Dear Member,

I wrote the following proposal to change the Club’s name over nine years ago and it was printed in the April magazine for action at the May General Meeting. The motion was just defeated after spirited debate. The issue has risen again.

All the arguments contained below are just as valid today as they were back then, if not more so. Now the Committee feels it is the right time to once again propose a name change.

The fragmentation of the motorcycle community into a proliferation of niche clubs (moto x, touring, sports, race, outlaw, etc) is such that all manner of motorcycling tastes can be catered for. It is now even more important to identify ourselves accurately so as to attract the right type of rider.

We are not a touring club in the strictest sense. The word "touring" congers up images of the BMW or Ulysses or Goldwing clubs, of mature riders dawdling around the country stopping off at tourist traps. Neither are we the classic iron butt long distance tourer. We don’t do interstate runs, we don’t travel at night; we actively avoid the highways. It is not us. We specialise in day trips.

More accurately, we are a sports touring club — the vast majority of our members ride sports bikes. Just look at the membership list. It is full of ZX9s, CBRs, and GSXRs. Even the non-Japanese bikes have a sporting bent — BMW R1100S(port), Ducati 996, the odd Triumph Sprint spring to mind. We still have the element of touring in our riding — we travel longer distances than outright sports bike riders. We clock up lots of kilometres every year, many more than the average for the type of bikes we ride. We are genuine sport tourers.

The Club is facing competition from other like minded organisations. In particular, shop ride days (eg RedWing Honda, Nova Honda, Raceway Suzuki) for people riding similar machines to ourselves are proving very popular. RedWing had 40 bikes down the Great Ocean Road (25.8.2001). These shop ride days are organised along similar lines to ours — leader, rear rider, around 300 km, similar back roads. In fact, one of our ex-members is particularly prominent in leading these rides. The expertise and organisational ability he learnt from us is being put to good use. The point is that the type of riding and targeted rider is very clearly identified by these organisations. Whereas we are too vague. Anecdotal evidence suggests that our name actively discourages those we particularly wish to attract. We need to change our name.

Our Club is evolving. Short rides have taken root. The Kings Bridge Car Park is a thing of the past. A bad weather forecast means a poor turnout and the risk of the ride being abandoned. Long weekend rides are poorly attended in winter and marginal at other times. The weather is a critical factor. The average age of our rider is quite high — on many rides more than half of the people would qualify for the Ulysses Club. It is time our name reflected the type of riding we do.

After much thought the Committee suggest that the Club change its name to:

p.s it is now relatively simply to change the Club's name. A majority vote of the members at a general meeting, the completion of an "Application for Change of Association Name" form with $28 attached sent to Consumer and Business Affairs is all that is required.

Our Club was formed circa 1955 by the couriers for the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games. The Club's name has changed throughout its history to reflect the machinery and style of the membership. Here isa list of the names that I know of:

The Motor Scooter Association of Australia was the original club, founded by "The Murphies" and "The Cowans". It later folded after a major power struggle resulted in a breakaway group called the Motor Scooter Association of Victoria being formed. It was also known as the "White Horse Club" derived from the then existing "White Horse Whiskey". This name seems to have survived for quite some time until the proliferation of "cycles" within the Club lead to the Club being renamed the Motor Scooter and Cycle Association of Victoria.

With the popularity of motorcycles increasing rapidly at the expense of scooters, another name change occurred: The Motorcycle Touring Club of Victoria was formed, which was later incorporated to negate the financial risk to its members. We now have the Motorcycle Touring Club of Victoria, Inc.

I propose that we again change the name of the Club to reflect the current machinery and style of the membership. Presently we are attracting a class of rider with the wrong expectations. This potentially leads to crashes and frustrating delays due to inexperienced riders and/or inappropriate machinery.

We are not a "touring" club in the generally accepted sense of the word. We are a "sports touring" club. This is reflected in the machinery that we ride.

In the long term, a name change may obviate the need for rides to be graded as "arduous" (which now mysteriously appears on the itinerary) or indeed as anything. We are more likely to attract appropriate riders if we don't have a misleading name.

Taking all of the above into account, I propose that:

1. The Club changes its name.

If the motion is carried to change the Club name, then I submit the following list of names to be voted on at the Annual General Meeting.

(i) Sports Touring Club of Victoria, Inc

(ii) Sportsbike Touring Club of Victoria, Inc.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and can be added to up until the start of the AGM by anyone.

Note: the precedent for having a motorcycle club without the word motorcycle" in it has been set many times, for instance the "Ulysses Club", and the "QL Club".

The business of selling "old stock" before a name change, though important from the accounting viewpoint, seems insignificant in the greater scheme of things. Old stock will soon become "collectors' items". There are many ways to productively dispose of it.