Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

I received an e-mail from John at Mornington Kawasaki and he has been talking to the head honcho's at Kawasaki Aus trying to get some support for our club.
According to John they are interested in getting in involved with us, in particular at big events like the Supers and the GP's.
So the question has been asked, what would we like Kawasaki to do to help us out at these events.???

supply a 4 wheeler with a trailer to carry our BBQ and booze to turn 1 at PI

seriously, at the Supers they could bring a tent and some bikes and have a bit of a display at Turn 1

offer prizes for the best shoes??

or maybe outfit?

Wattie wrote:seriously, at the Supers they could bring a tent and some bikes and have a bit of a display at Turn 1

Thats what the expo site is for. If Kawasaki or any one else wanted to put a display at turn one then the organisers or the track owners would charge them accordingly.

a few hand outs of merchadise to raffle or give away would be good and would not break the bank for Kawasaki either.
If Kawasaki could organise a ride demo day for KSRC members that would be pretty good for all concerned. Kawasaki would be promoting their bikes to some one who would be interested in purcahsing them.

Win a few races .

(Runs away)

Mick

It needs to be win-win for both groups.

I think we already do an amazing 'job' advertising and supporting Kawasaki Australia just by our sheer enthusiasm and brand loyalty. And by the club-level organisation carried out by MadKaw (and others)... We're basically already doing good things indirectly / unintentionally for the company, because we want to. I would hate to see some sort of formal arrangement that limits what we do (I'm thinking things like being some sort of 'official supporters' so that rowdiness and drunkenness at the Supers is an issue - I like our casual atmosphere and don't want to see that traded in for being taken seriously by Kawasaki Australia) - just thinking aloud here.

I'm not exactly sure what a 'win' for Kawaskai Australia would be, since we're already doing what we're doing and will continue to do so. What do they see as a positive outcome to recognising us in some way? It would be good to know what their intentions or thoughts are.
I love the idea of ride demo days... Image Kawasaki just did one, but they teamed up with a Central Coast riding group* who had pre-booked rides and there were also many rides available to the general public.

Maybe they could consider two free motoGP Kawasaki hospitality tickets per year given to the club - they never seem to be completely full anyway!
If the idea is to raise the profile / publicise Kawasaki Australia (and benefit ksrc at the same time), why not have a couple of prizes for best dressed (i.e, most eye-catching outfit) at the Supers / GP -> We already do a lot of greening up (maybe send them individual and group pics of past efforts as proof), but if there was decent (i.e, not mugs or lanyards) Kwaka gear up for grabs, I'm sure the efforts would get more imaginative! And the more outlandish / eye-catching the outfits, the more publicity for both our club and Kawasaki Australia.
Another thought is trackdays... We already add a fair bit of green to any trackday we attend as a group - but I'm not sure what we could incorporate that would help both sides??? Maybe they could sponsor us with a slushie machine and green gatorade

***(as an aside, we showed up with almost as many people to have a look and we didn't even know it was on - we probably could've had triple the number of people show up, all wearing Kwaka-supporting gear, all with great looking bikes in a large variety, and apart from adding to the 'greenness' of the affair, we're all potential buyers since we're always dreaming of upgrading to the newest and best Kwaka. Huge missed opportunity for Image Kawasaki in my opinion, but maybe they're more interested in their immediate local market)

I know the other big manufacturers have their own VIP sections at the GP etc etc.

Do Kawasaki have one ??

Anyway here's my 2 cents:

- VIP passes
- Kawasaki Pit girls
- Big BBQ, Tent, Camping
- Autograph sessions
- Merchandise ( really cheap or free )
- Comps or raffle prizes ( new bike anyone ??)

Acknowledgment from K.Australia is a start and long overdue, given the pathetic efforts of their so called official club

A grid girl or two each to hang out at turn 1 with us and fetch beers, etc.
Then everyone would want a Kawasaki.

Agree Cath and I do no presuppose this is an option to formalise any relationship with Kawasaki HQ, mearly to have them offer our club some support, no strings attached. As you said, I think we already do our part by promoting and supporting Kawasaki and there products, all at our own time and expense.
Our reward is the comradery and common interest we share.
As far as merchandising or clothing goes, I think KSRC already have some great gear and with new Polos should really green the place up.
The ride days are usually organised through dealers but unless we are notified or specifically invited they do not get posted. Mornington Kawasaki are having one next week (as posted) and Aitkens are having one this weekend. The Aitkens one is interesting, with them being a KSRC sponsor you would think they would send us something about it. They haven't and we only know about as they were handing out flyers at the MC show. I suggested they e-mail me the details and I'd post it up if they wanted, they haven't. We charge nothing to advertise and promote our sponsors but they really need to show some interest in the site or they will get nothing out of it.
Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent there, so back to Kawasaki.
I really don't know what to propose to Kawasaki as we are pretty self sufficient, have lots of good gear and get a bigger gathering of supporters at most events than they do, but I do like the fact they are interested in supporting us and appreciate they have asked what they can do..
This may amount to nothing but lets run with it and see what happens.
All decisions will be made in the usually KSRC manner. I will post the info, put up a poll, consider all the comments and then toss all that out and make the decision myself..
So, lets brainstorm it..

MadKaw wrote:I received an e-mail from John at Mornington Kawasaki and he has been talking to the head honcho's at Kawasaki Aus trying to get some support for our club.
According to John they are interested in getting in involved with us, in particular at big events like the Supers and the GP's.
So the question has been asked, what we like Kawasaki to do to help us out at these events.???

they could send this bike and the chick, she could be useful for bbqs, umbrella girl/track days etc... etc

I'd be happy with

1. More branding and advertising to lift the general profile of Kawasaki in Australia... This needs to take a different tact IMO. Hell, i'll even do it for them if they wanna offer me a job

2. Maybe get Marco and Hopper to stop by Turn1 for a beer at some stage during the GP - with some notice so we can all be there. There's always a good group of us at most races and hopefully this is acknowleged and appreciated.

It would be great if they brought back the 12R and stopped making the ZX10R uglier every year.

More seriously we need to look at things that will attract NEW members and turn one-off and occasional visitors into regulars, which will indirectly support Kawasaki by the furthering of the brand, etc.

me..?
I am cynical olbarstage at times
and I wonder what KwakaOz are up to...
They have their own riders club and are they wanting to push us towards that?

Given that... and given that we organize ourselves (in the usual KSRC manner )
and relentlessly push the brand..on the street and on the track...at our own cost
I just can't see them paying for KSRC shirts/polos or stickers

Paying for this site/place would help both.... even if we had to put an ad or link to the
official Kwaka Oz site up the top of the page ( i see that as no big deal)
AND Kwaka OZ put a link on their site ...to HERE .

This is a tuffy coz I agree with Cath...its gotta be a win/win for both else it aint gunna work


finally ..and one suggestion from left field!
I reckon Kwaka OZ give us their Riders Club to run
(the small annual fees still get paid...to us to run here)


my 2c

they could give me a bike to race

i'd look after it, not like the the old TKA dudes