I’ve made some observations of Auckland:

  • It’s way nicer than I envisioned it would be.
  • From what I’ve seen and heard, vintage cycles are slim to none.
  • There is no trash on the streets of NZ. Cleanest place I’ve ever seen.
  • People are in no hurry… everyone drives way under the speed limit.
  • Everyone is super nice. Friendliest strangers I’ve ever met.
  • You can see the ocean / bay from almost anywhere in Auckland.
  • A million hills here. Like pittsburgh but worse.
  • One of the biggest o-zone holes the Earth has is over NZ and Australia, so you get severely sunburnt after 30 mins. if you’re not used to it.
  • Police don’t carry guns.
  • There’s no crime here.
  • There are also no black or mexican people here.
  • Their version of Walmart is called “The Warehouse”.
  • Their version of Pep Boys is called “RepCo”.
  • People walk around the city barefoot.
  • It doesn’t get dark until 9:30pm.
  • From what people say, It’s always 65˚ and sunny.
  • The water looks like Miami water. Bright Teal color. Palm trees everywhere too.
  • The Sky Tower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. It’s about the height of the Comcast building in Philly. We live about 10 min. walk from it.
  • I’ve gotten lost on the cycle a few times already. It’s like a maze here.

As most of you know. I’m moving to Auckland, New Zealand. I leave in under 3 weeks. I’ll be there for 2 years with my girlfriend Erin.

I want to say a few things before I go…

  • I built this site hoping it would bring together people with similar interests
  • It’s been a lot of fun, I consider you all my good buds
  • I hope I get to see some of you on a Thursday ride before I go, even though it’s cold as shit
  • I plan on starting something up in NZ… just not sure what yet
  • I’ll still be doing the site from NZ. Hope everyone continues making posts here in the US.
  • In NZ, I already secured my cbr250r – this is it. My g/f gave the dude a deposit.
  • Don’t judge… it’ll be cool when I’m done with it
  • Come visit NZ. We’ll rent a cycle for you and we’ll cruise around the island

See you guys in 2 years.

-Ed

This isn’t a real poll, just comment and let me know which you like better.

So when I move to NZ I’ll be getting a cycle right when I get there. They have a bunch of stuff you can’t get in the USA. Including these 2 cycles from the japanese Honda market:

- nsr250 (2 stroke race bike)
- cbr250rr (19 grand redline)

Both are late 80′s / early 90′s and are pretty sick. I’m def leaning towards the cbr250rr. I’m looking to make it a street fighter / cafe racer hybrid. So hopefully it’ll somehow end up looking more similar to my cb650 or adams cb500t.

I think it’s do-able. Take a look at this mock-up I made in photoshop. I think the 250rr could make a great cafe hybrid.

- get rid of all the plastic shit
- ditch the front fender
- go with clip-on bars
- get rid of the gauges and headlight
- replace with a cb550 headlight with visor
- replace the seat with something cafe styled (prolly the hardest mod)
- go with a minimalistic (non-crotch rocket) exhaust, or cut it before the muffler

-Ed