South Island, New Zealand: 10 days on two rented DR650s

[Cabby]

Great trip.......shame the weather wasn't more helpful.....

How did the DR compare to the dommie.....?

You're definitely the man to answer that question..

Come to that...How did the DR compare to Krteks XL600..?....age difference, I know.....

[Rubberchicken]

The weather was pretty good actually, bit of rain here and there, but 2 days of blue skies on the west coast is pretty damn decent. (Weather forecast a week previous mentioned heavy rain, as in 4" in 3 days). I'm *not* complaining about the weather.

The bikes were excellent. Compared to the dommie, well where to start... It's a lot lighter still, and generally 15 or so years and 60.000 km younger. Nice little engine, never missed a beat. Just point down the road and go. I'd consider one to replace the dommie...

[Krtek]

Come to that...How did the DR compare to Krteks XL600..?....age difference, I know.....

Yes, well, that's about all the difference I noticed. It felt so smooth and... well, new. Otherwise, it was very similar to the XL600. Of course, my XL has had quite a full and interesting life!
The DR650 didn't feel heavier at all and I felt right at home. It purred along like a happy cat. It felt so easy to handle that you didn't have to pay attention to the bike itself at all and after a while, you'd forget it was there and just enjoy the scenery and the ride.

Needless to say, I had a lovely time.

[Rubberchicken]

I finally got round to sticking some bits on youtube... It's only been seven months.

So, some lovely autumn pictures from last april.

[POTSKI]

Hi Guys
Enjoyed your write up and videos. Shame about the tyre situation. Used to have a DR600 myself, nice punchy light bike.
Anyway, I have a friend going over to New Zealand late Jan and staying untill March who is thinking of renting a bike for a few days to check the place out. He will be based about an hour south of Auckland. Realised you were in South Island, but as you have done it have you (or anyone else out there) any advice for him regarding rental, bike choice or in general?

Thanks for posting

Cheers
Potski

[Rubberchicken]

Not much, other than go for it!

The rental place I went to has lots of different bikes including the big beemers, but the price difference is quite shocking.

A 1200 GS starts at NZ$305 per day in the peak season, while the DR is NZ$105 per day.
(We had it off-season for $75 per day.)

I'm pretty sure that GS won't give me 3 times the fun that the little thumper had to offer, quite the contrary in fact. The DR will quite happily do 100+ km/h all day, which is the prevailing speed limit out there, and it's enough. I was too busy looking around to worry about cutting corners and scraping pegs and all that... So I'd say get something small and nimble, it'll be plenty while not breaking the bank.

The exchange rate once you're there is pretty nice, 100 NZD is 43 UKP, and it was even better while I was there. So for us the bike rental came down to 30 euro per day per bike. Petrol's about NZ$ 1.70 and the DR is pretty frugal so.....

The main thing though. Don't attempt to see "everything".

If you're out there for just a couple of days, you're going to miss lots of stuff anyway, there will always be people pointing out that "you might as well not have gone if you didn't see..." and that's just a load of rubbish.

Take it easy, no rush, and enjoy what you see.

Other than that, tell your friend he's lucky and I envy him. I'd love to go back.

[Rubberchicken]

Oh, and one more thing!

Rules of the road. It's mainly the same as everywhere else, but NZ has one very different rule that will catch people out if they don't know about it.

This is the rule where you want to make a left turn into a side street, while somebody that's coming towards you wants to make a right into the same side street. Everywhere else in the world, you'd have right of way. In NZ, the other guy goes first, because he's to the right of you. (Driving on the left, just like in Britain.)

Remember that one, it's a nasty little so-and-so.

[FatFergie]

Oh, and one more thing!

Rules of the road. It's mainly the same as everywhere else, but NZ has one very different rule that will catch people out if they don't know about it.

This is the rule where you want to make a left turn into a side street, while somebody that's coming towards you wants to make a right into the same side street. Everywhere else in the world, you'd have right of way. In NZ, the other guy goes first, because he's to the right of you. (Driving on the left, just like in Britain.)

Remember that one, it's a nasty little so-and-so.

Good point. It's perfectly logical when you think about it but it's very easy to forget.
The give way rule can catch you out in the sticks too. If you come across a little side road on your right hand side with an old "ute" approaching the junction just assume they've got the right of way; they probably have done so already.

Potski: Rental for high end bikes is pricey, probably because of the weak dollar which makes it very expensive to import bikes. As Rubberchicken said get something small and cheap or be prepared to pay. I'd say any type of bike would be fine but trail bikes are great for the smaller gravel roads. There's still plenty around (gravel I mean) and it means the beaches are accessible too.

I forgot to say: I have to go back.

[POTSKI]

Thanks for useful info Guys, will pass it on......Wish I was going

Cheers
Potski,

[barftone]

Superb. Beautiful Island. Takes me back to my trip a few years back but not on bikes (shame). Skiing in July was weird but great for a Euro boy. Must get back there. Wanaka is the only place I would really consider living in away from UK. Hope the sand flies did'nt get you on the beaches.