First adventure

So, I accidentally bought a quad and that means that I need to put it to use.  My first adventure on it was a couple of weeks ago and ended up having its up and downs.

The first scary challenge of the day was getting the bike up on the ute (Colin did that job when we picked it up) without stuffing it up or worse, breaking the back window of the ute.  Low-ratio 4WD really makes that easy to just putter up the ramp and tying it down is just a piece of cake with the bars on it.

A little over an hour later, I met up with Colin and Aaron in Waikanae for coffee before carrying on to our kick-off point into the Maungatuks where we were also joined by Geoff.  Yes, it was a bit of a chilly start.

The first issue I had (and this was really the beginning of the bigger issue I had later) was getting the bike off the ute.  It fired up fine but as soon as I stuck it into reverse it would die.  After a few failed attempts, I let the bike run for a bit longer (thinking it was just cold), I got it off and it sat idling nicely with the other quads while everything else was sorted out.

And then we were off with me sticking behind Colin as we clambered up the first hill.

Initially the bike seemed to be going great but after the end of the above video, it started spluttering a bit and eventually slowing right down.  Not a good sign.  We all had a wee poke around without finding anything too obvious and decided to press on.

The bike would run okish after allowing it to idle for a bit but more and more frequently it would start to slow up after applying any load to it.  It was down to 20km/h in places and was getting a bit annoying and also a tad worrisome.  Poking out into the sun, we stopped and then started tearing the bike down to try and trace what was obviously a fuelling issue.  We were already thinking that the symptoms were pointing to the fact that the bike had been sitting for over a year and that the fuel (even with plenty of fresh stuff on top) had clogged things up.

It took us a while to remove all sorts and bits and pieces until we could get the fuel pump out, but when we did, we discovered that the fuel filter was badly clogged (Aaron couldn't blow through it and I believed so didn't try).  With perhaps limited other options to consider in the middle of nowhere, we decided to run the bike without the filter.

And what a difference it made!  The bike now had twice the go and as you can see at the start of the next video, handled the nice open stuff easily.

Towards the end of that video you'll notice us getting into some more trickier stuff where this noob was definitely erring on the side of caution and probably also getting plenty of stuff wrong.  The extra 4 wheels are quite confusing...Hopefully, in some of the other videos you'll see me gaining in confidence and going from a super-wuss to only mildly hopeless.

And a quick aside: I have ridden the 450 through all of these tracks up until the ones in the last video after our lunch stop.  Looking at these videos made me scratch my head a little...

Anyway, so the tracks were definitely getting trickier and it was good to have both Colin in front of me and Aaron and Geoff behind to yell directions and instructions to me.

Here's how my attempt at the deep bog you saw Colin go through in the second video:

I was never getting through there - the bike ended up beached as, with all four wheels just churning in the water.

Next aside: the route I took on the 450 through this?  You can see in the video that there is a little wee track on the LHS of the puddle.  This is very skinny with a decent drop off on the left so get it right or you either die by falling down the bank or drowning in the puddle.  There is also a little tree towards the end (deep end of the puddle) that you kind of have to squeeze around by tipping the bike one way and then the other so that the handlebars can get through - slightly perilous.

More "interesting" terrain followed on our way to the Orange Hut but at least I was able to drive myself out of the next bog.

At the hut, I was definitely ready for a bit of a breather as I possible hadn't breathed very much going through the gnarly stuff...BTW: there was still frost on the ground in places.

In the above picture you'll notice a monstrous Polaris quad and after lunch it joined us for the next excitement.

The next excitement had an enticing name: the Top Bogs.  Sound like a piece of cake...

Actually, it wasn't too bad with just a few steep sections giving me the willies.  I still aren't that comfortable when the bike is on angle and feeling (at least to me) like it could go over.  As with motorcycles, sometimes a bit of momentum helps - until it doesn't.

Here be the top bogs (and at about the 11:30 mark you'll see us break out of the bush for some great views).

Geoff in action

Parked in a big clearing...

Where's the track?

Aaron and Geoff

Out on the main track (thankfully), we stopped for a pause, and I shut the bike down.  Once rolling again, the poor old bike got stuck in splutter mode again.  This time around it got quite bad (perhaps because we were climbing some steeper hills) and it occasionally didn't even want to idle.  Perhaps I should never have shut it down.

With no real option to come up with a decent fix, we had to make the decision to tow the bike out, so Colin's bike was pressed into towing service and I spent the rest of the ride following him a lot closer...I let the bike idle all the way back on the off chance that any obstruction between the tank and the injector might eventually find its way out of the system via the combustion chamber.

Luckily, back at the ute the bike went well enough to drive it up the ramps (loading might have been a tad trickier otherwise) and I was soon on my way home after a reasonably eventful (but fun when the bike was running well) first quad ride.

Back home and the bike didn't really want to back off the ute either with it stalling numerous times before it finally behaved itself enough to get down the ramps and stall again...It wasn't a lot of fun pushing the bike around to give it a quick blast with the hose as the light was failing - yeah, in the light of day it still looks filthy.

The bike is now in even more bits with the tank out for a good clean and I'm waiting on a new pump (just in case) and fuel filter and then hopefully she'll be ready for action.  Gonna run some injector cleaner through as well.  Finger's crossed...

2025 IBR Part Two

So, I had a late night on Friday night as I kept an eye on Chris, Stella and Bill finished off an epic eleven days of riding with Chris and Stella successfully finishing their second IBR.

(These pics of the ride finish are stolen from an album provided by a nice bloke who shared them with the world - cheers!)

And not only did they complete the ride, but they achieved a Gold Medal finish by riding 11,437 miles and not missing any of their bonuses.  This included visiting 42 State capitals (compulsory with the ride option they chose) which they had to somehow work into their route....

Today, I along with a few others got to chat with team FA-FO and hear a little about the ride and it was good to see and hear from them after they'd caught up on a wee bit of sleep as they make their way back Bills place to park up the Connie.

Oh, and here's an interesting looking tyre with 13,500 miles on it...

Anyway, another great achievement for the guys and I'm looking forward to catching up with them when they land back in NZ.

Oops

So, a few weeks ago, this happened...

I'm not quite sure how it happened but I'm pretty sure a bad influence (perhaps more than one) who may or may not be in the picture above could have been involved.  So now I have something more dangerous in my shed than the RMX - which now has to go, so let me know if you want a fantastic little 450...

You probably have seen the odd blog where I've chased quads around on the 450 and I guess the idea now is to have a similar tool.  The RMX is outstanding fun but a struggle in the really slow and snotty bits.  It's hard to ride slow enough when following quads in the tight stuff (it needs more pace to momentum and also can get a bit hot under the collar) and on really slippery clay (amongst the pines for instance), it is hard to stay on/pick up/get rolling again for an old fart.  Open stuff is more it's forte and it can generally smoke any quad in the right conditions.

Anyway, a 2015 Suzuki Kingquad 500 AXI and currently in bits in the shed (that's for another blog).  It comes with 4WD Hi/low with front dif lock and a brilliant CVT trans.  She's in pretty good nick and once I sort out the current issue, she'll be great.

And of course, it's needed some farkles:

Good for at least an extra 10 km/h

I picked up the bars (2nd hand from a wrecker) as the plastics are actually in pretty good condition and I want to try and keep them in reasonable shape.  Following certain others, I've noticed trees and banks reaching out and rubbing on things.

So, I just need to sort my wee issue out, fit the mascot (yep, found something suitable on Temu), add a few stickers (damn you Temu) and come up with a name for it...

More soon...

Matariki Ride

Friday was a public holiday here and to properly celebrate things like days off we are duty bound to hit the road for a wee pootle.

The day started off a wee bit cool and Colin and Dayal even got a splash of rain on their way up to my place while I stayed pretty dry on the couch twiddling my thumbs...

Coffees dealt to, it was time to get the wheels rolling and to try out our new road crossing the hill to the Hawkes Bay.

Actually, the road is really for cars, trucks, motorhomes and anyone else who holds us up on the road.  It's a nice road but now us riders can reclaim the Saddle and the Track 😜

After the excitement of a new motorway (at least there are some nice views) we cruised on up the main drag and then SH50 to Taradale with the weather getting better the further North we went.  It was nice to enjoy some of the nice bits of 50 in the dry.

In Taradale, we were disappointed with both the bakery we stopped at last time (and liked) and the roast shop being shut so had to try out a new cafe.  We won't need to try the cafe again...

Leaving Taradale, I took a wrong turn which got us further into Napier instead of on the main road to Clive at Awatoto as I'd planned in my head and we got stuck in some pathetically slow (60-70km/h) in the 100km/h road to Clive.  The ute holding us up didn't even want to pull over in the slow vehicle lane when we got to it - he got a dose of my air-horn and spots...

In Clive, we turned towards Haumoana and my memory proved slightly better with me finding Tuki Tuki Road about thirty years since I'd last ridden it.  It's a mint wee road with some nice corners on it and eventually got us onto the truly magnificent Kahuranaki Road which was definitely truly magnificent!

In Waipawa we turned onto SH2 through to Waipuk before taking our usual back roads to Dannevirke where we stopped for fuel (I'd last filled up in Waipuk on our previous ride - I love big tanks).

To finish the ride, we had planned on back roads through towards Woodville and then to reclaim the Saddle but, leaving Dannevirke we rode into some rain so I flagged the backroads.  Riding out of Woodville it looked fairly damp over the Saddle so I decided to gap it over the new road again.  Apparently, my decision went down ok with the lads. 

At the flash new roundabout, the others went left while I went straight through and was home in a couple of minutes.  Not a bad little ride that ended better for us than the guy at about 2:45 in the video...

2025 IBR

The 2025 Iron Butt Rally started just over 12 hours ago and once again Chris and Stella are over there giving it another nudge.

This year they have entered with one of their mates from the states (how poetic) as Team FAFO.  I'm not sure what the difference is if entering as a team - probably all need to finish to get finishers status.  Maybe I should read the rules.

Anyone, here's a video of the ride start.  See if you can find the mighty Connie:

Spot them?  Oh well, here they are - at about the 1:34 mark.  Yes, I stole a screen grab.

The ride started in Iowa and you can see how much everyone has spread out in just 12 hours on this Spotwalla page.  They really do cover the ground I'd say every state except Hawaii will get a visit by someone.  Canda probably isn't off limits either.

If you're interested there is plenty of stuff on the net and daily write-ups are available on the IBA website.

Go team FAFO!

Bling!

Getting some Altitude training

Finally catching up on some writing...

A wee while ago I was intending on going for a quick squirt up Whariti (no time for a decent ride) but by the time I was ready to go the wind had got up at my place and if you can feel a breeze at my place then it is blowing on Whariti - I've been on a ride up there where we all turned back before we got blown off the hill.

Anyway, I finally had some time and decided to tick it off.  No excuses being less than 20 minutes from the start of the hill climb climb up the hill.

After crossing the Saddle, I stopped at the start of the gravel, reset the GPS and kicked the camera into life.

A great wee scramble up the hill and 10 minutes later I was at the top enjoying the views.

While I was up there I heard a plane buzzing around and scurried to see if I could spot it.  I eventually saw it and even managed to capture (with my cheap point and shoot with 5x zoom) it as it went past well below me and trying to avoid the windmills.

After all those photos it was time to drop back down the hill and enjoy the views from the seat - always a better view on the descent.

Back down on level ground, I still had plenty of time up my sleeve and a desire for more gravel so headed off towards Pahiatua via Balance and another nice run through Tararua Road - not quite as quick as the weekend before.

Dropping down into Pahiatua, my next turn took off onto Ridge Road Central which I've only done a couple of times but it is a nice wee strop along the ranges.  Some nice faster sections at the start, followed by some more heavily gravelled stuff and getting stuck behind a tanker...

From there I took a few boring and straight sealed roads until I could hook up onto the always fun Pukehoi and Kopikopiko Roads which we normally take either going to or coming from Eketahuna.  Always fun and often fast but this time around there was some deeper metal to surf around in.

A squirt back over the track and that was just about it for the ride - pretty short and sweet but a lot of fun out on the gravel again.

TT2000 Write-up

Ok, so here it finally is!

2025 TT2000