IAM RoadSmart - Wellington, NZ

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IAM RoadSmart - Wellington, NZ

Regional news, discussion and events for the Wellington group of the Institute of Advanced Motorists

26/07/2026

Six riders met up at Silverstream McDonald's, where the first priority was a nice hot cuppa—it was only about 2°C outside, after all. Once everyone had thawed out a little, we had a quick briefing before firing up the bikes and heading off towards Shannon's Horsemans Café.

We headed out over Cone Alley (Haywards), around Grays Road, then onto SH59 to Paekākāriki. That bit of road is really nice now with no traffic :)

After a brief three-minute blast up the Kāpiti Expressway to the Raumati turn-off, we wound our way through Paraparaumu and Waikanae on the old SH1 before crossing back over the expressway and continuing on the old highway to Ōtaki. From there, it was a right turn onto Waitohu Valley Road and up to Manakau, where we were pleasantly surprised to find we could rejoin SH1 without having to divert via the old Manakau Hotel exit. The bridge at the end of South Manakau Road had finally been restored, and after a little rev-bomb from the 109 and a wave to a couple of local kids at the bridge, it was back on to SH1.

We stayed on SH1 through to Levin, although progress was dictated by a Mini Clubman that couldn't quite decide how fast it wanted to travel. It surged anywhere between 50 km/h and 90 km/h in an 80 km/h zone for no apparent reason. Naturally, I've concluded there must have been an intermittent fault with the accelerator pedal...

From Levin we continued on to Foxton before turning right for Shannon, where we stopped at the Horsemans for a well-earned pie and another cuppa. By then the temperature had climbed noticeably, making for much more comfortable riding, and the café provided a warm and welcoming place for the six of us to relax and chat before heading our separate ways.

After the break, Hassam and Iain climbed back on their bikes and carried on towards the Pahiatua Track before making their way home through the Wairarapa. The remaining four of us turned south and enjoyed an easy run back home from the Horsemans.

A great short winter ride that started out crisp enough to remind us it was the middle of July, but soon warmed into excellent riding conditions. Good roads, good company, and plenty of opportunities for a decent cuppa—hard to ask for much more.

Hope to see you on the next one :)

19/07/2026

Kia ora,
On Saturday 26th of September from 8:30am to 12:30pm, Kapiti Coast District Council and Southward Car Musuem are organising and hosting their 2nd annual event along with Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists Wellington (IAM).

This motorcycle event will be held in collaboration of Motorcycle Awareness Month. Ride Forever course providers will be attending to speak with motorcyclists about the merits of learning to ride safely by signing up for ACC's Ride Forever Courses. The Motorcycle Collective will be setting up a safety gear Op Shop with a range of motorcycle apparel and equipment, and there will be free hot drinks and bacon butties.

An IAM stand will be there to talk about taking the next step up from Ride Forever in having one on one mentoring on becoming more aware of your surroundings when riding our roads.

A blind zone demonstration will also show how easily a motorcycle can be invisible to large trucks - riders can sit in the cab of the truck and see if they can spot the bikes. There will also be helmet cleaning station and free rider safety packages that include important safety items like screen cleaners and re-usable hand warmers.

Look forward to seeing many riders at the event in September.
Stay safe
Shiny side 👆
Rubber side 👇

Cazza

01/06/2026

Wellington Motorcycle Festival – IAM Stand!

9:30am arrival, and the morning started out cold, with a few events happening all around the Wellington region. And, a continuation from the "Just ride" Women's only motorcycle safety event held in April 2026. The organiser Paulette Pavelich from the Porirua/ Kapiti City Council warmly invited IAM to have their stand on display as part of the WMF "Stop at the Top" Paekākāriki Lookout.

The Motorcycle Collective Team and their trailer, were present, and PCC signing riders up for the Ride Forever Course, and IAM display.

In attendance were approximately 125 riders + pillions. Taking the opportunity to catch up with old friends, talk bikes, purchasing items from the collective group, making the most of the free coffee, asking questions about IAM and who we are as a group, and riders collecting cards for the Poker Run. There had been a lot of interest in the IAM brand, and questions asked regarding IAM.

New/experienced and returning riders who are keen to improve their riding skills. Motorcross riders, wanting to know how to get safely around corners on a road bike (IPSGA). To riders that have heard of IAM, and weren't sure if they were suitable to join on a Learners License.

Overall, it was a brilliant day had by everyone. I ran out of pamphlets. I have 1 workbook left, several pens and still half a box of business cards that came in handy. Also, my gratitude to Gerald Harrison who helped at the stand, while I was moving around talking to the public. John Howell, for letting me draw him into telling other riders of his riding journey/improvements with IAM.

The next event for IAM on display will be in September around Motorcycle Awareness Month (MAM).

Watch this space!
Cazz

31/05/2026

A group of five riders set off from MacD's in Silverstream for a relaxed outing, with the initial intention of stopping at Groundup cafe, but with one of the group wanting to head north at Paekakariki, we decided to throw out the anchors there instead. So new destination, via a scenic loop around Porirua Harbour, taking in Paremata Road and Grays Road then over the hill. The weather was great, traffic was light (a few cyclists, but everyone gave everyone room), and the route provided a pleasant and mostly quiet ride, making for an enjoyable couple of hours out of the house.

A stop at the top offered the perfect excuse for a few photos (thanks to Hone, another rider going the other way) and a quick chat about some of the obstacles encountered during the ride. After taking in the views and sharing a few observations, the group rolled on to the Perching Parrot Café (challenge: downhill, no brakes please), where a lovely cuppa and scones were quickly scoffed. The ride wrapped up there before everyone headed their separate ways, rounding off a great morning of cruisy motorcycling and enjoying the sun.

Thanks all for coming along.

26/04/2026

7 of us mounted our mighty steel steeds and headed out for a quick jaunt over the Akatarawas heading for Waikanae.

It was early in the morning (ish) and some sections of the road had yet to see the sun this year, while other corners, all you could see was sun :)

While not overly technical, it did require some finessing on some of the downhill-right-hand-off-camber-slippery-hair-pins with an unusual amount of traffic coming the other way (most of whom for one reason or another were reluctant to move over a bit to the left).

There was also water going across the road, random piles of gravel on your line in corners, fine layers of pine needles, bright sunlight competing against dark shadows playing tricks on your view of the road ahead. All in all though, it was a good ride and allowed us to practice a lot of different skills.

Once we hit Waikanae, we set up some cut tennis balls and did a slow race. Best time over 15 metres was Edward in a final show down with Colin doing it in 41.5 seconds to claim the prize. We were about to do some figure 8's as well, and I was running around the carpark flapping my arms showing the route, and found we had a young audience :). Toddler came over with mum and chatted to the guys, looked at the bikes, a little bit of oohing and aahing, but reluctant to actually sit on one of the BMW giants. At that point we decided it was better to go do a figure 8 around a cup of coffee so we revved up and headed to Southwards.

Met up with Sue here, caught up with everyone for a half hour or so then headed home via the Paekakariki hill road. A couple of the likely lads went up ahead to scope it out and make sure the road was in good condition for the rest of us. 'Nuff said.

As planned, it was a short ride, light on fuel, but lots of different conditions to work with. Good weather, good company. Thanks to all that came out to enjoy a morning ride.

Cheers
Stu

12/04/2026

The Wellington Branch of Ulysses Club will be holding its fund raiser motorcycle ride for the Wellington Free Ambulance on Saturday 25th April (Anzac Day )
This is a badge ride - no registration fee and is open to all motorcyclists. The ride leaves Maidstone Park Upper Hutt 11am
There will be a sausage sizzle and Tea and Coffee for sale at the end of the ride – all proceeds go to support Wellington Free Ambulance
Contact Jim 0212442091 for more info

Jim Furneaux
Wellington Branch Coordinator
Ulysses Club NZ Inc

11/04/2026

It was a real pleasure to be able to present Mark Shakespeare with his advanced pass certificate last week. Mark has shown himself to be a very capable rider with a great attitude towards learning and road safety. Mark is keen to see others benefit from the IAM system as he has, and has volunteered to start training as an observer with the Wellington team. Congratulations, and I look forward to taking you through to that next stage soon. Nick

28/03/2026

Congratulations to Alexander Herriott for a great Advanced Test pass today with examiner Carey Griffiths. Alexander has IAM advanced driver and rider certificates from IAM in the UK, and his experience shows. Great to see a DR650 as the test bike too - nothing like a big trailey! Thanks to the Wellington Observer team for helping Alexander get through - Carey

20/03/2026

Congratulations to Mark Shakespeare for his advanced test pass today with IAM examiner Carey Griffiths. Mark turned out an exceptionally good ride on his immaculate ST1300. Congratulations, Mark, and thanks to the Wellington observer team. I am encouraging Mark to continue on his journey and become an observer. (Carey)

08/02/2026

Six of us rolled out from Z Remutaka with the intention of reaching Ngawi. The sun showed off early and drew out just about every rider in the region to do the same thing at the end of this long weekend.

Gaggles of riders were everywhere - waves exchanged, nods given, that unspoken "yep, this is definitely a good day for it" understanding passing between us as we inevitably maxxed out at 30kph over the Remutakas. Not such a bad thing to do for a change as there were lots of old classic british cars heading the other way over to Trentham for their gig, so plenty of eye candy to enjoy.

After a quick zip down Western Lake road, let us not forget that we are in Wellington! Unsurprisingly and right on cue, the weather added a bit of drama just before we hit the Palliser turnoff, with a bit of a southerly hows-ya-father rain and wind deciding to join the ride just to keep things interesting.

We didn't quite make it to Ngawi for various reasons, before deciding to turn and head to Lake Ferry hotel for lunch. Carol did decide to carry on to Ngawi, so our group became 5 as we landed at Lake Ferry and grabbed a table outside sheltered from the southerly, and enjoyed a cuppa, some hot chups and an overdue catchup.

~Stu

Address

Wellington

Telephone

+6421567300

Website

https://iamroadsmart.org.nz/

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