February 6, 2015

Waving off cultural differences in Australia and New Zealand

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – I came out of the turn and twisted the throttle open, feeling the big 1300 cc motor growl as the rpms came up and the horsepower spooled out to the wheels. I’m on a motorcycle and touring the New Zealand countryside. I feel good.

I’m cracking down a two lane blacktop on New Zealand’s North Island, making my way north from Taupo to the low coastal mountains, and then to the beach town of Whatamanga just on the other side. I’m riding a Honda VTX-1300, a muscular cruising bike that looks more like a Harley than a Honda – and that has no fuel gauge.

It’s a cool, beautiful day – perfect for a ride, all the more so for a ride on the other side of world from my home in Texas.

The video below is a compilation of my rides in New Zealand. You’ll see a bit of the flat lands in the center of the North Island, through the low coastal mountains along the coast, and a ride through a beach town with a stop at the Pacific Ocean.

My schedule only allowed me to explore the North Island of New Zealand on this visit, though the more exotic and dramatic sights are to be found on the South Island. That said, I had a great experience riding and getting to know New Zealand and Australia as well. And I learned a bit of the local motorcycle culture from fellow riders.

Starting the final leg of my two-day adventure in New Zealand, the relatively flat run back to Auckland.

As mentioned, this big, muscular bike I’m riding could easily be confused for a Harley. That may explain why few other motorcyclists waved when we passed. In the US, riders generally wave at one another when passing, with possible exception of the odd Harley rider. I did not have that same experience in Australia and New Zealand.

After I returned to the US, I got to wondering about this phenomenon, so I reached out to a new friend down in NZ, John Rains, the shop tech at Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours in Auckland. John is a veteran biker, well-tanned and of an affable nature, who runs motorcycle tours across NZ. He was just changing out a tire on the same VTX I had rented from his shop when my email arrived in his inbox.

So this not waving thing, I asked – was it a function of riding on the left – as they do down there – so you are passing other riders on the right – your throttle hand side? I was quite able to wave with my left hand – just had to wave a little higher for it to be seen. Not so difficult, and yet only a few other riders returned the salute.

John filled in some gaps for me. “Generally, my own experience is that most guys wave EXCEPT the Harley riders,” he wrote in an email. “It’s an interesting point you make and I can’t put my finger on any particular reason, but do offer these observations. You were on a big cruiser here, so maybe the Harley brethren mistook you for one of their own” and waved. “Others were so surprised to see a Harley guy waving at them they were overcome and involuntarily waved back.”

I stopped for a late breakfast and to warm up at the Native Tree Cafe in Mangatarata, 90 km south of Auckland. My order of eggs over easy got a laugh from the women working the kitchen. "You're American, aren't you! That's so American!" — I stopped for a late breakfast and to warm up at the Native Tree Cafe in Mangatarata, 90 km south of Auckland. My order of eggs over easy got a laugh from the women working the kitchen. “You’re American, aren’t you! That’s so American!”

That was in New Zealand; my experience in Australia was even more disconcerting. I was riding a Honda ST-1300, a quiet sport touring bike. No growling from this bike, just a quiet, comfortable ride. To my dismay, no one acknowledged my friendly waves over the windscreen in the countryside outside of Melbourne.

Christian Anderson, who leads cross country tours in Australia and also runs the online side of the motorcycle rental business for BikeRoundOz and BikeRoundNZ touring websites, offered his thoughts.

“Motorcycle riders in Australia are a fairly picky bunch, they’ll only generally wave to other riders if they’re on a similar type of bike,” he told me in an email. “Harley riders will acknowledge Harley riders, sports bike riders only sports bike riders and so on and so forth. Adventure bike riders, you generally find, will acknowledge almost everyone – as you never know when you’ll need their help with something, as I can certainly testify to!

“A lot of the time, greeting between motorcyclists will be limited to a simple nod of the head, which can easily be missed when riding at speed, of course.” Wait, did Christian just dis me?

He continued: “The further into the Outback / more remote regions of the country you get, you’ll find that people on bikes (and even in cars) are far more likely to give you wave. If nothing else it can sometimes be a novelty to encounter another living soul! Around the cities though – much like in many large settlements around the world – people tend to be too wrapped up in their own little universes!”

In the end, I was honored to think that I just might have raised the emotional bar of motorcycle camaraderie in Aus and NZ with my Yankee left-hand waving. This kind of emotional bonding is the best kind of diplomacy and culture exchange.

The video below is a compilation of my rides in the countryside to the north and west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Weather was chilly: 13 degrees C, about 55 F, dropping lower as I climbed into the highlands. I found a beautiful mix of hills, twisty two-lane roads, and historic venues along the way.

There’s another kind of diplomacy that gets practiced in the motorcycle rental shops in NZ and Australia – the way they diplomatically tell you they put a hold on your credit card in case you have a run-in with the speed cameras.

A couple of times on my rides down under, the thought of hidden speed cameras crossed my mind, and then my upbeat mood was suddenly left skidding on the tarmac behind me like roo roadkill.

If you ask, you get plenty of warnings about the cameras, and I quizzed taxi drivers and guys in the motorcycle shops in town before I set out on my excursion to the countryside. Everyone said to beware – even when riding far out in the country. The cameras are ostensibly there for safety reasons, but everyone knows they are really just a source of revenue for the cities and towns.

We’ve had a similar debate in the US about red light cameras and unattended speed cameras. But here, many cities have removed them after public revolt by the citizenry. It happened here in Houston just in the past two years.

I found several motorcycle-friendly signs like this in NZ. They were very positive reminders to ride safely on the twisting-turning roads ahead.

Riding in Texas, we generally don’t have to worry about speed cams, and you don’t get the sense that big brother is watching when you’re on the two-lanes. See a long flat stretch ahead? Open it up and enjoy the wind. It’s all yours – unless, of course, your wife happens to be on the bike with you.

One news story mentioned that speed cameras generate nearly $100 million/year in West Australia. That’s big money. In a humorous twist, I found one report of protestors wearing Guy Fawkes masks alerting drivers to speed camera locations in Perth. The local police commissioner didn’t question their right to highlight the presence of speed cameras, but did manage to refer to them as “village idiots.” Here’s a video clip on that protest:

http://www.policespeedcameras.info/index.php/en/

I have to admit that the more I rode, the less I worried about speed cams. There is some beautiful country and lots of interesting things to see. No sense spoiling it all worrying about a ticket. And that’s all I have to say about that, other than that I don’t recall any additional charges to my credit card associated with any inadvertent lapses in speed control.

I really enjoyed my time there touring and meeting other riders. I highly recommend it. You’ll have to decide for yourself how to manage your speed.

This last video is quick clip of a single lane road I found north of Melbourne, High Camp Road. This was a fun run. Keep an eye on the road and you’ll see a couple of spots with lots of tire rubber laid down – maybe a popular road for the local hot-rodders to play out of sight?