Well, I made it to the "top of New Zealand", but didn't stop at the beach campground I wanted. I assumed that since the BMW weighs much less than the others, it would do dirt roads better. That may be true under normal circumstances but in this situation I have a couple hundred pounds of stuff tied to the bike right behind me. As a result, the front wheel is "traction challenged" and just kinda slides around on the gravel, which is what the side roads are around here. Not impossible, but certainly not ideal since I have typical road "tyres". So I will stick to pavement, where this is not a problem, except for short bits. Oh, & I figured out the BMW gets 54 MPG but premium (12:1 compassion ratio) cost around US $5.65 a gallon! (NZ $2.16 per/L) So I estimate this trip will cost me ~US $750 in gas. Imagine touring this place in a big RV, though diesel  is cheaper, about 20%.