9 - 15 May: Where Did You ride and What Did You Practise?

[yungatart]

Like Kinje, (was nice to meet you!), I did the RRRS course in Napier.
I was on my new bike, the 2k trip down to the venue being my first time on it.
I practiced counter steering, late apexing, emergency braking, keeping my focus up and ahead, and hazard avoidance.
Like Kinje, my slow speed stuff is shit but by the end of the first practical, I could do a uturn!!!
The day was very informative and it was great to see my confidence levels lift as we progressed through each practical. The instructors give immediate feedback and tips on how to improve, before yu go back out and have another crack at it.
It taught me that I need way more practice at lots of stuff, but I will have to go back to my little EL for a while yet.
Having ridden the Ninja though, I have a BIG incentive to get my full!

[chanceyy]

well its been one of those full on motorcycle weekends ..

Needed to take Betsy for a good run to see how she would handle after the auto electrician fixed the bad earth wire

always said that she was forgiving of the slight mistakes that I make .. well its time to change that attitude .. Betsy is in fine form & now I understand why everyone was telling me to be wary of her powerband .. its there in full fine form at the moment

Saturday went on the ride for hope, meant I was going over the piecock hill for the first time .. a wee bit nervous but all ok ..

86 & I left shannon & headed to meet Sels1 & alexthekid at kapiti & the 4 of us went over the hill .. Thanks to sels1 for allowing me to follow you up to the look out .. overcooked a few corners esp not used to the new throttling that Betsy has, but from the lookout down I was in front with everyone behind ... worked on being smooth & trying to take notice of where i was each corner & where i wanted to come out of .. still overcooked it but sure had a huge smile when we caught up with Grub & nasty ..

Joined up with a few more riders & off to wellywood we went, being such a large ride & I was up near the front was making sure that i gave the person in front of me plenty of room & just trying to be aware of where other riders were in relation to me. all in all a damn good ride, most quite content to just sit in their position & not pass .. it was a great ride

back home late afternoon & load the bikes on the trailer ready for sundays exploits, (with a deviation to cowboyz wedding on sat nite)

Sunday drove to napier to participate in the ride right ride safe course. This was an excellent decision, as it was a full on day & if I had ridden the bike not sure I would have made it home in one piece as we were pretty darn tired driving home

for the course reiterate what Kinje has said below .. the course is invaluable no matter your experience ... it was great to understand how to corner & the talk/walk through it to get an idea of what had been said.

I enjoyed the whole day, still to tired today to absorb everything that we did .. but I have my book and as I had to drop Betsy's tank off to panel beater today will be looking forward to next week when we can go to some nice quiet roads in Shannon & practice, practice & practice some more

I did mention to 86 that it would have been great if course had been on saturday & the memorial ride on the sunday as it would have been perfect to try out some of the things I learnt .. but hey such is life, & there is always another day on a bike, another corner, another quiet bit of road to run through emergency braking or counter steering ..

[Rosie]

I rode to Tauranga and back, along Tauranga direct Rd, and back along the main highway. I practised cornering going downhill. I found that shifting myself back a bit on the seat and squeezing the tank with my knees took some of my weight off the bars and made cornering feel a lot more comfortable.
Our little excursion also included a short stretch of gravel (Oropi Gorge Rd), so I got to practise a bit more gravel riding. I was feeling more confident than last time I was on gravel, so I was able to think about what I was doing a bit more. Using the back brake more than the front when going downhill helped to make the bike feel more stable and made the cornering easier.

[ajturbo]

Possibly, where'd you see us? Were you one of the Buells hooning around when we were at the summit?

hooning?? ME??? nooooooo

[Minnie]

well its been one of those full on motorcycle weekends ..

Needed to take Betsy for a good run to see how she would handle after the auto electrician fixed the bad earth wire

always said that she was forgiving of the slight mistakes that I make .. well its time to change that attitude .. Betsy is in fine form & now I understand why everyone was telling me to be wary of her powerband .. its there in full fine form at the moment


.. overcooked a few corners esp not used to the new throttling that Betsy has, but from the lookout down I was in front with everyone behind ... worked on being smooth & trying to take notice of where i was each corner & where i wanted to come out of .. still overcooked it but sure had a huge smile when we caught up with Grub & nasty ..

Joined up with a few more riders & off to wellywood we went, being such a large ride & I was up near the front was making sure that i gave the person in front of me plenty of room & just trying to be aware of where other riders were in relation to me. all in all a damn good ride, most quite content to just sit in their position & not pass .. it was a great ride


Sunday drove to napier to participate in the ride right ride safe course. This was an excellent decision, as it was a full on day & if I had ridden the bike not sure I would have made it home in one piece as we were pretty darn tired driving home

for the course reiterate what Kinje has said below .. the course is invaluable no matter your experience ... it was great to understand how to corner & the talk/walk through it to get an idea of what had been said.

I enjoyed the whole day, still to tired today to absorb everything that we did .. but I have my book and as I had to drop Betsy's tank off to panel beater today will be looking forward to next week when we can go to some nice quiet roads in Shannon & practice, practice & practice some more

I did mention to 86 that it would have been great if course had been on saturday & the memorial ride on the sunday as it would have been perfect to try out some of the things I learnt .. but hey such is life, & there is always another day on a bike, another corner, another quiet bit of road to run through emergency braking or counter steering ..

This week my pick is Chancey, its important to know how your bike handles and be wary of the power, and not just take it for granted. proper setup and being smooth thru the corners is a skill that takes lots of practise to get to come naturally but oh so fun when you get it right. good on you and keep up the good work!!

[Minnie]

well its been one of those full on motorcycle weekends ..

Needed to take Betsy for a good run to see how she would handle after the auto electrician fixed the bad earth wire

always said that she was forgiving of the slight mistakes that I make .. well its time to change that attitude .. Betsy is in fine form & now I understand why everyone was telling me to be wary of her powerband .. its there in full fine form at the moment


.. overcooked a few corners esp not used to the new throttling that Betsy has, but from the lookout down I was in front with everyone behind ... worked on being smooth & trying to take notice of where i was each corner & where i wanted to come out of .. still overcooked it but sure had a huge smile when we caught up with Grub & nasty ..
..

This week my pick is Chancey, its important to know how your bike handles and be wary of the power, and not just take it for granted. proper setup and being smooth thru the corners is a skill that takes lots of practise to get to come naturally but oh so fun when you get it right. good on you and keep up the good work!!

[Terminated]

Sunday Morning: Rode out to Martinborough at 9am with Elle for a coffee. We took it nice and slow as some of the roads can be quite slippery in frost. Was a beautiful morning, really enjoyed this ride. Stopped at martinborough at the flying fish... and stumbled across Buckbuck and friends.

What did I learn? That buckbuck likes Porriage for Breakfast.... Not really the hardy biker food that I would expect from a VStrom rider.. but then again I had chips for breakfast.

An Aussie VStrom rider...[ah that explains it] ..who likes his porridge on a cool crisp morning.

[gijoe1313]

There are a lot of skills required to ride a bike, one of my favourite quotes from my father (who's been riding since before i was born) is "Any fool can go fast in a straight line son, but it the corners that separate the men from the boys" and he's right, cornering is one of the vital skills that we as bikers must possess.

Another one is Hazard Avoidance, to quote my farther again "Son, everything and everyone out there on the road is trying to kill you". and once again .. he's right, i hate it when my fathers right, but when it comes to riding .. he knows what he's talking about.

Hazard avoidance is a skill that has to be learned and if you don't learn it or think that it's not important, have a search through the forum and see just how many threads there are out there about people coming off because some bastard in a cage pulled out in front of them.

So what's a hazard and how can i avoid it i hear you ask ... well .. that's the easy part, everything is a hazard, its the avoiding part that is difficult.

You need to recognise a hazard in order to avoid it, one of my favourites my not seem like it, but it is.

Consider this, splitting through traffic, it's slow as it always is, there a car sized gap about 4 cars in front of you, is that a hazard?? .. you bet your ass it is, one flash of the indicator and a car could drop in on you like a shark on a seal and your screwed.

It's a simple as paying attention to what's going on around you and being focused on what your doing. something as small as a cat running across the road could be enough to cause you to come off and coming off is not why we ride.

I practice hazard avoidance everyday and everyday i find something new. Focus, Attention and Recognition, these are the skills you need to stay alive.
And anything that can kill you, hurt you or scratch your bike is a hazard.

For my choice this week, WarlockNZ for bringing up the issue of Hazard recognition and avoidance. As riders on two wheels, we've all contended with hazards that cagers wouldn't bat an eyelid at

I often put my toes on my pegs every so often to remind myself to "keep on my toes" and continue with the practice of the 12 second horizon (as per BuckBuck's post), checking for my exit paths and paying attention to my biking radar (that feeling you get and always listen to it! Slow down, beep your horn, weave, etc. to forestall any idiots!)

Ride safely out there and keep your head up!

[Terminated]

Congratulations to Chanceyy and WarlockNZ for their entries this week and thanks to Minnie and gijoe1313 for participating as selectors.

Chanceyy and WarlockNZ will be your selectors next week 16-22May Where Did You Ride and What Did You Practise?

This week my pick is Chancey, its important to know how your bike handles and be wary of the power, and not just take it for granted. proper setup and being smooth thru the corners is a skill that takes lots of practise to get to come naturally but oh so fun when you get it right. good on you and keep up the good work!!

well its been one of those full on motorcycle weekends ..

Needed to take Betsy for a good run to see how she would handle after the auto electrician fixed the bad earth wire

always said that she was forgiving of the slight mistakes that I make .. well its time to change that attitude .. Betsy is in fine form & now I understand why everyone was telling me to be wary of her powerband .. its there in full fine form at the moment


.. overcooked a few corners esp not used to the new throttling that Betsy has, but from the lookout down I was in front with everyone behind ... worked on being smooth & trying to take notice of where i was each corner & where i wanted to come out of .. still overcooked it but sure had a huge smile when we caught up with Grub & nasty .. ..

For my choice this week, WarlockNZ for bringing up the issue of Hazard recognition and avoidance. As riders on two wheels, we've all contended with hazards that cagers wouldn't bat an eyelid at

I often put my toes on my pegs every so often to remind myself to "keep on my toes" and continue with the practice of the 12 second horizon (as per BuckBuck's post), checking for my exit paths and paying attention to my biking radar (that feeling you get and always listen to it! Slow down, beep your horn, weave, etc. to forestall any idiots!)

Ride safely out there and keep your head up!

There are a lot of skills required to ride a bike, one of my favourite quotes from my father (who's been riding since before i was born) is "Any fool can go fast in a straight line son, but it the corners that separate the men from the boys" and he's right, cornering is one of the vital skills that we as bikers must possess.

Another one is Hazard Avoidance, to quote my farther again "Son, everything and everyone out there on the road is trying to kill you". and once again .. he's right, i hate it when my fathers right, but when it comes to riding .. he knows what he's talking about.

Hazard avoidance is a skill that has to be learned and if you don't learn it or think that it's not important, have a search through the forum and see just how many threads there are out there about people coming off because some bastard in a cage pulled out in front of them.

So what's a hazard and how can i avoid it i hear you ask ... well .. that's the easy part, everything is a hazard, its the avoiding part that is difficult.

You need to recognise a hazard in order to avoid it, one of my favourites my not seem like it, but it is.

Consider this, splitting through traffic, it's slow as it always is, there a car sized gap about 4 cars in front of you, is that a hazard?? .. you bet your ass it is, one flash of the indicator and a car could drop in on you like a shark on a seal and your screwed.

It's a simple as paying attention to what's going on around you and being focused on what your doing. something as small as a cat running across the road could be enough to cause you to come off and coming off is not why we ride.

I practice hazard avoidance everyday and everyday i find something new. Focus, Attention and Recognition, these are the skills you need to stay alive.
And anything that can kill you, hurt you or scratch your bike is a hazard.

In addition to the above I would like to include Kinje’s report into the RRRS riding course at Napier last weekend and extend my acknowledgement to all for providing this training. Well Done.

Sat- Rode to Napier for RRRS course on Sunday.

Sun- RRRS course. What a day. We started with a classroom lesson then on to a nearby carpark for some practical lessons.

Slow speed stuff has not been a strong point of mine- I can barely do a U-turn. However, after a couple of drills and some tips from the instructors, I now feel a lot more comfortable with that.

Countersteering at 40km/hr through the tennis balls down the road Just like riding through Carterton round all the manholes and potholes (sorry elle)

Some more classes after lunch then avo practical- an excercise on late apex cornering, must stay wide longer until I can see through to turn in (more practice needed on that one)

And finally emergency braking- was quite aprehensive about this one, but discovered I can stop quite quickly.

A big thanks to the instructors (Micro, Stranger, R6 Kid) and the organisers (Yungatart, MSTRS). Was a valuable course and highly recommend it!

Then Sunday night rode home- tried to practice the late apex cornering. Was pretty tired so took frequent stops, had a drink bottle on me so that was good, then a feed in Danniverk saw me home.

Thanks Kinje and to all pariticipants this week in Where Did You Ride and What Did You Practise? Thread.

Note I have copied the selections for the last three weeks to the 'A Newbie's Update' blogg.

Heads Up and Enjoy

[WarlockNZ]

I'd like to thank the academy, my trainers and stylists and most of all the viewing public.

Without you .. none of this would have been possible ..

Thank you ... I love you all ..

LOL