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Motu
16th February 2004, 21:04
Have you influenced anyone into taking up motorcycling - knowingly,or unknowingly? Today I had a visit from a friend I haven't seen for awhile,I was I think a big influence in his riding,as others were to me.

In one of my periodic cleanouts I took some books to our community library - amoungst them was that weekly encyclopedia of motorcycling,forget what it was called.As it was not suitable for the library,the librarian took them home for her teenage (about 13 or 14yr) son.He devoured these magazines,just about memorised the whole lot,he was a huge motorcycle fan,and never riden a bike....although he had been to the Isle of Man with his father.On leaving school he got a job and started saving for a bike.

One day riding off road we see him parked out side the fence on a brand new TT250,it took a lot of talking him around,but we finaly got him in and riding his off road bike off road - he had never done it before.Soon we had him out at every oppurtunity and he became my biggest rival on the dirt track.Through my interest and knowledge of British bikes he got himself a Triumph Tiger 100C,and from my interst in trials a Montesa 200 - so now we rode together off road,helping layout and ride in the sort of endurocross events I held,rode against me at the dirt track,we went out together on our trials bikes,layed out sections and played trials,we also rode together on the road,me on the XS1 and he on his Daytona.His teens and early 20s were all about bikes - I reckon he had a pretty good time.

Seeing him today with his wife and 2yr old daughter brought back memories for both of us I'm sure,showing his daughter pictures of Daddy on bikes that I had.He still has the TT and the Montesa,but hasn't ridden for a few years - We may get to ride together again yet...I'm keen!

I am 20yrs his senior,but the love of riding bikes spans any age barriers - I have never felt old,or superior with other newer riders...that smile when they stop after a ride,eyes sparkling,says it all.

Milky
16th February 2004, 21:13
Sure i have got ppl interested, being one of only three motorcyclists (that i knew of) during my time at school, along with Kwaka Kid for a while :p many ppl have asked for acvice on learning, or for a ride on th bike to get them interested... i am sure that two smoker wouldn't have started motorcycling as recently as he did if my family hadnt been motorcyclists - we have known each other for years :)
The economy of motorcycling into Uni means freinds are interested in starting - not necessarily immediately, but i think that in time they may begin themselves

Jackrat
16th February 2004, 21:44
Hahahaha,My father in law hated me on sight because I was/am a motorcyclist.Now both his sons are as well.I like to think I had a hand in that.

Zed
16th February 2004, 22:12
I try and discourage people I know from learning to ride motorcycles...it's just too dangerous out there on the roads nowadays. However, if one of them approached me and was adamant to learn then I would give them my undivided attention & help! :D

We humans tend to talk about the things we love the most- with motorcycling sometimes it rubs off onto others who want to be as passionate about it as we are, so they start riding. :ride:


Zed

Antallica
16th February 2004, 22:41
I was sucked in.....

Rock on! :Punk:

moko
17th February 2004, 07:28
A mate told me he was interested in getting a bike and could he jump on the back of mine to see what it was like.Being 17 and stupid I took a sharp corner leaned right over at some stupid speed while entering the high street on my CB200,dug in and spat us both off,we bounced down the road,ended up bloody and bruised,while the bike stopped just short of a showroom window.As I studied the holes in my jeans where the knees used to be(years before Kurt Cobain)and wondered when I`d stop bleeding,he limped up and said"thanks for showing me how it`s done".2 weeks later he`d bought a B.S.A.and rode bikes for years,still trying to figure out the logic there.

Oscar
17th February 2004, 07:29
Yeah, there was this one guy...thought he was an adventure rider.
We took him on a real adventure ride, but he screamed like a gurl....



....can't please everyone I suppose.








Going to Pukemanu, Motu?

Motu
17th February 2004, 08:29
That's the plan,the bikes ready,the rebuilt engine fell into the Pajero yesterday,the trailer has a new axle,but is sitting at the wrong height - we should be all go.Things out of my control hopefully will stay in order.

So,is the Dommi going - doing the Safri as well?????

Oscar
17th February 2004, 11:21
That's the plan,the bikes ready,the rebuilt engine fell into the Pajero yesterday,the trailer has a new axle,but is sitting at the wrong height - we should be all go.Things out of my control hopefully will stay in order.

So,is the Dommi going - doing the Safri as well?????

Yeah, I'm gonna take the Domi to Pukemanu.
Too busy to even think about the Safari, when is it?

merv
17th February 2004, 11:29
Motu I have been a complete failure in this department. While me and my two brothers were, and two of us still are, avid bikers, I have not even managed to get my son riding.

Spot you at Pukemanu.

Sharkey
17th February 2004, 11:40
CK suckered me in. But it didn't really require much persuasion.

duckman
17th February 2004, 11:54
I think I helped to convince my g/f to give riding a go.

She now owns a 1997 Suzuki TU250.

Motoracer
17th February 2004, 13:39
My brother got me into it and a few others I think. I got at least one of my mates into it I think.

DEATH_INC.
17th February 2004, 14:32
Yep been responsible for a couple.....My brother,my old neighbor,one of my best mates,and my flatmate to name a few...... :devil2:

Motu
18th February 2004, 08:42
So we've helped others get into bikes,that's good - but what interests me is what we do without knowing....I had no idea that cleaning out my bookshelves would result in giving a boy I didn't know an interest in bikes,or that a few years later we would meet and become friends.Have I inspired others? or traumertised them for life - I don't know,but hope I have given the incentive to give it a try.

As a 16yr old going to work on my BSA Bantam I would stop at an intersection and see an old guy blasting down the centre line on an old Royal Enfield,no helmet,white hair flying,a blanket across his legs...in winter he wore welding gloves and safety goggles.If I was ahead of him he would pass me and sometimes acknowledge my excistance - WOW! I always wondered who he was - he had such presence on a bike,you knew he was there,the cars just parted in front of him,he was an inspiration for me.

A few years later I'm a friend of his son and spend many hours at their house,the old man is part of my life now...grumpy old sod,at 3am he says''stop bumping the table and make me a coffee,I'll have your magneto finished sooner if you don't interupt'' pushing back mags,pistons,clutches and radio parts to put a plate down.I was to go for rides with him...and ultimatly his last ride.

Who's watching as you ride...don't let it inflate your ego,but you may change someone life.....

Oscar
18th February 2004, 08:58
Who's watching as you ride........


This fuckin' guy here, that's who...http://www.advrider.com/forums/images/smilies/splat.gif

http://www.radarprotection.co.nz/reviews/Autocar2002_2.jpg

Motu
18th February 2004, 10:28
It's good that you take an interest on others occupations Oscar - after showing you how this wonderful technology worked,then letting you hold it...I hope you dropped it on the road,then as you went to pick it up accidently kicked it into the path of a B train?

Hitcher
18th February 2004, 11:25
This fuckin' guy here, that's who...http://www.advrider.com/forums/images/smilies/splat.gif

http://www.radarprotection.co.nz/reviews/Autocar2002_2.jpg

That looks a bit like the road from Tai Tapu to Little River...

Big Dog
18th February 2004, 18:11
I won't "recruit" because I don't need the guilt if it goes pear shaped. I do however offer advice free of charge to anyone who will listen.

I've talked several tossers who would other wise be dead into giving it a miss.

I've given encouragement to a 40+ yr old who wanted to start riding now that the kids have left home. Years later she confessed it had something to do with the look on my face once, when I pulled up at home as she was visiting my olds (grin ear to ear despite horizontal rain). Last I heard she was 2yrs into her round the world bike trip should be back by now (that was three years ago) but then again I don't think she will ever be back for long.

I've talked a mate into being more responsible on the road now that he has a kid to go home to.

ching_ching
18th February 2004, 20:33
I left work one day on my bike after my shift. One of the inmates saw me. Next day he rocks up and goes, "Phuuuu Boss, you're bike's the shit!! I didn't know you had a bike!" "Just got it", I says.
"I think I'll get me a bike, Mister" he says. "Way more cool then cars, Boss." Then he rambles on about how he's gonna soup it up, spray paint it with the latest schemes and race all the boy racers (of which he is one) after he smashes his lag. I explained to him about the process of going for the licence but you instantly know when your advice gets taken seriously or when it goes in one ear and out the other and in this case it wasn't registering.
Like they say, 'young, dumb and full of shaite'.
Each day when I muster and see him on his job he hits me up about my bike. He's a young kid and although talking to most of these guys is like talking to a tree, I try and make a small point of listening to him because of the current passion he has for bikes at the moment and always trying to open his eyes to at least some aspect of safety regarding motorcycling.

chingster

onearmedbandit
18th February 2004, 20:35
Yeah, it does look like that stretch of road. Ridden it shitloads, only been pulled once, but no ticket.

Anyway, I've showed a couple of people to ride, and it is a combination of their experience and attitude that the lessons stopped there.

Draco
21st February 2004, 08:05
Last weekend at the charity ride there was a woman looking at our bikes with that longing look in her eye. Her friend was trying to encourage her to sit on one of the bikes and see what it felt like as she obviously wanted to learn to ride but like myself was rather vertically challenged (under 5') and having trouble finding a bike. It sounded like she had pretty much given up on the idea. I chatted with her about some of the smaller/lower bikes i had ridden and encouraged her to keep looking and eventually she would find one she could ride. She came back to me a little while later and thanked me for advice and encouragement. I take every opportunity i can to encourage people who are interested to ride, particularly woman as we are not encouraged to the same degree as men. I sure hope i see her at the next charity ride on her own bike with that same stupid grin on her face that we all have!

Indiana_Jones
21st February 2004, 16:33
lol conned my best mate into getting one :D
Now my other mate wants one too

-Indy

Hitcher
22nd February 2004, 15:31
I like riding through Masterton. The kids there all turn and look when they hear bikes coming. Does your heart good! I now ride through Masterton in at least one gear lower then I do in other towns and suburbs and I also run hard at their roundabouts so the Zrex burbles and bangs on the off-throttle. Nothing better than watching small children run to the mummies! There's nothing better than an appreciative audience to perform to!! Way more satisfying then the "beards" on the top of the 'takas...

Big Dog
24th February 2004, 17:40
I like riding through Masterton. The kids there all turn and look when they hear bikes coming. Does your heart good! I now ride through Masterton in at least one gear lower then I do in other towns and suburbs and I also run hard at their roundabouts so the Zrex burbles and bangs on the off-throttle. Nothing better than watching small children run to the mummies! There's nothing better than an appreciative audience to perform to!! Way more satisfying then the "beards" on the top of the 'takas...
Just don't get caught hanging out around the play ground :lol: but yeah have to agree on the kiddie giggle factor. I love the way kids sitting in the back of $100k cars freak out when they see the electric screen on my $7k bike move (really funny on the motorway), go the bikes :scooter: Feck the cattle trucks :finger:

wkid_one
24th February 2004, 18:21
Just don't get caught hanging out around the play ground :lol: but yeah have to agree on the kiddie giggle factor. I love the way kids sitting in the back of $100k cars freak out when they see the electric screen on my $7k bike move (really funny on the motorway), go the bikes :scooter: Feck the cattle trucks :finger:
If you like Manawatu Gorge as well be warned

Lou Girardin
26th February 2004, 06:38
It's not quite the same; but my darling wife, who swore she'd never ride pillion. Suggested that we take the bike to Wellington at Easter, instead of the car.
What have I done? This could be the end of solo rides.
Lou

ManDownUnder
26th February 2004, 10:48
This fuckin' guy here, that's who...[IMG]


Everyone, meet Officer Cyclops... one eyed in every sense of the word. At least he's doing his part for revenue collection - oh and road safety.

What's the Police slogan "To collect and serve"?

Storm
15th August 2004, 11:56
I was encouraged to get my road bike by guys I know through church. I had been a dirt bike rider for years, but they lured me to the dark side and I havent been back since - and I'm loving it. Gotta confess to dropping down a gear at the roundabouts if I see someone watching and really opening it up so it screams and rumbles just nicely. :whistle:

FROSTY
15th August 2004, 12:01
one or two guys n gals Ive helped over the years.
Part of the rider training thing--encourage them to enjoy --focus on what they do well --oops rambling