Haimona Ngata

What’s your middle name? : “Te Whaiora’-its maori for ‘to be thankful’! yo!

Age : 26

Sponno’s : Colony Bmx, The Shadow Conspiracy, Mountain Dew, Burger Fuel, VANS, Pro Tec, Oakley, Triplesix Distro & Eastpak.

How long have you been riding for? : 11 or 12 years, can’t really remember!

What riders do you look onto for inspiration? : All my homies that I ride with on a regular basis, you all you know who you are!! D-man, Too White, BoB D, Fashion Mike, Lil Buddy, I know those all sound like weird names, but those are their real names!! All my homies on the Colony team, good times, great sessions, bestest nights on the razzle!! Anyone who is just doing their own thing and having a good time! One person who I think I would probably look at and think ‘what the fuck is going on!!???’ Would probably have to be Jerry Galley, respect!

What’s your favourite stuff to ride? : Everything, but probably skateparks, just rolling around and having a goodtime, bombing hills is also fun as fuck, head down, tucked in, flying on a highway to hell!!

Favourite place to ride so far? : T-1 ramp is probably up there, just for size and smoothness, the old chafers park in Wellington, and the olde favourite, vics in Auckland, and Aotea square!

Favourite destination travelled to? : Wellington, (whats up BDA!!!) Brisbane or Austin Tx.

What’s one place you want to travel to but still haven’t been to yet? : Probably either Vancouver, Malaga in Spain, or New Jersey, oh yeah, and actually riding in Hawaii, went there to surf years ago, but no bike!

How do you think others would describe your riding style? : I dunno, perhaps fast, I like going fast, and sketchy, definitely sketchy!

Do you like to ride in comps? : Nope, not really!

Name a few websites that you frequent :
- www.zombie-flesh-eaters.co.nz
- www.72psi.co.nz
- www.myspace.com/colonybmx
- www.sandycarson.com
- www.defgrip.com
- www.thumbzilla.com

What car do you drive? : drive!!?? Whats that!!??

Fronties or backies? : none.

Blondes or brunettes? Partial to the brunettes thanks very much!

What is your favourite product from the Colony range? : That’s got to be the Sect frame, I knew that anything that Kenny would be designing would be a treat, but when I put it together, it was everything and more I thought it would be, perfect length and angles, fuckin treats!

How does it feel to be a part of the Colony family? : It just feels right, at the time that I got offered my place on the colony team, things were a bit funny with my other sponsor, I dunno, I guess it comes down to communication, and I was trying to communicate with them, but was getting no love back, and things were getting a lil bit bleary, don’t get me wrong, I was totally physched to be riding for them, and was totally thankful for all their support, but when Clint offered me a spot, there was no second guessing involved. Everyone on the team is cool as fuck, and I like the direction that the company is going, and I’m physched to have some input into something, and see it come to fruition a lil’ bit down the track!! Basically, I couldn’t really ask for a better sponsor.

What do you do for a living? : I edit and do graphic animation for a music television company here in NZ.
Any DVD sections you’ve been working on recently that we should keep an eye out for? : Just the forth coming Colony dvd, that’s bout it really, perhaps a few snippets in the Etnies dvd that’s coming out this year. Hopefully Rooftop has hooked that one up.

Name a few DVD sections that would be your favourite in recent times or in the past : Jerry Galley, ‘nails in the coffin’ Joe and Ruben train trip DVD, Darrin Read ‘building the underground’ Brad Simms ‘shook ineractive’ Derrick Gerrard ‘shitluck dvd’ Pete Radivo, ‘self-titled’ Seymore Butts 'Adventures in Europe.'

What are your thoughts on the future of BMX in general? : Everything seems to be moving in leaps and bounds at the mo, perhaps a little too fast for my liking. I’m a simple kid, who likes simple things, I guess all this frontflip no handers and 360 triple whips confuse me. It seems that kids these days are too caught up in learning every trick under the sun instead of just riding around the neighbourhood with their friends sessioning lil’ jibs here and there. Don’t get me wrong, all these crazy trick are super gnarly, and I like watching all that stuff, but there's nothing better to watch, then someone who actually looks like they’re in control of their bike, they could be doing the simplest things, but it all looks smooth and in control and big and confident. Like, you could be watching some kid at the park that can do all the whip to manual to 180 stuff, and its crazy, and that kids super talented, but then there's the kid who just flat out rules, and everyone knows it. Super rad and gnarly style, making everything look effortless, those kids rule and I take my hat off to them. Its funny, as far as sponsors go, it seems to be 60 percent riding, and 40 percent what sort of person you are, which is cool I think. I'm glad that people are taking more of an effort to have teams that are more of a crew then an actual team. They may not be entering the Xgames and all that jazz, but they completely kick ass both on and off the bike. I'm glad that there’s that balance coming back in bmx.

What is the riding scene like in New Zealand? : Ah, the scene here is awesome, there’s lots of different crews all over the country which is good, and the amount of riders are growing super super fast. I personally think its awesome that there’s no actual comps here, its only jams. Its just a much more chilled vibe, and truth be told, we're all very lazy here in NZ, how can we not be when its light till 10 at night, you can drink anywhere you want, the bars stay open all night, the beach is 2 minutes down the road, and the girls wear as little as possible all day everyday cause they want to be tanned, who could really ask for anything else!! The only thing NZ is lacking, is sizeable parks. There’s some biggies, but they're all too spread out, and most of the time there’s only a couple of decent sized trannies here and there. Hopefully soon the park makers will catch on and start making some stuff that’s big enough to blast the crap out of.

Any thanks? : My Mum and Dad first off for everything they've done, both for my riding and in general, and thanks for letting me use the Bach whenever any of my homies come from overseas, that place is always a treat and those who are reading this know what I'm saying. It's location will always remain a secret, but it's probably the most published holiday spot in BMX! Ahahaha!
Everyone who helps me out, Clint and Chris at The Colony BMX Company, Ron at shadow, mike at 666 NZ, Bob D at Hedgehog Takapuna (still haven't tightened those spokes and my wheels are straight!) Aaron at B-FUEL, Richie at Oakley, Alana at Mountain Dew, and Dylan at Pro-Tec.
But most of all, thanks to my homeboys for always being there no matter what. Here's to sinking suds on a hot summers day under the tree at Vics, great times and even greater nights at the bar! Cheers Boys!

Bike Check

Frame: Colonic Kenny Rays sect frame custom bloody red...
Forks: (soon to be) Dave Friemuth MVP's
Headset: what headset?? I'm bring bearingless headsets to the future!
Stem: Shadow red one with crows head
Bars: Colonic Unlucky 13's anti barspin bars...
Grips: Shadow, red ones with crows head
Barends: shadow red ones with crows head
Brakes - F: Vans Slip Ons…
Brakes - R: Fly bikes black ones with metal brake pads
Levers: Tech 77, black with a bend in it...
Gyro: bars are permenently welded to stay straight.
Cranks: shadow torrid moisty dripping cranks, black
Sprocket: shadow one with teeth on it, missing a couple here and there...
Pedals: shadow red ones with crows head
Chain: shadow one with a few halflinks here and there...
Seat: shadow one with Smelly Whitton custom lay up
Seatpost: shadow red one with crows head...
Seatclamp: shadow red one with crows head...
Front Rim: oval
Front Hub: shadow red one with crows head...
Rear Rim: oval
Rear Hub: shadow black one with custom lawn mower sound...
Spokes: metal ones...
Front Tyre: shadow one with knobs on it...
Rear Tyre: shadow custom skid tyre minus the tread for skids...
Pegs: colonic alloy up front, custom colonic big ass bad boy crom mo down the back for extra ba-donk-a-donk.....