One sunny Sunday afternoon I found myself a little bored. Never fear, there were some bikes in the shed and I had a hankering to visit Takapari Road so that meant that the correct tool was the WR.
After topping up the tank, I thrashed my way out the valley towards my target. As I fair motored my way along, I once again couldn't help but grin at how much fun you can have on a little bike with no fairing and less than 30hp - and I hadn't even got offroad yet!
Eventually I was able to turn towards the ranges and start climbing up Takapari Road. The first bit is easy gravel which then (after the first gate) changes to a farm track. The track looked like it had even had a bit of work done on it and the little digger parked slightly off to the side pretty much proved the point.
At the top gate, the track the heads up to the bush and becomes much more challenging. There currently is a gate that prevents larger vehicles from continuing any further, but this is no barrier for a Mighty Mouse. We easily rode around it and through a deep puddle before hitting some pretty rough stuff.
I was really out of practice and I really fouled up the first snotty bit and of course, stalled. I'd like to think that I would normally have flown up it (particularly on the now departed 450 😢) but not today. I'd ended up in a bit of a yucky position and simply restarting the bike and having another bash was probably just going to result in going nowhere (picture jammed up against a big step) so I decided to turn the bike around (much heaving and sweating) and chicken out on the whole idea...what a wuss!
Back at the gate, it was time to enjoy the scenery:
Back on the seal again, I decided that I hadn't had enough of the Mouse yet so turned right and rode up the valley a bit more before turning onto Makoura Road and then Pohangina Road.
The short bit of Makoura Road (gravel) I did is great on the WR as you can take it darn nearly flat out and while Pohangina is a little slower there's some great views and great corners. There was also a surprise...
My favourite bit of Pohangina Road was closed! And I thought that I was going to have to ride all the way back and around the valley again - a couple of years ago Cyclone Gabrielle took out the bridge that crosses the river to Totara Park got washed away:
But to my surprise, someone had been busy! I had to take several photos!
So, my route home wasn't going to be quite as long and I got to cross the new bridge before buzzing my way home on the seal. I nice little ride on my favourite 250.
On Sunday I had a hankering for a ride - after all, it had been nearly 24 hours since the last one...
And I needed a taste of gravel. Initially, I had visions of spraying gravel around on the T7 but I changed my mind on entering the shed and see a poor wee WR gathering dust.
The bike hadn't been fired up in a few months but as usual, you wouldn't have guessed that as it fired up when my finger got in the vicinity of the go button. Putting some air in the tyres and 15 bucks of super was all the bike needed to be ready for adventure.
The spanner in my ointment (I'm sure that's the correct metaphor) didn't rear its ugly head until I hauled on the anchors riding into a fairly corrugated corner on Pohangina Road and had the front end compress 3 or 4 times more than usual and the bike shorten up and want to head straight ahead instead of slowing gracefully before attacking the corner as usual. Hmmmm...I was starting to think that there was something slightly amiss.
Slowing up from the normal triple (at least) digit speeds, I trundled on until I came off the gravel just before the Coal Creek bridge.
Behold, that mightiest of mouses!
Having had a tiny inkling of the potential problem, it didn't take me long to find my proof.
Bummer, and I was really enjoying the ride too!
I decided to carry on a bit further but shelved plans on an exploration of a road I'd noticed on Saturday.
The leaky fork seal definitely affected the handling on descents or anywhere where some brakes were required, and I started to get an idea of what riding a harley must feel like, although I'm sure it wasn't that bad, and the engine performance was still adequate...
In the end, I turned around once I hit seal again at the little one lane bridge on Makoura Road and made my way back home the same way (maximum gravel).
A great ride on the little bike and now I've got to revisit changing a fork seal. I must have done an ok job last time as it's the other one that's gone this time. We'll see how this one goes...
So, yesterday there was what looked like a pretty good trail ride pretty close to home in Colyton. I was gonna go and even had the yellow bike ready to go but come Sunday morning just wasn't feeling it so for a while pretended that it wasn't a nice sunny day and did other exciting stuff like laundry, dog walking and mowing the lawns - perhaps I'll post that excitement later...
But, by lunchtime I'd decided that something even more exciting needed to happen. And it needed to involve the poorly neglected WR. Naturally, after such an extended period of neglect, the bike needed some extensive maintenance - air in the tyres and 6L of super. Then I just needed some sort of ride plan...
(Hopefully I've dithered around enough to continue to keep some AdvRiders in suspense and caused at least some sort of semi-permanent psychiatric damage? You guys know who I'm talking about 😝)
So, on with the ride.
After the expensive fill-up in Ashhurst I turned back into the village and then thundered off out the valley, relearning the intricacies of the mightiest of mouses. At an indicated 110km/h (GPS about 95), the little bike fair powered its way around Pohangina Valley East with the not so road-friendly rubber providing a little excitement when perhaps a little too much was expected of it. The rider also had to relearn how to tame the beast and to remember that if you throttle off for a corner then you need to down change as well...
(Some more most excellent dithering in that last paragraph eh?)
Now I really need to fess up on the destination I 'spose...
On the aforementioned AdvRider there has been some enquiry about the current state of Takapari Road and certain people were suggesting that I needed to be the guinea pig. Well, with a WR and its superior capabilities, this kinda made sense.
The reason why everyone was keen to know about the road was that it has been gated off by the council due to severe damage by 4WD's and the council not being prepared to pay to fix the road. (Apparently the 4WD club are going to look at repairing the road themselves - I hope they do). But, apparently it is possible to get a bike around the gate...
The road up to the old top gate was actually in really good condition (no 4WD's tearing it up in winter is my guess) and it didn't take me long to get up there and then onto the investigating. Yes, a bike can get around the gate.
I can probably leave the next bit to the video but remember to factor in that the video makes the road look less steep and even a little less gnarly. Also remember that the rider was still getting to grips with the mighty beast and made plenty of wee stuff ups...
Yeah, maybe it doesn't look that bad in the video and pics but it's fairly impassable. In front of the step, all the water coming off the hill is creating a bog which would quickly suck a bike in - I avoided the worst of it as best I could but still sunk in halfway up my boots.
The step itself is steeper than it looks and probably pretty close to 2 metres high. That's pretty slippery looking clay too. Maybe without the bog I'd give it a crack on the 450. But maybe I'd fall off too...
Looks pretty greasy to this kid
Look at that weapon!
Mouse for scale
Just to the right (in the above pic) of the main track someone has been hacking at the bush. I'm not sure if it was so vehicles could turn around or if this is someone attempting a diversion. I didn't explore it as it looked a bit soft in there too and I didn't want to get my boots dirty...
So, after an almost 3-minute ride from the gate it was all over and I had turn around and bimble my way back down the hill.
And bimble I did too, 'cos damn there's some great views across the valley as you drop down the hill.
Reaching the bottom of the hill, I still hadn't had my fill of the awesomeness that is the WR so turned right and made my way over to Makoura Road to take in some most excellent gravel before the next turn onto Pohangina Road.
Halfway back (or maybe halfway through video #3 below), I stopped to check out the washed out bridge that used to cross over to Pohangina East. Yeah, it's still not there and it actually looks like they've demolished it. They seem to have moved a bit of stuff but I'm not sure whether the bridge will get replaced or not - possibly a low priority considering even worse damage up in the Bay.
Not even a WR could cross that
A fair bit of hill fell in the river
A log enjoying supporting quality machinery
Yep, definitely no bridge
Rest over, it was time to fang that favourite bit of Pohangina Road and get back so the WR could let the other bikes know what they'd missed out on.
Thoroughly enjoyable ride on the little bike. Someone slap me if I ever talk about parting ways with it...
The weather was supposed to be a bit dodgy over the weekend, it being winter I 'spose, but after walkies on Sunday the sun was actually out and while it was a bit chilly, the rain appeared to be holding off. Right, better get a skid in then...
A few weekends ago the Mighty WR had a bit of a birthday and I'd kinda been hanging out to find an excuse to give it some exercise. A bit of rain during the week also promised nicely settled gravel and even perhaps the prospect of some mud! A trip up the valley beckoned.
After getting some fuel, I made my way to the closest bit of gravel. This involved following another loaded up Adv bike (no idea who he was but he wasn't fast enough to outrun the WR) out of Ashhust and then up Ulysses Road which has tragically had the top gravel section sealed recently.
At the top, he went left while I turned right onto the gravel section of Watershed Road. And was it good? Yes, it was! There was actually very little gravel and in some places there was dirt showing through, occasionally this was deliciously slippery to keep me on my toes.
I was grinning almost straight away and starting to remember what a great little bike I was on. It is so easy to ride and very forgiving as you can manhandle it all over the place, catch slides easily and in places where the big bikes are a handful or slow. the little bike is just easy. The Motoz Desert H/T rubber is perfect on the bike too.
Eventually I dropped off the ridge and down into Pohangina do I could go up one side of the valley and then return down the other side. It also meant I could take in one of my favourites:
Somewhere after I hit the short seal section I got a fairly decent scare when a pheasant flew across my bows. It was that close that I got hit in the face (visor up) my small stones and dust that were coming out of its feathers - it must have been having a dust bath when I disturbed it.
Next up was the short bit of Makoura Road to take me across towards Apiti. More good gravel with a quick photo stop at the bridge.
By now it was about 12pm and I was kinda keen to head back for some lunch, but naturally, I'd not had enough gravel so it was time for Ridge Road.
There was a bit more gravel on the road but it was still awesome fun on the little bike. Cue video number two:
Following the Ridge, I eventually got back onto Finnis Road and reversed my earlier ride through to the Ulysses Road turn-off and then home for lunch.
A great little ride of somewhere just over 130km and a fantastic average speed of (including stops) of about 53km/h. Go the little WR!
