Tag Archives: survey

Motorcycle News, News

Survey on aftermarket motorcycle parts

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Australian riders have been urged to take part in an international survey on the quality and price of aftermarket motorcycle parts.

English company Investigative Research has previously asked MotorbikeWriter to appeal to readers to participate in the The Dynamics Of Motorcycle Crashes : A Global Survey of 1578 Motorcyclists .

Elaine Hardy says our article about the survey resulted in 127 responses.

Now she is once again asking Aussies to be involved in an international survey.

“We all know that sometimes replacement parts can be expensive and not always easy to find. So, it makes sense to ask riders about their experiences and the cost of getting their bikes repaired as well as finding replacement parts,’ she says.

The survey aims to identify the cost of motorcycle repairs, in particular those motorcycle parts sold by motorcycle manufacturers (OEMs), the independent sector and second-hand dealers or salvage yards.

The objective is to understand parts pricing in general as well as the cost of repairing motorcycles by dealers, repair shops or independent mechanics in different countries in order to compare the costs of maintaining a motorcycle.

For a motorcyclist, the replacement of any particular part because of wear or damage can be a costly affair.  

What this survey intends to discover is where the cost of specific parts and repairs are the most expensive or cheapest to offer riders information so that hopefully they can get better deals.

A close-up of the front half of the 2022 Kawasaki W800

There are 12 questions in this survey plus extra space at the end of the survey so that riders can give us their views and provide information that they think might be useful.

The survey is anonymous and none of the questions are mandatory.

The survey ends on 31st July 2022 and the findings should be ready to publish in October 2022.

Click here to take part in the survey.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Aussie motorcyclists are happiest motorists

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Australian motorcycle riders are the happiest motorists on the road, even in these COVID times, according to a new survey.

The new research survey was conducted by YouGov and commissioned by ING who is launching their new Motorcycle Insurance.

It found that 82% of motorcyclists say riding makes them happy, compared with only half (55%) of motorists.

This is nothing new and mirrors other studies and longheld beliefs that riders are happier.

Therapeutic benefits of motorcycle riding were also highlighted in the ING study.

More than half (51%) of motorcycle riders surveyed said the positive mental health effects of riding was the top reason for them choosing the biker lifestyle.

ING Head of Wealth Cathy Duncan says the research indicates that “riding a motorcycle could be providing many with some of the same benefits of practices like yoga and meditation”.

The study of 1006 Australians aged 18+ years throughout the nation this month found that almost half (48%) of the motorcycling respondents said riding is a form of mindfulness that helps them de-stress.

Other highlights include:

  • 41% say they love the sense of freedom that comes with riding;
  • more than a third (34%) enjoy the fresh air and taking in nature;
  • 35% got into riding because of their friends or family;
  • 24% of riders vow to keep “biking” as a family tradition;
  • 26% will teach their kids how to ride;
  • 43% want to share their joy of riding with friends or their partner.

The study also found riders were aware of their safety with 36% saying their riding gear was their ‘second skin’ while 47% said it gave them confidence on the road.

As many as 60% said their gear and leathers were more important than other personal belongings such as their car, computer, phone, watch or wedding ring.

While 40% of Aussie motorists said they found it difficult or stressful to find parking, only 23% of motorcyclists complained about parking.

Destinations and commuting

Great Ocean Road country Instagrammed
Great Ocean Road

Riders also nominated their top five Aussie motorcycling routes as:

  1. The Great Ocean Road (VIC)
  2. Kangaroo Valley Southern Highlands (NSW)
  3. Adelaide Hills (SA),
  4. The open roads of Tasmania (TAS)
  5. Palm Beach (NSW)

The research found that Aussie motorcycle riders aren’t only benefitting mentally from their practice, they’re also saving time and money.

More than one in three (36%) motorcycle riders said they love riding for: the convenience of getting around, the ease of finding a parking spot (35%) and saving money (34%).

A quarter of riders said they started riding because it helped them avoid busy public transport and is a quicker commute.

Even non-motorcycle riders can see the commuting benefits amid COVID-19, with a fifth (18%) considering riding a motorcycle as an easy way to get around and almost one in 10 (9%) believing it is a way to escape busy routes to work.

“The research suggests the pandemic has many reassessing their daily commute and how they get around,” says Cathy.

“With price and convenience benefits along with mental health and wellbeing perks, why wouldn’t you consider it?”

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Survey attracts a robust number of riders

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A Queensland motorcycle and scooter survey to help Transport and Main Roads identify rider types and develop relevant policies has attracted a “robust” number of participants.

The research group running the survey, Enhance Research, sought our assistance in early June to reach out to riders of registrable motorcycles, scooters and mopeds.

A spokeswoman says the survey closed on Sunday 28 June 2020 as per the survey instructions and attracted more than 1800 completed surveys from motorcyclists across Queensland.

They say this is “a fantastic and robust outcome”.

The research group had already held focus groups with various stakeholders including motorcycle retailers, riding and social clubs, riding schools and riders.

Rider types2016 big for official safety recalls - Sunshine Coast Black Dog Ride 1 Dayer entrapment slump

The survey was designed to help TMR quantify those findings.

In general terms, the questionnaire asked riders about:

  • Demographics – age, gender, occupation, etc.
  • What bikes they own, number, type, capacity, etc;
  • For their main two bikes (if they have more than one), they ask for details about their use , such as frequency, distances, purpose, etc;
  • General attitudinal questions about their riding ability, bike maintenance, views about personal safety, safety gear, risk, etc; and
  • Crash and infringements history.

Questions about crash and infringements history concerned some riders, but the survey was totally anonymous and covered by the Market & Social Research Privacy Principals and Privacy Act.

Results will only be reported to TMR in aggregate form. 

Responses have gone directly to Enhance Research who will now analyse the information collected without the identification of individual respondents.

Enhance Research does not have access to respondents’ email address, and the company will maintain complete confidentiality of individual feedback. 

Prize draw

TMR also offered a prize draw of five $100 GiftPay vouchers. Survey participants could choose to enter if they provided their details which were used only for the prize draw purpose.

The random prize draw was conducted and winners notified.

They are:

  • Brett Newman
  • Keith Garrett
  • Andrew Coghlan
  • Andrew Peirson
  • Amanda Austin

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Survey seeks to identify rider types

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Queensland motorcycle and scooter riders are being asked to complete an online survey to help Transport and Main Roads identify rider types and develop relevant policies.

The research group running the survey, Enhance Research, has sought our assistance in reaching out to riders of registrable motorcycles, scooters and mopeds, so it excludes off-roaders, motocross, etc.

This anonymous survey only takes about 15 minutes to complete.

The research group has already held focus groups with various stakeholders including motorcycle retailers, riding and social clubs, riding schools and riders.

Rider types2016 big for official safety recalls - Sunshine Coast Black Dog Ride 1 Dayer entrapment slump

Now TMR needs to quantify those findings.

In general terms, the questionnaire asks riders about:

  • Demographics – age, gender, occupation, etc.
  • What bikes they own, number, type, capacity, etc;
  • For their main two bikes (if they have more than one), they ask for details about their use , such as frequency, distances, purpose, etc;
  • General attitudinal questions about their riding ability, bike maintenance, views about personal safety, safety gear, risk, etc; and
  • Crash and infringements history.

Questions about crash and infringements history may concern some riders, but the survey is totally anonymous and covered by the Market & Social Research Privacy Principals and Privacy Act.

Results will only be reported to TMR in aggregate form. 

Your responses go directly to Enhance Research who will analyse the information collected without the identification of individual respondents.

Enhance Research does not have access to your email address, and the company will maintain complete confidentiality of individual feedback. 

However, TMR is also offering a prize draw of five $100 GiftPay vouchers. Survey participants can choose to enter it they provide their details which are used only for the prize draw purpose.

Be quick, as the survey closes on Sunday, June 28 2020.

Please complete the survey by clicking this link.

Our view

We understand some riders may be concerned about a lack of privacy.

However, I did the survey and didn’t divulge any information that isn’t readily available, anyway.

Surely it is better for riders that the department that is making decisions that affect our riding are armed with relevant information.

Otherwise, they are making uninformed decisions that could have disastrous repercussions for riders.

In the absence of the Motorcycle Riders Association of Queensland which closed in January this year it is even more important for your voice to be heard.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Readers say: Let riders ride

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Readers of Motorbike Writer overwhelmingly believe motorcycle riders should still be allowed to ride despite the pandemic travel restrictions.

This week we conducted a brief and anonymous online survey of opinions about the restrictions, attracting 716 responses over five days.

We acknowledge it is not necessarily representative given the potential selection bias of the survey as it only sampled those who read this website. (It should be noted MotorbikeWriter.com is the  top Australian motorcycle news website based on data from leading competitive intelligence provider, similarweb.com.)

Survey overview

(Full survey details are at the end of this article.)

The survey revealed 90% of respondents believe riders should not stop riding, 89% believe it is safe to ride during the pandemic and 61% believe it should be exempt from travel restrictions.

More than three out of four of our respondents (76%) agree that riding should be classed as an exercise and therefore exempt from travel restrictions. 

This view has been supported by various state health departments, ministers and even the national coronavirus hotline.

In fact, 30% of respondents to our survey say motorcycling is their only form of exercise.

However, Queensland, NSW and Victorian police say only “basic exercise” is allowed, it must be restricted to your suburb and a ride through the hills of your bike is an infringement of the stay-at-home orders.

Click here for more details on how the restrictions affect riders in each state.

Yet 99% say they have not been pulled over by the police for riding during the pandemic.

Another overwhelming result is that 91% are aware of the travel restrictions in their state, but 68% say the restrictions as they apply to motorcyclists are not clear.

Riders in breach of the rules face fines of at  least $1000 which almost half say is fair (45.4%).

We also cheekily asked readers if they believed the restrictions were all part of some sinister plot to steal our freedoms. Of course, 73.7% said no to that outlandish conspiracy theory!

rona riders Travel bans Will pandemic travel bans ever end? incriminateMBW asks a police officer about the travel restrictions

Attitudes to lockdown

Whether they like it or not, 63% say they have self-isolated during the pandemic.

More than half (58%) said they did not ride their bike last weekend and about the same number (52%) would not ride the next weekend.

However, 72=% say they have not parked up their bike for the duration of the pandemic either thumbing their noses at the rules or finding legitimate reasons to ride such as commuting to work or grocery shopping.

Only 29% say they are commuting to work, although half say they ride to get groceries and 33% say they would use the bike to go to the doctor.

One in 10 say they have been overseas since the start of the year and 30% say they have cancelled an overseas trip this year.

About half (49%) say they will travel overseas when the pandemic ends.

There is a fairly even split on satisfaction with how the federal and state governments and police have handled the lockdown.

But the future looks beak, according to our readers, with about a quarter believing the travel restrictions will last three months and another quarter expecting a six-month lockdown.

Readers who responded

Of the 716 Motorbike Writer readers who responded to the survey, 28 didn’t named their state or territory, so we assume they are from overseas.

The majority of respondents come from Queensland (40.5%), followed by NSW (27.8%) and Victoria (17.8%).

Download the full survey results here.

(State level weightings have not been applied to these results. Raw data can be provided on request.)

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Education most important road safety strategy

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A clear majority of road users believe education is the most important road safety strategy, according to a preliminary review of a major survey on attitudes to road safety strategies.

Survey author Dr João Canoquena of the University of Notre Dame Australia says it is too early to reach conclusions from the survey.

“Road maintenance was mostly associated with motorcycle rider safety,” he says.

“Nearly half (47%) of the mentions of this road safety strategy were associated with motorcycle rider safety.

“Likewise, advertising of safety driving was more associated with motorcycle rider than any other road user group. In fact, 57% of the mentions of this strategy were linked with motorcycle rider safety.”

Volunteers needed

SA considers increasing rider ages education
We need you!

João says motorcycle riders dominated the survey after Motorbike Writer called for riders to ensure their voices were heard when transport authorities draft safety strategies.

Now João needs your help again.

He is seeking three volunteers to help him go through the results to rate the road safety options.

“We have collected over 800 safety strategy responses, divided into five categories (motorcycle rider safety, scooter rider safety, cyclist safety, pedestrian safety and car occupant safety),” Joao says.

“For a journal publication, I need to have the safety responses rated by at least two more people.”

João explains that rating involves placing the 800+ responses into categories such as education, training, enforcement etc. 

Volunteers will need some patience, commitment and Excel software to fill in the ratings.

You can volunteer by contacting João by clicking here and sending him an email.

Education wins in initial results

While the results are yet to be properly rated, an early reading of the results show that a clear majority of road users believe education is the most important road safety strategy.

Road safety strategies

Cyclist

Motorcyclist

Pedestrian

Scooter rider

Passenger

Total

Advertising of safety driving

0

8

1

3

2

14

Alcohol and drug testing

0

3

2

2

10

17

Distracted driving law enforcement

1

3

16

10

17

47

Driver and rider training

0

23

14

31

26

94

Graduated licensing schemes

0

7

1

7

2

17

In-vehicle technology

0

9

2

8

11

30

Lane filtering

0

10

1

6

0

17

Law enforcement

0

1

5

4

5

15

Mandatory helmet laws

4

10

0

12

3

29

Motorcycle-friendly road design

0

17

0

10

0

27

Pedestrian crossing rules

0

0

21

1

0

22

Pedestrian distraction awareness

0

0

26

0

0

26

Protective and reflective clothing

0

15

0

22

0

37

Regulation of vehicle equipment

0

5

0

0

36

41

Road maintenance

0

11

0

4

8

23

Safety road design

0

4

7

1

15

27

Speed limit management

0

7

33

12

7

59

Traffic separation

59

1

0

1

0

61

Total

64

134

129

134

142

603

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Survey seeks crashed rider help

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Riders who have crashed in the past decade are being invited to do a survey into rider behaviour that expands on a previous pilot study into the effects of ABS in motorcycle crashes.

Click Here to participate in the “Dynamics of Motorcycle Crashes Survey”.

Pilot study

In 2016, UK motorcycle road safety researcher Dr Elaine Hardy contacted us to attract Australian riders who had been in an ABS-equipped bike crash to participate in her pilot study.

A year later she released the results of the first real-world study of ABS effectiveness called “Effects of ABS in motorcycle crashes”.

It involved surveying 61 male riders and one female from Australia and Europe who had been riding an ABS-equipped motorcycle when they crashed.

The pilot study found that the correlation between speed and serious injuries was random and indicated that riders overwhelmingly recognised the risk of injury and thus wore protective clothing and helmets.

Now Elaine is again seeking riders from around the world to participate in her new survey.

“We don’t know if there is any difference between riders in the UK, US or Australia, which is one of the reasons for doing the survey,” she says. 

“I don’t know the most common causes of crashes for motorcyclists apart from what ever information is ‘out there’, hence the survey.”

Elaine says she will provides with a report on the study at the beginning of next year.Crash accident wreck road safety tail-gate tailgate crashed

Crashed riders’ perspective

“From a rider’s perspective, we are constantly being criticised for speeding, being risky or being responsible for our own crashes and injuries,” Elaine says.

“But we know that it’s not that simple. In fact it’s complicated and it would be really helpful to understand what happens, how it happens and why it happens.

“There are numerous factors that need to be considered in all crashes and it’s time that you the rider gave your perspective about the circumstances.”

The survey will remain live for six months and the aim is to produce a report for the beginning of 2020.

Survey analysts

Elaine says everyone in her team of investigative analysts is also a motorcyclist.

The analysts are: Stephane Espie, Research Director IFSTTAR, France; Elaine Hardy, Motorcycle Research Analyst, UK; Dimitris Margaritis, Research Associate, CERTH/HIT, Greece; James Ouellet, Hurt Report co-author, USA; and Martin Winkelbauer, Senior Researcher, KFV, Austria.

The new survey is designed to provide a better understanding of the dynamics of motorcycle crashes.

It expands on the pilot study and is provided in eight different languages: French, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek and English.

The survey will be disseminated throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, South America and beyond.

“This time the survey looks at motorcycles with and without ABS in order to provide a comprehensive comparison of these braking systems,” Elaine says.

Riders are asked 39 questions divided into four sections: 1) About you and your motorcycle; 2) Background; 3) Crash Details; 4) Comments.

None of the questions is mandatory and responses are anonymous.

Click Here to participate in the “Dynamics of Motorcycle Crashes Survey”.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Riders needed for road safety survey

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Riders are urged to take part in a major survey on attitudes to road safety strategies which has so far only received responses from four motorcyclists.

Dr João Canoquena of the University of Notre Dame Australia, says the final round of the survey now requires rider support to help balance the outcomes.

The survey covers community concerns about road safety strategies such as speed enforcement, wire rope barriers, roadside breath/drug testing, speed cameras, graduated licensing schemes and more.Wire rope barriers promise road safety survey

Riders under-represented

“There were only four people in the survey who nominated motorbike as the main means of transport to work, place of leisure or education,” João says.

“This small number limits the sorts of analyses one can conduct. I would like to have more motorcyclists in the sample.

“If this is so, I can then look at how the motorcyclists have answered the questions; what their thoughts are about the strategies I will be including such as RBT. I might also include wire barriers as I know they have caused some trouble to motorcyclists.

“If (riders) know of any other road safety strategies which have been controversial, please, let me know. I am working on the next version of the survey. It is not finalised yet. So, any suggestions are welcome.”

You can contact Dr João Canoquena by email by clicking here or clicking here.

Safety surveyradar police speed camera demerit hidden lidar road safety survey

His project started with a pilot survey, following the analysis of 544 written public submissions to the former Australian Transport Council.

“The point the study seems to be making is that there are sentiments in the community that do not seem to be picked up by policy design,” he says.

“Those in charge of policy design do not seem to be aware that the negativity in the community has a wide range of nuances.

“It is not about people supporting or not a strategy. There is a wide range of emotions associated with some strategies, which may include disbelief, refutation, dissent etc.

“There are those who are not happy or resent certain policies, but will always be rather passive. There are others, however, who are starting to refuse certain policies. They will grow more disenchanted unless there is some sort of redress.” 

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com