I've been thinking...

[Ixion]

Off road bikes used to be registered,any bike sold,or brought into the country had a plate.I've had several MX and trials bikes that had plates - made it much easier to ride them on the road.The change came in around 1995 when the VIN came in.Of course the plate was constant,registered or unregistered,it always had a rego plate....unregistered for 10 years? Just go in and pay for rego,instant legal.The good old days eh?

Anyway - I look at off road as the biggest riding school in the country,if they are out there riding,they are far better riders for it....we all benifit....but some like to moan about it.

Not quite.

Originally, you got a new PLATE every year . The plates were different colours. Then they changed to a new plate every three years, still different colours, with a label in the intermediate years.

All motor vehicles had to have a plate, because with the plate also came the (compulsory) third party insurance. So bikes and vehicles that never went on the road had a plate. Unless their owners had separate third party insurance, as big companies usually did.

Then, a few years ago,sometime in the 50s I think they switched to the permanent plate idea.

Then later, to the present system. I'm not sure if it was when VINs came out or when ACC replaced third party insurance.. I think it was earlier than 1995, in fact it must have been because by 1995 the plates were the black and white ones.

[Mom]

If I may hark back to Mom's original post regarding natural talent and training:

I am still learning. The learning curve never ends.

Apologies for the shortened quote.

So, if you can tell me, how do we convince our more bomb proof biking couterparts of this? The smell of raw testosterone can be very overwhelming sometimes.

[Hitcher]

Then, a few years ago,sometime in the 50s I think they switched to the permanent plate idea.

It would have been somewhere about 1963. My dad bought a 1963 PB Velox, rego 149-534 that in reasonably short order became CA9838. For years we had a newspaper clipping outlining how the plates were allocated around the country -- CA & CB were Taranaki plates.

[slofox]

Apologies for the shortened quote.

So, if you can tell me, how do we convince our more bomb proof biking couterparts of this? The smell of raw testosterone can be very overwhelming sometimes.

Only experience will teach that Mom - if those concerned last long enough for it to take effect...

It's the same with anything though - young lads do tend to push the envelope somewhat...as I did myself when that age and with a shorter perspective on life in general. And some returnees are worse than their younger counterparts as well...like idiots who ride at 206km/hr through fog f'rinstance....and that's only on the memory of the smell of raw testosterone...

[98tls]

If I may hark back to Mom's original post regarding natural talent and training:



I have been riding on and off for over forty years. I have had gaps of some time without owning a bike, but have always thought of myself as a biker.
I don't know how much natural talent I had to start with and I have no idea how "good" I am now. But I have learned a helluva lot about riding throughout the years. I am still learning. A lot of what needs fixing, I am aware of, being focused on self diagnosis - not just in riding I might add. If I can't work out what to do to fix a problem, then I will seek advice, be it from a book, an article, this forum or an instructor. But I won't just ignore a problem and hope it goes away. About six months ago I did an advanced rider's course here and sure enough, Ward picked up exactly what I was concerned about and made some very sound suggestions which I still work on six months down the track.

The other thing about training your talent is patience. You don't need to be the ace today - tomorrow is soon enough. Or the day after that or the day after that. Rushing things doesn't work. Practice takes time. And time takes patience.


The learning curve never ends.

Interesting read mate,an old fart myself and to be honest i get a bit miffed with all this "advanced rider this n that".Not saying ive a problem with it at all just bothers me a little in that one blokes way of doing things may be different from the next and completly natural to him and if it works hows it wrong?Take it to the highest level and you will find some pretty clever riders who done it flying a finger at the considered right way of doing it.To be honest im glad im not some young fella just kickin off my first motorcycling miles,would spend to much time making decisions on how to do it instead of doing it.

[Ixion]

Apologies for the shortened quote.

So, if you can tell me, how do we convince our more bomb proof biking couterparts of this? The smell of raw testosterone can be very overwhelming sometimes.

People keep throwing out the "testosterone" thing. But I'm far from convinced that it's any more than a convenient mantra.

If testosterone was involved one would expect it to show as speed rather than crashing. Of course, the two may be linked. But not always. I have seen more than one a Harley crash when speeds were quite low.

And the reverse is even more noticeable.Some riders a fast coounts. But don't crash. And in some cases, manifestly testosterone cannot be blamed.

Take Mr Boomer for example. He is a fast coount. But Mr Boomer is a homo (I know this because WINJA told me - I have no personal knowledge of Mr Boomer's homoness or otherwise . But I think WINJA may be relied on, he knows a lot about the subject). And, being so, testosterone is an unlikely contender for the culprit. Nor does Mr Boomer crash very often (I think).

Likewise Mr Carver. He is a self professed (self confessed ? self obsessed?) homo. Who likewise , despite his persona actis , is actually a good and quite safe rider (sorry to let the secret out Mr carver).

And Crazy Steve. Who is not, as far as I am aware, a homo , though innuendo rumour and salacious gossip are always welcome. But he is crazy. We know that because, duh, if he wasn't his name would be Sane Steve, wouldn't it. Mr Steve is also a fast coount. Very fast. Probably, however, because he is crazy, not because of testosterone. And despite both crazy and non-homoness, he does not crash.

[The Stranger:Me]

I dont have a MEafter my KB name but i agree

Running wide on a corner and going through a ditch doesn't count.

[Madness]

Nothing taught me more about biking than the excruciating pain I felt when I binned at the ripe age of 16.

[98tls]

Nothing taught me more about biking than the excruciating pain I felt when I binned at the ripe age of 16.

Yep works better than the "thinking chair" eh.

[Madness]

Yep works better than the "thinking chair" eh.

I wouldn't know. Was too thick for one of them.

[slofox]

one blokes way of doing things may be different from the next and completly natural to him and if it works hows it wrong?

Very very true 98tls. No one teacher/mentor/coach has all the answers. In our dance career, partner and I have been through about six different coaches. Each one has had some good and some bad features. You learn something from each of them. But not all that any one coach says is correct for us. We have slowly developed an overview of what we need to know and an overview of how to achieve certain aims. We take the good bits and drop the bad bits of each coach's input. The same applies to any skill, biking included. Look at the differences of opinion that are expressed in this forum...(lunacy excepted of course!!!)

The advanced course I did was as much to give me a bit of a push along as to fix problems. It was also designed to test my own defensive riding habits (which checked out OK in fact - at least according to the dude running the course.) Really, what it did was focus me on certain things - like emergency braking for instance. That's the sort of thing that too many people never train for. For me, the course was less about how to do things than about what I needed to think about more.

[Mom]

Take Mr Boomer for example....

Likewise Mr Carver....

And Crazy Steve.....

Well now, I have met all these riders and have ridden with them too.

Mr Carver and I have made up our differences, I wont say he is ok because as you poiont out there is some doubt. As far as the other two go, I would be happy any time to ride with them. Or to be honest here, for us to say Hi! at the start point, and enjoy our lunch together when I eventually get there.

Speed I dont believe is the only thing governed by testosterone. There is also the, have to be as good as or even better than the other bloke(read that as fast if you like) element. The competitiveness and the desire to be top dog. If I keep up, I too can be cool like them Too bad I dont have the skills or ability to, it cant be that hard, can it?

In fact speed has almost nothing to do with what I am talking about. Speed is relative. What I call fast is probably a cake walk for some riders, though with out a doubt it will be illegal and of course I never exceed 100 kph, I dont want to die.

[Grahameeboy]

Only experience will teach that Mom - if those concerned last long enough for it to take effect...

It's the same with anything though - young lads do tend to push the envelope somewhat...as I did myself when that age and with a shorter perspective on life in general. And some returnees are worse than their younger counterparts as well...like idiots who ride at 206km/hr through fog f'rinstance....and that's only on the memory of the smell of raw testosterone...

Funny cause I came close to killing myself when climbing before I was 18....motorcycling much safer...