Vermeulen supports the safety message

Aussie world superbike rider Chris Vermeulen was the special guest at a community road safety motorcycle forum held in Melton (Vic) on Saturday, June 5.

Back on home soil while the world superbike title takes its traditional mid-year recess, the long-time motorcycle safety campaigner reinforced a number of core messages for road riders during a question and answer session with the MC and principal of Phillip Island Ride Days, Steve Brouggy.

When asked about motorcycle road safety, Vermeulen's said that "self preservation" should be the primary focus.

"The track is the safest environment you can be in for going fast, and we all wear gear that is the highest quality and standard," said Vermeulen, still wearing a knee brace after injuring himself in the opening round of the world superbike title at Phillip Island in March.

"And on the track, I replace my helmet after every crash, even if it has been involved in a minor bump.

"But away from the track, when I get on a road bike my mindset changes. There are limitations and you have to ride within them."

Questions were also opened up to Vermeulen from the floor, with about 150 people attending the event as part of the Shire of Melton's Road 2 Zero strategy.

Road 2 Zero merges into the Victorian Government's 'arrive alive 2008-2017 blueprint, and the aim is to have a greater than 30 per cent reduction of serious and fatal road crashes (and to reduce the severity of serious injury crashes) by 2018.

There were also a number of keynote speakers during the day, including representatives from the Victoria police, Phillip Island Ride Days and Honda Australia Rider Training (HART).

With motorcyclists constantly reminded they are over represented in deaths for the amount of kilometres travelled, the Victoria manager at HART, Grant Carr, touched on the importance of roadcraft during his address.

It's an issue close to the heart of the outgoing general manager of Honda Australia, Stuart Strickland.

"When you try to find initiatives to get people trained we come across a whole lot of rhetoric from governments… about the fact that if you train someone you are going to turn them into more of a risk taker," says Strickland.

"But what we concentrate on is roadcraft. It's not encouraging them to take more risks -- it's encouraging them to understand what's happening on the roads."