5,000 bikes in Wellington

[StoneY]

On the day (today) I had people I trust count numbers at 4 strategic points

On behalf of KB and interested partnetrs, here it is (and I never said 12,500 or 3,500 I never quoted numbers, and I am Brent Hutchison)


We had CONFIRMED at
Paremata:
3,100 (and counting person quit there and said quote verbatim) "plus change"

Avalon: 2,100 and change confirmed count at time first bike (The Dude my best mate on earth) left

AT Parliament itself stacked 2 tiers deep EVERYWHERE 640 -x bikes (and I counted them so fuck anyone disputing it)

Our convoys were both parking at destination satdium and still departing departure rally points

NZ Bikers, today we made fuckin history!

Roughly 6,000 bikes, and about 1 in 3 had a pillion

I saw 8,500 people there, and thats from the Parliament Security and Intelligence count
Dont forget the public and bikers who had riden to work and walked there


KB, Bikers (all walks of life) and public who came today...............

Thanks

[PhantasmNZ]

And that would be one of the reasons that some disabled riders had to park at the Stadium and walk, there were no parks left at Parliament for them.

yep, and i got talking to one of those riders as i met them yesterday in sanson. i made a point of telling them about the disabled parking, so its a shame they couldnt use it.

As usual it was the few that spoiled it - most riders who came down Molesworth as we filled it with bikes respected the request to move on (down to the stadium). a very few others just ignored direction from the Marshalls ( I wasn't working around the disabled area for long- but I'm sure this was the case here too)

In the end however - despite this - it has to be said that to have 5000 bikes and many more protestors all in and out of a major city centre without any major incident, no arrests, no trouble - all in all a major success...

[PhantasmNZ]

KB, Bikers (all walks of life) and public who came today...............

Thanks

And on behalf of all those people - Awesome job StoneY - couldn't have gone any better....

[GazzaRuney]

Totally awesome day - but where were the mopeds and scooters and commuter bikes that are getting hit the hardest - very disappointing that :-(

[GOONR]

Totally awesome day - but where were the mopeds and scooters and commuter bikes that are getting hit the hardest - very disappointing that :-(

It would have been too big a day for me, but bring on phase 2 of plan A. There is bound to be more local stuff where we little ones can make a stand!

[StoneY]

mte there were over 100 scooters in Molesworth st...fact they were NEARLY invisible in the sea of chrome and fibreglass says it all

Massive, massive collection of machinery

One bored dude calculated the fleet value outside Molesworth reckons 20 Mil alone in parks at Parliament

[sunhuntin]

Totally awesome day - but where were the mopeds and scooters and commuter bikes that are getting hit the hardest - very disappointing that :-(

i saw a couple of scooters, including one at sanson that was fully loaded with what looked like a sleeping bag. [was concentrating on a truck in front, so couldnt look too hard]

[LBD]

I am Sad I could not have been part of this protest rally...what an event it appears to have been. well organized and executed...Well done to all...now lets hope the message is getting out to all that count...Ma and Pa Kettle as well as the polliticians ...today the bikers, then the cyclists and horse riders then the pedestrians and sports players...all diametrically opposite to the "No fault, no Blame concept of ACC"

To those who may say they would accept a compromise increase....ITS NOT THE DOLLARS, ITs THE PRINCIPAL of the matter!

[Ixion]

Yep I tend to agree. I haven't come across too many "non bikers" who are up with the play over this - that said, they're not on here every night learning more and more about it or perhaps they just don't care as much as it's not affecting "them".

They may not know the details, BUT :

The thing that most impressed me int he last few days was theoverwhelming level of spontaneous public support.

The teachers had the school children line the route to cheer us on.

Every over bridge was packed.

Almost every truck, and a lot of cars tooted of flashed.

Farmers (FARMERS, FFS) were parked in their tractors giving us the thumbs up.

On the ride down on Monday, Every time we stopped people would come up and say "good luck, I hope you win, Its not right". These were old ladies, old men, not at all bikers.

In over 50 years of motorcycling I have NEVER seen this level of support for motorcyclists. It's not because they have suddenly fallen in love with motorbikes of course. but they are asking "Who's next?". I put that question directly to Nick Smith. he fudged.

[scissorhands]

They may not know the details, BUT :

The thing that most impressed me int he last few days was theoverwhelming level of spontaneous public support.

The teachers had the school children line the route to cheer us on.

Every over bridge was packed.

Almost every truck, and a lot of cars tooted of flashed.

Farmers (FARMERS, FFS) were parked in their tractors giving us the thumbs up.

On the ride down on Monday, Every time we stopped people would come up and say "good luck, I hope you win, Its not right". These were old ladies, old men, not at all bikers.

In over 50 years of motorcycling I have NEVER seen this level of support for motorcyclists. It's not because they have suddenly fallen in love with motorbikes of course. but they are asking "Who's next?". I put that question directly to Nick Smith. he fudged.

Hell yeah talk about a peoples mandate! I think the polies were surprised as well. Check out that smile on Phil Goff's face. Maybe people see bikers as unfairly targeted, and unconsciously see them as fighting for everyone else, like the old people knowing they cost more in accidents.....

I think thats what makes this day so fucking sweet

[StoneY]

Les Mason for PM

[MSTRS:Me]

OT - but I'm trying to find the post/s that quote OldNick saying 5018? accident claims in 2008.
Can anyone point me, or confirm the figure he dribbled?

[Bend-it]

maybe Stoney could talk to cycling clubs about getting them on board... there are LOTS of cyclists in Wellington... Afterall, they're next...

[Mully]

On the ride down on Monday, Every time we stopped people would come up and say "good luck, I hope you win, Its not right". These were old ladies, old men, not at all bikers.

In over 50 years of motorcycling I have NEVER seen this level of support for motorcyclists. It's not because they have suddenly fallen in love with motorbikes of course. but they are asking "Who's next?". I put that question directly to Nick Smith. he fudged.

Maybe people see bikers as unfairly targeted, and unconsciously see them as fighting for everyone else, like the old people knowing they cost more in accidents.....

Exactly my point. Since this broke, the number of people saying "I'm not a biker, but that's not fair" have vastly overwhelmed the people saying "Fuck them, they're a menace"

It's the second crowd we have to convince - and I do that by stating correct figures (and once the correct figures are out there, a lot of people come round) and using the "who's next?" argument. Usually, everyone fits into one of the "next" targets: cyclists, older people, people with older cars and so on.

It also seems Nick Smith is quite unlikeable - once you tell people he's been spouting bullshit, they seem to believe it easier.

[MSTRS:Me]

Never mind - I've found it. He said 5044 bike claims. Where did this figure come from? Did he add all current claims to all new claims? When in fact, current INCLUDES new.