President’s Report – July 2010

Another year has passed for the “Melbourne Sportsbike Riders” and, with nearly 55 years of existence, our Club continues to prosper. Why, you may ask? Being primarily a riders’ club does not have the same mass appeal of the more social motorcycling clubs. But our proven ride formula of an interesting route, competent leader and excellent corner marking system continues to attract individuals who want to focus on the ‘sports riding aspect’ of motorcycling. This is what the MSR offers. We continue to attract more of these riders to the extent that our membership has reached 84. Not bad for an all-makes motorcycle club!

A not so pleasing aspect of the past year is the higher number of serious crashes and accidents. Refer to the MSR Ride Statistics documents for a detailed analysis.

Membership Numbers: As reported earlier, our financial membership has continued to increase steadily over the year which, although pleasing, could be detrimental if our numbers increase too dramatically! Imagine fronting a Sunday ride with thirty of forty riders. The effect would be disastrous. Fortunately, our ‘challenging’ rides only appeal to a select group of motorcyclists, so this scenario should hopefully never occur.

Social Events: Although Marks Place is still popular, there have been calls for a change but until a similar place can be found it will remain our regular social sip venue. Likewise the Tower Hotel; it has proved to be ideal for our occasional formal meetings.

Membership Fees: In this climate of ever increasing costs it appears our current membership fees may not sustain us for much longer. The treasurer, Barbara, in consultation with other committee members, recommends an increase of $20 making Full Membership $60, and Associate Membership $30. Given this is the first increase since 2001 and the Club continues to make an unsustainable loss, it was inevitable that fees must rise if the Club is to survive. See the Financial Statement for more details.

Club Magazine: Even in this day of electronic media our magazine continues to be eagerly sought and read by the members. It is a tribute to the Editor who continues to produce a consistently high quality product month after month.

Committee: I thank the current committee for their dedication and endeavors over the last 12 months:-

Vice President – Paul Southwell Public Officer – Peter Feistl

Treasurer – Barbara Rolfe Harris Secretary/Editor - Ben Warden

Captain – Dennis Lindemann Vice Captain – Chris Pointon

Assistant Secretary – Ha Du Member – Trevor Rolfe Harris

Member – Ron Johnston

To all members I thank you for your participation and friendship and look forward to your continuing support.

Ian Payne

President. 2009/2010