February 2016
IN THIS REPORT –We farewell an old friend- Dick WatsonResponse to article in RAC Horizons magazineNew meeting VenueMRA members downWe recently lost a great friend and supporter of the MRA in Dick Watson. Those of us who knew him will I am sure remember all the great times we had on overnighters, motorcycle rallies and day rides with him and Gina. Dick was the sort of man who would always be willing to help anyone who needed it, and was a long serving member of the Volunteer bush fire unit in our hills region. He was also one of the original members of Bikes Unlimited and worked tirelessly for many years on the Perth Christmas Charity Ride. Dick was also involved with the Cruiser Club and Northern Knight Club all of whom I am sure will miss his great and sometimes mischievous sense of humour. He was indeed a wonderful man and passed away on his beloved motorcycle due to a heart problem. Not such a bad way to go for a man who loved riding his motorcycle. We are going to miss you Dick.Some of you may have seen the recent motorcycle article in the RAC WA Horizons magazine titled Risky Business. I was first made aware of the article by some members contacting me with their concerns over the article. I had not received my copy of the magazine at this time but read it on their website, and felt compelled to write a reply on behalf of the MRA WA I believe the article was a huge miss by the RAC in the first part of the article that seemed extremely negative towards motorcycle riders with some statistics that I have challenged and they could not tell me how they came about them. The second half of the article was quite good but I believe the negative feeling of the start would have put a skewed perception to the readers of the 820,000 copies sent to their members. This could have been a three page spread to promote safer motorcycle riding and not concentrate on the risks that we as riders manage well on our WA roads. A copy of my reply to the RAC is in this issue of the Edge.We held our first general meeting at the Attfield Tavern in January and I must say it was a great place for our meetings. I got their early and had a great feed of fish and chips with good reports on the steak and chicken dishes, all the meals are also very good value with daily specials. We have a dedicated room for our meeting that can be screened off if necessary. I think we will be based here for a long time as it is the best venue we have ever had since I joined the MRA. I will also be attempting to get a guest speaker at our meetings; the February meeting saw Janine Nicolas from Rider Down, motorcyclist first aid, which was great. I will get someone from the WA Police at our next meeting to answer questions on our WA road rules.For those of you that have not heard the news that Paul Upton got knocked off his bike by a car driver pushing him into the kerb and then doing a runner (but Dan got the rego number) on the way home from the February 7th Dwellingup breakfast ride.Paul is now on the mend but still nursing a broken thumb and some impressive bruising and swelling, and he is really annoyed off by not having a bike at the moment. We all hope to see you back on the road soon Paul and the coward in the car that hit you charged by our wonderful police.On almost the same note you may have noticed the Glen White has not been on a ride for a while. Whitey is recovering from a very serious leg injury. You may thing from a bike crash, but no it was all self-inflicted by playing street cricket and moving too fast using his feet and not his bike. So we won’t be seeing him on a ride for about three months. Just shows how riding a motorcycle can be safer than cricket. Get well soon mate.That’s about it from me for now, please ride safe.Dave Wright