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Don't waste your time with clubs.
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Welcome to the Throttle and Roast podcast. I'm your host, Niels Meersschaert. I recently came across a post in one of the local Facebook motorcycle groups where a rider was looking for a group club or people to ride with. And one comment stood out to me where they said, "Don't waste your time with clubs".
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when they were asked why, because obviously a lot of people would just react to that and say, What do you mean, why?
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They said, Been there, done that.
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"Too many headstrong in the club.
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I was involved with. I'll Bide my time to maybe find the right one". it got me thinking about the search for community and how some people's experiences can be so negative that they actively dissuade others from even bothering. in this episode, we'll dig into that search for community some different ways to experience it. An overview of some of the clubs that are out there and dig into why not.
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Every community may be right for everybody So, I really want to dig into almost the genesis of that original post of where someone is saying, Hey, anyone know of any good riding groups or clubs or people to ride with because they really wanted that sort of seeking out of community, that ability to share their love of motorcycles with others and maybe learn from some other people, see what they could do, that this is not an unusual thing for motorcyclists. look, we even talked about this in an episode recently. You know, we're riding on the bike alone.
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Unless you have a pillion on the bike, you're really just you are on that one vehicle by yourself.
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You might ride with other people, but it is a bit of a solitary activity on the specific vehicle.
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You don't talk to other people within your your bike, for example, or in a car as you would normally. when you love something, you often want to share it with others. And this is, I think, why there is such a a yearning for community within the motorcycle riders out there.
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They want to have that sort of experience where they're able to share this with some others. And of course, there's a few different ways in which you can have that sense of community. It could be forums or groups like those on Facebook that I mentioned that group that I was looking at was one to help those riders who are in the local area where I am, find out about activities, events, etc.. So it's one way in which you could do that. Another would be maybe some articles from magazines or from blogs that are focused on motorcycling. And this is a way that you can get some sense of community and learn about what's going on in the motorcycle industry. What are some events that you might want to participate in? It's it's a way to kind of bring you around. And of course, there's others like podcasts, like this one is another way to form a community.
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Hear about some stuff that's going on in motorcycling, maybe learn something new, maybe figure out, you know, where you could explore or enhance your passion for riding even further And of course, the last one would be riding groups or clubs.
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And this is probably where there's a lot of opportunity in that original poster was asking specifically about this was where can I find groups or clubs or other people to ride with?
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This was really the genesis of what they wanted to do. And of course, contrary to what we talked about in that riding alone episode where, you know, you can do solo and we talked about some ways in which you can do that effectively. But there are, as we highlighted, there are some advantages to riding in a group. First off, there's a safety aspect. It's easier to see a large group. other vehicles are going to be aware of that versus a single vehicle and therefore they're more likely to yield or have an awareness of the bikes and not be as much of a problem of turning in front of them or ignoring their right of way, which is a problem. Let's be honest, for motorcyclists The other benefit in a group, of course, is support in the event of a breakdown or a accident So this is one of the big benefits of riding in a group. And of course, you know, that other aspect is just the camaraderie that you finish the ride and now you can celebrate what you did.
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And this feeling of community is such a powerful part of why people seek out joining, riding groups and that original poster.
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This is what they were hoping to find. They wanted other people to ride with to enhance their riding experience, maybe to discover new routes, to discover new places to go, everything.
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This is why we do that.
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I wanted to discuss a little bit about, well, what kind of riding groups or clubs are out there? There is what I'll I'll sort of define as almost like a general advocacy group. And this is not so much of a riding group. It's maybe something that you would get a membership into to learn some maybe high level stuff or to be an advocate to government for supporting your activities. So in the United States, we have the AMA or the American Motorcyclists Association, we have motorcycle action group.
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You know, these are a couple of more general advocacy groups that are out there. The other thing that you can look at is a brand specific club. Here we have the HOG or the Harley Owners Group, which is specifically for Harley-Davidson owners. You also have the Indian Motorcycle Riders group, the BMW MOA, which is, of course, for BMW riders, Vespa, Club of America for Scooter Riders. You know, and there's a number of other examples of that. But these groups would be typically going to be national or international organizations focused on a specific brand of bikes. There's also groups and clubs that are focused on the type of bike. So this may not be about a specific brand, an example of this would be a vintage motorcycle club. We talked about the distinguished gentleman's ride, which is really focused on classic looking or actual classic motorcycles. Well, that would be a great example of an event that's focused on those vintage bikes. There's also sport motorcycle clubs for people who are riding sport bikes and want to have that faster pace or more of a thrill. Maybe they go and do track days, etc.. You may also have cruiser riders.
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Obviously Harley and Indians rider groups are part of that, but there's other brands that also make cruiser motorcycles.
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Of course, I have a BMW, R18, which is a cruiser. Most of the Japanese manufacturers still make a lot of them Ducati.
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Whether you agree or not, you could call the Diavel a cruiser.
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It is at least a cruiser style in some ways, even if it is a power cruiser. And, of course, the Rocket three from Triumph is still a cruiser style, even though it's got an insane amount of power and huge engine. But it is its own sort of style. And so there's groups for that. The other one, of course, that's become really popular in recent years has been ADV or adventure bikes, and there's groups that really cater to that. So if you wanted to find where can I go out and do some cool trails and and find something out there, there's the Backcountry Discovery Route organization that's really focused on finding routes specifically for ADV riders. So this is another example of a group that's oriented toward a type of bike.
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We also have affinity groups. So this is where it may not be about the style of bike that you have, but it may be about some other aspect of you as an individual that may be important for you. So there's the Women's International Motorcycle Association, at least here in the United States, it tends to be very much of a male dominated activity with motorcycling. But there's some amazing female riders that are out there. And this is an organization that allows them to be coming together and have that camaraderie because their experience may not be the same as other riders. Same thing goes for the Christian Motorcyclists Association. This is for those people who are maybe Christian.
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They feel that that's a really part of their identity and they want to find like minded people, Patriot Guard riders or the rolling Thunder. These are a couple of the veterans groups where their focus is on supporting veterans. Some of them actually do honor rides.
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When we have some of our service members have fallen, and that's really their affinity that they're coming together with. So there's a lot of different groups that you can do. And of course, the one that that's probably where this poster was originally looking for is more of a local riding group. So what are some groups that are near you? They may not be an international group that you may have a rally, let's say, for BMW MOA, has a national rally every year. But what are some rides that I could do locally with some people? good example of that is Citibeemers in New York City is a brand specific local group. They're associated with the national BMW MOA I actually was a member of that for a number of years when I lived in New York City. Great club, great bunch of riders, and it was a combination of that brand affinity, but also locality because it was about New York City and BMW riders and some of them are just going to be location based rather than a brand or a style. So it won't be, you know, the New York City ADV riders. or you could have the the London Retro Riders. You know, whatever the particular group is, there can be a local riding group that you will find that will be the right fit for you. Now, getting back to that original comment, the one that sort of struck me as so negative, at least their initial one of saying don't even bother with clubs. Not every community is right for everybody, and especially in an online forum or a group like Facebook groups, there can be trolls And you might not love the style of a particular magazine or a particular author. And so that magazine just may not resonate with you. Maybe there's a segment of motorcycling that it focuses on, whether it's a magazine or a club, and it's just not exactly what you want.
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And sometimes in a club, as that commenter pointed out, there are some members that will just rub you the wrong way. There's always going to be that personality conflict in any type of an organization. And of course, sometimes your interests or even your location may change.
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So I mentioned when I was in New York City, I was a part of the CitiBeemers, which was that BMW specific riding group. I was even the president for about four years. But when I moved up to Westchester, it was just harder for me to head south into the more densely populated areas, to meet everyone for a club ride or for a meeting. And I did try it for a couple of years after I moved here. But I live about 50 miles away from New York City, so it was a long ride just to get down, to meet everybody, just to come back up into the fun roads that are up by me. So it just wasn't ideal it started to feel like almost like a chore that I had to do. So it just I wasn't enjoying it. So I stepped down as the president and I actually ended up leaving the club and the people in the club were great. I still have no qualms about that. They were wonderful people and I still keep in touch with them every once in a while. But the logistics of the club just and being further away just wasn't the right fit for me any more.
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And that's fine. That's going to happen with people as their interests change. Or maybe if you had a style of riding club in your interest in that evolves over time. Maybe you were really into sport bikes and now you're less than sport bikes. Well, may not make a lot of sense to be part of a sport bike club anymore, so understand that your affinity or your interest can change over time. The one thing that I really want to kind of leave you with is that commenter who kind of said like, Don't even bother, don't waste your time with a club. It really struck me as a such a negative sort of commentary on there and almost dismissive of the even the whole premise of joining a club. And I don't necessarily agree with that premise. I think that it is one where you don't want to let a few bad apples spoil your entire experience and if we're honest about it, no experience is perfect. And whether it's a grumpy member that irks you or the timing of the rides that are scheduled for the club aren't ideal for you, maybe it's no longer in the right location, whatever it ends up being. There's going to be something that's not going to be perfect about any sort of a group. But the good thing is, is that there are so many options out there that can provide you with something worthwhile. And in fact, many riders belong to a few groups to round out their experience. And for me personally, I have several types of bikes. So I'm not only a cruiser rider, I'm not only an ADV rider, I'm not only a sport bike rider. I actually love all types of motorcycles. And because I have several styles of bikes, I actually belong to a few different groups because no one group covers the gamut of everything that I love about motorcycling. So don't feel that you have to fit and find a single group that fits everything you need. You can pick and choose the aspects that really matter to you.
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So we talked about the search for community amongst motorcyclists, some of the different types of communities that exist, and we've also talked about a variety of riding clubs. Finally, we talked about how not every community is right for everyone and how finding the right one or even a group of clubs or groups can enhance your experience. my question for you is what do you look for in a community? Share your thoughts through the text, the show link in the show notes, or leave a voicemail at throttle and roast dot com slash voicemail. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next week.
