And I’ll see you on the road in ’10

The motorcycle industry is still suffering as I write this, but I hope it is in the process of recovering – I’m waiting for the 2009 sales figures and will pass them on when I get them. But it’s important to remember that we, the riders, are not suffering nearly as much. In fact we’ve had a bit of a bonanza with some amazing discounts.

It will get more expensive as the year wears on, and the manufacturers try to claw back some of the money they’ve lost. Yes, they have taken a pretty spectacular bath; one Australian subsidiary lost $33 million in 2009… although worldwide the company lost more than a billion.

Prices are one thing. The unceasing onslaught of restrictive legislation, mainly from State governments, is another threat and it’s one we intend to fight as hard as we can this year. With your help I hope we can roll back some of the more punitive and nonsensical laws and regulations.

But the main thing is to remember to have a good time as we roll into the second decade of the 21st Century.

After a really big and extremely busy year, what with launching Cruiser+Trike and finally (I hope) completing the last of my major non-motorcycle writing projects, I’m declaring 2010 the year of The Rides.

I’ll see you on the road!

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming