Looking for some local motorcycle group rides to join, I stumbled upon some articles about the DGR global event that happens in multiple cities of multiple countries around the world.
What is DGR?
The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride brings together vintage and classic styled motorcyclists from around the globe to raise money and awareness for men's mental health and prostate cancer research. Mark Hawwa founded the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in Sydney, Australia, after being inspired by a picture of Don Draper from the TV show Mad Men on a classic motorcycle while dressed in a suit. Mark believed a themed ride would be an excellent opportunity to unite niche motorcycle groups and enthusiasts, while also generating funds to support the well-being of men.
When and where is it happening
This year event is held world wide on Sunday May 21st 2023. You might want to check list of rides to see which one is closest to you. Or you can do it while checking for top countries or top cities
My attendance to the DGR Sydney 2023
I've already registered as a rider and will be accompanied by my son on my 2007 Kawasaki VN250 Eliminator.
I'm pretty excited and have started gearing up, during my holidays back home in New Caledonia, my childhood mate took me to a motorcycle shop and I've found this pair of rusty brown gloves and later at a beach shop I've found a matching tweed cap, perfect for completing my retro gentleman look:
Last month I was talking about ergonomic mods I did to my bike. I proceeded with adding a small windshield (I think I will get a taller one for highway rides) and upgraded to a new helmet. I'm still recovering from neck and shoulder pain (right side), I realised that when the road is bad, I felt the weight of the helmet pulling my head down. What made me clicked was when my son was complaining one day that his neck is tired from wearing the helmet, I had to do something. So I checked the weight of our helmets:
- My Lazer Rafale SR EVO weighs 1550 grams
- My son's SMK Stellar Trek weighs 1450 grams
If my helmet, weighing only 100 grams more than his, is making my neck sore, I can't imagine what it would do to him if used too often.
So I went and searched for replacement helmets and decided to make a 90km ride down to Sydney to a store I found has some nice models. It would be a nice dad and son drive down to Sydney and trying in person is best when it comes to helmets. So we arrived to Motorcycle Stuff and it was a real delight. I loved their way to organise the helmets: one wall per helmet size with all available helmets hanging on wall hooks. That makes your life so simple, no need to try figure out if a model you saw is available in your size, just walk to your size wall and make a choice 👍. The staff who was working on the day was extremely helpful. He spent a lot of time with me and my son make sure we had all the info needed to make our decision.
In the end I bought a Shoei Ex-Zero Equation Tc-10 weighing 1100 grams and my son chose a Shark Race-R Pro Carbon Guintoli weighing 1210 grams. As for everything motorcycle, finding decent gears for kids has always been difficult, San was excited to also find a pair of proper protective winter gloves that fits him and I also grabbed a winter gloves for myself. The nice thing on was that we had many discount, not only my gloves were 40% off but my son and I had extra discounts on the helmets because my son's helmet size was hard to sell and so was the design of the helmet I liked, for my helmet alone, I saved $220 compared to market price!
Join us or Donate
If you are a rider and has a retro or retroish bike, why not register and join the ride this month? And whether you ride or not please consider making a donation for the cause, I'd be excited if you decide to sponsor me:
