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Category: Tourism & Travel
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A survey carried out for the Motorcycle industry* researched the impact of bikers on the tourist industry and found that Motorcycle-related tourism spending in the UK is over £565 million each year, supporting over 13, 000 tourism jobs.
In recent years the most significant growth in motorcyclists has been in female riders and with this the rise in longer stays under bricks & mortar such as B&B's, hotels, cottages, etc, rather than just for one night... Many riders know there is nothing worse than arriving somewhere after a long ride, unpacking, showering, eating, drinking, sleeping and then up the next day to pack up and move on. With this there is a significant rise in finding a great Biker Friendly place to stay as a base for a few days and then to go out each day to tour and explore the area.
Hoteliers, cafes, pubs, event organisers and other tourist related organisations could be getting more money from the biker pound, by choosing the correct medium to promote themselves within, especially as many Bikers travel in the UK for their holidays, along with overseas motorcycling tourists spending over £17 million on trips here.
The traditional stereotype of bikers being free-spirited, leather clad hooligan is thing of the past, according to research** the profile of the ‘average biker’ in 21st Century Britain, a seemingly upstanding, 40+-something middle-class citizen who is a married, professional, family man, who almost certainly owns a car. Challenging the old perceptions of bikers even further, only 7% sport either long hair or a pony tail. This is probably because nearly 60% of those surveyed hold down a professional senior/management job, taking home an average wage 25% higher than the national average.
By simply advertising your business as 'Biker friendly' here on THE BIKER GUIDE is letting this niche audience know that you welcome them, which many times is enough in itself... by also offering drying facilities, garaged and/or secure parking is a bonus and not a necessary, for you to capitalise on this growing market.
Other interesting facts:
More than half of all motorcyclists are over 40, with the vast majority of motorcycle tourists being in this age category.
“The lack of interest in the motorcycle tourism sector may be due to a perceived image of rebellious youthful bikers which is at odds with their current demographic," (Dr Cater, lecturer at Aberystwyth University).
* by GHK on behalf of the MCI
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A ground-breaking new survey has shown a staggering increase in the number of men experiencing symptoms traditionally associated with a mid-life crisis, including significant numbers of young men. The study also highlights that these men are still turning to the ‘classic techniques’ used for coping at such a time.
The study was commissioned by Bennetts, the UK’s No.1 Bike Insurance Specialist, to understand whether the belief that men between 40 and 55 years old buy a motorbike to cope with a mid-life crisis, remains true or not.
The research amongst over 1,000 British men* showed that six out of every ten men aged between 40 and 55, the age traditionally most associated with the mid-life crisis, now say they have had or are currently experiencing a mid-life crisis. Responses showed that those men find it difficult to understand and hard to handle, with friends and family being confused and showing limited support.
These symptoms, however, are no longer reserved for this age group. The majority of men between 16 and 70 years old now report a life-review or transition experiences with nearly three quarters (73%) currently being or having recently been concerned with the direction of their life. Interestingly, more young men have recently asked themselves “where am I going with my life?” “what are my goals?” and “should I take more risks?” than those aged between 40 and 55.
Perhaps most strikingly the research by Bennetts reveals that, while more men are experiencing a mid-life crisis and at different ages, classic techniques for coping are still as popular as ever. Buying a car or motorbike still tops the list alongside changing job, moving house and forming a new relationship.
In fact, a third (30%) of motorcycle owners who are going through or have been through a mid-life crisis got into bikes specifically to cope. Bikers come out of the study exceptionally well, reporting the greatest success in managing their mid-life crisis adaptively, rather than being in denial. Over half felt they had dealt with their mid-life crisis positively, the top response.
Only 13% of the bikers said they had not yet overcome their mid-life crisis and they reported the fewest ‘changed relationships’ and the most ‘involved partners’, signifying that they maintained better relationships with their partners compared to men adopting different coping mechanisms.
Bennetts’ customer data shows that sports bikes are currently the biggest purchase of choice among men from the ages of 16 to 54, whilst from 55 upwards the roadster – a more relaxed and comfortable bike to cruise on - appears to become a more popular buy.
Speaking about the research findings, Dr Derek Milne, author of ‘Coping with a Mid-Life Crisis’, commented: “These findings suggest that British men are struggling more than ever to cope with modern life. I find it heartening that bikers, often portrayed as somewhat solitary and anti-social, seemed to become more sociable through biking, helping them to deal with their mid-life crises.”
 Darren Gough, the England cricket legend and Bennetts biking ambassador, who turned to motorcycling after retiring from first-class cricket in his mid-thirties, said: “You often hear about sports players finding it tough to call it a day. Finding something to replace the kick you get by taking a wicket and playing to a packed Lord’s is not easy. Learning to ride and buying an adventure motorbike was exciting as is the rush of freedom you get when hitting the open road for a few hours.”
Hannah Squirrell, Associate Director, Bennetts, added: “I suspect a lot of men who dream about owning a motorcycle will be pleased to see motorbiking up there on the list of ways to deal with a mid-life crisis. If your partner questions whether you should be investing in a new bike, ‘saving or improving your relationship’ is a pretty strong reason to justify the expense!”
For more information about Bennetts, go to www.bennetts.co.uk
* The research by Bennetts was carried out online by Opinion Matters between the 5th and 14th June, 2013 amongst a panel resulting in 1,001 men aged between 16 and 70.
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Converts take to social media to share their enthusiasm
Facebook is buzzing with comments and pictures from the 400 people who had their first taste of dirt riding over the weekend.
The four day long Motorcycle Off-Road Experience was held between 13th - 16th June at Brake Hill Farm in Brigstock, near Ketting. It was organised by the members of the Motorcycle Industry Association’s off-road group, to provide people with the opportunity to try off-road riding for the first time.
This attracted people from 38 different counties plus London. Some were road riders, but quite a few had never been on a bike before. Despite this, most managed to progress to a full motocross trail by the end of each session, with the help of expert trainers, including 3 times World Champion Dave Thorpe.
Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki and Yamaha provided bikes, kit and trainers for a heavily subsidised fee of just £15. The AMCA ran the trackside element of the event with overall project management and communication provided by the MCI. Other off-road organisations also attended to provide a comprehensive induction into all off-road options. These included the sporting body ACU and the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF), which works to preserve the use of green lanes and offers a gentler form of recreation for motorcycle off-roaders.
The weather was windy but mostly dry and with so many people turning up early for sessions, it was easy to bring the start time forward one day when rain threatened.
The MCI contact centre managed the registration and booking process and is in the process of surveying all participants to see how they will be pursuing their interest in off-road riding. 93% agreed to be contacted by manufacturers and trainers post event.
Howard Dale, General Manager of Kawasaki and Chair of the MCI’s Off-Road Group says the response was incredibly positive: “I’ve never seen so many happy faces in one place. People were buzzing after their first taste of off-road riding. It was the same among all those involved in running the event too. This level of cooperation within the industry is unprecedented, and the ‘feel-good factor’ for everyone involved over the past four days has gone off the scale and importantly many of those attended are determined to pursue further training or buy a bike!”.
Comments from facebook:
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Our contact in Shanghai was Roger Owens, or Junior as he was called back in the days when he was the youngest member of the Northern Ireland volleyball team I captained at the Commonwealth championships in 1981. Or was it 1881? I can never remember.
Now a successful businessman, he’d sent his company’s bright blue London taxi to meet us at the airport. As it hurtled along the superhighway from the airport into Shanghai, it was like entering the set of Bladerunner on drugs, with the rivers of headlights and tail lights streaming constantly between some of the most exquisitely designed skyscrapers on earth. And yet, as we turned into the street where our hotel was, there was a tiny bicycle repair shop on the corner, with an old man squatting on the floor fixing a puncture, just as in Clancy’s day.
Next day, it was out on the Clancy trail with our guide, Kent Kedl, boss of a company called Control Risks who specialised in fraud investigation, kidnapping management and hostage negotiation. “Kent, with a name like that, you’ve got to be either a Californian surf dude or one of Superman's mates,” I said as we walked off a main street straight into the heart of old Shanghai, its narrow streets pungent with the aromatic smoke of assorted creatures being fried, boiled or roasted and noisy with the clack of old men playing mah jong and traders advertising their wares.
In narrow windows hung bolts of silk, wool and cashmere which tailors would transform into fine suits and shirts in a matter of days for a song, while the cobbler next door would furnish you with a pair of bespoke handmade shoes in only a few days more. The Confucius Temple Clancy described is still there, past a pond crossed by a zig-zag bridge so that ghosts can’t find their way to the Starbucks opposite and are forced instead to queue for a pricey tea ceremony, although I doubt if Bill Clinton and the Queen coughed up a fiver for a cuppa when they visited. And beyond, the Yu Gardens are exactly as Clancy found them: a haven of goldfish ponds, elegant trees, bamboo groves, cobbled walkways and temples for calligraphy, meditation or prayer.
As we emerged, Gary spotted a stall selling Mao hats and badges, and a white Chinese fighter pilot’s helmet with a red star on the front for which the stallholder was asking 320 yuan, or about £32. “How much should I offer her?” he asked Kent. “Same tactics as hostage negotiation. Offer her 30 per cent, then walk away,” laughed Kent. He was right, of course, and two minutes later, Gary walked away 12 quid lighter and a helmet richer. “If you need a jet to go with that, I know a good arms dealer,” said Kent.
The next day, having seen what Clancy saw, we met Roger for the tour of what he hadn’t, taking the ferry across the river into another world, of wide boulevards and 3,000 skyscrapers, more than New York, with another 2,000 planned. At the end of the day, we toasted Clancy in the Long Bar of the Peace Hotel, where Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin once dallied. In the corner, the hotel’s legendary jazz band played just as they had as young men before the Communists disbanded them after the Revolution in 1949.
With the city now buzzing again, they had been hauled out, dusted off and told they could start playing their decadent capitalist tunes again, even though they were now all in their eighties.
The next day, we were on the plane to Nagasaki, where as the Bulow docked in 1913, Clancy almost certainly grinned with pleasure to see, as his Henderson was lowered onto the dockside, a sight he had not seen for some time: roads. As he motored north, around him was a country more delightful, beautiful, peculiar and above all different to anything he had ever seen, particularly the quaint habit of locals to dash out of their homes and into the road when they heard his horn, thinking it meant the arrival of the fried fish salesman, the pipe cleaner or the clog mender.
Still, apart from kamikaze pedestrians, rickshaws and carts, he had the roads to himself, since he saw no motorcycles and only a single car in his whole time in Japan. It is, as you can imagine, much the same today. We had arrived in Nagasaki just too late for cherry blossom season, that time of year when the petals come fluttering down to remind the Japanese of the fragile, temporary beauty of life. But then, the city where we stepped ashore became an even greater reminder of that on the morning of August 9, 1945, when the 240,000 citizens woke to a warm but overcast day and were glad when the clouds parted at 11am to reveal just enough blue sky to make a sailor suit. They shouldn’t have been, because at that moment the crew of the B-29 Superfortress Bockscar returning from finding Kokura, their planned target, obscured by cloud, saw Nagasaki through the same gap and dropped their bomb on it from 30,000ft.
In three seconds, 70,000 people died and another 70,000 were fatally poisoned by radiation. We emerged into glorious sunshine and bought two cones from an old ice cream seller, and in a few deft scoops she created what looked like two perfect roses almost too beautiful to eat. She handed them to us with a polite bow, and in that moment I was reminded again why I love Japan, for the infinitely loving care given to the beauty of detail in everything from bathing and the tying of a kimono to the tea ceremony.
And so, with world peace in the balance but my love for Japan secure, I returned to our traditional ryokan and a struggle with the four thousand buttons on the slightly less traditional automated toilet. At one stage I accidentally cranked the heated seat and hot air bottom drying fan up to maximum heat, leading to a few seconds of intense panic that my nether regions would burst into flames and I would be charged with arson.
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It seems the wearing of compulsory Fluorescent/Yellow HI Viz/Jacket/Vest by French bikers while riding has gone away for now.
France’s National Road Safety Council requests that the new road safety recommendations to be translated into regulatory text by the Government. The recommendation from the council is similar to that which is obligatory for motorists, which would be to carry a high visibility vest under the motorcycle seat, in a bag, in the box top etc and for that vest to be worn in case of an emergency stop. We cannot leave the article without mentioning our previous reporting on the Hi-Viz issue which spilt across the channel into the UK.
That is to state that the Hi-Viz issue was not a European Union issue, there was no European proposal, it was a national French issue and there were no plans by the UK or Northern Ireland Governments or agencies to introduce Hi-Viz here.
Although we have said that this is a French National issue it is worth keeping an eye on the issue as riders from the UK need to be kept informed for trips across the channel.
For now at least, the wearing of a yellow vest while riding a motorcycle in France is not mandatory.
Read the full article on Right To Ride EU
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