This Review of the first Grand Challenge in 1987, was written by John Painting. At the time John was a sales person for Forbes and Davies Motorcycle shop in Auckland. It was first published in Kiwi Rider Magazine Dec 87 Issue. If you find this copy of the original to difficult to read there is a
text only version at the bottom of the page.
Checkpoint one:Neil Skiffington and John Painting, Frank Morgan in background is the chap that crashed out shortly after this was taken.
Text Version
When I first heard about this run it conjured up impressions of Gumball rallies and lots of aggro from the Ministry of Transport. I didn't think it was my cup of tea hooning around New Zealand at top speed. A few days later I picked up my calculator and divided the 1,600k by 24 hours. The calculator flashed back the reply 67k per hour, that looked a reasonable speed to average over 24 hours, but could I do with my quota of sleep?
The guys at work, and other motorcycling friends gave me moral support and before I could reconsider I had sent in the entry fee. I was now committed friend with a CBR1000F had already entered and we decided to team together. We went for a practice run to Whangarei and back, after dinner a fortnight before the challenge to check our lighting and see how we paced ourselves. I had to fit a more powerful headlight bulb, as the standard 60-watt was not sufficient on the VF1000FE. I went for another night run the next weekend and found the new 100-watt bulb lots better. During the week I had two spotlights fitted to give a little more light for cornering.
The route the Grand Challenge would take was a kept a secret and there was much speculation as to where we would go. The run started at Dave Ogdens new shop in Manukau City on Saturday 17 October. The first pair of riders left at 3pm. I left at 3.20pm followed two minutes later by Neil (CBR1000F) and Frank (FJ1200).
Our first checkpoint was Maungatapere, between Dargaville and Whangarei. We decided to go via Dargaville so that the run back to Auckland would be shorter after the checkpoint. We did the 250km in 21/4 hours, being passed by quite a few faster riders. At Maungatapere we gassed up, de-bugged our visors and headed off towards Whangarei, our next checkpoint was Napier.
About six kilometers later Frank came to grief on his FJ1200. He failed to take a bend and took a spectacular crash, ending with his being tossed into the scrub just off the road. I was following right behind him and was lucky not to follow. I came to an almighty quick stop on the corner, running into loose stones and then off the road into the grass.
Franks bike was on its side revving away. I shut it off and then looked for Frank who was out of sight in the scrub. I was very relieved when he came crashing back out of the trees looking relatively okay. By now a car or two had stopped and a local farmer from a nearby house also came to help. A lady with nursing experience took over looking after Frank who was experiencing pain in his chest area.
Later we heard he had broken five ribs and his right shoulder. An ambulance arrived very quickly and after an assessment Frank was off to the Whangarei Hospital for a good night's sleep.
The cause of Frank's spill isn't known to me at this time, but at the first checkpoint he mentioned to me that the rear tyre, fitted only days earlier, was giving him cause for concern. This incident set us back about 30 minutes and it made us ride very quietly back to Auckland. It went through my mind to quit at this time, but once we got going again my confidence returned.
We turned off the motorway at Manukau again for gas at 8.40pm. Neil and I had a little food and then headed off south, down highway 27 towards Taupo. At Putararu we were waved down by Traffic cops. Fortunately we had earplugs in and couldn't fully understand the officers. They seemed a bit upset that a large group of bikes had just passed through and didn't stop for them. Anyway we weren't ticketed and were allowed to proceed.
Arriving at Wairakei at 11.30pm we decided to stop and have a decent meal. Steak, eggs, chips and salad for $10.95, plus a couple of cups of coffee. Having fed ourselves and then our bikes we left at 12.30pm going through Taupo to head across to Napier. Although we started off at a good pace this leg turned into the slowest part of the run, averaging only 74km per hour from Taupo to Napier.
It was bloody cold, both Neil and I had fingers that refused to work. We struck wispy patches of fog that stuck to our visors, a couple of ice warning lights were flashing. To keep us honest, we came across major roadwork's at the twisty Eskdale end.
We were glad to reach checkpoint two Napier at 2.20am. This was the half way for the Grand Challenge. We had a much-needed hot coffee, cleaned our lights, visors, etc, ate some chocolate, and after gassing up again we headed south. Our next checkpoint (3rd) was at Otaki south of Levin, our route took us through Waipukurau, Dannevirke, Woodville, and The Manawatu Gorge, down to Levin and then Otaki.
A Ducati led us out of Napier with a couple of other bikes following him. We found his pace just a bit to fast and near Waipukurau we let the other 3 get away for us. It was still very cold and I was starting to feel tired. We stopped and both of us took a 'no-doze' (caffeine tablet) and ate some Moro bars. This perked us up and we pressed on.
It was weird riding down the main street of Dannevirke. The town was all lit up like it was open for business, but at 4.00am, was deserted, although I think we passed the Duke and his mates having a break there.
The sun was starting to light up the horizon at about 4.30am, and by the time we were through the Manawatu Gorge it was getting light. It was an amazing experience riding through the country at sunrise. The air smelt so clean.
This is what is so appealing about motorcycling, being so close to nature. Car drivers sure miss out on this. To me this was the most enjoyable part of the journey.
We reached Otaki at 5.45am, gassed up and left immediately for our forth checkpoint in Wanganui. The run from Otaki to Wanganui was the fastest art of our ride. We averaged 122km per hour getting to Wanganui at 7.00am. We have a cup of coffee and a quick wash to revive our fading eyes. Neither of us was hungry yet so we pressed on.
We headed over the Parapara's to Raetihi. The Parapara's are a bunch of hills that give 50-60 km of beautiful winding road, some say God created them just for motorcyclists. The signs for each corner vary from recommending 30kph to 60kph. Neil got away from me through this windy stretch, his cornering confidence was far superior to mine.
At the end of the windy's I caught up with him, and we continued up to Taumarunui, getting there at 9.30am. We stopped and had breakfast at a convenient tearoom. I was starving and demolished a bacon and egg burger, Neil could only manage a sandwich.
Pushing on again, stopping at Otorohanga for petrol at 11.00am. We kept our speed down over this last stage, as the traffic was heavier. Expecting to see the chaps from the M.O.T. we successfully passed through a radar trap at Te Awamutu and went from there to Ngaruawahia via the back road and then joined the procession along State Highway One back to the finish at Manukau City.
We dismounted our bikes at the Cobb & Co at 12.39pm very please to have finished. My backside was killing me. After checking in and receiving our badges and certificates we had a most welcome can of cold vitamins. Neil was now feeling totally stuffed and headed straight home. I hung around and was joined by my family and a couple of friends eager to hear how it went..
After travelling 1,672km in just 21 hours we had spent just over three hours stopped, so rode for 18 hours. This gave us an average speed of 93km. I spent $130 on petrol, the VF1000f used a bit more than Neil's CBR1000F. I got 13km per litre against Neil's 15.3km per litre. I suppose I had to use more revs to match the CBR for power. Both bikes went perfectly, with only the riders suffering a bit of fatigue.
The Grand Challenge was a real experience, and full marks must go to the team that organised it. There was a minimum of rules allowing the participants a maximum of enjoyment. I would certainly recommend the challenge to others along with the caution that it is not a race.
There was no first prize and all finishers were winners. To me the winner, if there has to be one, would be the chap on the little CBX250F who finished in about 22 hours. As long as you pace yourself and ride within your ability you can finish well within the time allowed. Maybe we will see you on the next one.