Making new contacts, buying and selling equipment, and gaining additional knowledge are all good reasons for new and experienced motorcyclists to join online communities. You can always join an actual motorbike club, but you’ll be restricted to your readily accessible location – perhaps a radius of a few hundred kilometres. Social media groups and forums allow you to communicate with other motorcyclists throughout Australia and the world.
Let’s have a look at some of the main options:
Facebook has the largest number of related groups. A group can be public, in which case anyone can join, or closed whereby you will have to apply for membership (which is free). It helps in the approval process if your profile photo is something motorbike-related.
Make sure you read the group’s rules before you post so that you don’t breach them, which could earn you a ban. There are many groups, and here are some of the larger ones. If you don’t see one here, search in the top search bar in Facebook, then click on ‘more’ then on ‘groups’ to find a group specific to your requirements – there are some quite niche ones for specific brands, requirements and even religious beliefs (e.g. the Motorcycling Mormons Australia, and the Muslim Motorcycle Club Australia!)
General motorcycling
Motorcycles Australia Road Bikes: a closed group of more than 3800 members which chats about track days, clubs, riding, etc plus do buy, sell and swap.
Motorcycle Camping Australia: a public group with more than 800 members that enjoy taking a tent on their motorbike. Rides are organised.
Veteran and Vintage Motorcycle Club of South Australia: a public group with a couple of hundred members devoted to old motorbikes
Deaf Motorcycle Riders Australia: a public group of over 200 members. For all deaf and hard-of-hearing motorbike riders.
Motorcycle Owners Group of Australia: a public group of over 400 members that chat about motorbikes and do some trading.
Classic Motorbikes Australia: a closed group of over 2500 members that restore and ride classic motorbikes.
Girls on Motorbikes Australia: a closed group of over 400 female riders.
Specific brands/marques
Hyosung Motorcycle Riders Australia: a public group of more than 300 members that ride or are interested in Hyosung motorbikes.
Ducati Owners Club of South Australia: a closed group with around 400 Ducati enthusiasts and riders.
Kawasaki ZX-14R Owners Australia: a closed group of over 500 members that ride or are interested in the Kawasaki ZX-14R.
Yamaha XS650 Society Australia: a public group all about the XS650 (1970-83)
Aussie KTM Duke 200 & 390 Australia: a closed group of more than 2200 members that love KTM Dukes and the RC range.
If you don’t see your brand above, search on Facebook as you’ll probably find a group in Australia, but many are quite small (e.g at the time of writing, there are several other Ducati groups, but they don’t have many members). There will be global groups you can participate in.
Buy, sell and swap
Motorcycles & Accessories Buy, Swap or Sell Australia: a closed group of over 5200 members that either want or want to get rid of bikes and bike parts.
Custom Motorcycles For Sale Australia: a public group with over 800 members that just specialises in custom bikes.
Vintage Motorcycles Australia Swaps and Sell: a closed group of over 1600 members that just want to sell, buy or swap vintage motorbikes, barn finds, wrecks, custom parts, etc.
Motorcycle Classifieds Australia: a public group of over 2000 members that trade motorbikes, parts and apparel.
Motorbikes and Parts Only Australia Wide: a closed group of more than 8500 members trading motorbikes and related parts.
Harley Motorbikes for Sale and Wrecking Australia: a public group of over 2400 members for trading Harleys.
Google+
The communities on Google+ aren’t as big as on Facebook and not very active, for example:
NSW Motorcycle Fanatics: currently at 40 members, but doesn’t seem to have much action.
However, there are some good communities overseas such as the Honda CB150R StreetFire community and the KTM community.
LinkedIn is used more for business, but there are some social groups there, too. The Australian ones don’t have a huge membership, e.g. IT Motorbike Riding Professionals, and Motorcycle Riders & Enthusiasts Australia. You can look for global groups such as Honda Motorcycle Owners and Enthusiasts, Motorcycle Industry Professionals, BMW Motorrad Motorcycles Owners and Enthusiasts and Electric Motorcycles and Scooters.
Darren is an expert on driving and transport, and is a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists
