WHITE RIBBON RIDE SET TO RUMBLE

Ric Odom and his Goldwing

The White Ribbon Ride in November will visit more than 40 towns in the North Island on a road trip to help end violence towards women.

The motorcycle ride, organised by the Families Commission as part of the White Ribbon campaign, will start in Tauranga and travel south through the centre of the North Island to Wellington and then north via eastern and western routes to Auckland and Bream Bay, visiting some 40 local communities.

“I’m delighted that the ride is being supported by motorcycle enthusiasts,” says Rob McCann who coordinates the White Ribbon Campaign for the Families Commission. “The inaugural ride in 2009 was fantastic and the riders were met with enthusiasm, and a few too many sausages, whereever they went. I’m sure that the positive experience from 2009 is why we have so many riders asking for ‘ride 10’ details.

“During the last few years New Zealand has seen a growing intolerance of violence and this has been reinforced by the ‘It’s Not OK’ and White Ribbon campaigns. This rejection of family violence, and specifically violence against women, has led to increased reporting and is also reflected by the increasing number of communities taking part in White Ribbon Day activities,” says Mr McCann.

“I was recently asked why White Ribbon Day was a call to men? The answer is simple. Men want to be part of the solution. This is an opportunity to show leadership and create role models for the next generation, and in doing so, break the cycle of violence.”

By offering an activity that speaks to other men, the ride can engage with communities in a way that is exciting and creates attention.

Ric Odom, owner of a Honda Gold Wing, National CEO for the YMCA and a member of the White Ribbon organising committee, participated in the White Ribbon Ride last year and encouraged some of his YMCA colleagues to join him. He says, “I had a great experience last year. Not only did I get to ride my bike for more than 800 kilometres, I had a real feeling that we contributed to making New Zealand a better place. At each location we were met by communities that were excited that men were making a stand against violence.

“Powerful bikes equal a powerful message, but we need riders to join us and show that men do care about our communities, our homes and our families. All violence is unacceptable. The ride is the perfect opportunity to show we’re against violence towards women.”

For further information about the White Ribbon Ride visit http://www.whiteribbon.org.nz/

Key Messages:
No violence within families is tolerable. If someone within the family is being frightened or intimidated by the behaviour of someone else, it is not OK. Violence isn’t just the physical, it’s also emotional or verbal behaviour used to control someone through fear. Things we say, or don’t say, contribute to the abuse.
White Ribbon Day is the international day when people, particularly men, wear a white ribbon to show they won’t tolerate, condone or remain silent about violence against women.
It originated as a men’s movement in Canada and is now part of the United Nations annual calendar (International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women). The Families Commission took a leadership role in New Zealand in 2006.
Whether you are a father, brother, uncle, granddad or cousin – we all want to keep our families safe. We all want our children to grow up and have happy healthy relationships.
By simply wearing a white ribbon you can make it clear to other men that you do not tolerate violence against women.
You can also make sure your home, your business or your sports club is a safe environment where abusive behaviour is not tolerated.
The White Ribbon Day campaign encourages men to talk openly about family violence, to support men who want to change their abusive behaviour and to challenge comments, statements and actions by men that are abusive.

Statistics in New Zealand
In New Zealand most violence towards women takes place in the home.
In violence between couples, it is men’s violence that is most likely to cause serious physical or psychological harm.
An average of 14 women a year are killed by their partners or ex partners.
There are over 3500 convictions recorded against men each year for assaults on women.
One in three women will experience partner violence at some point in their lives.

The Families Commission and White Ribbon Committee works with multiple agencies and NGOs to coordinate the national campaign. The White Ribbon campaign complements but is separate to the family violence It’s Not OK campaign.

The White Ribbon Ride
The White Ribbon Ride is now into its second year. The structure of the ride is significantly different to that of 2009, with one ride travelling south on State Highway One and then two rides travelling north via eastern and western routes. The ride is led by the Super Maori Fullas (Mervyn, Roger and Mahu Rawiri) and the Patriots Defence Force Motorcycle Club whose members are former or serving members of the armed forces or police.
For further information about the ride visit www.whiteribbon.org.nz

Rules include:
No alcohol or drugs are permitted on the ride
No patches
Must have motorcycle of 250cc or greater
Must agree to the pledge that ‘Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women’

The Pledge
Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

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ANOTHER ERA, ANOTHER TITLE FOR KING

The podium for the over-40s veterans at the Australian
Motocross Championships this season was
(left to right) Stuart McFerran, Darryll King
and Brad Williscroft. Photo by Kajx Communications.

By Andy McGechan

Old soldiers never die, they just keep on fighting.
That could certainly be said of Hamilton’s Darryll King.
It may have been six years since the Kiwi legend last won a major national title in Australia but he rolled back the clock in July when he made it Australian motocross title No.4.
King won the prestigious open class titles across the Tasman on three separate occasions – in 2001, 2003 and 2004 – and he returned at the weekend to snatch away the over-40s veterans’ crown, an official championship for the first time this season.
The 41-year-old raced his Yamaha YZ450F to a hat-trick of wins at the Coolum circuit, this inaugural veterans’ championship sharing the programme with the eighth and final round of the open class (MX1), pro lites (MX2) and under-19s championships.
“In the end I did it fairly easily but there are still some very fast riders at the top of their game in the veterans’ racing,” said King, who had earlier this season also raced a Yamaha YZ250 in the pro lites championship.
“It was a neat track and (promoter) Kevin Williams does a great job. I always get fantastic support from Yamaha over there too. All in all, it was a brilliant weekend.”
Meanwhile, fellow Yamaha rider Cameron Taylor won the 35-40 years’ veterans’ title with a similar display of dominance, taking a clean sweep of moto wins.
King now looks ahead to contesting the final round of the World Veterans’ Motocross Championships at Lierop, in the Netherlands, on September 4.
A jam-packed personal calendar meant King has been unable to mount a full campaign in Europe this season, but, at the only other round of the world series he attended, the United States GP in May, he finished the day overall runner-up.
King twice finished second that day, both times behind fellow Yamaha rider Doug Dubach.
“I’m really looking forward to racing in Holland,” said King. “That’s why I raced the YZ450F four-stroke instead of the YZ250 two-stroke in Coolum. I need to be riding the bigger bike in the deep sand of the Dutch track.”
King said he is still uncertain whether he will be able to mount a full campaign in the veterans’ class in Europe next season but “the calendar is out already and it just might suit me.”

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ACC SETS UP ACCIDENT PREVENTION GROUP

The ACC has teamed up with representatives from key motorcycle, scooter and moped groups to look at ways to reduce motorbike injuries.

On 1 July, ACC introduced the Motorcycle Safety Levy (MSL) - a $30 annual fee for each registered motorcycle.

ACC is putting this money into a ring-fenced fund that will be specifically used on injury prevention initiatives to reduce the number and severity of motorcycle and moped injuries and fatalities.

To oversee the design of the programme, ACC has set up an establishment group. The group’s aim is to ensure the MSL programme is set up with motorbike and moped riders at the forefront. They met for the first time in Wellington on 14 July and their first task is to develop the foundations for how the MSL programme will be administered and operated.

The group is made of eight people representing the following groups; Bikers Rights Organisation of NZ (BRONZ), Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA), Motorcycling New Zealand, Scoot NZ, NZ Classic Scooter Club, Motor Industry Association, Ministry of Transport and the NZ Transport Agency, Ulysses Club of NZ Inc. Seven of the group members are motorbike or moped riders.

Peter McIntosh, of Ulysses, sees the potential from the use of the MSL funds for motorcyclists.

“For the first time we will have a dedicated safety fund for us as riders with genuine input from the motorcycling community on what types of initiatives will really benefit us. The Government and ACC have made a genuine commitment to working with motorcyclists in the operation of the Motorcycle Safety Levy to improve the safety of all motorcyclists. It is now in place and the best thing we can all do is to take a positive step forward and support it,” said Mr McIntosh.

ACC is providing additional funding to cover administration, so that all funds collected are used directly on funding safety initiatives rather than on the administration of the programme.

ACC General Manager Injury Prevention Keith McLea says the MSL programme’s success depends on input from motorcyclists on its design and development.

“We want to ensure this programme is set up for motorcyclists by motorcyclists,” Mr McLea said.

For additional information or to register to receive updates about the MSL, visit www.acc.co.nz/motorcycle-safety-levy.


Additional information

Members on the establishment group include:
- Brent Hutchison, President of Wellington branch of Bikers Rights Organisation of NZ (BRONZ)
- Peter McIntosh, President Ulysses Club of NZ Inc
- Yvonne Forrest, Representative of Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA)
- Paul Searancke, Commissioner: Recreation/Leisure of Motorcycling New Zealand
- Jess Corbett from Scoot NZ and the NZ Classic Scooter Club
- Clive Hellyar, Advisor from the Motor Industry Association
- Ministry of Transport representative
- Jim Furneaux, from NZ Transport Agency

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THE ED: WHO’S THE BAD GUY HERE?

Hell, now that former Blenheim cop Anthony Bridgeman has been found guilty and punished for his actions (which seriously injured two motorcycle riders and wrote off their bikes) in the Buller Gorge in 2007 I’m not sure what to think about the case.
Originally, or at least in my mind anyway, it was cut and dry.
“The guy was an idiot,” I thought, when I read about how, determined to pursue bike riders Martin Collins and Brent Russell, he tried to do a three point turn on a narrow, blind corner.
It wasn’t just me thinking that either.
As contributor Racing Dave said….. ‘imagine if it had been a logging truck (instead of two guys on motorbikes)...coming around the corner...’
And so my mind was made up.
As so often happens when tragedy strikes, one moment’s inattention, one nano-second’s stupidity and the lives of two otherwise ordinary, law-abiding middle-aged family men were changed forever.
However. And it’s a big however. I’m having a little bit of trouble getting my head round the punishment.
Now retired from the police force after 35 years service, Bridgeman has lost his driver’s licence for 12 months (fair enough), been ordered to undertake 100 hours community service (ditto) and also been ordered to make reparation of $60,000 to the two riders (eh?).
Bridgeman’s defence lawyer pissed me off big time when I saw him on TV try to somehow shift the blame of the accident from his client to Collins and Russell, implying that they were ‘speeding’ and (by implication deserved all they got). But that’s his job. One he can have.
What concerns me more, however, is that Bridgeman now seems to be on his own.
We all know, for instance, despite the various top cops coming out on TV and in print denying it, that Highway Patrolmen like him have been operating under some sort of ‘quota’ system for years.
If you ride a motorcycle, no matter how conservative and reactionary you are, you’ll also know that the cops target us. In fact, if I had never thrown a leg over a motorcycle I’m sure I’d have a different view of the way the Police and policing in general works because it’s been as a motorcycle rider rather than a car, van or ute driver that I’ve seen the ugly side of law enforcement. That said, I can’t help but feel sorry for Bridgeman. And I certainly hope it’s the Police stumping up the $60K not Bridgeman himself.
I’d also like to think that Police HQ would learn a lesson from the whole sorry saga and change they way they view ‘pursuits.’ Only days after Bridgeman’s brain-snap a young guy was knocked off his bike here in Auckland by a cop doing a U-turn (I thought they were illegal!) and a week or so later I had to slow down and swerve to avoid a cop doing the same just south of Maramarua.
Talk about rubbing salt into the wound. I probably wouldn’t mind if – on a daily basis – I found my life threatened by evil boyracers skidding around in their Mum’s BMWs trying to kill me. But I don’t. In fact the big problem I fi nd myself facing when I venture out on the open road these days is globules of slow-moving cars sitting at between 80 and 95km/h ruining what would otherwise be reasonably good 100-115km/h flow.
And you know why that is don’t you?
That’s right, it’s because Police HQ have elevated exceeding the speed limit to a status it simply does not deserve – that of a serious crime. The wrong speed in the wrong place (120 km/h past a school at three in the afternoon) is certainly up there with rape, assault, grievous bodily harm etc etc.
But the vast majority of us – particularly road-riding motorcyclists – are being lumped together with scumbags and career criminals for what?
Riding a bike that ‘looks’ like it goes fast?
Riding a bike at 110-115 km/h on a clear piece of road on a nice day?
And before you start writing in supporting the Police, please note that Kiwi Rider promotes the responsible use of high-performance road bikes by doing the lion’s share of the testing and photography of them on closed circuits like Pukekohe Park Raceway. It costs us at least $1,000 a day but it’s our way of saying that if you want to enjoy speed you have to act responsibly. We also support both basic and advanced rider instruction and have, over the years, played a key role in setting up and running Track Days and the successful BMW Return to Riding programme.
The point I’m trying to make – and one I’ve touched on several times in the past - is that it is time the Police took a long, hard look at themselves and the way they administer the country’s speed limits with particular focus on their policy in regards to ‘pursuits.’

What do you think? Should the Police review their policy on 'pursuits' in the wake of the carnage their cops are causing with their (illegal?) U-turns on busy roads?



As always, we welcome your views on the subject which you can e-mail to me at editor@kiwirider.co.nz or leave a comment below.

Webmaster note: Please note web comments are moderated and publication is subject to our ratings guidelines.

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THE ED: WHY THERE IS NO DOOM AND GLOOM IN KR

'Another crisis to help sell newspapers and boost TV ratings more likely!’

Doom and gloom. It’s the staple diet of the mainstream media but you won’t find any of it on the pages of KR.

Like everyone in business we’re feeling the pinch though from where we’re standing we’d much rather be putting out a motorbike magazine here in little old New Zealand than working for one of the big banks/insurance companies/financial institutions in Europe or the United States.

You have to wonder too, don’t you?

Particularly about the fact that just when you and I are getting used to living in more straitened times and circumstances along comes another ‘crisis’ we’re supposed to be all concerned about, Mexican flu! Another crisis to help sell newspapers and boost TV ratings more likely!

While all this is going on of course, the sun is still shining, the birds are still singing and, as I’m always telling people not already into bikes, every day I get to ride a bike is a good day. Speaking of which, over the past year now we’ve been working away on improving the service we offer you the reader. The first – big – move was to flash Auckland-based printer Geon, and you can all see the result of that.

Thanks, by the way, for your letters and e-mails congratulating us on the new look – and feel. They are much appreciated. With the move to a new printer came a physical increase in size of the mag (to full A4) plus a re-design and re-jig inside. There’s still some work to be done on the latter but the main job now is to bed-in what we’ve got then look at better integrating the content of the monthly mag with that of our daily-updated website www.kiwirider. co.nz

After years of status quo it’s all-change in the magazine world at the moment with any number of exciting and potentially ground-breaking developments. Do we – for instance – stick with our knitting and continue to focus primarily on a gloss monthly? Or do we distribute out ‘content’ across a mag, a website and – as the BBC’s Top Gear does – a broadly-based, mass market TV show?

We’ve already – as you would know if you’re a regular visitor to www.kiwirider. co.nz – added video when and where we can (thanks largely to multi-media guru Big Dave). And we’ve got plans to do more.

The one thing that won’t change, of course, is our interest in anything on two wheels (and sometimes these days three), be it a high-performance sportsbikes (Todd, Campbell and myself), Open class MXers (Ollie), Trail and Adventure Bikes (Ollie, Todd, Campbell, Linda & myself), anything relaxed and capable of handling the Sunday morning papers-and-coffee run (Ian), and anything big and powered by a boxer twin engine which you can ride indecently quickly on gravel (Pete).

Add in the many and varied talents of stunt man extraordinaire Stretch, multitalented all-round Racing Dave, technical guru Michael Esdaile plus columnists Moroney, Nash, Andy Lyver and Andy McGechan and we’re never going to be short of copy…..or opinions. Which is why, though at times quite stressful, putting together an issue of Kiwi Rider is ultimately such a pleasure.

While our colleagues in the mainstream media spend their days dreaming up new ways of making their ever-diminishing pool of readers feel even more worried, guilty or vulnerable to the latest global pandemic, Esdaile and I will be debating whether Aprilia made the right decision building a V rather than a transverse-frame four, or whether it was MV-Agusta or Yamaha which came up with variable-length intake trumpets first.

Ollie and Pete, meanwhile will be loudly and boisterously arguing the pros and cons of Enduro and Cross-Country vis-à-vis MX and SX…and the list believe me goes on…

Of course it’s this sort of discourse that happens when any two, three or four motorcyclists get together. And – in a nutshell – it’s what Kiwi Rider is all about. Sure there’s bad stuff going on in the world right now. But I’ll leave that to newspapers and the electronic media. Our job is to inform, entertain and – the bit I like the best – to inspire you.

Which reminds me. What am I doing sitting here in front of the computer screen at 7.30pm on a Saturday night? It’s time to go home – by bike of course – and sort my gear out for a quick ride down to Te Puke tomorrow.

RM

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