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WHO ARE WE ?
ADVENTURE MOTORCYCLE GUIDES
Motorcycle Guides is an adventure combining a passion for motorcycles and travel. It is also a desire to pass on know-how so that all of this also becomes a human adventure.
Eddy, the founder of the Motorcycle Guides, tells you how this adventure began...
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Wanting to make a living from motorcycling ...
Since obtaining my motorcycle license in 2010, I have constantly explored France and Europe on two wheels. Alongside legendary trips like the Tour de France with my wife, each on our own bike, I organized a ride with friends one Sunday a month.
A trainer by trade, then a trainer of trainers, and later the director of a training center specializing in occupational and road safety, I was determined to make a living from motorcycling. That's when I signed up for the customs service exam, motorcycle option.
The competition was notoriously difficult, with numerous motorcycle skill tests and, above all, a large number of participants – 2500 people for 40 positions – I never imagined I would make it to the end and secure a place among the top 40.
Unfortunately, two weeks before entering the school in La Rochelle, the doctor declared me unfit: I am missing one-tenth of vision in my left eye.
I then closed the customs page to open the motorcycle guides page.
To create what did not exist ...
At the time, apart from the green motorcycle qualification certificate, there was nothing in terms of training to become a professional.
I participated in this training and came away without much conviction, and above all, without obtaining the skills I was looking for.
Taking advantage of my training skills, I then simply decided to create a Motorcycle Guide training course.
The specifications were then set; the Guide had to be not only a safety actor, a road rescuer, but also a Guide in the truest sense, someone who could introduce people to motorcycle travel, both from a cultural and geographical perspective.
It took me five years to create what is now the motorcycle guide training program, organizer of tourist circuits.
Five years spent not only scrutinizing current legislation, but also testing security techniques for motorcycle road convoys. Seeing and reviewing, mile after mile, the optimal technique to instill in participants a level of safety that allows for the pleasure of riding together and exploring the area.
Testing skills ...
Once the design phase was complete, I was able to test this training with a few volunteer trainees.
The desire to guide was there, the method had won them over and they had succeeded in this training for which I had opted for a particular level of requirement.
These people then had the skills to guide, all we needed were participants and a trip to undertake.
In 2020, I was offered the presidency of an IMRG, Indian Motorcycle association of the Pontault Combault dealership, in Seine et Marne. I naturally accepted the offer, which allowed me to test, in real-world conditions, the newly acquired skills of the new motorcycle guides.
For over a year and a half, we organized numerous trips and Sunday outings. The feedback from participants exceeded our expectations. We achieved our objectives of safety, maintaining a well-organized structure, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Promoting the profession ...
It was then that I made the decision to create a training center and a French federation of Motorcycle Guides in order to professionalize the activity of motorcycle guiding and to make it accessible to those who, like me, are passionate about motorcycle tourism.
Since 2023, more than 25 people have been trained and every year we continue our training activities.
Today, the federation and the training center have merged under the name Guides Motocyclistes.
This allows for more solutions regarding the professional development of motorcycle guides, but also the promotion of motorcycle tourism in France.
The motorcycle guides company now provides unique and professional services to motorcycle associations and professionals (dealers, motorcycle schools, etc.).
