Motorcycle Minds started out as a motorcycle blog in 2010 with articles on specific motorcycle issues such as advanced training, road infrastructure including crash barriers, braking systems, motorcycle legislation, electric bikes/C02 emissions, ITS on bikes and so forth.
Those articles focused on topics with a “riders rights” slant, written by ourselves. We were supported by minded contributors from different countries and different backgrounds with viewpoints to put into one place.
Moving on from that initial stage Motorcycle Minds we hope you enjoy our posts as we aim to give fellow riders and non-riders the knowledge with which to make an informed opinion with the opportunity to comment on the issues if required, as we promote motorcycling in its various forms, the individuals and groups that ride motorcycles in all their forms.
Motorcycle Minds is about the motorcycle – scooter the Powered Two Wheeler (PTW), Trikes and Sidecars as the best means of personal transport – in countries throughout the world where it can be a family affair, a workhorse, a way of life.
In all their sizes and variations the motorcycle offers freedom, mobility, independence and an inimitable feeling of being part of the world around us.
About Us
Trevor Baird: born and raised in Northern Ireland was Chairman of a local motorcycle club for four years in the 1990s.
From taking part in the Bigger than Borders demo in 1995 he eventually became the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) UK’s Regional Representative for Northern Ireland, before moving to mainland UK in 2002 where he worked as a full time employee for MAG UK, first as Director of Public Affairs and then as General Secretary.
During this time Trevor was also a representative at the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA) which is made of twenty four national rider organisations from 19 countries across Europe.
In 2008 Trevor left MAG UK and became FEMA’s Technical Officer representing an International Coalition of organisations from Europe and the USA at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) via the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and the Working Party on Road Traffic Safety (WP.1), returning to Northern Ireland in 2009 and setting up Right To Ride.
He returned to Northern Ireland in 2009 and set up the riders’ rights company Right To Ride and Right To Right EU with partner Elaine Hardy, looking in-depth at motorcycle legislative issues, as well as setting up motorcycle initiatives with the support of regional government funding.
Semi-retired at one stage in the South West of France but now on a tour of Europe he has, along with partner Elaine Hardy, re-established the Motorcycle Minds internet blog.
However now after looking to live in Italy but with the curb on travelling through the COVID 19 pandemic, Brexit the UK leaving Europe, we have settled in Portugal as residents!
Trevor’s history of motorcycling is long – starting on a Yamaha DT 175MX in 1977, before getting hooked on the BMW GS styled bikes in the late nineties, moving through from the 1100GS to the R1200GSA Adventure then an F800GS. In between there has been a K1200RS, a Fireblade and a motorcycle and sidecar combination with a one time seismic like shift of tectonic plates of a Yamaha XV950, he has now gone back to his roots via an unexpected choice of a Royal Enfield Himalayan.
Elaine Hardy, PhD: A globetrotter, having lived in Australia, Italy, the U.K. and France she now continues those ways by touring around Europe.
In 2003 Elaine joined MAG UK and became the organisation’s Research Officer, also representing MAG (Motorcycle Action Group) at FEMA (Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations) from 2004 to 2007.
Between 2007 and 2009 she was FEMA’s Research Officer.
Elaine’s background is vehicle data analysis and has worked for many years with government agencies especially in the area of vehicle crime research. Previously she was the President of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) in the UK and is still a member of IAATI Europe.
She has written numerous papers on motorcycling issues for MAG and FEMA.
As Research Director of Right To Right Ltd, Elaine carried out research projects including an in depth analysis of motorcycle fatalities in Northern Ireland the “Northern Ireland Motorcycle Fatality Report 2012” and presented the findings of her work at major international motorcycle conferences such as the IZF conference at the INTERMOT Fair in Cologne, Germany (2012).
In 2014 Elaine completed a study the “Northern Ireland Pedestrian Fatality Report 2014” supported by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund. In 2015 completed another study the “Northern Ireland Vehicle Occupant Fatality Report 2015” again supported by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund. Theses reports were based on investigations carried out by the Road Traffic Collision Investigation Unit of the Forensic Science, Northern Ireland (FSNI) which can be found on her own research website www.investigativeresearch.org
Semi-retired at one stage in the South West of France but now on a tour of Europe she has, along with partner Trevor Baird, re-established the Motorcycle Minds internet blog and continues her research projects and global motorcycle connections.
For a Bit of a Pictorial History
