The BMF - Working for Motorcyclists
The BMF
Working For Motorcyclists
In the last issue if SEB, we covered the No to Bike Parking Charges protest. As a group, motorcyclists need to be organised and co-ordinated in order to address the issues that affect our rights. The British Motorcyclists Federation has been around to further the cause of the responsible motorcyclist for nearly fifty years...
Jeff Stone, BMF Media and PR Manager explains the role of the organisation and what it can do for us.
Talk to any group of bikers and the BMF will mean different things to different people. To some, the British Motorcyclists Federation is a body that seems to have been around forever doing whatever it can to protect the motorcyclists’ interests, to some it’s an outfit that organises bike shows, to others it’s a bit of an unknown. So let’s see if we can put that right.
First though, let’s get some things straight, while motorcycling is a passion to most of us, to government it’s simply a minority form of transport (1.6 million bikes as against 30 million cars…get the picture?) and needless to say, government does not share our passion, in fact sometimes it seems they merely tolerate us.
Secondly, government likes to talk to representative bodies because it’s easier than talking to the masses, so, like many other things in life, the BMF’s role is one of trying to be all things to all men, that’s why we’re always after more members. The more we have the more representative we can be.
You see, the whole idea of the BMF is to provide a unified voice to save you the trouble of bothering. With 92,000 members, either as individuals or through our 350 plus affiliated clubs, the BMF is by far the largest representative body for the road-going motorcyclist in Europe.
Yes, we also organise bike shows (the BMF Show at Peterborough is Europe’s biggest motorcycling event of its type) and right in your back yard, the Garden of England Motorcycle Show at Detling (30-31st May), but there’s far more to the BMF than that. Our shows and events are simply a means to an end, they provide essential income for our primary role, that of representing the road going motorcyclist.
With legislation always on the cards, the BMF has to respond to consultations, meet MPs and attend committees. Not very glamorous stuff but it works. The opening of London’s bus lanes was down to us meeting with Boris Johnson last February, way before he became Mayor. We got in early and got a commitment from him that if elected, he would open up bus lanes – he was and he did.
This is only a snapshot of the BMF; elsewhere on the website you will read about specific and practical benefits to BMF membership. We have our own insurance schemes covering not just your bike but all your travel needs, medical, breakdown and recovery. Clubs can take advantage of a tailor made package covering public liability insurance. We even offer our own Visa credit card, touring advice, ferry discounts and, through our regional network, a calendar of social events.
Topping all this is Europe’s biggest one-day motorcycle event, the BMF Show, regularly attracting attendances of over 80,000 people; it’s a unique event with over 600 exhibitors and all day entertainment. Best of all, BMF members get reduced admission! Throughout the year there are other BMF shows and events (see BMF Events) to which members also get reduced admission.
Run by “Motorcyclists Working for Motorcyclists”, the BMF is all about bikes and all about the people who ride them.
As a minority, it’s easy for bikers to feel persecuted when to a civil servant we are a statistical liability, but as members of the Government Advisory Group on Motorcycling, we are in there at the heart of decision making. This is what the BMF is really about and it’s why the BMF matters. At 50p per week can you afford not to join? £26 for individual membership, £32 for joint membership, got to be a bargain