South Auckland Street Skills

[Grasshopperus]

Grats Addict. I bet it felt good to rip that L-plate off.

[Addict]

Nah not worried about waiting six months, need more time to save for my next bike anyway.

[Addict]

And yes the L target got ripped off before i left the testing station!

[Grasshopperus]

Looks like I won't be able to make SASS tomorrow, family commitments.

Damnit, I'm getting SASS withdrawal symptoms.

[Sis]

Sorry that we are going to be without your presence.

I found that my riding skills lessened if I missed a SASS.

Just be careful out there.

[aws]

Great mentor to student ratio there the other night: 2-on-1. Thanks guys! Decent emergency braking practice too! My bike probably still doesn't know what hit it. Need to crank up the speed a bit more now and see if I can hold those stoppies a bit longer. I thought the bike would be a bit long to get the rear up so easily. Would be good to set up a longer run-up maybe down the road in the middle of the carpark so that we get a bit more time to settle on a target speed before hitting the picks.

See you again next time - but maybe not next week.

[Grasshopperus]

What a great night.

Practising emergency braking using just rear, just front and then both brakes was a good experience. It was also interesting pushing the front brake to the limits

Nice to meet you princessbandit, hope to see you again next week.

[PrincessBandit]

Had a great time. Enjoyed watching you and Andrew doing your emergency stops!
Was excellent practicing emergency stops with a small group, and I must have more goes at that slow speed handling in and out of the car park spaces....

[Cayman911]

oh i remember when i was practicing my emergency braking haha was fun locking up:P. was a bit unfair comparing my breaking to the zx12r though >_>....

[PrincessBandit]

Anyone else going tonight?

[caseye]

Anyone else going tonight?

Yep Ratbag on her way out the door right now.Going Drury then manukau.

[peetah]

Hi there,

I am a total newb (almost 40 but licenced riding for the first time), but for various reasons (age, height & width) I'm excused from the 250cc limit, however I am not planning on doing anything stoopid while on a larger bike. Obviously with a bigger bike comes bigger risks, but I'm trying to mitigate them with proper training and hopefully not forming bad habits from the beginning.

I work in the city, and probably would struggle to make it to Papakura by 6:30 or 7 - is it possible to meet everyone in Manukau?

I am VERY keen on making full use of something like this. Advice is always appreciated - even though SWMBO has upped the life insurance...

Peter

[Sis]

I think you are on the right track. I was self-taught. Forty years ago there was no training or education. Now I am trying to correct some bad habits.
I suggest going to a licensed trainer to get a good start on riding.
We are just a casual group that get together to sharpen our skills. We are not licensed and we are not trainers.
You are most welcome to join in (as long as you don't expect to be trained) and we tend to get to Manukau anywhere about 7.30 to 8.00 pm.

[peetah]

Correct - I am going to get the bike first (bought all the gear today), and then have been recommended Trevor Birchall for some training and then hopefully you guys to help with advice & tips. Be nice to have the basics right first time rather than having to correct bad habits after they become ingrained. My apologies for suggesting that I was going to get training from the group.

[Sis]

By the way, Welcome to motorbikes. ( Sorry bad manners)

You suggest starting with a bigger bike.

I don't know your bike history but I would seriously consider starting with a smaller bike. This will give you the confidence and you will quickly move on to other bikes soon enough.
If you get something too big, you are going to scare yourself and it will become a mind-game that you will loose. I have ridden with some who have done just that - started on a bike that was too big and gave them some seat-puckering moments. They developed some nasty habits that they seem unable to improve on or remove.