Stronger Together

in derbyshire, the Police and the Fire Service are co-operating to deliver a vital message, with help from Pidcock motorcycles and a Zero - James dempsey explains

Since launching in 2019 the UpRight scheme has grown through the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. The brainchild of an active duty police officer, it was a direct response to the number of motorcycle fatalities and serious accidents in Derbyshire and the surrounding counties. The message wasn’t new, encouraging bikers to become better riders by focusing on their attitude to riding, having appropriate clothing and taking advanced rider training. The difference was an emphasis on education rather than penalising poor performance. It’s a fine line – get too preachy about road safety and some bikers switch off; take it too softly softly and we don’t listen.

It has paid off, with the UpRight team getting out and about to motorcycle dealerships, biker destinations like Matlock Bath and spreading the “right attitude, right knowledge, right kit” message.

It became clear that although subtly different from the established Biker Down (run by Derbyshire Fire Service), the Upright scheme is complementary to it. The two respective services decided to collaborate and deliver both schemes together. So far, Derbyshire is the only county where both the Fire Service and Police are working hand in hand to reduce motorcycle deaths and improve road safety.

Ice Breaker

When Tom Rowland was getting UpRight off the ground, he approached Pidcock Motorcycles for a chat. We were happy to be asked because we wanted to support the scheme. Take wearing the correct kit – a badly fitting £1,000 carbon fibre helmet is no safer than a correctly fitted £200 helmet. Anything we could do to get that message across was definitely worth getting involved in.

We are already fervent supporters of Derbyshire Blood Bikes, and this was another way in which we could give back to the community. Since the correct kit is a core message of UpRight, we donated a set of RST clothing plus AGV helmet to help illustrate the importance of the right kit – a dry, comfortable rider is a safe rider. Anyone who signed up to undergo training was in with a chance of winning the whole lot, and the competition created a great amount of interest in the scheme. We also decided to donate a motorcycle for the team to use, and have done so every year since.

As bikes would be accompanying the UpRight team on events we provided unusual machines that would stand out and provide an opportunity for the team to break the ice with the public – a BMW café racer was followed by a GS urban and now a Zero DS,

all with eye catching graphics.

Zero is the newest addition to Pidcock’s portfolio, so it was the natural choice. The 11Kw DS provides plenty of acceleration, and every member of the team who has ridden the DS has so far been pleasantly surprised, enjoying the experience immensely. With local authorities, emergency services and the general public becoming more interested in the viability of electric vehicles the plan was to put the bike out there by placing it with an unbiased user – the public could ask questions and receive genuine answers. As the UpRight team have all ridden the DS, they can quote from real experience.

So far, public reaction has been positive and the DS has taken to its role as ice breaker with aplomb. The public appears to be becoming more positive towards electric vehicles and increased offerings from mainstream manufacturers have helped as well. Electric cars have almost become commonplace, and this will surely pass on to motorcycles. And as we’ve found, an electric motorcycle can be a good ambassador for better riding.

Matt Bill – Biker Down Co-Ordinator

Matt has 27 years of experience in the Fire Service, recently took over Biker down training, and under his leadership it has grown from strength to strength. Matt is responsible for arranging all aspects of Biker down training, updating the current syllabus and arranging training venues. He also attends every UpRight event. Matt currently rides a Triumph Scrambler, and has passed his advanced motorcycle training with a F1RST from iAM.

Tom Rowlands - UpRight Co-Ordinator

With 16 years of experience in policing, Tom started UpRight out of a passion for road safety and a burning desire to reduce road accidents and fatalities within derbyshire and the surrounding counties. He is also part of the Biker down training team, and his experience adds credibility to the training programme. Tom is a police biker, and currently rides a BMW S1000R.

The Dealer’s view

James Dempsey describes life as a Zero dealer

“Zero takes a refreshing and different approach to its dealers. The old prescriptive way of doing things has been replaced by a more dealer focused approach.

“Getting riders to actually test ride the bikes is a good example, rather than just concentrate on sales figures – the idea is to get potential customers onto a bike, and the sales will follow.

“Electric motorcycles really do need to be ridden to appreciate them fully, something underlined by the range of customers we’ve had. There are early adopters, now trading in their first electric motorcycle for a new model. Others are commuters who appreciate the money saving benefits of going electric. Then somewhere in the middle is the customer that wants to try an electric bike but is tied to a ‘safer’ (ie more familiar) conventional machine.

“I really didn’t want to like it,” is the common response on returning from a test ride, “but it’s brilliant – I love it!” What the UK does need to do is improve the charging infrastructure to encourage more and more riders to make the switch.