Ride With Us

Ride Safe

Your bike and your gear. Ten checks, two minutes, every ride.

Do the check →

Ride Well

The habits that keep you upright, and getting properly coached.

Sharpen up →

Ride With Us

Branches all over the country, and no minimum joining age.

Find your people →

Ride Safe

The two-minute check — before every ride, because your life is worth it. Tap as you go. Do it enough times and you stop needing the list.

0 of 10

Print it out and stick it in the shed

The whole check on one page, with tick boxes. Pin it up where you park the bike.

Download PDF

Gear, in thirty seconds

Helmet

Proper fit, light colour, never second-hand.

Gloves

Your hands go out first. Every time.

Jacket & pants

Armour at shoulders, elbows, hips, knees. AA safety rating as a minimum.

Boots

Over the ankle. Skate shoes come off in a slide.

Something bright

Most drivers who hit a bike never saw it.

Not jeans

Kevlar-lined beats denim, but it's not riding pants.

Skint? Buy in this order: helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, pants. Best you can afford at each step. Nobody buys it all at once.

Ride Well

Five habits that keep you upright — then go and get properly coached.

1

Assume nobody can see you.

Cover your brakes at intersections. Watch the front wheels of waiting cars — they move before the car does.

2

Look where you want to go.

Not at the gravel. The bike follows your eyes into whatever you stare at.

3

Brake before the corner, not in it.

Slow, look, lean, roll. Most single-bike crashes are someone entering too hot and panicking mid-bend.

4

Four seconds behind. Double it in the wet.

And stay off the greasy strip down the middle of the lane.

5

Tired, angry or in a hurry? Don't ride.

Stop every couple of hours. Phone away. Zero alcohol. Give it ten minutes instead.

Get coached — and we'll help pay for it

ACC Ride Forever is the single best thing a new rider can do. Small groups, certified coaches, most of the day out on the road on your own bike. Courses are already heavily subsidised, and discount codes come up often enough that plenty of riders never pay a cent. If you do pay a booking fee, Ulysses members can claim it back from our Rider Safety Fund, up to $50 per course.

Find a course

Your licence, short version

Learner, Restricted, Full — and a LAMS-approved bike until you've got your full.

Learner

Basic handling skills test and theory. No pillion, no riding 10pm–5am, L plate on the back.

Restricted

From 16½. Sit the test after six months, or go CBTA with an assessor and skip the wait.

Full

18 months on restricted, or 12 via CBTA. Then ride whatever you like.

Go CBTA. It's faster, and you come out a better rider because you've been coached rather than just tested. Check the LAMS list on the NZTA site before you buy anything — it's model-specific, and mods can take a bike off it.

Ride With Us

Ring your local branch and ask for the Branch Coordinator, the Ride Coordinator, or the Welfare or New Member Officer. Small branches run off small committees, so one person may wear all those hats. Ask anyway — they'll put you with someone who rides like you want to ride.

Any questions? Just ask

Not sure where to start, or your local branch isn't close by? Give one of us a call or drop us a line and we'll point you in the right direction.

Your local branch

Branches nationwide

See the branch list →

Vicky Chapman

National Committee

027 684 2590 com.1@ulysses.org.nz

John Macdonald

National Committee

027 345 2761 com.2@ulysses.org.nz

Want to join?

Want the detail?

ACC Ride Forever

Courses, dates and fees

SADD motorcycle safety

Kaitiaki o Ara

General guidance from experienced riders. Not formal instruction, and no substitute for professional rider training or the official requirements at nzta.govt.nz.

Ride safe. Ride well. Ride with us.

No minimum joining age. Branches right across the country.

Find your local branch