Kiwibiker Mentors - Opinion

[SixPackBack]

couldn't agree more on that one dude-

Are you mad?..........katman happily admits to having poor social skills and is currently in the sin-bin. What the fuck could he teach/mentor anybody??
A teacher/mentor/manager [call them what you will] must be able to show empathy, to coax, be respected. Before he gets on the bike.
Katman is a prime example of who should not be a mentor, regardless of his apparent skills! being asked to suck his cock when a newbie pisses him off [as is his favourite response on here] is hardly the type of mentoring KB could collectivley hold up as a stellar response.

[Mental Trousers]

Those that made any negative comments did so with the understanding that it was completely confidential. Nobody is giving out those details.

However, the comments in the public thread weren't what I was talking about cos I forgot about that one.

Poo's, good point I'd forgotten what the original problem was. Slow in, fast out and the best technique is the one that gets you on the throttle earliest both cover the basic ideas.

[FROSTY:Me]

nah...they probally won't be.
Because I would be questioning thier and other peoples judgment. and they would never seen to be wrong would they tony?

Mate actually I dissagree. Theres a few people put a fuck loada effort into the mentor scheme-so if someone is demonstrably a bad mentor then goshh I'm pretty darn sure they would wanna know.
On a personal note if I'm giving out wrong info I would DEFINITELY wanna know.

[Usarka]

A teacher/mentor/manager [call them what you will] must be able to show empathy, to coax, be respected. Before he gets on the bike.

Yep. Mentors should not just be technically profficient, they must also understand the pyschological aspects, and be able to communicate and influence the mentoree....

On a personal note if I'm giving out wrong info I would DEFINITELY wanna know.

One sign of a good mentor....

[FROSTY:Me]

Are you mad?..........katman happily admits to having poor social skills and is currently in the sin-bin. What the fuck could he teach/mentor anybody??
A teacher/mentor/manager [call them what you will] must be able to show empathy, to coax, be respected. Before he gets on the bike.
Katman is a prime example of who should not be a mentor, regardless of his apparent skills! being asked to suck his cock when a newbie pisses him off [as is his favourite response on here] is hardly the type of mentoring KB could collectivley hold up as a stellar response.

Mate as a KBer Katman is a fucken prick I couldn't agree more.
But surely a persons online persona isn't what being a mentor is all about. Its surely about being able to offer good clear CORRECT advice to bikers at various levels of riding experience --From a newbee to a born again biker to someone with issues with race lines.

[cowpoos]

Mate actually I dissagree.

and people do!!

MT reason for not releasing Quasi's negetive feedbacks...would be along the same lines as me naming names...and giving my person opinion of peoples riding...it would just be taken as a personal attack..no point pissing more people off me thinks.

[FROSTY:Me]

Ohh and heres my take on things.
You need a different kind of mentor to suit a different person and situation.
As an example
Jorja inadvertantly mentored someone just the other day. Because biking is so new to her the memories of just starting out are still fresh in her mind. Here we had a brand new biker saying she had sore neck and shoulders and the bike felt jerky in corners --Jorja piped up by saying "yea I had that --Had to remind myself to relax before riding"

Im happy to mentor a newbee racer with the stuff they need to go racing but once theyve done a couple of meetings I'd rather someone like Shaun was mentoring them .

[Her_C4]

Mate as a KBer Katman is a fucken prick I couldn't agree more.

Subjective - I personally don't have a problem with his posts. He is making his point(s) very well.

But surely a persons online persona isn't what being a mentor is all about. Its surely about being able to offer good clear CORRECT advice to bikers at various levels of riding experience --From a newbee to a born again biker to someone with issues with race lines.

Excellent - and that is what it is all about. I have never met the man in question - or indeed the majority of KB'ers, but I am damned sure that I would be looking at them OUTSIDE of a percieved on line personna.

It is after all only a website eh guys...

The best mentor for me - may not be the best mentor for someone else. By providing a variety of contacts for noobie riders, KB has facilitated that initial contact when looking for some info.

Commonsense and a logical approach (surely we all have that?!) will dictate whether we as individuals decide to 'follow their wheel' or find an alternative. I will only ride with those that I feel comfortable with.

I woudl be looking to different sorts / types / personalities for race / track mentoring as opposed to road myself.

[MSTRS:Me]

Being a Mentor does not include having to be perfect.
Everyone is different and people seem to have unreasonably high expectations of the Mentors.

Perfection is impossible, but good enough isn't enough for some people.

One thread was talking about finding yourself entering corners to hot.
A total myrid of stupid highly technical repleys..which yeah sure they are valid if you are rossi...but the point that members were answering a question to someone that is new to Motorcycles...wouldn't of taken much brain power to say slow down more. I would have thought??

Don't remember that thread, but if someone asked me what to do if they entered a corner too hot (at least for their skill level) I'd be telling them how to control their predicament. "Slow down" doesn't quite do it, when the 'too hot' and 'in the corner' are happening now. It doesn't even matter if the rider who's asking is more advanced...'slow down' is not the answer that will help. We've all? hit a corner too hot at times. How we kept it together may be a combo of learned skills and luck, or we might have binned it. Either way, and especially if a bin resulted, most of us will ask if there was something we could have done to save the day. "Slow down" is obvious, but too late. And we already figured that one out anyway.

[SixPackBack]

Mate as a KBer Katman is a fucken prick I couldn't agree more.
But surely a persons online persona isn't what being a mentor is all about. Its surely about being able to offer good clear CORRECT advice to bikers at various levels of riding experience --From a newbee to a born again biker to someone with issues with race lines.

His ability to teach is fundamentaly tied to his ability to communicate!?.......and that ability is poor-very poor. Katmans inclusion in the scheme make me wonder what the fuck is going on!?

[MSTRS:Me]

His ability to teach is fundamentaly tied to his ability to communicate!?.......and that ability is poor-very poor. Katmans inclusion in the scheme make me wonder what the fuck is going on!?

In the interests of having a broad cross-section of experienced riders available as mentors, someone proposed KM and the members accepted him. We are all on trial anyway. Sooner or later, there will be a 'performance review'...some will stay, and some will be dropped. KM may stay and I may go. Who knows?
The proof of any mentor's suitability is in the experiences of those who used that particular mentor.

[Jiminy]

This is how I perceive the difference between a trainer and a mentor. Just my 2c (and about 2'375 words )

When I want to learn something about riding, I'd ask a trainer.

When I want some hints and feedbacks about how I apply what I've learned in the training sessions, and how my riding evolves over time, I'd ask a mentor who can follow my progression.

From a mentor, I'd only expect an opinion which I can challenge, or use to challenge my own views.

I personally tend to prefer the opinions of many different riders with different experience levels than having a dedicated mentor. But if I was looking for a mentor, I appreciate that KB can point me to a few names. After all, KB has become far too important for NZ bikers to ignore its community role beyond being a simple forum. If I look for anything vaguely bike-related, KB is my first stop, and that role has become an important aspect of today's KB.

I don't know enough about the actual mentors or how they have been selected to comment. But I find the ':ME' extensions over the top. With the programme in place, I think it's easy enough for any rider to find a mentor on the site without needing the ':ME'. In my opinion, the ':ME' is just a sign of social achievement that is exactly the opposite of what being a mentor should be about.

People who've never crashed are either simply riding within only a tiny percentage of their bike's capabilities (and that includes people who only ever take the bike out of the garage on sunny days, etc) and are therefore unsuitable to convey information about motorcycle control dynamics, or they're ticking timebombs who don't know the risks they're running.

Or they might have fantastic skills in weather forecasting and safe riding that I'd both be happy to learn about.

There's sod all sane people on KB.

Ow, shit, I logged in the wrong forum again!

Sunny weather and not too much wind here anyway, time to go on the bike!

[PrincessBandit]

In the interests of having a broad cross-section of experienced riders available as mentors.... We are all on trial anyway. Sooner or later, there will be a 'performance review'...some will stay, and some will be dropped. ...
The proof of any mentor's suitability is in the experiences of those who used that particular mentor.

I thought the idea of having a pool of mentors was that different people help in different ways. Personality can certainly have an influence on how we view others and whether we choose to listen to them or not, but others have been able to look past the personality issue and take what is helpful to them rather than dismissing someones help just because they might come across as obnoxious. If I went to a mentor for help and found that I really couldn't handle being in their company I would have to ask myself whether to stick with them or not based on a dispassionate view of what I think I can learn from them, or whether I should look for someone else. Bottom line is some people will hate certain mentors regardless of what they have to offer, others (while maybe never confessing to particularly like them) will have no problem working with them on whatever things they require help with. A sign perhaps of how grown up you are..........as Huesy said on Rove the other night "chillax wankwit"
p.s. that comment wasnt for you MSTRS (just thought I'd mention that as it was your quote I used to start my reply). It was for whoever on here it's needed for **sit back and wait for the red to flood in**

[MSTRS:Me]

I thought the idea of having a pool of mentors was that different people help in different ways.

Yep. I meant that, as well as having plenty available because not every one can help when the question is asked.

[James Deuce]

Too much talking.

Not enough riding.

I think I might ride to work now.