Ride Forever Course Reviews

If you have completed a Ride Forever course and would like to share your feedback, please email us and we’ll post your review on our website.

The day was suddenly upon me to do the Silver Ride Forever up skill course. 8:30am start at Maacas for the theory session ,nervous ? Heck yes ,I am a born again rider been off the bike for a very long time ,I was in with three other riders with much more experience than me. In no time at all I was at ease just one of them, about two hrs plus theory then on the bikes to girls collage car park for slow riding circuits then figure of eights ,tight and slow this I found hard but with patient coaching from our trainer Duncan I came right, funny one was easy opposite not. Then emergency braking at 60kms, exciting yes I was to discover my bike didn’t have abs, oops. Off to Picton staggered riding for lunch then we hit the grove track me in front Duncan behind full on instruction through head sets, was very shy to start but got hang of in and out, got to Havelock great I thought all done, Naa turn around back we go to Ngakuta Bay this was repeated until we all had a go, right head home I thought, naa off to what was Mcvicars Mill Kaituna Back road. More emergency stops this time 70 ,80 ,90 then 100 kms very exciting, then back to the Road House Renwick for coffee and debrief oh and then a certificate and a silver badge, proud, heck yes, I could have given you all the short version and said Blinken awesome but wouldn’t have done it justice, even a bike vet who was with us got good take aways, I would encourage all members to do this silver and the gold course, so important and sadly we don’t know it all, many thanks to the people who encouraged me!
— John Rodger, 19th December 2020
I attended a Gold Ride Forever course with Duncan Seed as the trainer. He certainly knows his stuff on getting the message through and keeping it interesting. The audio visual content at the start certainly reminded you of the wee important things you may have forgotten. The riding and braking was great and was a real confidence builder. Loved every minute of it and will sign up for another course.
— Alistair Windleburn, 19th December 2020
It was with some trepidation I did put my name down to take part in this course after a friend suggested I would really enjoy it. I have been riding seriously since 1995. I thought I am now 80 and do have health issues and just maybe I should do it.
I’m pleased to say it was a great decision for me. I absolutely loved it. I learned so much more today that I cannot but stress how so many of our riding buddies in our Ulysses Club could benefit from doing either a Silver of a Gold course to sharpen their riding skills.
Yes I was worried that I would get too tired given my health issues but our instructor broke the day up to allow us to relax more and so I enjoyed all aspects of his teaching.
I consider myself a safe rider but I knew there would be things I would learn.
I believe just about all our returned riders would learn heaps from it.
I did have concerns mainly with speed braking having a small bike with no ABS was my main concern. But with the coaching and confidence I gained from trainer Duncan and my fellow riders there was no problem at all and no locked up rear brake.
— Murray Brooks, 15th Dec 2020
I found the course very helpful and when I next got out on a bike every thing they said come flooding back. I am looking forward the next course as motorcycling is a big part of my life and has been for 46 years.
— Bryan, 30th October 2020
Thanks for the opportunity to attend Ride to Live course. I found it very worthwhile as I have improved my positioning on the road during cornering and more in control when riding at slow speed and picked up some useful tips about braking. All of these are essential and the personal input of Kevin and Jason regarding skills was pitched at a level which made understanding and practicing improvements possible .I have recommended the course to riders I know and will attend others in the future.
— Phil Ferris, 17th September 2020
Aside from the fact that you do or do not know stuff. These courses are enjoyable.
There is such a lot to this biz of riding a motorcycle it’s not easy to put it all into words, and have it understood by all. Suffice to say the courses are helping a lot of people in a great way. We are better with them than without.
— Paul Moorhouse - 15th September 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed that last Gold course: Kevin and Jason are great guys, work well together and offer some truly invaluable instruction, so I’m really looking forward to the next training session with them.
— Mark Jones - 15th September 2020
I found the subsidy was amazing and I would recommend the ride2live course to all ages and levels of riders. I gained great skills that will always provide me a safer ride.
— Colleen Clarke, 31st August 2020

Many thanks, really found the course useful. What appears so basic, with a little knowledge and training shows such an easier and safer way to do it - from cornering, to emergency braking.... Really worth while course.
— Ian Lovegrove, 16th July 2020

On the first Sunday of May I did go for an extended bike ride, but not with my usual cohorts.
The Ride Forever (Silver course) day was excellent! Even someone my age (63) can still pick up a few new things it appeared.
Apart from the ‘theory’ start which we did indoors with some movies & chat to wait for the sun to come out, I did probably more riding than on a normal classic riders trip.
After doing a bike check (tires / lights / breaks / oil / chain ) we set off.
First an exercise in slow speed control (riding with the rear brake on, while balancing clutch & throttle) & some figure 8 riding, then emergency stops at 50 km/h, and when we had all survived that we rode to Picton, had lunch at a subway, then we did the Queen Charlotte drive to Havelock twice, while each participant got individual reviews and tips from the co-ordinator via the intercoms we all had in our helmets, with advice mostly on our cornering techniques.
Just after 5 pm we made it back to the classroom to get a nice goody bag, some recapping & a nice certificate to frame (haha).
Seeing the total cost was paid for by ACC & the Marlb District Council, and the promise of a $100 discount on your future rego’s when you do 2 courses in 12 calendar months, it’s impossible to get better value for money, and I’ll definitely do the gold course later on!
— Jaap van der Stoel, 16th July 2020

Really worth the time, good experienced instructors with a wealth of knowledge.
— Simon Dyson, 6th July 2020
I took my bike test in Englad when I was 17. I would just like to say I completed the Bronze last Sunday, Kevin and Jason did a surperb job. I am in my 60’s and learnt a lot, who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
— Steve Duddy, 6th September 2018