North Auckland Street Skills - NASS

[discotex]

Sorry for the week old riders!
That route was quite a bit harder than usual.

I think it's great that there are a bunch of experienced riders honing skills at NASS (is why I'll continue to pop in from time to time) but I get the feeling the needs of the total newb might be being forgotten.

It's totally natural for the experienced people to want a more fun ride to Albany but going via the back roads (Ridge, Riverhead/Coatsville etc) could be asking a little much out of green riders and may be an accident waiting to happen. Especially as they'll be trying to keep up and not get lost.

Has anyone thought about splitting into groups with at least one always going the easy way via Greenhithe?

EDIT: Fuck I sound like an old man - but seriously.....

[Nagash]

I agree with you Discotex,

We had just forgotton to the normal introductions and we didn't actually know they'd only been riding for a week till we got to the car park..

I'll make an effort to make sure it doesn't happen again.


Good night guys, was a hell of alot of fun.

[discotex]

We had just forgotton to the normal introductions and we didn't actually know they'd only been riding for a week till we got to the car park..

Ahh righto. Good to know you normally talk it over before going the fun way

I'm trying to leave work earlier on Wednesdays so I can come more often. Happy to help and lead a slow group whenever I can make it.

[adiesmogdog]

Hey guys don't worry about tonight....we had fun anyway. The route was a nice little challenge, and we wont ever push it beyond our confort zone so its all good. Granted there were a couple of dodgy corners, but its all character building right

The hanging off your bike around a corner however probably isn't at the top of my "skills to learn" list. Maybe we will give that a go in week two

Was nice meeting you all....will be joining you again for sure

[fizbin]

Well if all the new ladies come along next week we will try and do somthing abit more in tune to your riding level. I do appoligise for not doing the intro thing.
Anyways it was a goo night to be had by all. I really enjoyed that mark.
AND I GOT MY FOOT TOUCHING THE GROUND ON THE WAY HOME!!!!!!
Knee down next!

[EJK]

To tell you the truth, last night was very different. OK I won't go into details.


Grrr... Maybe I will...


The Good part: Well it was quite fun. Learning to get our bum off the seat was OK I think. Well it's certainly safer to do this in a carpark than doing it on all Albany roundabouts, so I won't argue.
Also seems everyone had fun last night. Some people getting pegs down and trying to get their knee down etc. Like Mark said, sometimes we do need some fun don't we?


The Baddie: However (as I hypothesized) it was a matter of time to change this practice into a total Frenzy.

I don't know... To tell you guys the truth it was the most uncongenial night I ever had over a year and 3 months of AWNMR/AWNR/NASS attendance.
By time to time the riders got lower and lower (I guess that's an improvement) and faster and faster. But seriously how many times do you guys show off inside the carpark but don't actually put it into practice during a ride?


Some of you will know who they are. Remember, above words don't apply to all of you so if something I said offended some of those who were doing the good, It wasn't my intention and I do apologise.

Well if all the new ladies come along next week we will try and do somthing abit more in tune to your riding level. I do appoligise for not doing the intro thing.
Anyways it was a good night to be had by all. I really enjoyed that mark.
AND I GOT MY FOOT TOUCHING THE GROUND ON THE WAY HOME!!!!!!
Knee down next!

If you want to show off, I can teach you how to get your knee down. I'll bring my strap-on knee sliders next week if you wish. Oh by the way, next week you really should check out my other pair of boots...

[Nagash]

Well, I think the important bit was the discussion about it afterwards at the pub.

Learning the physical skill of how to lean off the bike is the first thing you need to know, then, once you discovered the effects it has on your handling first hand you then find out how to put it in to practice which we discussed throughout the training session and at the pub.

I agree with you, I've always tried leaning off the bike around the car park just as abit of a muck around because I know all the car park's lumps, bumps and hazards but I never figured out when to use it on the road.

After last night I tried it this morning on my commute to work and on the way back (Scenic Drive) and it worked quite effectively in keeping my pegs off the road. And i'll be doing it more frequently from now on.


Personally, I had no objections with last nights lesson and I think it was abit of much needed fun. And it was alot of fun, no accidents and no one pushed themselves further then they needed. But i've always been described as abit of a pillock when it comes to riding, to which I take no offence, i'm not ignorant to that fact.

Obviously different things are covered each week, some things you'll take heed of and practice on the road, other's are better to just ignore and write the lesson off as a hang out with some like-minded, albeit scruffy, blokes.

We're all responsible adults.. right?

[EDIT] And everyone seems to have ignored the theory session on group riding at the beginning! My personal gripe of the week was group riding and I thought everything you needed to know was covered well. Just saying..

P.S. And I had to look up uncongenial.. that's a pretty negative term to use there don't yah think?

[EJK]

Yes it is a negative word and it's a very subtle one too.

Nice point Nagash (I agree with your first and second paragraph), however I was more referring to the show off bit. Alright, maybe my observation was very shallow/ prejudice. Lets see how we do next week then.

See you guys next week.

P.S. Yes I was once too a show off kid (Ask Fireball or Discotex). A bloody hoon scraping pegs till I replaced it with the pillion's pegs cause it was so worn, however that was untill Mack-the-Knife shut me up for good. I'm glad that he did it. I too may still show off but I really try not to...

[fizbin]

Yes it is a negative word and it's a very subtle one too.

Nice point Nagash (I agree with your first and second paragraph), however I was more referring to the show off bit. Alright, maybe my observation was very shallow/ prejudice. Lets see how we do next week then.

Just out of curiosity who did you think was showing off?

Having fun yes showing off not really.

The NASS provids a safe place for people such as us to learn. what ever thoses skills may be.
As Mark pointed out.. If it is not for you or you are not comfertable doing it then leave. it is like people that complain about things that offend them on T.V. if you don't want to watch it turn it off! I am not trying to be harsh what i am trying to say is you have a choice.
any way that is my rant over for the morning.

[Slyer]

Yeah nobody is showing off.
If they are better than us good for them!

[Sharry]

Looks like I missed a good night of bum sliding techniques, I found that hard last time we did it.
I couldnt make it last week as I had a cateract done and cant ride for a week...exept I will have to on Sunday.
And I will be out of Auckland next week.
I am in with Discotex on leading and tailending a slower ride for the newbies.
Take care and ride safe guys.

[EJK]

Alright, who am I to say what to do. I will no longer argue with this matter

See you guys next week and lets have some fun!

[Nagash]

Alright, who am I to say what to do. I will no longer argue with this matter

See you guys next week and lets have some fun!

You, my friend, are one of the longest serving current regulars of the AWNMR/AWNR/NASS and your opinion is most certainly a valid one.

And i'm glad that you brought attention to it, we don't want things to go down the same track as when the AWNR got shut down for supposedly teaching reckless maneuvers - Wheelies, Knee down, etc. etc.

A strictor introduction will be brought into the beginning of the ride again like it used to, and perhaps discussions on exactly what we want to learn at the beginning should be re-introduced.

All the regulars who came over winter have done a hell of alot of the same thing, but now that it's summer we're gonna see a fair few newer riders again and we need to crack down on our lesson regime again.

More focus on theory, less on practical, all that malarky.

Your concerns are what makes you a great bloke EJ, and I salute you for it.

[Sly_guy]

I personally found it very useful on Wed...

There have been many times on the roads where I've not had the confidence to take a corner at anything other than really slow speeds, or where I've gone in too hot for my skills and had to slow down a lot mid corner.

On Wed, I was able to push myself that bit further, and gain confidence in my abilities, and the bikes, to lean over.. I was amazed at the speed I was able to go around corners. That sounds very much like a hoon comment, but it means I now know a lot more about my own and my bikes limits, and there are times when that is needed...

Whenever I buy a car, I always take it somewhere quiet, and do some high speed brake testing, now to most, I probably look like a complete arse, whose thrashing the tits off his new car.. What i'm actually doing is trying to learn where the limits of my car are (and beyond, but in a safe environment), so that I know exactly what my car is capable of in the event of needing it. To me, what we were doing on Wed was the same kind of thing... (well, it was for me anyway).

My 2c

[Slyer]

The problem with cornering is bikes is you never want to find out beyond!