The third annual Australian Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Week is on from 7-11 October 2019 and once again double Dakar Rally winner Toby Price is the event ambassador.
According to the official Ride to Work Week press release, Toby says:
When you ride, you’re living a little more!
No one should go through life without knowing the joy of riding a motorbike.
Easy parking, lane filtering and the freedom and feeling of two-wheels. How could you have a bad day at work if it starts and ends with a ride?
No matter what you ride, this a week for us all to come together and enjoy taking the long way home!
Free inspections
The event is an initiative of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, supported by Aprilia, BMW Motorrad, Can-AM BRP, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Husqvarna, Indian Motorcycles, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Suzuki, Triumph, Vespa and Yamaha.
To support the week, a selection of Australia’s motorcycle dealerships will offer a free Ride-Thru 10-point inspection of their bike to make sure it is safe and road ready.
Riders are also encouraged to share their favourite sections of their long way home on Facebook, Instagram and the official website.
According to the press release, FCAI CEO Tony Weber says the goal is to get current riders riding and make prospective riders curious:
We are traditionally a country mad for motorcycles. This event gives riders an opportunity to share their love for bikes with their colleagues and prepare for summer.
When the motorcyclists I know start explaining their love for it, I have to admit I am tempted to ask for lessons. Bringing a group with so much passion together, making them more visible on the road … it’s a great opportunity to get back on the bike, or take your first steps as a rider.
Our view
Anything is better than nothing and I will do my best to support this initiative (even though I work from home!).
However, I believe this is another opportunity lost.
As usual there will be no single event planned to hook the mainstream media.
Overseas, similar events are held on one particular day. That focuses the mainstream media on one event and attracts a lot of attention.
There is also nothing planned to highlight to the public how many of us ride and how our lives matter.
It would be great to see the media getting the message that lane filtering is legal and to leave a gap for our safety and for their expediency.
Here’s a sign we’d like to see in Ride to Work Week!Instead, this is simply a commercial initiative driven by dealers and distributors to get riders into their shops.
That’s fine and certainly needed as sales continue to spiral downward.
We admire and respect Toby. In fact, after his second Dakar Rally win this year, we launched a petition to have him recognised with a national award.
But we wonder if a rally rider is really the right ambassador for commuter riding?
We would have included a nice photo of Toby riding to work, but the FCAI didn’t provide one.
After my inquiry, they did supply this one …
