Author's Description:

The Challenge.
To take a road legal scooter (50cc recommended) to places no scooter has been before; have one hell of a trip & raise funds for Project KPH, a New Zealand youth-based charity.

The Ride.
Four days in total, tackling some of the South Islands great roads (both on and off), with daily challenges to keep entrants on their toes. This is no fully-catered, hold-your-hand, quiet weekend! Budget accommodation will be booked and there will be support vehicles – but this trip should be seen as a group of like-minded people bonding on a unique adventure. Making it to the end in one piece will require a ‘pitch-in to help each other’ attitude, from helping serve up breakfast, lifting / pushing scooters across rivers or cleaning mud out of air-filters. The more you put in the more you’ll get out of it.

What to expect.
Forget about speed: most 50cc scooters are flat out at 50km/h. There will be plenty of sealed roads but whether you have traveled these roads before or not, this will be a great opportunity to really appreciate the scenery from a new s l o w e r perspective.
The real challenge will be the off-road sections. This event is designed to test wo/man & machine and this years route won’t disappoint. Clutch-frying hill-climbs, loose surfaces, mud, water, and the odd scary descent: we’ll be hitting it all.

Challenge events along the way will add to the mayhem and have been created to raise additional funds for charity. The team will generally be staying in campground cabins. This means rooms will be shared (bring ear-plugs) as well as community breakfasts where morning briefings will also be held. Cooked breakfasts and packed lunches will be supplied but you’ll have to source your own short black soy latte’s or banana daiquiris!

Scooters.
The ‘spirit’ behind this challenge is to take standard(ish) 50cc scooters to places they have never been before and will be expected to perform far beyond the parameters their designers ever considered. However, we’re not going to define what a ‘scooter’ is. If you call it a scooter, it can maintain 50km/h on the flat and it’s road legal then we’re not going to get pedantic about it.

You will almost certainly have to carry your scooter at some stage and any excessive performance advantages will attract plenty of ribbing from the rest of the crew! Recommendations: 50cc two stroke scooters of Japanese or European descent, or if it has to be Chinese, make sure it is a known / established brand. Larger wheels will be more comfortable and on-board storage will be useful.

Support.
Support vehicles will cover most of the trip, but these are mainly to transport equipment and for serious breakdowns / emergencies only. The greatest satisfaction you’ll get from completing this trip is knowing you did it the hard way! Specialist support will be available in areas where even normal 4wd vehicles will have difficulty (yes, you’ll be going there). If you have family and friends who want to come along as support, they’re more than welcome. Let us know and we will make them part of the team.

Entry.
Due to the logistics and to develop a ‘team’ spirit among entrants, this event is strictly limited to 15 riders. Places may only be confirmed by completing an entry form with payment. See this ‘Entry Form’ for more details.

Entrants must be licensed for the vehicle they will be riding. In the case of most 50cc scooters, a car licence will be all that’s required. There is no age limit but entrants do need to be reasonably fit.

More details to follow… send me an email RIGHT NOW if this appeals to you and we can have a chat.