals, tramping shoes, block of wood, spare oil, 2 litre petrol jerry can, can of chain lube, 2 tins of creamed rice, small tin of tuna, a towing rope, a smaller handy rope, one piece DryRider rain suit.

I also zip-tied the spare front tube to the front mudguard. Had a small wooden stick bugied onto carrier frame to prop wheels up off the ground for tyre removal and chain lube rear wheel spin.