Pete tells listeners about Rider Advantage, an important new initiative from MAGNZ.

Takeaways:

• MAGNZ is launching Rider Advantage, a free progressive web app for Kiwi riders to manage bikes and connect — no app store drama required.
• Pete talks through the functions
• My Bikes stores registrations, WOFs, exemption dates, and reminds you about three‑month licensing holds so you don't miss deadlines.
• Rider Assist is designed as a mates‑helping‑mates feature for non‑emergency roadside aid, not a replacement for calling 111 in serious situations.
• Motobed will help travelling motorcyclists find motorcycle‑friendly accommodation and expand with user contributions — please add listings, even a tent pitch if you've got room.
• Privacy and security were built in from day one: we collect minimal data, use modern authentication, and enforce tightly controlled admin permissions.
• We're in beta by design — test it, break it, tell us what's confusing.
• Sign up in the first week and go into a draw to win one of five special MAGNZ Keep It Twisted shirts.

Are you tired of the ever rising cost of motorcycle registration here in New Zealand?

If you're nodding your head, you're not alone.

I'm Pete and this is Keep It Twisted, the official podcast of Mag nz.

Today I've got some exciting news for Kiwi riders.

While most of our focus over the past few months has been on supporting Mark Chappell in his case against acc, the team at MAGNZ has been quietly building something we think could become really useful for New Zealand motorcycle riders.

I'm very pleased to announce that we're launching Rider Advantage, the official Mag NZ app.

It's designed to help you as a motorcycle rider and help us build the Mag NZ community.

You can find and use Rider Advantage right now by heading over to Our website magazine, magnz.org nz it's a web based app, it's free to use and it always will be.

The beta version we've launched today is very much the first phase in what we hope will become a very useful set of tools for riders.

That said, it's definitely ready to use right now and I'm going to spend a few minutes talking you through the concepts and features that make Rider Advantage what it is.

I'm also going to describe what we've got planned for the future and explain how you, the magnz supporters and friends, can help us build it.

If you head over to magnz.org nz and follow the link, you'll land on the Rider Advantage page.

You'll need to register to create an account and set a password, but that's it.

There's nothing else to download and nothing to pay.

Rider Advantage has been developed as a progressive web app.

It's accessed through your phone's browser.

If you add it to your home screen on your device, you can use it just like a conventional app, except for this you don't need to visit the Apple Store or Google Play, and you don't need to install anything else.

There are several practical advantages to this approach.

Magnz can deploy improvements and bug fixes rapidly without having to go through an official App Store release process.

Users generally receive the current version when they access the service, and Rider Advantage remains accessible across a wide range of devices without Magnz having to maintain separate Android and iOS applications.

It also keeps development within the resources of a volunteer organization, and that's really important to an incorporated society such as magnz.

Let me explain how you can add Rider Advantage to your device.

If you're using Android, open Rider Advantage, open the browser menu and select Install App or add to Home Screen depending on your device, the Rider Advantage icon will then appear alongside your other apps.

On an iPhone or iPad, open Rider Advantage using Safari, tap the Share button and then select Add to Home Screen.

Again.

Rider Advantage will appear on your home screen and will look and behave like your other apps.

And of course you can also use Rider Advantage through your browser just by saving the web address.

This is probably a good moment to talk about privacy and security.

Your security and privacy have been considered as part of the Rider Advantage architecture from the very moment we began development.

The system uses modern user authentication and database security controls.

Administrative functions are restricted according to authorized roles and access permissions are being progressively reviewed.

As part of beta testing, we're taking a minimal approach to data management.

Our principle has been straightforward.

If Rider Advantage doesn't need a particular piece of personal information to provide a useful function, we shouldn't collect it even if we could.

Rider Advantage doesn't require realme and MAGNZ is not attempting to create a digital identity platform.

And as development moves ahead, we will continue reviewing security, permissions, data collection and privacy so what does Rider Advantage actually do for you as a rider?

Well, the first feature I want to tell you about is called My Bikes.

My Bikes provides a place to store and manage information about your motorcycles, including WAF service and registration information.

It's particularly useful for riders taking part in regio freeze or otherwise placing motorcycles on licensing holding.

Using the My Bike function within Rider Advantage can help you keep track of the three month exemption period and remind you when action is needed.

For riders with several motorcycles, the objective is simple.

Instead of maintaining several WAF registration and exemption dates yourself, Rider Advantage helps you manage them all in one place.

The next feature is called Rider Assist.

This is still under development, but we see it as our way of helping us to help each other.

Perhaps you've run out of fuel and you're a few kilometres away from the nearest service station.

Rider Assist will help you contact people from the local motorcycling community who might be willing and able to assist.

The longer term concept is to provide a practical way for riders who are stranded or need non emergency assistance to connect with participating riders and services.

Rider Assist is a working feature from day one, but it will only work if we all chip in and offer to help where we can.

The system is still being developed and tested, so please don't think it's an all singing, all dancing emergency service.

It's not.

Instead it's a way for mates to help mates.

And of course if there's an accident and you need emergency help, please call 111.

In a similar fashion, we're also developing Motobed to help traveling motorcyclists find motorcycle friendly accommodation and other useful places to stay.

The initial functionality is being introduced during beta, with the service and database intended to expand progressively again.

We need your help to make that happen.

If you know of a good motorcycle friendly place to stay, or you can offer a room or somewhere to pitch a tent, we'd love you to share details on Rider Assist.

We're also working on similar functions to share information about motorcycle rides and events, and an information page where we can share Mag NZ announcements and updates about the court case and other Mag NZ policies.

That additional functionality will be released progressively and will keep you informed about which elements are released and when.

So why have we decided to release a beta version?

Well, it's because the people who will ultimately know whether Rider Advantage is useful aren't the magnz team behind the development.

It's you, the riders.

Rider Advantage has been designed and developed largely by magnz volunteers using modern development platforms.

A beta release allows us to put the application into the hands of real riders.

While we're still working on the development, you may encounter a bug, something may not display correctly on your particular phone, a feature may be incomplete, and occasionally some may change between visits as a new version is deployed.

But that's exactly what beta testing is for.

And with that in mind, we want your help.

Don't just look at Rider Advantage.

Use it, add your motorcycles, try the different functions, install it on your home screen, try it on different devices, and above all, tell us what happens if something doesn't work, report it.

If something's confusing, tell us.

And if there's something you think would make Rider Advantage genuinely more useful to New Zealand motorcyclists, we want to hear that too.

Feedback from beta users will help determine what we fix, improve and build.

Rider Advantage is an additional service for the motorcycle community.

It doesn't change why magnz exists.

Motorcycle advocacy will always remain at the heart of what we do.

Challenging decisions that unfairly affect motorcyclists, demanding evidence and accountability from government agencies and decision makers, representing rider interests and giving motorcycle riders a stronger collective voice will continue to be magnz's primary focus.

Rider Advantage complements that work, it doesn't replace it.

If anything, building a larger, better connected motorcycle community will give that voice even greater reach.

Rider Advantage has been built for riders by riders.

We'd love you to test it.

Head over to magnz.org nz open RiderAdvantage and get stuck in.

It's free to use, and it will always be free to use.

We'd love you to try it, test it, break it, and help us make it better.

As a little extra incentive, everyone who downloads and registers for Rider Advantage in the first week will go into a draw to win one of five special magnz Keep It Twisted shirts.

So get in early and make sure you're part of the action.

That's it for me this week.

Please head over to magnz.org nz to find out more about Rider Advantage and everything else we do, or search for magnz on Facebook.

And please remember to subscribe or follow the show in your favorite podcast app so that the next episode comes straight to your device.

Until the next time, ride safe, stands up, visors down and keep it twisted.

We're not gonna pay it and no, we ain't gonna it.