Coping With Covid-19

The coronavirus has changed things big time – but how has our industry/hobby been coping and what’s the outlook for the future?

- Bertie Simmonds

The social and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will clearly be seen and felt for decades to come, but we at CMM wanted to get a snapshot of what effect it has had on our hobby and, for some, their livelihoods.

At the centre of our industry is the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club. In the UK alone the VJMC (founded back in 1982) has more than 6000 members. With all the various VJMC events now on hold, what’s happened to membership? A spokesman said: “The VJMC has seen a definite and significant increase in membership applications, renewals and lapsed members during the lockdown.”

Some positivity then – more members means more enthusiasts to spend money in the industry: but what of business at the core of our hobby?

Wemoto are one of the biggest players in the market, stocking almost one and a quarter MILLION parts for around 14,000 different models of motorcycle from the 1970s right up to the present day. In a statement Wemoto said: For safety reasons, we've had to temporarily close our showroom, but we've remained open to fulfil online orders. For some of our customers, their motorcycle is their only mode of transport, so we're happy we can help keep them on the road!

Some of us are now working from home and safety measures are in place for our remaining warehouse team. While a number of riders have chosen to put their bikes away for this period, plenty of people are using this time to complete unfinished projects, so we have actually been very busy.