KoroJ's Blog

I dropped the bike into Boyles on Monday afternoon to get the forkseal fixed on Tuesday and requested they keep it an extra day and do the 72K service and put a new rear on, if they could get a Storm……two days and just under $1,000 later……!! (I guess what I expected but tried not to think about.)

Today was day two of our mentor programme so eleven of us were present and ready at Whitireia by 0900 again. This morning was spent in the classroom going over our general knowledge of the basics and some good references to keep handy, then a bit about commentary riding/driving to improve ones awareness and skill level, after which we watched some vid’s covering following and assessing a rider.

After lunch we had a brief discussion about mentoring then went out on the road for some practical. Initially we paired up as mentors & mentorees to ride over Grays Rd to Pauatahanui where we debriefed before swapping positions and riding up the Paekak’ Hill using no brakes (if possible). Steve & I were first away and had no problems with this.

The next leg back to Pauatahanui was a free ride but still using no brakes, then we changed partners to go over to Wainui’. From there we split into two groups to take turns following the lead rider along the coast road. I went into the ‘spirited’ group and it was an interesting ride as, once again, we attempted to ride off the brakes, (although I did manage to tap them a couple of times) I actually find it difficult following someone else’s lines and felt a lot more comfortable going slightly quicker on the return ‘free’ ride.

We finished the course with a coffee at the Wild Bean in Wainui’ before heading for home as Johnny Mentor.

It was another good day, doing 157Kms at 17.3K/Ltr. I got home at 1700 with 71,585Kms on the bike.