The steep hills on the Napier-Taupo highway were alive with the sound of motorbikes last Saturday 5 March.  

The Yamaha Mighty Mohaka Adventure ride attracted 70 entrants with the majority opting to do the trail-adventure route that took them into the aforementioned hills. The sun shone and there had been sufficient rain the week prior to ensure our forestry permits remained valid.  Everything lined up for a fantastic day of adventure and adventure-trail riding.

The Big Bike Adventure Route

Ten or so bikes, most of them large dual-purpose adventure bikes including two with pillions, set off the big bike route.  Their route was almost an entirely separate one to the trailies, with all riders coming together at lunch to swap stories of the the morning's ride.  The Big Bike Adventure Route included some winding forestry trails and took riders through some scenic inland Napier high-country stations.

Adventure Trail Route

Some of the rugged hills that flank both sides of State Highway 5 were included in the adventure trail route, and the steepness of some of the tracks ensured that this was not for the fainthearted.   Two young women on the ride, both novice motorcyclists with varying offroad experience, did extremely well and finished the day.  They wisely opted to miss the 30km optional loop prior to lunch,  a good decision given that it caught out many seasoned riders.  When Mike advised that this loop would take approximately an hour and a half sceptic looks were observed on some riders faces.  However, an hour and a half was pretty spot on for most, and some took a fair bit longer!  

One of our original customers whose patronage dates back to the early 90's (yikes) sent us an email which I have copied below

We would like to say a big thank you to all those that joined us at The Yamaha Mighty Mohaka Adventure, and to our fantastic crew Clayton, Richard, Glenn, Bernie, Bruce, and Pesky.

Angela and Mike