Latest / JUSTRIDE Podcast / He Spent 25 Years Inside The Motorcycle Industry - Gareth Bright | JUSTRIDE Ep.7

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He Spent 25 Years Inside The Motorcycle Industry - Gareth Bright | JUSTRIDE Ep.7 · JUSTRIDE Podcast

• Main: Alright, welcome back. ⁓ Where we talk all things motorcycling and bring on who knows us bit well. ⁓ Now today's guest is someone Andrew's known for over 10 years, from riding all over North to questionable weekends away in Scarborough, which we may or may not get into. ⁓ He spent over 15 years on a tri-of-motorcycles. Running global events, has over 25 years in the industry and now runs wood-cut and vents, delivering premium automotive experiences across the UK. He's got a serious amount of experience, a lot of stories, and unfortunately for us, plenty of material and all of us too. So please welcome. Gareth, the Just Ride. Thank you very much. Yeah. So before we get really straight into it, what we're going to have to do tonight is we've got scripts, because if we don't have scripts, we will talk for hours. And ours McGwarf peace won't win. We'll talk about all the things. Only some people talk for hours. Come on. ⁓ Well, I know, Garry, if I mean, how nervous are you that fact we've got loads of stories on you? ⁓ have you spoken to? ⁓ Everybody. ⁓ Can I just say to our viewers and listeners, I think it's very important to make them aware that we just come from the pub. ⁓ Have we? ⁓ No, we had some food. We had some food because Gareth has joined us in the podcast tonight and he's actually staying over in a luxury apartment, which is just next door. I am looking forward to it. He's got great bed and breakfast rates. I think Tom's making them produce terms, making breakfast in the morning. Is that right? you are. ⁓ no, welcome. Seriously, ⁓ we've been wanting to get you in the studio for quite some time. And I know we've, we've known each other forever So for anyone listening, how would you describe yourself to the bike world? Come on, we're going to start you off with a good one. Well, firstly, thank you for having me. Obviously you've already run out of guests. How would I describe myself? Yeah, I've been in the bike industry, like I say, for 25 years plus. I just love everything to do with motorcycling. I've met some amazing people throughout my so far today and hopefully many, more. And clearly yourself, Andrew. And it's me the life that I have, that I enjoy. ⁓ So yeah, I think for me, everything to do with bikes is so important and it's like say shaped my life. think for as long as I've ever known you, it has been life. Yeah. I mean, we'll talk about trying a little bit later on, but yeah, you've always just been bikes. ⁓ bikes, sleeping bikes, riding bikes. ⁓ But I'm interested in how you got into bikes because of your now wife. So tell us how that started. Well, I introduced her as my first fiance, but second wife. Oh, really? story there. Joe, if you're listening, we want to know more about that. Yeah, she she was the one that actually got me into bikes. So we met when we were 18 in Nottingham, where I was living with my mates and she was a student. So, yeah, met in a nightclub, as you used to do before swiping left or right nightclubs. I know. I know. It was great that then. over a drunken bar and a sort of a shimmy on a dance floor and all that kind of stuff. She clearly found me attractive, which is obvious. mean, look at me. Was she wearing glasses and ⁓ a cane and a dog with her? But yeah, so we got together and ⁓ she had a friend that had a motorbike in Norfolk, ⁓ actually. Hein Gerrick shop, if you remember those. ⁓ And she wanted to go out in the back of a bike and as a jealous boyfriend, I was like, what? You want to out the back of someone's bike? That sounds a bit weird. So I then booked a CBT for her and me to do. So we both did our CBT. Um, and then I went and sort of just fell in love at that minute. did my CBT and then with the bike or with. about the bike then. Oh, it's a bike. Yeah, it was. love you all my heart. You send that to Joe. Yeah, and then went did my full test got my bike and just yeah, bikes were everything. And then obviously Joe and I then went our separate ways. And we were young, we were a bit too young at that point to sort of get married. Yeah, had our separate lives. And then because of an accident, I was in 2019. Yeah. our lives kind of came back together again and here we are now, remarried to Joe and set up life and business and everything together. How did that, so you mentioned that, I for anybody listening, how did that sort of accident bring you together? Was she in the hospital? Was she your nurse? She wasn't a nurse. Because this could go down really interesting. I'd already split with my then wife at the time. ⁓ I took my kids on holiday to Norfolk where Joe was, she was in the, what's she called, tourism industry. And she was the manager at a tourist attraction. And I took my kids there and sort of met up with Joe and was like, ⁓ hi, yeah, and all that kind of stuff. me? This guy. ⁓ And yeah, had a nice time and we sort of kept in touch a little bit afterwards. then I then, ⁓ but lives again, sort of, yeah, she was with somebody and... we were doing our own thing and then yeah, the bike accident happened. And because she knew somebody who worked at Triumph, was the visitor center at Triumph and there was a manager there and that manager actually used to work with Joe back in Norfolk. mean, it's like you say, six separation, all that sort of stuff, how everything links together. She then sort of told Joe that, your ex-boyfriend Gareth has been in a bike accident and all this sort of stuff. And she then had... split with her boyfriend at the time and then got back in touch. But I wasn't answering my phone at that point. And somebody told my dad and all this sort of stuff. And then eventually, yeah, we, we, got back together and yeah. ⁓ Were you playing hard to get? Is that a tactic of yours? Yeah. not going to answer that phone. I'm not going to. I didn't want to answer the phone to anybody at that point. was a bit extreme, like generally to that ⁓ Yeah. So that's how it sort of came back around and yeah. So you mentioned that your first love of a motorcycle. So it was an Aprilia, was it an Aprilia RS125? How did that work out for you? Do you know what? was one of the, I did my CBT and I thought I'm going to go straight out and get a bike because I've now got a license. And I thought that was the cheapest way to get on a bike. And I have to say the little RS125, I remember going to Northampton to pick it up. I was working in at Lloyd's TSB at the time. And one of my colleagues had driven me to Northampton, dropped me off. And then I had to ride this bike back on El plate, not taking a motorway from Northampton. felt like such a long way back to Nottingham. And I managed to get this bike back and I loved it. It was great fun. And it was a wicked little thing. And I had it for, I don't know, six months a year. And at that point you start to realize there's not a lot of power in this and I want a bit more. And yeah, I then went and did my full license and then upgraded. But one of those ones where you kind of wish you almost kept it because it was such a cool little thing. But yeah. ⁓ I'm just curious to know what the upgrade was. ⁓ I then went to a CBR 600. Yeah, which was just a lovely bike. And I got it because of my friend, Kev. He had one ⁓ and he rode it really well. And I thought, I love that. I'm going to get the same sort of thing. And yeah, did some touring on it and trips and holidays. And I don't think I did a track day on that one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it taught me a lot about riding a bike. Yeah. the point where motorcycles were there? becoming your life was that kind of way you were hooked and thinking right I need to get more involved in this is that kind of the pivotal moment yeah yeah ⁓ I think the one two five got me sort of into bikes and then yeah then upgrading and getting your full license and ⁓ just thinking this is just the best thing in the world. You know, why doesn't anybody else do this? And at that point didn't have many friends in bikes. It was just, you know, going out on my own or Joe and I going out for rides and things like that. And then eventually your world starts to open up. If you want it to open up, your world starts opening up in front of you. Were you going out as ⁓ a ⁓ rider and pillion or were going out ⁓ on separate? Rider and pillion. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause Joe enjoyed going out on the bike. So we used to go to Norfolk. It was quite funny cause obviously with parents and stuff you meet and I would literally ride there and just drop her off and then go. It was quite a long journey just to get to Norfolk and back. How does she feel about that? See you John. I enjoyed that bike. Well, when I first met Gareth, I used to think his name was Gareth Triumph because that's all I ever knew of mine. Everybody knew me, even myself. I stopped. sort of calling my surname, it was always Garetham Triumph. Yeah, that's all I was, it's funny. So how did you get into Triumph? Because you talked about they're working at the bank and been a young man at that point. And then obviously you've spent so many years at Triumph doing their events and things. So how did that start? ⁓ Yeah, my journey sort of into motorcycle industry in terms of a career, I was at the bank. And then there was an internal job that I saw on their intranet, which was with Lloyd's ⁓ finance, motorcycle finance, black horse. And I thought, ⁓ I could put two of my things together my sort of career that I'm going down and my passion, which is bikes. So I applied for the job. And I remember the interview and I remember trying to do something a bit different than anybody else in an interview would do. And I took I took some props with me. It wasn't a blow up sheep or a doll or anything like that. I took some things that meant, or sort of painted a picture of who I am as my interview. And I just sort of got those out and said, you know, there was a bike and some things like that. And I said, you know, this is who I am. This is my sort of stuff. An inflatable bike. Yeah. obviously ⁓ saw that as... Well, guys quite quick. He clearly enjoys bikes and stuff. And I got the job and that was it. I was sort of into the bike industry. And I was with Black Horse Ferdinand two and a half, three years going around the dealers. ⁓ back then you would visit the business manager at the dealership and it was when they all smoked in the, in the business room at the back and all that kind of stuff. And you'd go and sort the finance deals out. ⁓ I then got approached by GE money. ⁓ they wanted to get into doing motorcycle finance. ⁓ so I thought, why not? Let's have a go. And unfortunately that didn't work out as I've hoped, ⁓ and as they planned, ⁓ and then got my redundant very quickly after moving and jumping. so you go on, you know, sending out CVs, all that sort of stuff and sent out a lot of CVs. ⁓ but I knew, ⁓ back then Bruno Tagliaferri, who was the national sales manager for Triumph. ⁓ because when I was at Black Horse, not only was it a job, it was a passion. And I used to go to lots of dealer launches, dealer openings. and be there as a representative from Black Horse and got to meet Bruno and stuff like that. And anyway, cut long story short, Bruno called me up and said, we think there might be a job coming up if you'd be interested. And that was kind of the opening for me then to get into Triumph. Thanks to Bruno, because he got me in and I started my career as the national sales manager for parts, clothing and accessories for Triumph. Then worked my way through the business and loved every minute of every day I spent at Triumph. That's amazing. How did you get into, because I know you were, when I sort of picked up and talking to you, I'm cracking, it was 10 years ago, wasn't it? How did you then get into the global events? How did you get in? I know what you're doing now, which we'll talk about a bit later on, but how was the transition from parts and all that into global events? Cause that's, that's a whole different kind of ball game, isn't it? Yeah. mean, to say it, the career path that I had was, doing that job within the UK. Obviously did a good job. which got recognized within the central team. So you had subsidiary offices and I worked in the UK office, the central team, which only down the road. Clearly liked what I was doing and what I was delivering. And I got a job as the global sales manager for clothing. So that was the sort of start. And I did quite a few events in that and helping out. And then a job came up or they created a job as custom experience manager. I think that's when I first met you and I was custom experience. So giving customers reasons to ride bikes, which then developed into then doing the events and doing the events role. So, but that was very much like say in the central global hub, which was great because you've got to do lots of great stuff and go to lots of places, to lots and lots of different countries, meet lots of awesome people. So best, most memorable place that you've gone and done an event for trying. What would that be? I know there's going to be loads, Garret, loads, but can you think of one that you would look at and go, yeah. That was the one. The list is massive because there's so many wonderful places I've been to launch bikes and do reveals and parties and all that kind of stuff, which was amazing. But I'd say the place I loved the most for a few different reasons was probably Morocco. And we did two launches, the Tiger 800, the Tiger 900. The first one was the 800 that we did. And we did it in Yurt and And I always tried to look at putting the bikes in the places where they should be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and that got the best out of the content for the press, the imagery and it, it showed the bikes capable of what it's supposed to, what it's built for. Um, so yeah, Morocco was amazing and, also I tried to make it, um, complex for myself in a way. So you'd only have so many bikes that you would have, but you'd have so many press to get through and coming up with, um, ways to maneuver the press about to get them to do different things with the bikes, off-road, road, all this kind of stuff. Morocco was probably my highlight, I think, in terms of events, technicality, location, what we saw when we were riding, where we rode. and the challenges we had during the way as well were great. And is that different? Sorry. It's not the Andy Shaw and the Garif Shaw, by the way. Well, is. But just the whole press thing, you know, I mean, now we've got influencers who turn up and want to to do, but was it quite challenging with with egos and I mean, don't name names, but in terms of managing that whole because, you know, who wants to go first? Who wants to have that experience first? Was that quite challenging? he goes within my own team to be honest. biggest challenge is going to be listening on. Yeah, they probably are. It's ⁓ yeah, yes and no. As trance of brand, ⁓ always looked not more favorable, but the UK would give them ⁓ yeah, the protect the dates that they would Yeah. And then you'd work around that to give the dates, but it always out on who was the biggest publications and when do they get their stuff? their content in time to go into publication. MCN needed on a certain day to go into the Wednesday newspaper. So you'd work it from that, but you would always keep the countries together. So UK were always together, French, Germany, Dutch, all that sort of stuff. Garth, we know you're a big Moto GP fan. Obviously when triumph obviously came into the paddock for Moto too, obviously that was a big, big thing for you. Obviously going to the law was sorting the lawn shelf for that. Yeah. I mean, I was, I was just as exit, not more excited than anybody else in the business. I think when, when I heard the news that they were going to be the engine supplier for Moto2 and obviously Moto2 moving away from Honda and everything else, it was a huge thing. And, and then having the privilege of, of being asked to set up the launch of Triumph announcing that they're going to be in Moto2 was just phenomenal. And, and being at the circuit, it was launched in Italy at the San Marino circuit and, and getting over there and arranging all the press shots on the straight with the engine and, ⁓ Carmelo and, Carlos Aspaleta on the starting grid. And I've got Steve Sargent and Paul Stroud from Triumph and all the heads and I'm organizing all of those. And I've got a big press room with, I think we had about a hundred seats there fully, fully kitted out. No space for anybody else. I mean, it was standing room only in that room. and it was such an amazing feeling walking around wearing your Triumph shirt. in a paddock that hadn't seen Triumph, everyone coming up to you going, we're so delighted that Triumph are coming into this paddock, it's amazing. yeah, doing that launch and then being on the grid and, you know, walking around the starting grid while all the bikes are getting ready to go. It was like that, know, I was a kid in a sweet shop. was amazing. Did you get a chance to ride one though? A Moto 2? Yeah. ⁓ Yes, the development bike, we did that. We took that to Silverstone. So we did a launch at Silverstone after motor. So we did the launch of the engine in Italy. And then later that season, we then did an event at the Stowe circuit at Silverstone. ⁓ We had Damon Hill and Charlie Borman and a few other people. I organized Sky Sports through my friend Ben Ransom, who's a presenter at Sky Sports. He came down as well. Did a bit of stuff there and we all got chance to have a little mess around on the bikes and we had some street triples, Daytonas and the actual development bike there as well. Yeah. Sounds like a fun day. Yeah. I mean, it's hard work. Awful. Awful. Anybody listen to this? mean, drop your comments in. Would you want to go somewhere like that? I mean, is there a Triumph bike that you think that you would have loved to have a ride off and certainly on a circuit like that? It must have been awful, Gareth. I mean. Yeah, I mean, there wasn't a day though, I have to say, and I think people hopefully at Triumphal still know that I did genuinely love every day I worked there. And I think having been made redundant in the past, I really understood the value of having a job and working hard. And that for me was what I just enjoyed doing. was a job and a passion for you really, wasn't it? Yeah. Like you said earlier. And I think that was like an iconic Barrett-Roy brand, isn't it? It's a true iconic brand. Yeah. And, as a Brit, I mean, we're all very, very proud of the British brands, aren't we? But I'm, I'm, I'm just still in awe. I'm still trying to compute the actual ride in the motor to the development bike round the track. mean, I just must be, I just want to know a little bit about that experience because it must've been absolutely awesome. I'm not good enough to know. I'm just too scared because I'm the event manager if I drop anything it's on my head. I just have a little wobble around and then give it to somebody else. And Jen was like, oh wow, just get around the track to say I've done it. there any whoopsies on the track? I have had a whoopsy on the track, I've had more than one whoopsy on the track, but yeah not on that. Not on that one. There must be a massive amount of pressure in that kind of thing. And what is it like the pressure when you've got to get everything right? What's that like? Yeah, I mean, managing events. Certainly when you take 32 bikes abroad, you've got 150 press coming. You know, job is to make sure that everybody's looked after everybody gets home safe. Yeah. That's the first and foremost is safety for everybody. Then there's obviously the pressure of the factory and making sure that, you know, we get the right write ups that we're looking for and everybody does their stuff. And, thankfully, I think people that work within the industry, like you've mentioned Scott, there's a passion as well. And that helps with the job. Everyone shares that passion. Yeah. Yeah. There's a huge amount of pressure and, know, we used to let our hair down quite a lot on the last day. Once everything had done, we'd packed all the bikes away. It was, you know, let's go and enjoy and celebrate. that we've achieved such a great launch and everything's gone well. And how much of that is absolute precision and how much is it like firefighting like, ⁓ Do you know what? ⁓ I've said this before to people that I work with now that events, ⁓ when you're there on the live job, ⁓ you're there to basically troubleshoot. Yeah. Because everything else been done beforehand. ⁓ You know, you've put in all the plans, you in all the processes, you've done everything can. ⁓ Your job then during a live event is to make sure that what you've said, what you've done works. And if it doesn't, you're there to solve that problem. So yeah, for me, it's that's how it should be. ⁓ So, mean, this, I mean, I'll just have, I've known you for a long time and triumph. then suddenly, ⁓ wood court, I've got it right. Wood court events. which you're now running. So how did that whole thing come about? And I do apologize for calling it Woodgate because there's a certain... On several occasions. Don't worry. There's a certain side of You didn't need to say that again. There's lots of words you cannot pronounce. Oban, Oban. I think the viewers know by now, my vocabulary and my pronunciation is not particularly brilliant. anyway, so how did that all... Where did the dream of Woodgate... No! Really? It's written on his t-shirt. I'm looking I'm that's a G. ⁓ Are you thinking Garethgate? They do look a bit like him. I'd just like to say, viewers, that Gareth actually has it on his t-shirt, you listening in your cars. He was stuttering earlier on. ⁓ If you want to get your own back to say, just eat. ⁓ Tom, can we cut that whole bit out? No, can't. So tell me about Woodcourt events. How did that happen? ⁓ I think with a lot of people... over sort of COVID you think about things and doing press rides and press events there was there was a couple of particular events that I started to think about an idea ⁓ with a friend of mine I'm ⁓ gonna drop the name, Dan Linfoot yeah she's ⁓ yeah he's obviously a ex-British Superbike but now World Endurance Racer ⁓ amazing guy we ⁓ He worked on a of events for me as one of my guide riders. And we'd come up with this thought because there was a particular event where we had, we'd offered a prize to some customers to come on a press event. And they got to meet some amazing riders that I had on my team, like Taylor Mackenzie, Gary Johnson, all these great names, Maria, working on them. And then we also had some celebrity guests as well. So you'd have people like Foggy and... And I got friends from the music scene as well that were there and you you see their faces and they're peeking at being on these events with these people and me and Dan were like, I imagine if customers could actually genuinely do this sort of stuff and, and go riding with these people. So we came up with this, this idea and it sort of developed into creating some customer tours around the world, like a press launch, but led and guided by X or current riders, racers, all that sort of stuff. ⁓ so that's kind of where the idea sort of was born from. another wave of COVID then hit after I'd handed my notice in, which was very difficult. and things weren't going well for the tourist sort of industry. Joe, my wife was full time in the business. I was still working at Triumph just before I'd left and this other wave of COVID hit. And I thought, okay, we're just not, we're not selling anything. We're not doing anything here. And we just decided that, you know, Well, we also had somebody else that sort of said, you need to invoice. You need to get invoices out soon. So I started freelancing a little bit here and there just for some agencies and trying to get some work back in. And I just thought, you know what? This is what we should be doing. We should be doing events because that's A, what I know how to do. I've never run a tour before. What am I doing? So yeah, we, we. pivoted the business and thankfully never look back and we've got some amazing clients that have supported us and continue to support us, which is brilliant. And what's the recent award that you've just won? Award? Have you seen his trophy, cabinet? One of many. One of many. One of many. Most recent one. Yeah, which is probably the one we're most proud of at the minute because it's in our industry. So it's against our peers within the events agencies. So it's the CN Agency Award for Automotive Event of the Year. Well, fantastic. Well done. Well done to Woodcourt Events. And Gareth Gates at the top. ⁓ remember, I mean, ⁓ we met a few years ago when ⁓ a few of us used do a ride out to Scarborough and go and watch some of the racing and we'd all jump on our bikes. ⁓ go out and about we had some great times but I think it was the year after we went to Motorcycle Live in Birmingham and you were working with Royal Enfield I think it was then and I must admit we turned up and everyone said oh there's Gareth over there and I thought oh Gareth's making tea and coffee for everybody but actually you were were organising that whole event weren't you with Royal Enfield? Yeah so they had their mains down which we didn't have anything to do but they also at that point Motorcycle I've had the adventure experience. Yeah, peace and the Astors if we could help deliver their element for that. So yeah, we ran that and I was running their trailer and it was great. It's great. Didn't you persuade me and to have a go? Maybe ⁓ we might still have some video footage of that. Yeah. Did I video it as well? I you did. I think I got out of first gear and my arms were aching for days. you know what? That was my first ever like getting on a bike and going kind of off because it was I mean, there was Well, while I was riding past a lady came flying off and went into the barriers. What's going on there? use the word off road very loosely. Yeah. Yeah. And it was, it was, wasn't it? It was absolutely loved it. Absolutely loved it. But it was, that was that for my first kind of other than going off road unintentionally. ⁓ but it was my first time of actually having a go of something which is built for off road. Obviously the Himalayan. It's a shame. I think that the motorcycle I don't do that anymore. I do think it was a good opportunity for people to just have a little taster and see what adventure riding, off-road riding is all about. Because other than that, you've then got to go and pay to go and do a proper school or get a bike and have a go yourself. I actually go to the Himalayas and do it properly too with our friends, Royal Bakers. there you go. I think, know, MCL is a great event, isn't it? ⁓ and foolishly, Martin, you and I stood and looked after bags. think Scott, Tom and Andrew went on a really nice cup of coffee though. I was in the sandy place. You were in a sandy place at that point when you saw Andrew and Tom went on and foolishly. we had an opportunity and we should have taken the opportunity, we were too frightened, too scared. One of us had to drive home, didn't we? We didn't want to break anything. But then there are other manufacturers on the day which are doing demonstrations and looking how good their adventure bikes are and throwing them around, which is really nice. But it's nothing like riding a bike, it? Really. I regret that I didn't have a go that day and I wish I had had a go. And I know you were encouraging us all to have a go. ⁓ no, I'll look after the bikes. Yeah. Well, I'm very good at encouraging everybody else. I never get to have a go at it. how were Royal Enfield to work within at that time? ⁓ We still work with the Royal Yeah, ⁓ we manage their sort of rider. They call it Red Days, ⁓ Royal Enfield demo days ⁓ around. And we also manage their ABR ⁓ riding experience as well. It's a great one. And be fair, their bikes are actually very, very good. ⁓ know, got a great price for the customers. and they do what they're supposed to do. And obviously there's a lot of heritage with the name and there's a quite a mixture of customers that we see when we do their days. You get the traditionalist that remember the Royal Enfield name and then you get the younger customers because it's A2 compliant licenses that are looking to get onto something cool. yeah, we really enjoy doing We'll get onto ABR in a second. We were chatting earlier on while we having food about ABR obviously we're going go ABR this year. But ⁓ what separates a sort of premium motorcycle event from what classes and maybe a standard, what sets what you do apart from the normal obviously, award winning. Budget. Well, he's good at talking about budgets, good at what he delivers. But what is that? What's that difference then that you guys bring to it? Crikey, that's a good question. I don't have much thinking time for this one. You have a bit of thinking time for that because we want to move on to that question. I just want to point out there that if there's an experience issue on a V4 at Pangali, I'm first in line. So yeah, we'll have a go at that. So we'll go back to his question. I just want to make sure you're aware of that. We will come on to Ducati in a second. A premium experience for me is, about making the client. We take the problem away from the client. I think in understanding what they want to deliver. So we sort of take that and we manage all of that for them so they don't have to worry about anything at all. There's a lot of data that we provide as well. So we manage lots of booking systems and stuff like that. So we understand the customer, the detail that goes behind all of that. And as I said earlier, safety. We're entrusted with an amount of their motorcycles and customers that come. So there's a lot at stake. ⁓ with safety. So the team that we bring together and pull together is all about that. But then we also deliver whatever we've done with an element of fun. At the end of the day, this is motorbikes. It's fun. It doesn't need to be sterile. Yeah. Um, so merging all of that together, I think creates that experience that we suppose the date is really important, isn't it? From a manufacturer's point of view, they're wanting to know, you know, who's interested in the bike, what the age range of that individual is of the bike. So from a design perspective, et cetera, et cetera, they can. invest that funds. yeah, I've attended the Andy and Gareth show here. Sorry. But it's right. It right. Because obviously then that works for future development motorcycles because they look at that data to see, right, where do we go in the next direction? From from my past as well. It's I give them what I would wanted. Yeah. ⁓ You know, ⁓ job that they do. It's like, what what would I wanted to have seen? So I try and give them the data the information. that I would have wanted to have had at that point as well. I think what's great is that yourself you're a biker, you're in the industry and we know so many people who try to be in the industry but they're not bikers themselves and do you feel being a biker yourself brings something completely different? it bring a certain sort of experience and advantage? ⁓ I think there's opportunities for both in the industry, bikers, non-bikers, because obviously we can learn from people that have been in other industries that come into what we do. So I don't think it's a must have, it's a nice to have. think, know, there's, I guess the difference that I have with other agencies is that I have an understanding of the products and what makes that, how it makes you feel when you ride that. So for me, in terms of the you know, and thankfully, Joe as well. She's a rider as well. You know, we both at the top of the company, we both know what that makes us feel. But we've got employees that that don't ride bikes. ⁓ But they also get that passion from us. Yeah. So yeah, I think there's opportunities for both and certainly in bigger companies, I the triumphs, you know, everybody in there rides a bike. It'd be interesting if anybody's watching this ⁓ in the comments. Well, probably in the comments. Have you ever been on one of your kind of events, you ever done that? What did you think about it? Was there anything that could have been done differently? What would you like to see Gareth? And in ideal world, what brand would you like Gareth to manage? Because I'm sure there's going to be brands watching, you know? Yeah, I mean, again, that's another thing we do for our clients. At the end of every demo ride demonstration, we send out a customer feedback form, again, to share with the client so they know. that we're doing everything we can to make sure that the events are right. So we know you work with ⁓ Triumph, we know you've worked with Triumph, but you ⁓ work with Ducati. did that come about? ⁓ Yeah, mean, ⁓ mentioned ⁓ clients that have supported us. Ducati have been brilliant since the start really of business and going into doing events. ⁓ And it through ⁓ one of our guide riders that use, Alan he's sort ⁓ of rider at Silverstone, ⁓ motorcycle instructor at Silverstone. and he had the contacts at Ducati and said, I'm going to try and put your name forward and see if that'll help. And that's all it was. ⁓ Did a bit of an introduction and the next thing we were asked to pitch for a road show. So we got the job to present and got in front of Ducati and gave them this idea of an expandable part and a road show and how we would manage it. ⁓ Again, understanding their brand and the premium nature of what they do. ⁓ and that was the start of now that we're in the third year of doing the road show. ⁓ and you know, thankfully because of how we delivered stuff, ⁓ more jobs came off the back of that. So Moto GP and track days and NEC live and all those sorts of stuff have come off the back. Cause we saw you at Moorstow. I have to say that we got a really nice coffee as well. made a great coffee. My barista as well. It was a barista coffee at Ducati any coffee, was a Ducati coffee. It was, but I mean, kept, I have to say. we were massively blown away. That blow away isn't standard. We sat on a couple of bikes and just drilled and dreamed. Yeah, what could be bought? Yeah. How was that for you then? What's like like this last year? Stressful. He didn't look stressed. ⁓ At that point, I'm making coffee. I'm quite happy. Just making sure the roof doesn't fall off. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they were a dream client, I have to say, because they're, they've got such a wonderful brand, ⁓ but they're also very clear in what they want. ⁓ And I think if you can just understand those two things and give them what they're asking for with a little bit on top, it seems to work. Yeah, that having not done a full build like that before, as in our own company, was quite daunting. And obviously all the regulations that you have with MCL and all that kind of stuff was quite tricky. know, at the end of the day, you're getting sign-offs all the time from Jikati that you're happy with this, you're happy with that. And obviously we're... directing how our build's gonna go. ⁓ Yeah, it was a great experience, ⁓ one that we're gonna be doing again. So, yeah. So, we're well into 2026 now. What exciting things are you coming up this year? MCL, that's this year. MCL's coming up this year. And just from an MCL for 2025, ⁓ just the, ⁓ it was lovely suddenly some of the bikes that there. and you'd had some fantastic staff as well which were working the stand. And I remember sitting on the pangali and a lovely gentleman came over to speak to me about the pangali. And I was really fascinated about the difference between the V2 and the V4. And I made the foolish comment, said, is there really a vast difference between a V2 and a V4? And he was brilliant. He very quickly and very sharp, came back to me, yeah. two cylinders and I just thought how TV yeah yeah you know and and it was so blunt and direct it was brilliant and I just laughed because I just you know it was it was the best comeback ever and I just laughed at it but it was but then he went on to explain you know about the horsepower and the difference in the horsepower and also for the history the difference in the horsepower when the BSB guys get all of the bikes as well and what they what they tune them up to but you can just by sitting on it you can see the development how the development's gone from GP bikes will super bike bikes into the product that we all buy. And you can go to a Ducati dealer and buy these things over the counter. If you've got the money, and I'm sure many people have got the money, you can buy these bikes and they're just absolutely awesome. And I didn't say that word. They're absolutely fabulous. They are the fabulous. But they are awesome pieces of machinery, they? Such a history behind them as well as a brand. And I'm sorry, I know you overshot your question about what's coming up this year. But I just want to be around. I do apologize. Do you remember the guy, you know, when the sales guy came over, I've just had some idiot come up. How many could have done his own work? don't know him. Nothing to do with me. So ABR, tell us about ABR, because this sounds like this. Hang on, hang on, hang on. He hasn't answered my question yet. sorry. do apologize. Excellent things for this year. Again delivering the road show for the third year for Ducati obviously across the UK some new locations We're going to so again people that are interested in potentially test riding some of the new models All their dates on their website. Yeah We'll be there have a look We've got more Royal Enfield days as well across the UK So they've now come up with a bit of a calendar of where they're going We have just won some other accounts which I can't announce yet. It's not out in the public. We'll do that in the green room after this show and we'll quiz you. Yeah, while we're filming. It might be out when this comes out but I can't say on... He's gonna tell us but we'll beep it out. ⁓ Beep? ⁓ really? ⁓ Yeah, we've got track days, MotoGP work we're doing. ⁓ We've got some more pitches that working on as well as a company. But we're going through quite an interesting phase, I think, as a business. Literally tomorrow, we've got interviews for a new event manager to join the team. So with new contracts comes more work. Did you get the application? I did, yeah. Yeah, it's a no. It's a no from me. But one of the key things for me is with more work that's coming in, I don't want to... drop the ball with the clients that we already have because they've supported us so much from the start. So we have to expand. yeah, there's, I mean, from what we've seen, we are dead impressed. I mean, it's, ⁓ it is fantastic. ⁓ think It's fabulous. Fabulous. ⁓ Before we move on, Andrew, I'm really curious to learn about, so you will be doing in Sunderland at GKAD dealership up Sunderland. You'd be doing an event there. What does that mean? So you've obviously got the ride outs. So I would imagine people will be able to put their names down now or book slots to ride various different machinery. What else will be going on on that day that you've got to organize? Thankfully, we kind of only organized the demo piece, but the dealer hopefully will do more stuff as well to encourage customers to come. A lot of the bookings are all done pre before the event, so it's all online. but there are slots during the day where people either don't show up cancelled and there are spare spaces as well so people can just kind of wander in as long as they've got their license. You've got five people that will fill in those. And will they have all the bikes on ⁓ available for people to ride or as a demo bike? Yeah. So ⁓ we try to have one of the key models. There's only so many bikes that we can carry in our unit that we take around. So we to have 10 customer bikes. and that we take about. ⁓ And then certainly for Ducati, there's a couple of models that are going to be coming out slightly later in the year that are announced. But yeah, all the new models will be there. you mentioned we kind of touched on ABR. ⁓ Is that going to be big for you this year? ⁓ Yeah, yeah. Do want to tell the viewers exactly how big going to for you? Yeah, it's going to be great. mean, again, Enfield supported us at the very first year. We got the job with ⁓ Royal Enfield where we delivered their ⁓ demo rides. We did off-road and road. So I had off-road instructors doing that and delivering that. And then the following year we then picked up BSA and then we did Ducati. So we actually delivered the Ducati stand for them at ABR as well. So we put all the decking in and put the pod in and everything else and managed all of that. And then this year we are just waiting for the last couple of signatures, but it looks like we're working for six different manufacturers this year at ABR. Yeah, yeah, we've worked it out. that I think we're going to need about it's 37 in our team to deliver that. we're going to be there. So if you want us to ride any bikes and polish them. If only you'd done that adventure thing at the NEC. So Tom, that's me and you in. I'm quite happy drinking your coffee. Yeah, no, it'd a really, mean, to be fair, the festival is great. I think it's such a good thing for British motorcyclists to have such a wicked event. Yeah. ⁓ that's, that's not a bike race. Yeah. ⁓ that's a reason for people to get together and enjoy riding. you've got people from all around the world coming to the event as well, which is so special. We definitely found, I think that was one of the best biking events I think I've ever been to. ⁓ it's not what I expected. No, turn up and go, okay, this is interesting. And then by, by even Saturday, you're like, wow. Yeah. And we can't. It's going to bigger and better this year, obviously. And certainly you're going to be busy. But yeah, we can't wait to go and we're excited to do something, hopefully reveal something at ABR this year. watch this. Watch this. Keep an eye on this. it's talking about your riding experiences that we've ridden together for years. We used to up to Scarborough and we'd take you out on one of our own events. you remember. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that first. it that first Not as well organized. No, was. There was tea and coffee but we didn't make it. was well organised. was. was organised chaos. I look at Gareth. There was a bed and beer. what else do need? I do remember one of your, one of the guys who said, on a minute, is that the signs for Lancashire? Yeah. We wrote, we took them from Scarborough and we thought we'll go west and we'll just have some fun going west and I just remember them saying, it's bloody Lancashire. And it was, was, I those were fantastic but... You've ridden all over Morocco, the US, Europe. What is the standout place? I mean, you mentioned Morocco in terms of doing the launch, but in terms of where you've ridden, where would you say is the best place that you've been to and why? Um, I've done a lot around Portugal and Spain. Um, there's a road in, in Portugal that I just love. And we nicknamed it the roller coaster. Um, that was a great ride. Um, but I'd say at home. there's Langer Benz or the Bourne TT that we do as a group of mates. That's kind of where we would normally go and what we call it the Bourne, it's not called the Bourne TT. We call it the Bourne TT because we all think we're riding around the Isle of Man circuit at the speed limits. Is that Derbyshire? Not Inghamshire? it's Lincolnshire. Yeah, which is a great ride. We need to come down and do that. I you've asked us to come down. Yeah, I think we do try and fit that in this year. If we get a chance to come down and stay open, I think we'll do that. Yeah. Our calendars giving. We literally, if the wife is watching, please don't watch. making lots of promises. We are going to go to Portugal. Maya Kenny was on recently. Oh, right. She works. Yeah. Riding frizz. Yeah. And she's mega. She's just go to Portugal and sometime in the. I may still be working for Gareth at the day we are at that point. Taking things down. Yeah. So we need to know what that road I'm sure Maya knows that road. Honestly, I've done so many launches down that road. And I remember the first time we found that road, actually, this is a story I'm going off piste here. we were doing, I think it was the Scrambler 1200 launch that we were doing. And we'd found this road and I remember it was the Scrambler 1200 launch that we were doing. ⁓ myself and Batty at the time had gone and found it. And I then came back to the hotel and I'd got, this is again, massive name. I've got Taylor Mackenzie, Dan Linfort, Gary Johnson, Joe Acroyd, Alan Batson. it's my guide ride. And I was like, right, we're going to take you out and do the route now. So we went out and did this route. And honestly, we got onto this road and I've got Taylor Mackenzie, ⁓ Dan Linfort, Gary Johnson, Joe Acroyd, Alan Batson. it's my guide ride. And I was like, right, we're going to take you out and do the route So we went out and did this route. honestly, 12 scramblers, 12 inches are quite high with the pegs and all of us were throwing these things, eggs grinding on the corners, anything else. I thought I was like a proper hero. was like, to peg to peg. And we get to this Petro station and we were sort of, and to be fair, the guys wouldn't normally, but we're all sort of high five and thinking that was a mega, mega ride. Get back to the hotel. I look at the GoPro cause I had a GoPro on my back looking at them. I thought I was riding hard to get down this road. I thought I was like a proper hero. was like, to peg to peg. Get back to the hotel. I had a GoPro on my back looking at them. I thought I was riding hard to get down this road. They're all just like doing wheelies and messing about behind me. But it was such a great road every corner's cambered and it just throws you in and pulls you around. It was just up and down. They're all just like doing wheelies and messing about behind me. But it was such a great road and every day we went on this road and it was every corner's cambered and it just throws you in and pulls you around. It was just up and down. was yeah, lovely road. need that road. So Maya, when you're watching this, we're doing that. If we could just do that for four days, then great. Yeah, good road. Good road. So there's one place you'd go other than Portugal. there anywhere else you'd go back to? If you're gonna do a premium event again for a manufacturer, is there anywhere new you wanna try? Is there anywhere you wanna take? I know that takes a lot of research now. You haven't been yet. ⁓ Lots of places I've not been. Lots of places I see other manufacturers go that I think that would be good to go to as well and do. ⁓ I'd like to go a lot further east. ⁓ There was an event did plan. We never did it in the end, but again, it all comes down to the bike. Where does that bike best fit? What's the purpose of that bike? And I remember is looking, I think it was something like the tiger 1200 or something like that. And it was, it was more to do with touring. And I wanted to take the press from through as many countries as we could. And I think we were talking about starting up in, sort of France or somewhere and driving, riding them all the way down. to sort of Croatia and down there and all this kind of stuff and doing things. And I think for me, that's what I'd like to try and do still is, is take press on a journey. Yeah. For what that bike's designed to do. ⁓ yeah, East, East, East, I would like to try and do more events in, but again, it comes down to time of the year, all that kind of stuff. Availability, who can go? Yeah. ⁓ I'm just absolutely enthralled by Ducati. I know that Maldistrade is calling you Andrew. It's calling you. There are other manufacturers available. no, but even if you just bought a new bike. No, no, I haven't got my new bike yet, but I have bought a new bike. He still hasn't got it. I'm still waiting. By the time this goes out, you might have had it. No, no, no, possibly. But the manufacturer has been absolutely brilliant. So thank you for being BMW. They've been absolutely great. But yeah, so I have got it in. ⁓ But I'm really curious about all of those events that you're doing for Ducati and you'll be doing them around the UK. Do you go further afield from that as well or do you tip into Europe as well? ⁓ Not at the moment. So contract is with Ducati UK. Would that be something that you want to do or is it a close shop in that respect? I guess for the subsidiary that we work for, yes. ⁓ ⁓ yeah, as a business. ⁓ I want to get back into doing more of the press events ⁓ around the world. That's always been one of my ambitions is to eventually win a contract where we're able to deliver press events, press rides, that kind of stuff again. But I'm not knocking what we do at the minute because I think, you know, we've started to create something with road shows and I think we've now set a bit of a level with how they should be delivered. And customers seem to be really enjoying those experiences. But yeah, to be able to then. do stuff abroad would be great again. And from a personal perspective, I know you like a little bit of greenlining. Yeah. You do like a bit of greenlining. That's a bit of a passion. It's a passion for you, isn't it? It's something you'd like to get, you'd like to do and it's something you'd like to learn from. Yeah. So what are you riding at the moment from a green lane perspective? KTM 350. Oh, wow. And are you doing, and you're doing that with obviously your mates as well. You're going to go out with a few different people and you were chatting to us about that earlier on today, weren't you about the, well, the various different bits and pieces I'm looking around and there are a couple of, from knowing where you can ride as well, which lanes you can ride. And ⁓ so you used a couple of apps to do that on you at this moment in time. Yeah. The first thing I did was join the TRF, ⁓ to the Trail Riders And to be fair to them, they've got great website with all the maps and the trails to go on. ⁓ But then I discovered an app called Wikilock. where people like myself who don't necessarily want to join a big group, just want to go out and ride a couple of lanes with their mates, they create their own loops and stuff and load it onto that system. So that's sort of what I tend to use for off-roading. So yeah, you stick to the same sort of routes that you kind of And I think we've all found that there's various different apps, trying to get them all linked together, it? People using different ⁓ applications and things. So... You never know what might come along at some point. Well, there's maybe something coming that might answer that problem. But yeah, I mean, as a company that organizes rides, it would be amazing to have something that pulls all that together. We're going to make a promise to you, Gavin, tonight. We're going to bring our own coffee and milk. we're going to bring it from what you make it for us. We're going to bring something, I think we're going to bring something quite special to the market later in the year, which we're not going to talk about because tonight's all about you. But one of the things I want to ask you about in terms of the industry and how the industry is evolving. And certainly in terms of, mean, you've turned up today and I'm on a hybrid and I've got an electric car, sorry. It's not my wife's, but I ride a motorbike. don't know what mentioned brands, I wanted to brand this book. What's your thoughts on the kind of the whole move into EV motorcycles? What's take on that? ⁓ From a personal perspective, it's no. ⁓ I just ⁓ like, I think with most bikers, we like the sound and feel of an engine. ⁓ But there's other reasons why I think we're not ready necessarily yet. And that's because there's lots of different styles of riding. Certainly from my perspective, the riding I do, I want to be out on a bike and be able to do a hundred and something miles before I have to necessarily stop to sit for three hours to charge up. But I also appreciate that city living. makes absolute sense. If you're buzzing around a city and things, then to have a cool bike like Maving, think they found a real great marketplace. They've got a lovely style bike. They've got their customer base. They're very city and it works really well. I have ridden Zeros and stuff like that and had a go and I think they, you know, they certainly perform very well, but they don't give me the longevity of mileage at the minute that I would be looking for. And then there's the other thing where you might If they can do a hundred miles, that's great. I don't then want to have to sit and stop. So it's like, is there a way that manufacturers could create something where it's a drop in, drop out battery that you could. Yeah, that was a career. We were talking to the restaurant earlier on. Wasn't a pub was fresh. And I remember you saying that that whole thick and all get their act together and have a universal way. You turn up and go out with a new one. think that I could be game changing. Cause that's take that you literally open up like a fridge. Yeah, your battery liquid cool battery. Shut the fridge. They do that in Japan, don't they? know Japan have that. They're quite, I see they're normally well in front of us in the UK and they do have that facility where you can go in just take the battery out your bike and put it in and run. I think of two people that are in our group tonight that are going to go to the bag shed at some point. Yes. In a very near future. And I'd much rather go ride into the bag shed on a Triumph Scrambler 1250, 1200 Scrambler. than an electric bike, that's for sure. I just think it's a lot cooler, know, than, I don't know, I think there's a lot of development yet to do on electric bikes, isn't there? Some way to go. Infrastructure as well. It is, yeah. We're not ready yet for bikes to be. solely electric, that's for sure. But I know all the manufacturers are obviously having to develop and work on it. But I think at the minute, mean, mean, obviously, that's just your opinion. Yeah, I think we're all very curious. We're all very curious about how the market's going to go. Yeah. And there's going to be lots of development to be curious to see how it goes. Yeah. And I think it is where we're at that cusp of things changing and, you know, and it's the same with cars. You know, you drive an electric. I don't. We've got a hybrid. We've got two hybrids. Yeah. Yeah. You've got a hybrid as well. No, have not. All right. It's a proper. It's a proper. Yeah, I know. We've got a hybrid. Yeah. You've got a hybrid. had a hybrid. You had a hybrid. He's got a bike and he walks, but he did have a hybrid. Let's just put that down for the record. So I'm going to kind of jump on you a minute because I don't want to lose from the electric side of it. So obviously you've been in the industry a long time and obviously with electric bikes, where do you see the motorcycle industry going next? What's going to be the big question that's going to be answered with regard to motorcycles in the future, next 10 years? I know that's a big and deep question because of obviously electric motorcycles. Everybody thinks that's the future, but is it going to be the future? I see manufacturers going down the line more and more of the smaller engines at the minute. And I think, know, the, the four hundreds and stuff like that, which it's almost like it's a second bike as well. I don't know whether that's kind of the, the reason why they've done it, but I think the smaller capacity, certainly more crowded roads, the road conditions at the minute are terrible, what sort of stuff and actually having something a little bit more manageable, more smaller. And again, trying to encourage the next generation of motorcyclists in. I think is the right thing to do. You know, hate to say it, but we're a little bit more of the older generation now. I'm still pining to have a sports bike. I can't ride one. A lot of my friends will probably say you never could anyway. Personally, I'm a sports naked rider. I like those kinds of styles of things. But yeah, I think the smaller capacity engines, I mean, you look at MotoGP, they're reducing their capacity. You know, everything seems to be coming down again, but things... things go in circles, you know, who knows, might all of a sudden be back on sports bikes again. know, that whole adventure scene, which was, you know, brilliant from Charlie and you and when they brought that stuff out, everybody wanted an adventure bike and great, brilliant. got people into riding motorcycles. Who knows what the next thing is, but think it's certainly smaller. interesting you mentioned there about what's the kind of one trend in motorcycle and that you're not buying into the moment. What would you say that is? ⁓ I'm not so sure you can answer that question because it might be a manufacturer you might be working with. I wish to work with in the future. It's all right, we'll bleep it out. I'm going to nip in a question here about faired or naked motorcycles. So if you didn't hear that, Tom's just asking the question about what Gareth's preference would be regarding faired motorcycles or naked motorcycles. What's your preference? ⁓ My preference is naked. Well, you're wrong. Yeah. And what about bikes? I think about riding them. Yeah, no, I do like a naked bike. I think there's nothing better than seeing the engine and all the working pieces there. It's a bugger to clean, but I do seeing And having your head ripped off above 70 miles. Don't go 70 miles max when you can go. I think Tom's in the same camp as you. Tom's really keen on getting a naked bike. And you've been looking really hard at naked bikes and we as I'll talk by myself as a gray head, old, fuddy, duddy saying you don't want a naked bike. we're going to go to wheels or anywhere and you've got to ride on those and motorways and things, it's just all that just on your chest and your head all the way down there. But I suppose there is a, there's a lot of fun to be had. Yeah. It's the all for me because you can take a naked bike on the track. ⁓ You can have fun on the roads. ⁓ you're not uncomfortable. Sports bike, you can do a track and after a while your neck and your wrists are aching. Adventure bikes, great. You can take it on a track. It's okay personally, but I'd rather sport. Sports naked bike for me is my preference. ⁓ Well, can just dispel a myth there by the way, because I followed you. ⁓ I followed you riding ⁓ adventure bike. And you saying you're not good enough to maybe not good enough to ride a sports bike. beg to differ. Was that down the Helmsley TT? No, it wasn't. was, was coming back in, think. the car park. It was in North Yorkshire and it wasn't down the TT, but yeah, I followed Gareth one day and he's an exceptional rider. Thank you very much. So what, keeps you riding after all these years? ⁓ there was a period where I didn't, ⁓ I, I was wondering whether I should carry on riding. And I think I was about three months without a bike. And I just realized why I was such a miserable because I didn't have a bike. Yeah. ⁓ And I just, I can't not have one. I just love them too much to not have something. I've not ridden mine a great deal over the last 12 months just because of building a business, working, all that sort of stuff. But I would hate to walk in my garage and see an empty space. Yeah. Yeah. We'd all agree with that. I'd like to go in our garage and see some space. Two motorbikes, three flipping mountain bikes. Yeah. And you're wanting to get like a CF motor or some smaller bike. mean, what we're going to do? It's all right. There's room in my garage. I'm sure you would cope. That's what you would do. We would cope. Yeah. The fridge is going to have to go. But the thing is, like you were saying, it's the feeling of having a bike going to your garage. Even if you don't go for a ride, you see a bike and it just puts a smile on your face. You know, that's your bike and you can go out any time you want, whether it's rain or shine. and just puts a big smile on your face. And when you're having the dullest of days, go on your bike and you guys come back for a different mindset. It's anticipation as well, waiting for the season to start to know I can get out on my bike. And like I said, Wednesday evenings with the lads and stuff. And yeah, I just could not be beyond one. just, yeah, miss it as I did. I missed it far too much. Yeah. Can I ask a question? on then, because we're trying to stick to the format here. We're already been three hours. Do you mean there's a plan? I've been trying to keep the plan going since we got here. you. Can I just say, because I know you're going to forget, if you're enjoying tonight's episode, can you like and subscribe it means a lot to And ⁓ share your comments. Have you ever ridden with Gareth? If you haven't, would you like to? I've enjoyed my experience of riding with Gareth and I've always been an admirer. So which leads me into the next question. It's a bit of a segue. So we've ridden a lot together and I think when we've ridden together, I was ridden at the back through choice. I was ridden at the back. But there may be one or two people sat around the table here and the question is, who's the best rider in the group? Your group? Yeah. ⁓ my goodness. Throw us all under the bus. Come on, Garetham, your professional experience. And I don't think any of us would pretend to be. I'd be really disappointed if you don't pick me. And it's going to go, it's going be. Which is your favourite child? Yeah. Where did that question come from? I'm not looking you in the eye at all. There's two parts to the questions. Who's the best and who's the one you at least trust? God. Nice question. on the list. Just remember where you're staying tonight. It is there because you can read it. Look, from what I've seen in terms the ⁓ speed from being a ⁓ to being an exceptionally good rider would be Andrew. And I think from when I first met you and you hardly did any miles on a bike. And then you rode every day, all the year, any weather you're riding went like that. And it was really impressive to see. think from quality and safety, that's not in a bad way. you're a very safe pair of hands. would, and the trust thing, you with riding. Keep going, keep going. I'm just going to sit back, thank you. It's gone very quiet. I'm saying nothing. If it's not a sheep involved, I've had it. Obviously the sheep incident was amazing. He lined that up, know. Yeah, again, you know, I have full confidence when I follow you or we're out riding. I think your riding is brilliant as well. And doing the routes you guys do and the way you you run your little group as well. Being part of that, you do feel safe within your group, have to say. Yeah, I enjoy riding with yourself. And I put you on a similar level to to Andy as well, I think in terms of your safety and the way you ride at the back. Yeah, but in terms of their vision, reading of the road, reading what's happening. Yeah, they've they're too, I would say are up there. And I think you're like your dad. I think again, from watching you start as a young rider to where you are now and how you've developed with your riding skill, you clearly are following your dad's footsteps, which is great to see as well. hopefully that answers your just follow him now because he's just always in front. Because I'm getting old. I remember the first ride we did when we did the Scarborough run. ⁓ Yeah. The first time I met you and you were on triumph. ⁓ I think it was it'd been a speed triple maybe. ⁓ ⁓ it was a street trouble was one of those who was naked. All I can remember is looking in my mirror and just seeing two headlights. Yes. Because it was like, these guys are enjoying this and I'm looking at my clock and I'm doing the speed limit. But obviously you can still have fun at the speed limit. And I just remember looking in the mirror and just seeing these two headlights looking at me going, yeah, okay, they're with me. We're doing this. See, I love that in a group where you ride tight ⁓ and you together. And you've got people in your mirrors, but you all trust each other. You all know your position on the road. And yeah, I love that. That gives you quite a sense of feeling. It does remind me of the TT that time when I looked in my mirrors exactly that and there was you and Steve Clark, which I thought you were actually starting to tickle the back of my neck. And we got into Helmsley to me and Clark came over to me and he just went, whoa, that was absolutely amazing. And you were like, and the sparks that you were showing over us, I went, what sparks? I doing of those down the Helmsley thing and there's the jump thing. it's on the first time I got ⁓ down I was on a brand new Tiger 1050 that hadn't been seen yet and I was just running it in while I was up in Scarborough ⁓ and I not know those jumps were coming and I was fully airborne on this thing and I'm like, ⁓ my God! What a great run. It's I on a brand new Tiger 1050 that hadn't been seen yet and I was just running it in while I up in Scarborough I did not know those jumps were coming and I was fully airborne on this thing and I'm like, ⁓ my God! What a great when come down and everything compresses and you're sent to stand on I didn't know I would produce sparks. I just wish he'd had some cameras running because that would have been amazing. 1250 as well. Wasn't it that? that was, that was me. No, that was a 12. It looked like a KTM, but we we won't mention that. It was orange and black. I think, you know, those ride outs that we've had in the past where we've gone around North Yorkshire. Yeah. We've had a Danny and Ed and no care. and Steve and Steve's. Bob Brooks. That's why the name is the name of the group. Yeah. Yeah. The two for one club. Two for one club. was the first ever time. So we used to have a TT club WhatsApp group that we were all in and all of our friends in the Scarborough group. And then obviously we did the run with you guys and we ended up, got back and we'd seen we caught 241 miles. was the language. Oh my God. By the time we got back, I think I'd run out of fuel and whatever else on my jacquetti back then. And yeah, we named to rename the group, the two four one club. Well, listen, Gary, been, it's been absolutely fabulous having you on. We're going to hand you over to my cohorts and second to ask you some questions, but I mean, we're going to continue talking. I'm sure until the early hours in the morning. mean, about 10 o'clock tomorrow. But no, from our perspective, it has been an absolute pleasure having you on tonight. If anyone, if anyone's watching this and wants to, ⁓ you know, comment and, you know, where's Gareth going to be at one of his events? I'm sure you want to come and meet the legend that is bright then then please do get in touch. I suppose from that aspect as well, before we go into some quick fire questions, where can people find out what things you're getting up to this year? ⁓ mean our social As Woodcut Events we post all the stuff that we sort of attend and support all of our manufacturers and clients that we work with. We share their stories and stuff. So that's probably the best place for seeing what we're getting up to and where we're going to be. And if you go along and quote just ride, you'll get nothing. Well, not yet, not yet. just need to sell some stuff. Like and subscribe. Would you like to do that? Yeah, can subscribe. ⁓ So some quick questions. So money's no object and you've had good, year at ⁓ Woodcut. So would you buy? What motorcycle would you buy? There's a big list, but at the top of my list, it would be the Desmos Adichie. So I wouldn't ride it. Yeah. Is that the 200,000 pounds? I don't think it's as much as the superleggera the Desmos Adichie is already it's an older style bike. It's like a Moto GP bike on the road. It's just gorgeous. Yeah. Tom's bringing the one below the red and white one. red and white one. Yeah. So Tom's good. Tom will drop that into the into POD. There she is. Wow. Yeah, they are. See what I mean about GP bike? That's on the road. So as I get reminded, that's obviously fabulous. have had customers turn up at the Ducati road shows on those as well. Really? And I've like literally just gone. The resume checkbook. Look how beautiful that is. beautiful. Yeah. And that's 2007, 2007. They're not new. A certain actor, Jason Statham has one of them. Really? Yes. Because he actually writes it in one of his films. may. I wonder if that's one of somebody that might be in Gareth's book. In your form book. Who's your motorcycle in hero? There's only one for me. It's Rossi. Oh, no, that's a really that's going to be a really interesting debate, isn't it about, you know, if Marquez. So we've got Agostini, haven't we, at the top of the tree, winning the most world championships. And then we've got Rossi. Yeah. And then we've got Marquez. And if Marquez was to well, could Marquez could jump him, couldn't he, if he was to win this year? So doesn't mean he's better. Do you think Marquez would become the goat? That's the that's the big question, isn't it? The thing is, bikes. Bikes are different every year. The competitors they're against are different every year. The tires are different. The circumstances are different year on year on year. I say Aggo back then, know, Parish, Sheen, you know, the things that they were riding, they had the harder tires, the terrible brakes and all that kind of stuff, the things that develop each year. So it depends on the rider and how they adapt with those particular bikes. But for me, that got me excited was always watching Rossi. And also Rossi, it not... whether you like him or not Rossi is MotoGP he made MotoGP what it is today yeah all the other guys have just come into that and they've they've flourished off that but it was Rossi that put the stamp in there that made MotoGP what it is today and look what he still does for it now yes exactly run his own team and yeah and he's got the academy yeah the r46 academy with all young riders he's still he's still involved in developing and making sure that championship continues have you ever met him ⁓ on the grid but not to sort of shake hands just to stand next to him and go. Yeah, on the grid a few couple of times I've walked past him. So if anybody's watching tonight that can make that happen. Gareth and I will be available. And Scott will be available. Yeah, yeah. He is an awesome rider and he continues to provide such a great service to Motel RGB. And he's just awesome, absolutely awesome. ⁓ and, but I don't know anybody that doesn't love him. think we all love him. ⁓ I think there's a real respect between both of them. They may not particularly like each other. Well, I don't know if Marquez dislikes Rossi. I know there's that famous clip of Rossi saying about, about Marquez. What, would you describe him when he uses some expletives? But I think there's a ultimately is a great respect between the both them. Yeah. ⁓ 11 years, that's a long time to hold a grudge. And I say this every time we do the pod. I know this is quick fire questions and stuff about me, but when you watch the Moto GP at this weekend as well and you see Bagnaria, you see Bastanini and other people and you see them racing, sometimes you think they may be on different manufacturing bikes, but they all go to the ranch and you think yourself, well, I wonder when you're getting the likes of Marquez between them, if there's a willingness, like I'm going to really fight for somebody that goes to the ranch, not because of the manufacturer. Yeah. It's just a market. She used to go to the ranch. Yeah. He to the ranch. So it's just, but it's all a show. It's all a show. And then the day these guys go out there, drive, ride at 200 plus mile an hour and per on a show that we would never even get a chance to do. Yeah, what a great product. They don't don't scrape. Let's send a stand on the TT though. Did they get over as far as me? Oh yeah, they do. 65. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they do. And I think, I think the next question, we probably know this, but we'll ask anyway. Well, I don't think we do know this. think a favorite place to ride your bike. Born TT. I thought you going say that road in Portugal, but the other party we're coming down. It's my bike and I'm at home. It be the Born TT. Yeah. I'm really glad that you didn't say Wales. There's nothing wrong with There's some awesome roads in Wales. is lots more cheap. Yeah, but it's closer to go to the Bourne TT. That is true. Exactly. No, we are going to come down and we're going to get... Can you do a cave and say, right, let's get some dates in the diary. Yeah. And I think we'll have something with us we could maybe, you know, test. Yes. Or use. Go on, Andy, that's your last question. So the last question is, obviously it's been a great year for Woodcut Events and you've made yourself a little margin of profit and you've got a couple of quid in your pocket and you're thinking I'm gonna go and buy myself something, an accessory. Are you buying a helmet, you buying boots, are you buying something else? What are you buying? What am I buying? Crikey. I always like helmets, I think. How many helmets do you have, Gareth? probably about 10. Yeah. What? Yeah. I've got, I've got a nice display in the office at work. Um, we'd to see a picture of those helmets. I've been very lucky as well. Gary Johnson's given me some of his TT winning helmets and stuff like that. So I've got those on display. And then I've got my off road bikes. I've got my Enduro off road helmets, got my Enduro helmets, track helmets. I just love collecting. It's memorabilia. Again, it's when you go into your garage, isn't it? you're left with space, it needs filling. I've only got two and that's too many for one of my work. Yeah, think about 10 helmets, the same in boots and God knows how many gloves. What is the helmet that you would buy? What's the helmet buy? ⁓ do you know what? I really like, I've got a shark, which is a carbon shark. I love it. Love it. It's great. Isn't it? Yeah. He's got a, he's got a shark carbon. Yeah. He's taken him about three iterations of helmets to get to that one. Yeah. has finally got a shark. I do love it. Amazing. I've had AGVs and show is in our eyes. But I do like my shark. That's my next helmet. Well, we, we have, we have done a little bit on the helm, which hasn't been released yet. No podcast. have done some. And we have been in there, had a look at how to get measured properly for a helmet as well. And we learned lots of stuff that day. Steph at Sports Workshop Leeds. Big shout out. She was fantastic. In fact, I went back out, I bought a shoe. She made him buy three helmets. like it. back and got the sharp carbon. Okay. know. Tom looked at me with it on him and went, no. So I took it back. are a sadist person's dream though. I've seen you at MCL as well. You turn up not buying anything and the next thing you're walking around with a box of lemons. Have you heard the story? I'm sorry, I've told this before, when we got back from the show, we went out on the Friday, I where it was, and I felt great, know, it me ages to get into it. I got back, when I went in, I got a message from him, I couldn't get him off. I was stuck. I got one arm down, was going, and you know that moment you think, I can't, what am going to do? Yeah. and he had to come and address me. ⁓ And then my wife said... I reckon it was an excuse. He held me out a bit perfectly. have to say. He lingered down there a bit too long. anyway, my wife said to me, not going out on your own until you can prove to me and get them on and off again. Seriously, know, that was... Anyway, before you go, before you go, before you go downstairs and go into the green room, is there anyone you want to shout out to? This is your chance to plug, plug. We haven't got all night, but if you want to plug... And then please take this opportunity, look at the camera, camera one, camera two, camera three, and give somebody a shout out or maybe many people. You've got 30 signal. Well, it has to go to the team that make Woodcoat events really. So Joe, my wife and business partner, is the reason why we have our brand and what we do. She's great support. And then we've got Mia in the office and then we have a wonderful group of of freelance riders, hosts that join us and work on it. But then again, I also have to thank the clients that continually support us and help us develop our business by trusting us with their brand. Brilliant. Brilliant. That's fantastic. Well, I was just going to say by the time this out, there should be another employee. ⁓ There will be. Sadly, that application is now closed. So, listen, I hope you've enjoyed as much as have had Gareth here. ⁓ It's been absolutely brilliant and we cannot ⁓ wait get out, ride a bike with you soon. We're definitely going to come down and do the Born TT. Don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, anything you want. I know I've got it right for the first time. ⁓ But yeah, a pleasure. Thank you for watching. We'll join you next time.