Areg, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

When I was living and studying in Bristol in the UK, most of my friends were bikers. Indeed, I didn’t even bother to finish my driving lessons, and instead chose to ride a motorcycle myself. Cars were boring, but motorcycles were fun, and the whole sub-culture that went along with it was a lifestyle in itself. After a few crashes and a move to London, I never sat on another bike although the temptation — even in Yerevan — is great.

Which is why I’m glad that Areg, a young biker in Yerevan, drew my attention to the albeit small biking scene in Armenia. He even has his own blog on the subject matter, and has posted something on his journey, with Nessuna on pillion, to meet up with me when I recently stayed overnight in the Yezidi village of Alagyaz.

I left the Rebel outside in the night. At 5AM, when I had to leave the village and head back to Yerevan, I found the poor vehicle covered with a thin layer of ice. No lie! It is a greatly mysterious miracle to me how I managed to start the motorcycle in that extremely hopeless condition! The only explanation for that would be the superstition that bikes love to feel loved and cared But the cold weather is not only bad. Actually, its very good if you manage to start the engine. During the whole way back the engine performance was excellent, I even beat the personal record of speed on the Rebel. The engine did not overheat a single time and despite the yucky fuel that I had got in my tank the first day, it did not have any problems at all.

Anyway, Areg is a member of the local Armenian chapter of the Hye Riders MCC, and tonight he introduced me to the founder and head of the Hayastan wing of the US based Armenian Motorcycle Club, Norik Matirosian. I want to write a story on bikers in Armenia complete with an accompanying photostory for Hetq Online, and I have to say that it all sounds very interesting indeed. I might make the transcript of my interview with Norik available on this blog before the article is ready, and not least because I hadn’t heard about the international Armenian motorcycle club until now.

The Hye Riders is a Motorcycle club, which was funded and founded by the President, Berdj Kasbarian, in 1999. The term “Hye” stands for Armenian, and “Riders” signifies those who own and ride motorcycles.

[…]

The “Hye Riders” are a group of Armenian men who love to ride their motorcycles. They organize events, ride their bikes, and live proudly as Armenians. The club consists of Armenian men who are in various types of professions. For instance, there are students, husbands, doctors, lawyers, mechanics, and businessmen, and so on.

It’s a pity that the club is so male-orientated, but I guess that’s the same everywhere. Although some bike clubs I knew of in Bristol had female members, the majority didn’t save for the obligatory girlfriend on the back. It’s also interesting to discover that while I’m not sure about Azerbaijan, there’s also a motorcycle club in Georgia. On their web site they even have a few photographs of visits by Armenian bikers to Georgia. Certainly, the biking scene looks more evolved than in Armenia, but I can only hope that this changes with time.

Unfortunately, however, the Armenian-Georgian connection in the world of bikers extends to fatalities as well. Two years ago an ethnic Armenian citizen of the Republic of Georgia and a member of the Georgian Camelot MCC died in a fatal road accident.

On April 18, 2004, biker Alik Egiazarian got involved in a traffic accident, while riding his bike. He suffered severe damage to his head and died after a week in a hospital, never regaining consciousness.

Alik worked hard to build a chopper of his dreams – with his own hands, overcoming many problems and constraints. And as the bike was ready after many months of painstaking labor, Alik made it the most beautiful part of his difficult life. But all this is now over – so sadly!

After this tragic accident his relatives discovered his notes, blueprints and various items related to his hobby, which Alik had lovingly collected. These showed everyone the true depth of his dedication to his hobby and his friends.

Engines roared as bikers slowly escorted his coffin to the place of his final rest.

Bikers remember with grief his enthusiasm, humor, true and dedicated friendship.

Riding a motorcycle in the West is dangerous at the best of times thanks to the attitude of car drivers, but in the South Caucasus, where the roads are in disrepair, the situation must be significantly worse. Still, it’s encouraging to find that bike enthusiasts in whatever numbers do exist in both Armenia and Georgia, and I’m looking forward to hitting the road with Areg and the Hayastan chapter of the Hye Riders MCC tomorrow and possibly also on Saturday.

Until then, the main Hye Riders MCC web site is at http://www.hyeriders.com. The Georgian Camelot MCC has a site at http://www.biker.ge, and if anyone has any information about bikers in Azerbaijan, please post a comment.

Areg, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006