Earnestness and self-righteousness are not restricted to car drivers and bicyclists, although they (and especially the latter) seem to abound in both. We get them in the motorcycle fraternity and sorority as well. Currently there’s a bit of a to-do about wearing coloured clothing, which I guess I stirred up in the first place but which has well and truly got away from me.

Just to set the record straight, I do not advise anyone to not wear brightly-coloured clothing, even fluoro vests. All I say is that you shouldn’t rely on this stuff to keep you safe. That takes a bit more than just advertising your presence to those few drivers who actually care about us.

But there are riders who would cheerfully damn anyone who doesn’t dress like an organ-grinder’s monkey, and who are (advertantly or inadvertently) encouraging government authorities to think about mandating it. You might have seen that the Victorian TAC intends to discount compensation payments for riders who were not wearing padded safety gear when they crashed; how long will it be before that includes day-glo clothing as well?

What the people who are so keen to tell other riders what to do are forgetting is that motorcycling is a recreation that is meant to be fun. I have spent many (far more than I care to remember) years trying to reinforce that in everyone’s mind, and to make it possible for as many people as I could to have a good time on bikes.

Please, all of you: go for a ride. Enjoy what you do. Leave other riders alone – except at a personal level, where I think it is an excellent idea to take someone aside and suggest they improve their riding, clothing or attitude.

But while lots of people seem to be happy to write letters and give the gummint ammunition to reduce our freedom, very few seem to have the guts to put their ideas into practice face-to-face.

That’s no fun, eh?

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming