December 16th (mentors and mentoring)

**ZeroIndex** · 17th December 2006, 03:37

was a good ride.. even though i was on the nxr125, managed to keep pretty darn close to the front of the group

NXRs are really forgiving bikes, and 'race lines' have no meaning for them: you just take the corner when you want to

anyway, i really need sleep, goodnight

**TerminalAddict** · 17th December 2006, 16:15

June 2 might be the next I reckon.

maybe plan some more kms (60 kms was a bit short) but need to plan 100km stops if sarah comes with as her tank is smaller than my beer belly

was thinking south towards waitomo/otorohonga or east to paeroa -> waihi (although there 60 kms of dead straight roads between us and paeroa)

or we could head to TGA, and hook up waylander/2much etc etc

**justsomeguy** · 17th December 2006, 16:29

Originally Posted by McJim

They do a really good steak sandwich at that place - must remember for future ref.

Ohh yeah - I sure can vouch for that!!

Nice to meet some new faces and familiar faces.

Thanks for having us.

**Titanium** · 17th December 2006, 16:49

Originally Posted by carver

can someone teach me how to ride slow..im on 90 demerits as of last night!

Take your right hand off it ....... do not grip so hard ..... twist a little slower .... remember the throtle works both ways .....

The road signs with the numbers on them (50, 60, 70, 80, 100) are the limit for that piece of road, until you come to a sign with a higher (which means you speed up) or lower (which means you slow down) number on it.

Whith certainty, if your dial thing (speedo) points to the same number as on the sign (above) you will not get any more demerit points ..... .

Unless you do other stupid shit not related to speed ...... that is another lesson though.

Let me know if matching your speed to the road signs works out for you. I could be on to a wining formula.

pisstake of course ..... but usk a stupid question ..... get a stupid answer ....

**Panther** · 17th December 2006, 19:20

Originally Posted by carver

can someone teach me how to ride slow..im on 90 demerits as of last night!

Maybe you should stop riding two things in one night

**Quasievil** · 17th December 2006, 21:16

Good Ride but to many bikes, waste of time unless its one on one.
If anyone wants a one on one give me a yell.

Just my thoughts

**shaneh** · 17th December 2006, 21:23

My first thoughts as we left Te Rapa and as I was overtaken by 3 bikes in quick succession was "bugger this, if I wanted to ride by myself I should have gone to Raglan". But I got that all wrong, thanks heaps to Quasi and Mental Trousers for hanging around us slower riders and providing some confidence inspiring advice.
Hope to see you on the Jan 2 (if your heads have cleared by then).
Shane

**samwp** · 17th December 2006, 23:18

Cheers to TermialAddict for sorting this end out, next one should be good.

Great to meet some more KBers too

Quasi has a point though, with that many people the learning process is a little hindered.

**ZeroIndex** · 18th December 2006, 01:33

Originally Posted by sayam5

Cheers to TermialAddict for sorting this end out, next one should be good.

Great to meet some more KBers too

Quasi has a point though, with that many people the learning process is a little hindered.

really? i noticed you in front of me, as well as everyone else.. On a learner friendly group ride, it's exactly that.. a ride.. if it was a mentor day, it wouldn't of been so 'public'

As Quasi said in his post, mentoring should be done 1 on 1. When there is a group of people meeting another group of people at a designated area, a lot less teaching happens due to time schedules and the such..

Finishing words though: It was a good ride, everyone got there safely, and everyone had fun..

**carver** · 18th December 2006, 07:08

Originally Posted by Titanium

Take your right hand off it ....... do not grip so hard ..... twist a little slower .... remember the throtle works both ways .....

The road signs with the numbers on them (50, 60, 70, 80, 100) are the limit for that piece of road, until you come to a sign with a higher (which means you speed up) or lower (which means you slow down) number on it.

Whith certainty, if your dial thing (speedo) points to the same number as on the sign (above) you will not get any more demerit points ..... .

Unless you do other stupid shit not related to speed ...... that is another lesson though.

Let me know if matching your speed to the road signs works out for you. I could be on to a wining formula.

pisstake of course ..... but usk a stupid question ..... get a stupid answer ....

bit like how to lean through corners aye?
but i think the inherit probem i was addressing was the riding within the limits whilst still having fun.

**TerminalAddict** · 18th December 2006, 07:57

Well big ups to Mental Trousers for riding with shaneh (and any others there)

Sounds like Quasi hung back and gave guidance too .. excellent.

Road Rash and I took turns up front guiding the way, and that seemed to work pretty well .. no one got lost.

What could/should be done different next time?

This is one part of learning that I have never had (the mentor thing) so I don't think I am the best teacher, and I've got little to no experience anyway (18 months). So on that note, it was excellent that Mental Trousers spoke up at the car park, and let me know he would be "teaming up" with some one.

As a learner, I've got to say, the guys on big bikes can be a little intimidating, and it can be difficult to ask for help.
I put myself in the "needs a mentor" group here on KB, and have been on my fair share of rides, and have never, not once on a ride, had another rider talk to me about what I'm doing.
I learnt by following Quasi, Titanium, Warr, Terbang, and tryiing to pick up tid bitsd of info just from watching them.
I would dearly love to have some more formal pointers even now .. and I bet the real new riders are desperate for it.

Shaneh has posted a ride on Jan 2 and I will be there.
I hope some experienced riders commit to teach what they know.

Perhaps next time a destination may not be what is needed, but rather a leisurely ride, where a more formal grouping could be organised, that will allow pairs to stop and talk as often as they need/want.

Would love to hear other opinions

**McJim** · 18th December 2006, 08:36

The learner friendly rides in Auckland started up almost by accident. They weren't intended to be learner friendly at first just supposed to be a ride for people on 250cc bikes where we could go at a comfortable pace without the intimidation that inevitably comes from the presence of big sports bikes.

It's not that the riders of the large capacity bikes are trying to intimidate - it's just the way it is.

Mentoring sessions should be done one on one - I agree - but by the same token there is no substitute for actual miles done and time in the saddle. When you only have a few weeks of round town riding the open road can be a scary place so it's difficult to gain the experience you need.

When I first rode much of the advice I received I couldn't take as it was gibberish - an assumption of basic knowledge was made by the people that gave it and that basic knowledge had not yet been learned my me.

The 250 rides in Auckland have been interesting from the point of view of watching absolute beginners become fairly competent quickly because of the confidence and support of peers.

There is definately a place for 'scenic' paced rides to bring people safely into group riding if mentors and students want to be involved this shouldn't be a problem but not everyone on the ride will be actively mentoring or learning.

**McJim** · 18th December 2006, 08:39

Originally Posted by carver

bit like how to lean through corners aye?
but i think the inherit probem i was addressing was the riding within the limits whilst still having fun.

Add tight corners, avoid sweepers and straights.

100kph on a 170 degree hairpin is fairly exciting.

my 2c

**Warr** · 18th December 2006, 08:51

Originally Posted by TerminalAddict

As a learner, I've got to say, the guys on big bikes can be a little intimidating, and it can be difficult to ask for help.
I put myself in the "needs a mentor" group here on KB, and have been on my fair share of rides, and have never, not once on a ride, had another rider talk to me about what I'm doing.
I learnt by following Quasi, Titanium, Warr, Terbang, and tryiing to pick up tid bitsd of info just from watching them.
I would dearly love to have some more formal pointers even now .. and I bet the real new riders are desperate for it.

You arent the only one there Paul. We are all learners. Doing 1 on 1 riding has been more rare for me. Mentoring as such starts from a willingness to seek advise and none of us are too old for that

I wasnt around for your ride proper, but big ups for organising it. It was good to meet some new faces from Hams and will look out for the next event.