Attracting fresh blood into motorcycling is a top priority for the industry, but the process of obtaining a motorcycle licence can seem long and complex.
Honda realised that dealers could put an end to this obstacle by creating a training and licensing process that started in their dealerships.
For Honda UK, 2020 will be the fifth year of the Honda School of Motorcycling (HSM). The approved training programme now comprises more than 50 Honda dealers, with plans to extend the nationwide scheme further in 2020 in a bid to bring more prospective and budding riders to dealer forecourts.
In an article to appear in the January issue of BDN, Honda explains that the emphasis at the HSM has always been on cultivating existing relationships between dealers and the very best local trainers, who have been pivotal in delivering the programme’s success. The manufacturer believes that a dealer is best placed to understand the motivations of a prospective rider and answer any questions they posed of the training process before providing a route to an approved training partner, where customers had the assurance of quality instruction aboard a current Honda model.
“The convenient nature of the process has encouraged many HSM graduates to come full circle, back to the dealership, where they started their journey, to purchase their first motorcycle, at a discount through the Just Ride scheme, in a familiar and friendly environment,” says a Honda spokesperson.
Julian Phillips of Farnham Honda has championed the scheme for a year now, having set up a dedicated training school with Phoenix Motorcycle Training, which is based out of the dealership. “From our point of view the Honda School of Motorcycling offers us two major benefits,” said Phillips. “First, it gives us the opportunity to engage with a non-rider and build the foundations for an ongoing relationship, before organising their training, in which they enjoy a great experience that is associated with us, the dealer.
“The second benefit is that we open a dialogue to talk about a potential bike purchase at a very early stage, which is often the cause of some excitement on their part! In most cases we can build a finance package tailored to the customer to ease any perceived financial concern.
“All this is great for the customer – they receive top quality training and immediately feel at home in our dealership. It’s also a win for us – we get to speak with a customer right at the start of their journey. We become their guides to the new and wonderful world of motorcycling!”
Honda dealers provide additional financial support to their training partners on top of the flow of customers for training, with preferential rates on training bikes – this is supported by Honda UK.
Helping convert trainees to Honda customers, and drive more sales in the process, is the Honda UK funded, Just Ride reward scheme. Graduates of Step Up courses qualify for an exclusive offer that knocks £500 off the purchase of A2 models and above across the range.
CAR INFLUENCERS
Further efforts to attract new riders have seen Honda promote motorcycling via new, digital channels and spokespeople. In doing so, it has branched out to influential members of the car media who have published their experiences of taking to the world of two wheels with the Honda School of Motorcycling at their side.
Andy Mineyko, from Honda UK, said the manufacturer now considered the approved training programme a key tool in growing the motorcycle market, not only for Honda, but for the industry.
“We have always taken the view that the Honda School of Motorcycling is a training school first and foremost,” said Mineyko. “It has been designed to deliver training with safety and a learning-friendly feel at its core. Every HSM graduate should not only take away the skills to ride the public highway, in absolute control and comfort, but a sense of enjoyment that will be ever-present in their riding career … We know that the better the training, the more skilful and confident the rider will be – and that can only be good for Honda, it’s fellow manufacturers and the whole industry in the long run.”