New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[patches]

Hey there fellow Saffas!

Do you miss driving a manual?

Do you wish you could get behind the wheel of a solid Uitenhage Built, German engineered vehicle?

Would you like the adrenaline rush of driving one of the most stolen cars in South Africa, but without the risk because it's in Auckland?

Well have I got a deal for you!

 

hahaha! Just kidding, but I am actually in the process of selling my wife's little 2015 Polo TSi.

We tried to trade it in, but as she bought it in Australia and brought it over when she moved here, the wholesalers view it like other Australian imports (most of which are write offs). Additionally it's a manual, and although all Kiwis say "oh man, I love driving a manual", they rarely actually consider buying them, especially little 1.2L Polos.

So yeah, I might try my luck on a $1 TradeMe auction... it turned out ok for my Husky dirt bike 😅

(...Unless any of you have teenagers who could benefit from learning in a great little learners car!)

Edited May 8, 2022 by patches

[hayleyearth]

We are going to France in Aug and SA in Dec.

It's been toooooo long now and with this &$#@+:&'**_:;6_+-'3 -ing government that doesn't want to let our family in if I didn't have such a good job at such a good company now we would probably have moved closer to some family by now.

 

With 2 small kids and no support it's crazy hard. 

[davetapson]

On 5/9/2022 at 10:55 AM, hayleyearth said:

We are going to France in Aug and SA in Dec.

It's been toooooo long now and with this &$#@+:&'**_:;6_+-'3 -ing government that doesn't want to let our family in if I didn't have such a good job at such a good company now we would probably have moved closer to some family by now.

 

With 2 small kids and no support it's crazy hard. 

Kids without family support is hard.

In SA we ended up hiring a small village to avoid our twins being the death of us.

Here, without that option, I hate to think.  With two young kids, you certainly have our respect.
 

Edited May 10, 2022 by davetapson

[davetapson]

On 5/4/2022 at 3:45 PM, patches said:

https://www.cyclespot.co.nz/bike/husqvarna/svartpilen-401/999611795/

Alternatively a Katoom 390 Adventure

https://www.cyclespot.co.nz/bike/KTM/390 Adventure/999609021/

So there is now a Svartpilen with my name on it at Cyclespot while I sort out a learner's licence to go on top of my (expired) UK bike licence.

patches you have a lot to answer for! (Thanks, bud 😉 )

What do I need to know about commuting in NZ, given, I suppose, that unlike SA, it's more likely the weather will kill you than the traffic?

Armoured jeans (can you deal with the discomfort for a full days work in them?), armoured, waterproof hoodie, waterproof boots? Rain suit packed somewhere in bike or backpack?

I have the hard core stuff, good German brands I used in the UK, but it might be overkill for riding 5km at 50kmh max. And it's annoying to take on and off going to and leaving work.

Edit: I had a look at the Katoom - effectively same size engine, but feels twice the size 

Edited May 10, 2022 by davetapson

[patches]

13 hours ago, davetapson said:

So there is now a Svartpilen with my name on it at Cyclespot while I sort out a learner's licence to go on top of my (expired) UK bike licence.

patches you have a lot to answer for! (Thanks, bud 😉 )

What do I need to know about commuting in NZ, given, I suppose, that unlike SA, it's more likely the weather will kill you than the traffic?

Armoured jeans (can you deal with the discomfort for a full days work in them?), armoured, waterproof hoodie, waterproof boots? Rain suit packed somewhere in bike or backpack?

I have the hard core stuff, good German brands I used in the UK, but it might be overkill for riding 5km at 50kmh max. And it's annoying to take on and off going to and leaving work.

Edit: I had a look at the Katoom - effectively same size engine, but feels twice the size 

Oooh! So jealous! I've wanted one of those since they came out! You're going to have to get the matching Pilen hipster helmet and gear!

As for commuting in Auckland and kit... I am probably the 2nd worse person to ask (the worst being any of those motorcycle gang members you see riding around in shorts and pee-pot helmets).

I typically commute in my work pants (chinos or jeans most days), with tekkies and an Alpinestars offroad adventure jacket, which I beefed up by sacrificing some Leatt D30 body armour to install in the inserts.

I do have the matching Alpinestars pants which have some form of abrasion resistance, and they can be worn as over-pants (when I'm not on the pie and twix diet). But generally I'm a fair-weather commuter so I don't ride if it requires too much gearing-up for rain.

That said, I also have some cheapie, elastic waist and ankle rain-overpants which will offer sweet-nothing in the way of abrasion resistance, but they're comfy, quick to don on/off and are compact when folded up, so keeping them in my bag "just in case" was not a hassle.

That said, if motorcycle commuting was my only/primary option, I would likely wear my boots (MX boots so overkill) and full offroad-adventure kit for those very rainy days.

Edited May 10, 2022 by patches

[davetapson]

1 hour ago, patches said:

Oooh! So jealous! I've wanted one of those since they came out! You're going to have to get the matching Pilen hipster helmet and gear!

As for commuting in Auckland and kit... I am probably the 2nd worse person to ask (the worst being any of those motorcycle gang members you see riding around in shorts and pee-pot helmets).

I typically commute in my work pants (chinos or jeans most days), with tekkies and an Alpinestars offroad adventure jacket, which I beefed up by sacrificing some Leatt D30 body armour to install in the inserts.

I do have the matching Alpinestars pants which have some form of abrasion resistance, and they can be worn as over-pants (when I'm not on the pie and twix diet). But generally I'm a fair-weather commuter so I don't ride if it requires too much gearing-up for rain.

That said, I also have some cheapie, elastic waist and ankle rain-overpants which will offer sweet-nothing in the way of abrasion resistance, but they're comfy, quick to don on/off and are compact when folded up, so keeping them in my bag "just in case" was not a hassle.

That said, if motorcycle commuting was my only/primary option, I would likely wear my boots (MX boots so overkill) and full offroad-adventure kit for those very rainy days.

My German jacket and jeans it sounds like, plus rain suit. Rainsuit can probably live in jacket back pocket.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Lucky bugger. Love that bike. Many happy and safe miles Dave!

Edited May 11, 2022 by Wayne Potgieter

[davetapson]

1 hour ago, Wayne Potgieter said:

Lucky bugger. Love that bike. Many happy and safe miles Dave!

Thanks Wayne.

[davetapson]

Had a look at the Husqvarna helmets - the Pilen helmet makes you look like a storm trooper, the Adv helmet looks like it could be noisy?

Looks like my venture-hood into hipsterism is going to fail before it starts!

[Wayne Potgieter]

7 hours ago, davetapson said:

Had a look at the Husqvarna helmets - the Pilen helmet makes you look like a storm trooper, the Adv helmet looks like it could be noisy?

Looks like my venture-hood into hipsterism is going to fail before it starts!

Ive always liked the styling of the Ruroc helmets, but they dont get good reviews for noise.

My current helmet is a Nolan X Lite in Carbon finish, but it looks like a sports bike helmet but has an interesting trick up its sleeve in that its face lifts up completely like a touring helmet but still gets the same safety rating as a full face 

https://www.motoin.de/Helmets/Flip-up-helmets/X-Lite-X-1004-Ultra-Carbon-Dyad-flip-up-helmet::44728.html?language=en&id[12]=64093&refID=02&gclid=CjwKCAjwve2TBhByEiwAaktM1DToN1MDC2Yj1O6RR6HRIvzQ2x5hPbx6lOJLOLy5tppul_YjU_njxRoC05UQAvD_BwE

 

[davetapson]

On 5/9/2022 at 9:26 AM, patches said:

Do you wish you could get behind the wheel of a solid Uitenhage Built, German engineered vehicle?

Curiously enough, I had bought a Polo for my commute Oos Rondt to Sandton/Rosebank/wherever at the time. 

I'd had it for two years or so and some clown rear ended me on the R21 / N12 off ramp when the traffic backed up turning on to the N12.  

It felt like a bomb went off - one moment I pulled behind the stopped traffic, next thing "BANG" and my car was flung up in the air.  Anyhow, I was only winded, the car was written off.  "How fast were you going?" I asked the clown "Only 120kmh" sez he.  So, my stationary Polo was rear ended at 120kmh and the worst thing that happened was that my laptop in the boot got a crack in it's casing.

Also "I think I'm quite badly hurt" sez he.  "And I should care, why?" sez I.

The insurance payout on that car paid for a large chunk of my emigration costs.

Edited May 13, 2022 by davetapson

[davetapson]

I see guys at the mall just leave their helmets hanging on their mirrors. 

Is this a thing? 

Or do you have a cheap helmet you use for mirror hanging and a better one for other times?
 

[davetapson]

Also I learned about getting loans here.  Two brokers, get conditional loans with Heartland for 10.5% and 11.65%, The Lending Crowd comes in at 9.06%, no early redemption penalties, can pay in lump sums any time you want.

I tell the brokers, their response... "Oh, we can get you that", one comes back with 9.02 (after I had pushed the button on the 9.06 loan). 

Makes me angry, happy to fleece you, happy to discount against other loans when convenient.  

Next time I will probably still take The Lending Crowd (peer-to-peer lending, you can invest - have a look) but probably play the brokers off against each other to see what transpires.  But that's not really my thing.

[Wayne Potgieter]

16 hours ago, davetapson said:

Also I learned about getting loans here.  Two brokers, get conditional loans with Heartland for 10.5% and 11.65%, The Lending Crowd comes in at 9.06%, no early redemption penalties, can pay in lump sums any time you want.

I tell the brokers, their response... "Oh, we can get you that", one comes back with 9.02 (after I had pushed the button on the 9.06 loan). 

Makes me angry, happy to fleece you, happy to discount against other loans when convenient.  

Next time I will probably still take The Lending Crowd (peer-to-peer lending, you can invest - have a look) but probably play the brokers off against each other to see what transpires.  But that's not really my thing.

Kinda like insurance. 

You get a better deal, and when cancelling your existing policy to move to the new one, all of a sudden your existing insurer found a magical calculator that spits out a better deal. Its why every January I call around for more insurance quotes....

 

[Wayne Potgieter]

Side note. I paid the last progress payment on our new Orewa home last night. The big move is in 2 weeks. Was so excited that I drove to the house that is now legally mine (and sorta ANZ bank) and filled the spa pool.

 

[davetapson]

2 hours ago, Wayne Potgieter said:

Side note. I paid the last progress payment on our new Orewa home last night. The big move is in 2 weeks. Was so excited that I drove to the house that is now legally mine (and sorta ANZ bank) and filled the spa pool.

 

So awesome.

We're facing winter in a 70's ( not particularly insulated) house and I'm thinking why are we doing this to ourselves?