Sunday 10th December - Where Did You Ride And What Did You Practise?

**elle-f** · 10th December 2006, 15:55

Went on the chicks ride in the Wairarapa and practised cornering smoothly and faster than normal which was great and practised chatting and eating and drinking coffee and um......OH i practised watching people hoon on up ahead!

**Trudes** · 10th December 2006, 15:58

Congrats Dodger!!!!

Practised today... One handed riding, at speed for once; smoother cornering lines and throttle control; and being "tail end charlie", man, the responsibility nearly made me act like an adult for a while!!

**Squeak the Rat** · 10th December 2006, 16:15

Miranda / Kaiawa (sp?) on my jones. Practiced taking it easy. Lasted till near the end when a bmw tried to give me the learn and I just couldn't resist & resulted in a self telling off by myself. Those M5's are fast....

Practiced stopping on the sthrn motorway to see if I could help a couple of stopped bikers. 1 had run out of gas and the other was syphoning from his bike. All under control so carried on and surfed a roundabout then headed for lunch....

Don't think I've ever seen as many bikers wave as I did today. Nice.

**yungatart** · 10th December 2006, 17:08

I didn't ride today but cleaned my bike, then washed Mstrs' bike as well.
Did lots of washing and houseworky stuff too.

**jumma** · 10th December 2006, 17:09

Did the entire Wellington coast today, Oriental Bay right around to Owhiro Bay. Great weather for it, none of us wanted to get off our bikes so we jumped on the motorway and headed out to the Hutt.

Over the Haywards, round the inlet (north side) and up SH1 to Paekakariki, where we returned via the hill to negotiate the southern side of the inlet.

Jumped on the motorway again, pulled off at Tawa and took the back road to J'ville, then around Makara and back home via Karori.

157km's all up, made a concerted effort to look through corners more than I have been. Also experimented with shifting my body around a bit, as I'm somewhat reluctant to lean the bike to the same level I used to (pre crash)

**Donor** · 10th December 2006, 17:24

In a bit of a mood today.

So toodled around Papakura, out to Takanini and practiced my cornering around the nice sweepers of Conifer Grove, then shot through the middle of Papakura, headed toward Hunua, then bailed up Hunua Rd, visited some old stomping grounds, and generally farted about.

Mainly about the cornering, learning to trust my body position as well as the bike and a nicely balanced throttle.

**gijoe1313** · 10th December 2006, 20:01

I left Wellywood yesterday at 7.30pm - Apologies to Colapop for not being able to turn up for escort duties at the 'takas (long story short, met some mates at random in Courtney as you do and ended up partying till 3.30am!)

I had purchased an excellent two-piece rain suit from Wellington Motorcycles and practiced the fine art of gearing up! I left for Auckland via the 'takas and took the least efficient way home via Napier! The night riding was excellent, no traffic and I managed to make such good time I was back in Auckland by 3.30am. I found that night riding and keeping at the same speed as in daytime was enlightening, I somehow managed to catch up with another rider on the Napier-Taupo route and we had a good time travelling in convoy. Only hairy moment was when I hit a tar-snake and my front end "squiggled" for a few seconds, I put my trust in the bike and let it ride it out and I was back on track as if nothing had happened.

Ironically, I didn't need my rain suit at all! When I started to leave Wellywood, the clouds were brewing - but I think the guys were looking out for me and even had a little chuckle. I left a rain squall from the Hutt and emerged into clear skies - even a little rainbow to tell me, heads up and enjoy!

Having learnt from previous trip up from Wellywood in the night, I was dressed for bear - balaclava, neck warmer, thermal long sleeve shirt and of course, a flouro-vest ("Watch out for Motorbikes!" one even) - the flouro had an interesting effect on oncoming traffic, they all slowed down thinking I was a Popo!

Today, I washed my ride, maintenanced it and did a ride out to the Hunuas- Quarry road-Maraetai-Twilight road combo. Did it for the guys and to remind myself why I love riding....still.

**ajturbo** · 10th December 2006, 20:40

on saturday i went for a ride...
then remembered the coast to coast was on,, met up with a couple of the plamy boys.. cowboy and co.
met the guy who owns the xj900 i had... !!
really didn't feel like talking to anyone, but was made too... think it was good for me in the end,
went on the ride with the group.. but there were a LOT of people (riders) that had not ridden in a group before.....
read 20 bikes in INDIAN FILE...WTF?

pulled of just before woodville.. and went home... i had enough for the day, and i had to get to work...

**paulj** · 11th December 2006, 05:44

Off into the Nevis for some watersports - completed 30 of the 50 (return trip) crossings - got a little cocky and just plowed in without checking first - waist deep and soaked! Bike is now nice and clean!

Tested Ventura pack rack which rattled itself loose and most bolts either fell out or were loose. Locktite and new bolts today.

Now that I am mounting the saddle from the front I must lift one leg up high - being a little age challenged and tired I failed to gain the maximum lift, kicked bike seat, other leg slipped under bike, and I crashed to the ground, barking my knee on the way down - looked around to see if I had been noticed (not likely at the top end of the Nevis) and then for a minute or two, I competed with Thor, God of Thunder.

On trip out buried an 50mm nail into the rear tyre - thankfully not at speed. All the good advice of these forums came into play - tyre went 'down' in 1 second, bike crab'd its way back and forth all over the road and I rode it to a stop. Walked bike home - pulled tyre off and checked tube - used all patches in punc kit - tube U/S - off to tyre place Mon.

Now I will have new repair kit, three tyre levers, two spare tubes and some gas cannisters to pump it up - in my backpack. I was thankful that the punc happened out in 'civilisation' and not 40kM up the Nevis.

I would like to express my thanks to you all for the GREAT advice on KB - the puncture went EXACTLY as I have read here - even my botched repair!

KB is compulsory daily reading for me ...

**James Deuce** · 11th December 2006, 06:23

Originally Posted by yungatart

I didn't ride today but cleaned my bike, then washed Mstrs' bike as well.

I'll be up one night this week.

**frogfeaturesFZR** · 11th December 2006, 06:55

Scenic Drive through the Waitakere Ranges. No practice, just enjoyed the ride.

**TerminalAddict** · 11th December 2006, 07:58

solo ride up 22 from ngaruawahia
then back down 1 very sedately coz my plug broke off from the radar detector

then a night ride with carver, sayam5, hamie, and some others I forget

**Blackbird** · 11th December 2006, 08:29

Did the Coro Loop on Friday with one of our new members, Jimmy B. This had been arranged before the tragic loss of our KB brothers and I must say that I felt a bit uncomfortable and apprehensive about doing it. Jimmy B and I had never met before although we'd swapped emails for a few months. Jimmy had only just returned to biking after a lengthy lay-off and had never done the Loop so it was a gentle ride at pretty much the legal limit. A silent prayer for Bruce, Daryl and Uncle B at the Coromandel Hill Lookout seemed entirely appropriate and a gentle cruise round, enjoying the lovely day and stunning scenery also seemed a good way of paying our respects. On a less reflective note, it was also a privilege to meet yet another fantastic KB member and I think a great friendship will develop from it.

**klingon** · 11th December 2006, 08:37

Originally Posted by BuckBuckNo1

There is nothing that I need to say this morning that hasn't already been said this past week.

Heads Up and Enjoy

Thanks BuckBuck, Sunday just wouldn't be the same without your "where did you ride and what did you practise" thread.

Originally Posted by Dodger

Nowhere this weekend due to some great news (I think after last weekend we need some):

My daughter was born Saturday morning at 7:39am.
"Kaylee Amber Hislop-Croft" 5.11lb. (3 weeks early)

Mother and Daughter doing fine

Awww Dodger she's gorgeous! Congrats to you and the new Mama. And welcome to the world Kaylee!

I went for my second-ever ride on the street on Sunday, from home the loooooong way to the bakery for some fresh bread for brekkie. I practised head-checks before changing lanes, maintaining consistent speed and road position, and especially remembering to cancel my indicators after cornering. (Why do I find that so hard to remember?!)

Then after breakfast I practised pillioning to Raglan and back. What a lovely day for it.