BMC: Day 6 Greymouth - Karamea - Picton

Monday 30th November 2009

Departed Greymouth approx 9:00am

On to Westport [rock falls] and up to Karamea and to the complete end of the road at Kohaihai where the Heaphy Track starts. Light rain most of the time but was still fun.

Talked to an Israeli tramper who had hiked back out after hiking in for one day as he had forgotten his raincoat. D'oh! He was soaked through but in reasonable spirits.

Then back to Karamea pub for a beer and a vege soup.

Then back to Westport and on to Nelson.

Went part way over the Maungatapu track only to find that it was closed. I wish they could put up a sign telling you so at the start of the Maitai River Rd.

So back into Nelson and over the Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton.

I had a green Thai curry and booked my ferry ticket. $73

Set sail at 10:30pm and arrived Wellington 1:30am.

Crashed out at Pete's at 2:00am.

Google maps Link

Depart Greymouth 9:00am odometer 57111km

Arrive Picton 8:00pm odometer 57800km

689km over 11 hours

BMC: Day 5 Invercargil to Greymouth

Sunday 29th November 2009

Got up about 7:00am. had another pre-paid $11 breakfast.

Packed up my tent and oiled the chain.

Departed the campground approx 9:10am.

There was a toy run organised to go out to Wyndham where the street racing was to be held.

However, due to the nasty looking weather forecast I decided to make tracks back up North.

I went through Winton and on towards Frankton. Then up the Coronet Peak Rd to Skippers Rd and out to Skippers Bridge. This is a very narrow twisty gravel road with totally blind single lane corners. It would not be so bad except for the number of tourists and small buses travelling it.

On to Wanaka. Here I diverted off to Treble Cone just to have a look. Then back to Wanaka and over to Haast. I made sure I got to Haast before 5pm just in case the petrol stations were shutting early to force people to stay the night. However, upon arrival I noticed a sign that said 24 hour card operated pumps. I did not need to check this out as the petrol station was open.

Up the West Coast Rd to Hokitika. I decided I did not need to fill up at Fox Glacier, as a result I VERY NEARLY ran out of gas before Hokitika. I must have pulled into Hokitika with less than 100 ml of petrol left. I was going to stay the night in Hokitika but decided to press on to Greymouth as I was feeling quite good.

Google maps Link

Depart Invercargil 9:10am odometer 56293

Arrive Greymouth 8:10pm odometer 57111km

818km over 11 hours

BMC: Day 4 At the Rally.

Saturday 28th November 2009

I had a good sleep-in in my tent.

The wind was up and was bitterly cold. It stayed like this for the duration of my time in Invercargil. I got in the queue for my $11 pre-paid breakfast and by the time i got to the servery they had run out of bacon and beans. Watched the road racing at Teretonga and then took in some of the speedway racing over at the speedway track. Both within walking distance of the camp ground.

Spent the evening in Jonno's campervan talking to an ex British Army helicopter pilot who used to fly around Southland doing live deer capture. Very interesting converasation.

BMC: Day 3 Fairlie to Invercargil

Friday 27th November 2009

Slept in till about 8:30am. Washed a few clothes. Checked the valve clearance on the noisy tappet (RH Exhaust). It seemed perfectly fine at 4 to 5 thou.

About 11:30am took off to Burke's Pass and headed along Rollesby Valley Rd then onto Mackenzie Pass Rd. Then along the Hakataramea Pass Rd. Fantastic scenery. Came out at Kurow where I gassed up.

Then on to Duntroon and over Dansey's Pass. It was blowing a gale and it was difficult going. I adapted my riding to suit the blustery conditions and really started to enjoy the ride immensly.

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The Dansey's Pass Pub was an unexpected but completely welcome sight. What a great Pub! I stopped and had a beer and a couple of toasted sandwiches. Appriox 1:00pm.

I gassed up again at Ranfurly and headed off to Patearoa and through Paerau, along Upper Taieri Paerau Rd onto Linburn Runs Rd and then onto the Deep Creek Rd which leads onto the Lake Onslow Rd and through to Roxburgh. This was a pretty cool road!

Back onto the seal and through to Raes Junction, Tapanui, Gore and Invercargil.

I rode out onto Oreti Beach at 7:30pm to find that the beach racing had been cancelled due to high winds and also high-ish tide due partially also to the high winds. This was a bit of a bummer. I had just ridden for three days solid. I had really been looking forward to seeing the beach racing.

I went back to the Rally campgound near Teretonga racetrack and checked in and set up my tent. I went into the main marquee and got myself a couple of whiskeys. I started to look for Jonno, and almost instantly found him amoungst a few hundred bikers. Sweet.

Crawled into my tent at midnight. Job done!

Google Maps Link

Departed Fairlie 11:30am odometer 55797km

Arrive camp ground Invercargil 8:00pm odometer 56293km

496km over 8.5 hours

BMC: Day 2 Picton to Fairlie

Thursday 26th November 2009

On the Wellington side at the ferry terminal there were about 10 other bikes all heading down for the Burt Munroe Challenge. I got talking to them all as you do. One guy had put some Ducati 1098 mufflers on his VFR800. Looked pretty cool.

I got about 2 hours sleep on the ferry lying on the lounge bar floor with my ear plugs in.

Set off from Picton about 5:50am along the coast road to Rarangi and Blenheim. I had a major front end slide on a patch of gravel on seal just as the sun hit me with blinding sun strike at one point. Quite dangerous but I came out of it totally OK.

On towards Kaikoura and stopped to see if the Awatere Valley Rd through the Molesworth Sheep Station was open. It wasn't so I had to carry on via the Inland Kaikoura Rd stopping at Mt. Lyford.


Then along the Lewis Pass to reefton and through to Nelson's Creek and Inchbonnie. Riding along the Lewis Pass into a head wind at times I found the power of the XT lacking a bit. I was often down to 90km/h in 4th gear. To be able to ride fast enough to enjoy the more open sweepers on tarmac roads, a bit more horsepower is required. I can see why 600-660cc single cylinder 4 stroke adventure bikes are quite popular.

The Nelson Creek to Inchbonnie back road is quite open hardpack dirt/gravel and I was able to cruise at 90-100km/h quite safely. It was a bit of higher speed non-tarmac fun.



Back over Arthur's Pass to Darfield, Geraldine and Fairlie. Stayed the night at a Fairlie camp ground. Met 2 other bikers. One was Peter Steadman from Te Puke (GPz550) and his mate Carl (XJ1200?).

Depart Picton 5:50am odometer 54918km

Arrive Fairlie 8:30pm odometer 55797km

879 km over 14.5 hours

Google Maps Link

BMC: Day 1 Tauranga to Wellington

Wednesday 25th November 2009

Left Home at 6:10am. Went via Poripori Rd, then out along Oropi Rd.

Stopped at Dave's to grease the suspension. I also dropped off a dish washing brush as whenever I do the dishes there, they never have one. I also wanted to ask Dave about the roads around Ashurst. Their place looked pretty quiet at 6:30am so I didn't knock on the door and wake them up. I left the brush but forgot to grease my suspension. Meh!

Oropi Rd onto Mountain Rd and No. 2 Rd to Te Puke. Then out to Paengaroa and along Old Coach Rd an onto Matata and Edgcumbe. Then through Te Teko and Murapara. I stopped off at Lake Waikaremoana and had a pie and a banana. Then on to Wairoa and Napier. Then on to Taihape, nearly running out of gas.

Taihape to Mangaweka and Cheltenham then Ashurst. I then went over the saddle Rd to Woodville and back towards Palmerston North along the gorge road. Then I turned off at Ballance Gorge Rd and went along Hall Block Rd. The signs said No Exit but I thought I might be able to make way through anyway. After about 15 km of extremely gusty gravel road I came to a locked gate and had to turn back. Extremely strong winds! Nearly could not ride along the gravel as the wind just kept sledging the front wheel sideways to the edge of the road. Had to travel very slowly in first and second gear.

After this little dead end side track it was about 7:00pm so I just took the main roads down to Wellington over the Rimatuka's.

Arrived at Pete's place 9:20pm. Got to sleep at 11:00pm. Woke up at 1:00am and went down to catch the ferry.

Start Tauranga 6:10am odometer 53943km

Wellington 9:20pm odometer 54918km

975 km over 15 hours

Google map Link

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=116+Leyland+Rd,+Whakamarama,+Bay+Of+Plenty+3176&daddr=Minden+Rd+to:Poripori+Rd,+Tauranga,+3171+to:2000+Oropi+Rd,+Oropi+to:Mountain+Road,+Oropi+to:No.+2+Rd+Te+puke+to:paengaroa+to:500+old+coach+Rd,+Pongakawa+to:1600+Old+Coach+Rd,+Bay+Of+Plenty+3186+to:Ohinepanea,+Bay+Of+Plenty+to:Edgecumbe,+Bay+Of+Plenty+to:1000+Te+Teko+Rd,+Te+Teko+to:Murupara,+Bay+Of+Plenty+to:Wairoa,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Tutira,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Fernhill,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Kuripapango,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Taihape,+Manawatu-wanganui+to:Rangiwahia+to:Ashhurst+to:Saddle+rd+to:Woodville+to:North+Range+Rd+to:Featherston+to:Wellington&hl=en&geocode=FaQ7wP0d9nt9CilLTH1xGcZtbTGhsiZnOmyGaQ%3BFXqRwP0dxk9-CimTKx_Sq8VtbTGr3_KyV4GCDQ%3BFQnQv_0dV0J-Cin5GqF0dM9tbTEx3SWwcDghEQ%3BFdfwvv0dYsd_CikLvIATFNFtbTEu8J78rQv_WA%3BFQMlvv0dP2iACil_7sJpfdRtbTGyjsRB2qkI0A%3BFVq1vv0dvSGCCim3iQreXX9ubTHaQ8emnkpqSg%3BFSfevv0d4NODCimPUXwsRntubTF-RmIVV0qN9g%3BFaGIvv0dMUWECikXMPtXZ2NubTGwqPwmLvWiZQ%3BFZGFvv0dV6CFCilZpI2DMmFubTFbs1vDjtESvQ%3BFdOfvv0dkhSGCimVuTkH6mBubTHwFGsF3WE_ig%3BFeOFvP0dvi-KCilJjGHnSv9ubTFJeC4zm3CbWQ%3BFUnWu_0did-JCimdHWgKUPlubTEfSgBso-bLHA%3BFcwltf0dH1CICindCovYDc5ubTHat5FZBvgb-A%3BFdlNrP0d7kuTCikHdMtWKppobTHgR-pLV_pDhg%3BFa68qf0dxvuKCim1pJoaeP1obTEx-XvMH5-hNQ%3BFb7go_0dcDSJCimhbbQ377dpbTGcofzMb_RGRA%3BFRXhpv0dGpSCCilDCPgBe4ZpbTEq9GxLXZOrgw%3BFX6Uov0dcnd6Cilx9nLL2m5qbTEKfJ1z0II6hg%3BFQA6n_0d_hh8CikPplNcDHZqbTEixQ7EXtkDZg%3BFYVEmf0dWtF5CimZHsiQKLdBbTEa_TGCjXKswQ%3BFf0jmf0dQ5t6Cik1BAr1nrlBbTGfwPq_wMopeA%3BFTqBmP0dSYN7Cim_GbT4aLxBbTE5n9RaM1cMEQ%3BFdD0l_0devd5Cg%3BFZ6ajP0dGzZzCilnQ5UsY8pAbTFZq0CUwmqeUg%3B&mra=ls&sll=-40.392581,176.940308&sspn=3.907381,6.696167&ie=UTF8&ll=-39.520992,178.439941&spn=7.913405,13.392334&z=7

Burt Munroe Challenge: Preparation

Tuesday 24th November 2009.

Well, I entered the Burt Munroe Challenge online.

$50 entry and 2 cooked breakfast (Sat and Sun Morning) at $11 each. $72 total.

Then I booked a Cook Strait Ferry crossing getting a BMC discount. $73.

I am allowing 3 days to get to Invercargil.

Two days (Sat Sun) at the rally.

Then 3 days to get home again.

I expect to take in a LOT of gravel and out-of-the-way roads.

I got a new Mitas E-09 rear tyre from LMS in Palmerston North $160 incl freight. The odometer showed 53774km at tyre change. I love these tyres.

The old tyre (also a Mitas E-09) had 5mm of tread depth left, so I may well use that again at some stage. The old tyre was put on at 48365km. So has done 5409km for 9mm of wear. (601km/mm of wear) This is about 170km/mm worse than the previous 2 E-09's. Hmmm?

I got Wobbly to weld an enlarged foot on the end of the side stand just so that it doesn't sink into the dirt as much.

The carbueration on the XT400 was still not all that good.

I got two 100 main jets off a friend Jared and I borrowed the needle out of the CV carb on a mates TT600. I put them in and the bike went the best it has ever gone. It was a little lacking in bottom end but was very good in the top end. I was happy enough for now.

I took it in to Smithy's for a warrant of fitness; $28, and registered it for 3 months; $86.

I also bought a pair of black padded Lycra cycling shorts for $70 to wear under my leather pants. I hope these help to make the ride a bit more comfortable.

I bought 4 AAA batteries for my torch $9.60.

I also filled up with 98 octane from BP. This was a little interesting. I was carrying a 2 litre jerry can in the rack pack and was on reserve tank, so was not worried about running out of gas. It just so happened that I ran out of gas on the downhill approach to the Te Puna BP. So I was able to measure exactly how much fuel the bike held. To fill it up to the absolute top from completely empty (even the carby bowls empty) took 13.9 litres.

Yesterday I did about 100km and today I did about 70 km on the bike just to make sure everything was OK. And everything did indeed seem OK. Cool.

Well actually, ever since I had the tappet cover welded up, the RHS exhaust tappet has ticked quite loudly. I have checked and re-checked the clearance. I also tightened the tappet up until it stopped ticking, just to see what it would take. When I did this, the bike became very difficult to start and would not idle at a low rev. Hence, the exhaust valve was probably always open a little. I will just put up with the tick.

I will head off about 5:30am tomorrow morning. 53943km currently showing on odometer.

I will go via Waikaremoana, the Napier- Taihape Rd and eastern Waiarapa to Pete's place in Thorndon, Wellington. This will probably take a full 14 hours I expect. I will have to get up at 1:30am Thursday and get on the 2:30am ferry crossing. Arrive Picton 5:30am. Yes, I am on a mission.