Hi I am known as Pops and I thought I would introduce myself and explain why I joined MATES.
I am 60 years old and rejoined riding motorcycles about 4 years ago after been out of the scene for 15 years while my family grew up. After my two children left home my wife, in her kindness, suggested that as I was so bored and toey about getting back into riding that on my 56th birthday I should go and get myself a bike.
My first machine was a Honda Shadow which I initially thought was a perfect bike for me but after a few months started to dislike more and more. However because of its many faults, i.e. handling and poor cornering ability, it really was a good bike to get my bike legs back so to speak.
The reason I joined Mates was my concern at the ever rising fatalities and serious accidents that we were experiencing in South East Queensland
When you ride a bike with poor handling and lack of cornering ability you learn quickly how much you can push the limit of the bikes performance. I am not talking about top speed here but how to lean the bike, braking ability, etc. Consequently I learnt a lot about my own ability and how much more I needed to learn.
After 2.5 years I sold the Shadow (opened a few beers I must admit) I bought a Harley Road King from a mate and finally had a bike that suited my needs completely. It took me pretty much 12 months of riding to understand its breaking and handling nature. Especially using the front brake more than the rear, in order to stop lock ups which occur on large Cruisers.
The reason I joined Mates was my concern at the ever rising fatalities and serious accidents that we were experiencing in South East Queensland, especially on the Gold Coast. It just seemed that in the years of 2006 to 2008 too many guys were losing their lives on our roads.
I was so concerned that when I heard that there was a community group that included not only government officials but other concerned riders and groups I decided to go along to the first couple of meetings to see what was up. Firstly I got a shock that my preconceived idea that the majority of bike incidents involved car driver/ bike collisions with the car drivers being mostly at fault.
Boy was I wrong and it took a lot of discussion about the crash statistics to convince me that the majority of the accidents involved single vehicles (Bikes) and were caused in suburbia rather than out on the open highway or in the country side.
So after my initial disbelief I really felt I should be doing something to help lower the number of deaths on the road and as I had no way to do this as an individual I decided to become an active member of MATES and work with other likeminded people to come up with ways of bring out a bike safety messages that my fellow bike riders would see and have some influence in changing their riding styles so that they could enjoy their ride but end back home safe and sound.
Well that’s my Story just remember Stay Upright my Brothers and Sisters.
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