Nice, I'm yet to muster the courage to get back out to the gate on my new 650. The weight difference between it and my previous 230 is fine on the road but the idea of taking it into sand is a little scary. I'm going to try and do a lot of gravel riding over the summer and get used to that before tackling the sand on it. I need to find some Wellington people of a similar skill level to ride with, don't want to go alone nor do i want to slow up you experienced guys!
Best way to learn is follow more experienced riders & let them help you when you are stuck/ fallen over etc. Sand & gravel are 2 completely different beasts so I don't think there is much crossover. Don't be too intimidated -I've seen those Wellington riders - they're not up to much :dllama
I was out at Ocean Beach again yesterday with a new adventure rider on a XT660 Tenere on the OEM tyres, which are pretty much a road tyre. He did well. Every time I go out there I think my sand ability gets a little better. Generally the more experienced guys are happy to have a cruisy ride and help someone get through places and terrain they aren't so experienced at. Unlike road riding it's not all about the speed here. Ignore those Nelson riders, they get too much sunshine or herbs or something and it melts their brains, except the hippie with the DR, he knows a thing or 2 about them.
Its more just the confidence of being not on the road and pulling the bike around on a surface thats not always stable. That extra 70kg feels like a lot for a guy who doesn't even weight that! I figure that gravel is slightly easier than sand in that regard. Awesome, well I will keep an eye on the Adventure Riding FB page and try join in a public ride at some point soon, I recognise that photo from there as well Eddie. Cheers for your advice guys! Right back to pannier building. Jerry cans ftw!
i went on a wee ride yesterday really need to clear my head of all work thoughts and the electrical gremlims need to be exorcised.Not a true adv ride unless you count about 2 km of gravel and a walk through a stream to test the(soft) bottom pics and story here
Here's some footage from my recent excursion above taking a new ADV rider out to Ocean Beach. <iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZfEF3E0_F4c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Yep, I'm always open to taking others out there. You need to be a relatively confident rider even if you are new to adventure riding as there are a range of surfaces and some sandy sloped areas with big drop offs beside the track.
thats too far away for me to plan for But what about early this year? preferably before 28th Jan when my rego expires
I am a fine upstanding citizen unlike you do you want to get to the top of cnut or just have a play? what day were you thinking?
Started riding Motocross as an intro to bikes all those years ago. Been racing Superbikes recently but getting reasonably confident off road again. Might get a bit more comfortable before tackling something like that though...
I wouldn't go all that way to just look at the hill... Change of plans. Hugh has to go to Taihape tomorrow so we're taking the bikes and doing a lap of the Ruahines. I'm going to scope out some tracks for this years RRRR. Cnut will have to wait, but I want to get down there soon. Would like to take Wade (see if he can get the KLR up) but he's tied up with the DB over the next few weeks.
oh well I'll live with the disappointment somehow while you and Hugh are sipping lattes at Taihape you can think of me and a few other brave souls who will be battling the bottomless bogs of Martins Flat (it joins up to the bottom of the Rock Garden and Devils Staircase). have a great ride
Well, that fell through. Windy, and Hugh's not feeling well. How about Cnut this weekend? Or, I can do the weekends late in the month but not the 12/13th. Will have to put on a tyre with a fraction more grip.
Those strong winds yesterday were great at cooling us off as we crawled out of each bottomless bog... This weekend works for me. Saturday looks the best forecast (Sunday has showers forecast) I still have the kenda 760 that got me up last time floating around on a spare wheel I wonder if Matt would come along and push me again....