ONELAND is really proud to announce their partnership with #TheMotoSocial team in setting up Montreal’s own edition of motorcycle monthly meetings. That’s why we meet with photographer Viktor Radics, the guy who started the trending #TheMotoSocial four years ago. After Toronto and Ottawa, it’s now Montreal who’s joining the community.
ONELAND: When did you start the #motosocial? VR: We started #TheMotoSocial in Toronto back in May of 2013. I was working at BMW Toronto Motorrad at the time selling bikes and I wanted to get our community more involved with one another.
O: Your wife works with you in the organization? VR: Yes, Samantha and I organize all of #TheMotoSocial event’s together. We’re best buds and do almost everything together.
Viktor Radics and his wife Samantha are the organizers behind #TheMotoSocial.
O: Tell us about the first night, how was it? VR: The first event was held on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at Chippy’s Fish & Chips in Toronto. A small handful of my BMW Toronto customers and their friends came out on a mix of different bikes. The 5-10 of us just hung-out, chatted, crushed a couple orders of fish and chips, shared adventure stories and then rolled home. It was a great night and exactly what I expected from the first event.
O: From night 1 to the big ones last year, what was the progression? VR: In year 1, we were hosting the event weekly on Wednesday nights at Chippy’s Fish & Chips in Toronto. The event fluctuated between 10-30 motorcycles every week and everyone that attended eventually got to know one another. Back then, the event was small enough that we all just hung out in 1 big group. We chatted while eating Fish & Chips and checked out each others bikes while the sun set over the park.
People eventually started to connect beyond just the surface level. They began finding « their people » and hanging-out together outside of just TheMotoSocial events – Not only riding together but also just doing life together. Watching those relationships develop helped me understand and helped me value the deeper and more important part of my initial vision. « To build community and build camaraderie ». I realized how important a solid community really was and how the community that we we’re inviting everyone into had a positive impact on people. That impact is what I realized needed to grow.
I wanted the event to progress and grow because I wanted more and more people to find community. I wanted more and more people meet, to socialize and connect and feel more like they were part of the city.
To help the event grow in year 2, I decided to make the event a little more unique. Rather than hosting the event every week in the same place, we decided to host the event only once a month and move it around to different independent cafe’s who we’ve partnered with around the city. This allowed for everyone to check out different parts of the city and interact with the different independent businesses contributing something unique & creative to the city. The first event in year 2 had roughly 30-40 motorcycles and it grew slowly throughout the year. Our turnouts fluctuated between 60-100 motorcycles every month. The event in year two was still intimate, calm, friendly and welcoming.
The largest growth happened when we kicked off season 3. A few hundreds motorcycles showed up to our season opener at The Tempered Room in Parkdale and everyone was in shock. The vibe was still welcoming, friendly, low key but with a bit more buzz in the air. From that moment on, the event continued to grow exponentially every month and we finished the season with somewhere around 500-600 motorcycles at Dark Horse Espresso Bar.
The beautiful part of it all is that even with 500 motorcycles at the event, the neighbourhood is fairly calm and relaxed. Everyone is enjoying the company of others. They’re chatting, introducing one another and enjoying the conversations and enjoying looking at all the bikes.
TheMotoSocial is a place where people come to hang out and socialize and I love that people have held onto that vision.
O: Why expand from Toronto to other cities? VR: I believe that the welcoming vision of TheMotoSocial is what sets our event apart, why people enjoy coming out and why we needed to expand outside of Toronto. We created TheMotoSocial to build community and to build camaraderie. We created TheMotoSocial to give people a positive platform to meet and connect with one another and it’s turned into something special in Toronto over the last few years. We want to help other communities come together in the same way and that’s why we need to expand.
O: You were in Montreal last May, tell us what you loved about it? VR: Montreal blew our minds. We had such a great time hanging out with everyone at the first event.
What struck me first about Montreal is the overwhelming sense of creativity and independence in the air. I could feel it immediately as we rode into the city. Montreal feels like a city of creative dreams and I loved that.
What I loved most about Montreal was the people. Everyone we met at the event in Montreal was so welcoming, so friendly, happy and excited about hanging out and meeting. Just like we were. There was this calmness in the air at September Cafe that night and that was totally because of the amazing people who came out for TheMotoSocial and brought the smiles brought the love.
O: Who shows up to #themotosocial? VR: Everyone is welcome at TheMotoSocial so we have a great mix of young guys, young girls, older men and older women all coming out together on a mix of all kinds of bikes. You will literally find every kind of motorcycle, moped, scooter at TheMotoSocial and I think thats the best part. TheMotoSocial is more about the people. The motorcycle is simply the common thread.
O: For how long have you been riding? VR: Since 2007.
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