Spectators viewing some of the motorcycles participating in the GCC Charity Bike Show yesterday at the Aspire Zone.
By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter
More than 1,000 Qatari and international bikers attended the second annual GCC Charity Bike Show organised by the Soul Riders Motorcycle Club at the Aspire Zone yesterday.
The event kicked off with a motorcade starting from the Museum of Islamic Art on the Corniche and culminating at the back of The Torch Doha with more than 750 bikers joining the parade.
Soul Riders founding member and leader Abdulla al-Hajjaj told Gulf Times the event recorded a huge turnout compared to the last year’s edition, which attracted about 600 bikers.
Al-Hajjaj said that Soul Riders hoped to surpass last year’s proceeds totalling QR80,000, which was donated to the Hamad Medical Corporation’s Kidney Bank and Qatar Red Crescent.
“For this year’s fund-raiser, we chose Qatar Charity as our beneficiary. We hope to raise more funds this time considering the huge turnout of participants,” said al-Hajjaj, who added that the QR200 registration fee from each biker participant would go directly to charity.
Aside from its fund-raising component, al-Hajjaj noted that the event was also highlighted by a competition among participating bikers vying for recognition in 25 categories, including Sportster, Dyna, Softail Touring, V-Rod, Vintage, Touring, Metric Touring, Chopper, Bobber, Burgor, Radical, Trick, Super Shot, Spider CanAm, Hayabousa, best paintwork, and public’s choice award.
“The owners customise their bikes. The labour and effort they pour into their vehicles to take it to the next level make it a work of art. These are no longer ‘manufacturer bikes’ but a piece of art,” al-Hajjaj said.
He stressed that the annual show aimed to raise the “biker culture” in Qatar and the GCC region: “This is something that we have worked hard for the past five years.”
Describing Soul Riders as a “multinational biker club”, he said: “We have members from the US, Europe, and Asia aside from those coming from other GCC countries. In a manner, we speak at least 32 languages due to the diversity of our membership.
“Religion or nationality is not a factor for us. We are a group connected by our souls, hence our name Soul Riders.”
Al-Hajjaj emphasised that the biker culture had a “strong bond”.
He added that the group received government support for other motoring activities such as the escorting of other chapter members from neighbouring GCC countries visiting Qatar.
In the past, Soul Riders was involved in social and cultural campaigns such as breast cancer awareness, Ride for Hope, and Wheels n’ Heels – Reach Out to Asia, as well as sporting events like Tour of Qatar Cycling Race, Qatar Sports Day, among others.
Soul Riders was established in October 2012 by Khalid al-Hamadi with only 11 bikers as its initial members. It now has 62 active members from different expatriate communities in Qatar that also form part of the 2,000-member umbrella organisation, “Bikers Network”.
BELOW:
Members of Soul Riders Motorcycle Club before the start of the bike show. PICTURES: Peter Alagos
