President's Report September 2018

Hi to all, I am sure you agree that it is great to finally have some better motorcycle riding weather after what seemed to be an extra-long, wet and cold winter. With that in mind I hope to see you out an MRA ride soon and remember that anyone can organise a ride, if you have been riding along some roads that you thought where great to a good café, then please let us know as we would love to experience your ride.I will be attending the three day Australasian Road Safety Conference in Sydney in October. This is by far the largest Road Safety Conference held in our region and has over 200 different topics covering the latest research, technology, new approaches to road safety with many streams and topics being dedicated to motorcycle safety. I am being funded for this conference by the Motorcycle Riders Association of W.A. Inc. for my accommodation, The Ulysses Club for my air fare, and the W.A. Road Safety Commission for the conference registration costs. I am grateful to all three organisation for giving me the opportunity to attend this very important conference that I have attended for the past 7 years and always come home with a head full of ideas that we could adopt in W.A. I will of course provide a report to all three organisations on the issues and actions that we can investigate.I attended the 2018 Australian Motorcycle Council Annual Conference in Geelong last week and my report from that conference is on our website for your information. Unfortunately it was too large for this report. We are hoping to arrange a meeting with the Western Australian Local Government Association in the next few weeks to discuss their policy that is adopted by many councils on motorcycle parking as we feel there an opportunity to make a few changes that will give local councils a better understanding of the needs of riders and also use the parking space that they have in a far better way. There are many lost or unused spaces on our roads that can accommodate motorcycles that are not used being used at the present. If you know of any please let us know the location.The Motorcycle Protective Clothing Star Rating was launched yesterday after a long  but worthwhile wait, I believe it was important to get this right the first time and I very please with the final outcome.More on this in my Safety Report, however the website is www.motocap.com.auThat’s  about it from me for this month so please ride carful if you have been off your motorbike during the winter and give yourself time to redevelop you skills that may have slipped.Dave WrightPresidentMotorcycle Riders AssociationPh - 0418 954 424Email – davmar08@bigpond.com