What do you really want Triumph to do to improve their involvement with RAT

[postnote]

On a serious note, and it’s not just from overseas packs, but UK ones too, that are complaining about Triumph’s lack of interest or effort in RAT. Regarding Triumph and their future RAT involvement, as has been mentioned, for far too long it has been up to individual pack and leaders to keep their packs active. Some dealerships have very little interest in their RAT pack as they cause more trouble, meaning time and effort than they are worth. To compound this, there is very little help or input from Triumph Hinckley except words, which as we know from experience is not very productive. Dealerships need an incentive, yes a financial, to encourage them to spend time and trouble encouraging RAT packs.

So a few typical questions?
what future involvement would you like from Triumph.
How can Triumph improve RAT
How would you improve RAT

I’ll leave the rest to you, but please be sensible with constructive comments and I assure you they will be on passed to Triumph and yes John Bloor will see them.

[gus4440]

I like the Idea of the local riders running the pack. Maybe have Triumph setting the guidelines and offering an information package to help someone set up a RAT pack. Let the membership cover the cost of a pack banner and patches or pins. I enjoyed the Raid at Mid Ohio this summer. If Triumph could set up something like this at some events it would be nice. Triumph should not have to foot the whole bill either. It's fair to have the RAT member to cover some of the cost such as food ,accomadations, and maybe a T shirt or pin. It dosen't have to be fancy. It makes you feel good to be thought of as part of the family. Kawasaki sets up a hospitality area at the DEMOs in Daytona for ROK membrs. Nothing fancy just a nice place to relax and enjoy conversation with fellow members. They do provide a few refreshments and water.

Some RAT Raids would be nice with DEMOS and some tech sessions and meet the Triumph people. Still the member should cover his own cost.

Being a RAT member should be about riding with fellow enthusiast. It should'nt cost very much. I promise not to complain about the magazine again if it is free. Maybe you could have an optional membership package for people who want a shirt, decal, pin, or patch that they could purchase.

A few years ago I went to Newnan for the open house (before I was a Triumph owner) The people at Triumph USA and the riders really impressed me as nice people and enthusiast. As are the Triumph Dealers. I like the products and knew I would own one.

This was not much in the way of advice but If Triumph offers a little encouragement, I say let the riders pick up the ball and run with it. I have been riding 39 years now, and making the owners feel like they are a part of the brand and meeting friends at and through the dealership sells motorcycles. Motorcycles are a social recreation. Some people buy bikes and eventually quit riding but if their friends ride it will continue to be fun after the new wears off the bike.

[TripleThreat]

I've been co-leading the RAT Pack in Indianapolis for the last 4 years or so. When my brother and I took it over it only had about 5 active members. At our last Meeting in December we had over 60 people present and our listserve boasts over 130 members. It is my belief that the success or failure of RAT Packs is largely up to the people leading the packs and the involvement of the dealer. If a dealer does not recognize the long term financial benefits of hosting an annual Christmas party and communicating the information about the pack to new owners, then they are very short sighted. Building brand loyalty doesn't cost a fortune, but is a very important part of developing a strong dealership.

However, the absence of Triumph's corporate involvement has been frustrating to the leaders. I thought things were headed in a very positive direction when Matt Weinert was the US RAT Coordinator and then he got promoted and the momentum he had going was lost.

Triumph needs to communicate directly with RAT Pack Leaders and Dealers and perhaps offer some small incentives to pack leaders, nothing big, but maybe a little inside info just prior to the release of a new model so that they could pass that stuff on to their pack members to make them feel a little special since they own a Triumph. It would be nice if they would get a little more info than the general public at the time a new model is being released.

Whether Triumph gets more involved or not, the real success will come from who is running the local pack and how involved the dealer is, but I would think that a few minor incentives to the dealers and the Pack Leaders could go a long way to making things better. Pack leaders may not always agree with the corporate decision, but some communication would be better than none, which is what we are getting now (at least in any kind of official capacity).

TripleThreat

[DuckMan001]

I agree with Gus and TripleThreat. Here are a few ideas of mine.

I attempted to become a pack leader and was told by the dealer that they had a pack leader manual. I attempted for 4 months to get them to let me read it. I got frustrated trying to find out what I was supposed to do and because of this and dealer service issues with my bike, told them to go climb a tree. I am fortunate to have 3 Triumph dealers in my town, One just opened and Rat just isn't on the radar right now. They need to get the dealership going smoothly. I went to the other dealer and tried to sign up for the rat pack there and was told by one of the sales personell that their pack wasnt organised yet and to try back, yet they had forms for membership out on a table.

I feel that if this manual actually exists, it should be placed online in a special section for the pack leaders which among other things would give them (as mentioned before) a little advance info on upcoming models. We all know companies "leak" info to the public on new or improvements to existing models, let the pack leaders "leak" the info when the factory wants the info out (talk about feeling special). This section could have faqs to help pack leaders with various issues they encounter. A forum run by the Triumph Rat and factory reps would be nice too. I think you get the idea.

As far as actual membership in a local pack, I think when a new bike is purchased, a patch should be given to the new member (hey, those things are cheap in quantity) along with a one year membership (same as national). If local dues are to be paid, I think that should be up to the membership of that particular pack. Dues might cover the cost of a local pack t-shirt or local pack patch, or maybe if those things are wanted by the individual, they could be purchased separately. Triumph could add one junior person to the graphics dept. to work with local packs for professional design and quality control of the final product. That position would not necessarily be full-time, so they could help with other projects in graphics when no rat duties were required.

NOW... ask me about my negative service experience and what happened when I tried to complain to Triumph USA.

You guys should hire me to investigate dealer and service complaints

[katie]

I have a few questions, like whats a rat have to do with bikes?? I always thought rats were those awfull rodents that u see in horrid places such has the tubes in london

I think a proper name for the bike club would be 2 wheels or something better that calling it a rat yeeechhh how awfull
who thought up that name anyways, bet it wasnt a woman
anyways thats my questions feel free to answer them if nor its ok
bye for now
Katie

[whoa]

Originally Posted by katie

who thought up that name anyways,

R.A.T. - Riders Association of Triumph

RAT is the official factory-run club for owners of Hinckley-built Triumphs.

[postnote]

Thank you for your input Katie, what do you think HOG stands for?

[postnote]

Thanks for your positive comments so far, please keep them coming. Will post the response I get from Hinckley towards end of January. The more ammunition the better

[drharveys]

I believe HOG officially stands for "Harley Owner's Guild", or maybe "Group".
In reality, it stands for Hog, which is what Harleys are nicknamed. If you want to learn more about why Harleys are called hogs, do your own Google or Yahoo search.

Triumph has followed HOG's model in establishing RAT. RAT is corporate sponsored and dominated, with individual chapters being "captive" to a specific dealership.

BMW motorcycles in the US has two owner's clubs. The MOA, which has no relation to the similarly named birds of New Zealand, and the RA, which is likewise unrelated to the ancient Egyptian deity. (BMW Motorcycle Owners Association and BMW Riders Association.) There was originally just one, but the two split up over some organizational squabbles. Both are independent of BMW corporate, and local clubs are free to affiliate with either or both national organizations. As a result, local BMW clubs are not directly tied to an individual dealer, though most have a good relationship with the closest dealer or dealers.

Most local BMW clubs sponsor an annual weekend rally. There are also the two national rallies. These rallies provide a great destination for riders. Most riders camp at the site, but some prefer nearby motels. There are tech sessions, barbeques, coffee pots, beer tents and sometimes even a band or DJ. Some rallies are associated with a motorcycle race or event, others are just an excuse for a weekend getaway. Most of the time there are field events and self-guided tours of the rally area or a poker run.

What would I like to see for RAT? Probably an attempt to split the difference between the two models. Let the chapters be independent member-run organizations tied to a region rather than a dealer. Here in the St. Louis area where we have two Triumph dealerships, pooling resources would be more productive to overall brand loyalty than duplication of effort. All the Triumph riders in the bi-state area know that there's RPM Triumph in Belleville Illinois and Donelson's on the Missouri side of the river. Combining membership and alternating meeting sites will produce a larger, stronger organization with a larger membership pool to dip into for officers and committees. A full schedule of local events will keep traffic in both dealerships better than two competing patchy ones.

As for the Harley model, I do admire their "Fly and Ride" program. HOG members can rent bikes from out of town Harley dealers at reasonable rates. Given the international depth of Triumph, that would be a big asset to the marque and RAT membership.

[postnote]

Actually the question was for Katie, now she know!!