On a self-guided motorcycle tour with Wandrith, your pillion rides free: two people on one bike pay the price of the bike and share the room, on every journey. There is no minimum age for a pillion, as long as they can ride safely as a passenger through long days.
This guide is written mostly for the person on the back, and for the rider planning a journey for two.
The short answer: pillions ride free
Pillions ride free · No surprises pricing. The price is per bike and includes GST, and a pillion adds nothing to it. That is our standard price on every journey, not an offer, so there is nothing to claim and no date it ends. Up to NZ$14,999 per bike for 7 days (North Island). All prices include GST. No card surcharges, and nothing is added to your journey price later, apart from any activities you add. What’s included is listed with the prices.
What a pillion shares with the rider, at no extra charge:
- Every night’s accommodation, in the same room, with breakfast wherever it’s available
- The Cook Strait ferry, where your journey crosses it, with the Premium Lounge where available
- The route, day by day, in the Wandrith Journey App, and the rest days built into every journey
What a pillion brings: their own helmet and riding gear, and their own travel insurance, which is essential. Lunches, dinners and activities aren’t included, for either of you.
Two people on one bike share a room. If you’d like a particular bed set-up, twin beds for a parent and a grown-up son or daughter, say, tell us after booking and we’ll arrange it.
Choosing the bike for two
The rider chooses the bike, and the rule is the same as riding solo: the one closest to what they ride at home, with at least two years on a similar motorcycle. If you already ride two-up at home, the bike most like that one is a good place to start.
The BMW R1300GS Adventure and R1250GS Adventure are the big touring bikes; the F900GS Adventure and Royal Enfield Himalayan are lighter and lower, for riders who prefer that. Our fleet page describes the R1250GS Adventure as quiet at motorway speeds and “endlessly comfortable two-up”. The R1300GS Adventure has BMW’s Automated Shift Assistant, which shifts without the clutch and, in the fleet’s words, makes long days feel shorter.
Every bike comes with aluminium panniers and a top box, bar-backs and the same touring kit, and low seats are available for most models. You get the exact model you book. The fleet has each bike’s specifications and seat heights.
Luggage for two
Two of you share one bike’s luggage: two aluminium panniers and a top box, with removable waterproof liners. There are no luggage transfer services in New Zealand, so pack for two in what the bike carries, and pack in layers, as the weather can change a lot in a single day.
Packing light is easier than it sounds. Many of the places we book have a self-service laundry, rest days are a good time for washing, and the app marks good places on the route for a laundry stop. Whatever you won’t need on the road can stay behind: if you start and end at the same hotel, it will often hold your bags; otherwise, luggage storage companies do. Luggage storage is not included.
On the road
Most days are four to six hours in the saddle, with stops; some run a little longer or shorter, depending on detours and where the night’s stay is. There is no group to keep up with, so you stop when either of you needs to. The Wandrith Journey App suggests cafés, fuel stops and the sights along each day’s route, and in the evening you can look over tomorrow’s ride together from your room.
Your Bluetooth helmet works as it does at home, so if the two of you talk through helmet communicators now, bring them. Your pillion needs their own helmet, jacket, trousers, gloves and boots, as you do, and a waterproof riding jacket is a must in any month: the packing guide has more. Plan at least one full day of rest after you land, for both of you, before the first day’s ride.
Rest days, and the days off the bike
Every journey includes at least one planned rest day, and the longer journeys more, for exploring a town, doing something off the bike or simply resting. A few of them, on the base routes:
- Taupō, on the North Island journey: the lakefront, Huka Falls and the Aratiatia Rapids.
- Nelson, on the South Island journey: the galleries and the waterfront, or a day ride over Tākaka Hill to Golden Bay.
- Wellington, on Ultimate NZ and the Aotearoa Odyssey, the day before the ferry: Te Papa, the national museum.
- Greymouth, on the South Island journey and Ultimate NZ: the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, or Shantytown.
Activities aren’t included: the app points out what’s on the way, and you choose what to stop for and pay for it as you go. The base routes are a starting point, and we shape each journey around your interests and the accommodation available, so if the person on the back has something they want to see, tell us when you book.
The Cook Strait ferry
Ultimate NZ and Aotearoa Odyssey cross Cook Strait, from Wellington to Picton, a crossing of about 3.5 hours. The tickets are included for the bike, the rider and the pillion, and where it’s available, so is the Premium Lounge for the rider and the pillion, with more comfortable seating and complimentary food and drink, depending on the vessel. Lounges have a minimum age of 16 or 18, depending on the operator, so tell us if the pillion is younger. The Cook Strait ferry guide covers boarding with the bike.
Age and the law
We set no minimum age for a pillion, as long as they can ride safely as a passenger through long days. The rider must be at least 25, with a full motorcycle licence held for at least two years. New Zealand’s Road Code asks that a pillion sit on a safe pillion seat, facing forwards, with both feet on the footrests, and wear a helmet. For a son or daughter, the length of the days matters as much as their age.
Our terms are plain about it: a pillion included in your booking may ride as a passenger without any further consent, and the Hirer (the person who books) and the rider are responsible for making sure the pillion can ride safely as a passenger throughout the journey. The road rules for visitors are in riding in New Zealand, and the age rules in our FAQ.
Two bikes instead
If the person on the back would rather ride, or you are travelling with a friend who rides, two bikes work too. Each bike is priced on its own, and each rider meets the same requirements: 25 or over, a full licence held for two years and two years on a similar bike. Travelling with a pair of bikes? Talk to us, as some accommodation may be able to be combined to reduce the cost.
The journeys
Every journey takes a pillion at the same price per bike.
- North Island: 7 days, from Auckland and back, about 1,637 km. Up to NZ$14,999 per bike, including GST.
- South Island: 14 days, from Christchurch and back, about 2,591 km. Up to NZ$26,999 per bike, including GST.
- Ultimate NZ: 21 days, Auckland to Christchurch, about 4,041 km. Up to NZ$35,999 per bike, including GST.
- Aotearoa Odyssey: 28 days, Auckland to Christchurch, about 5,377 km. Up to NZ$47,999 per bike, including GST.
