Triumphrat

Trophy4 · 02-08-2006, 08:58 PM

Okay, guys and gals, how do you get/keep attendance up at your RAT meetings? Attendance at our meetings varies all over the place from near nothing to nice crowds. What do you do at your meetings? How do you keep the crowds coming back? How often do you meet? Where do you meet? Does your dealer/staff attend regularly (especially if you're not meeting at the dealership)? How often do you schedule rides? Are they "Destination-oriented" or "Roads-oriented" (i.e., do you ride to eat, or ride to ride, or both?) How far? How many show up on your rides? How do you handle the mix of bikes (i.e, cruisers, sport bikes, tourers)?

Inquiring minds want to know!

whoa · 02-08-2006, 10:49 PM

We will probably have our first in March. Tell a little about your meetings/rides. What have you done when the crowd showed up? What about when it was light?

Do you have some strong ride leaders? I'm guessing riders with good experience that others want to learn from help. Also nice creative routes with interesting destinations have to be well received.

cafetbird · 02-09-2006, 12:11 PM

Attendance is always a challenge. I think most packs I have worked on have taken a couple of years to get a steady turnout. Also, the activities have to be diverse, so the people turning out vary. Some folks will only come out for certain types of rides and events.

Beer and food are good draws. We meet monthly at a local pub, tip a pint, shoot the breeze, check out the bikes, eat, and talk about upcoming rides. Our dealer principle almost always comes - usually sends out an apology note when he can't!

We also have a breakfast meeting for a local ride each month. Eat, then ride for a few hours.

There is a new euro bike night each month in town. Some folks enjoy meeting there. If you don't have one, start one!

We have desitnation rides about every other month. British in the Blue Ridge, Daytona, AMA VMD, Rat Raids - that kinda stuff. A couple of track days for those so minded, swap meets, shows, etc. We will go to a Triumph car show this year, and to AHRMA races to do corner work.

We have a ride ride on the alternate month. "Head for the Mountains" mostly. Our rides usually kick off from a restaurant w/ breakfast.

Trophy4 · 02-22-2006, 11:43 AM

Even with light turnout, we always meet, talk, bench-race, and talk about what we'd like to do when the weather improves. Rides were scarce in our first year -- much discussion whether rides on Saturday or Sunday were best. Dealership -- and me -- both prefer Sunday rides so we can ride, too! Many of our members prefer Saturday rides, but those of us who own businesses can't break away for an all-day ride on Saturday!

Thanks, Scot, for your comments/feedback. This is the first club I've been involved with from the ground up, and it seems like it's slow going to grow. Other clubs I'm a member of have been around for years, well before I showed up as a member, and were well-established and thriving. All that I had to do was help keep them going! Much easier than trying to get a new group off the ground.