On Throttle New Zealand

The reckless motorcyclist isn't pulling wheelies and skids, they're instead making more basic poor decisions while riding. Photo by Yamaha AU By Mathieu Day-Gillett The issue of motorcyclists and safety has been really playing on my mind of late, brought on partly by the approaching arrival of my firstborn, but also the appalling state of Kiwi motorcycling – with Kiwi motorcyclists behaving badly the primary driver for increasing bad press. With the sickly hot weather of late, the number of motorcyclists forgoing the basics of protection in order to ‘stay cool’ on the roads, mixed with the classic Kiwi impatience towards motoring appears to be creating a clear spike in serious accidents. As much as I hate to admit it, motorcyclists are by a long way overrepresented in the 2018 road fatality statistics. Roughly one third of the 30+ fatal crashes so far this year have involved a motorcyclist. Just hit the nzherald.co.nz search button and you’ll see plenty of ar...

Roads empty of motorcycles could become a reality if we don't attract more young riders to our sport. Pic by Mathieu Day-Gillett Are motorcyclists doomed to age out and disappear? This is something that has really been on my mind of late, as a forced absence from two wheels looms with the arrival of my firstborn. While my absence from the roads on two wheels will hopefully be short, what will be left when I make my return in a couple of years time? Motorcyclists as a whole have been slowly demonised on our roads, and as we age out (sadly there’s nothing we can do about that), it seems that while more and more riders are falling into the older and coincidentally more at risk category over 45+ there are very few coming in below them. Where have all the young riders gone? I have a couple of theories as to why we don’t seem to see too many riders under the age of 30. Firstly, and possibly one of the least emotional reasons, is the overwhelming abundance ...

Summer is finally here, and with sunny weekends just beckoning for a long, overnight ride, we thought we’d take a look at one of our favourite modes of accommodation – camping – with a motorcycling twist of course! There’s nothing quite like the freedom you get with a motorcycle, and day tripping on a whim to a new and exciting locale is always a highlight to any weekend, but what if you want to make that day trip into an overnighter? Sure, you can bed down at the local motel, but bang for buck our preferred way to stay the night is heading to the local camp ground (or a bit of cheeky freedom camping) under the stars. You just can’t beat it! So what do you need to keep in mind if, like us, you want to ‘rough it’ for a night or two on your next bike trip? We’ve compiled the basic checklist for you to make it a little easier. Don’t forget to pack a toothbrush! The Palace Okay, your tent won’t be a palace, or even a marginally nice house for that matter. Befo...