News From Bennetts

Gordon Brown – Hell’s Angel?
Bennetts unveil the biking alter egos of British celebrities

More familiar with chauffer-driven government cars, Gordon Brown is the ideal candidate to ride a Harley Davidson according to research out today. Bennetts, the UK’s number one for motorbike insurance*, has unveiled a new biking ‘calculator’, which enables anyone to find out which bike they should be riding, based on a series of personality traits. In addition to Brown, it found that David Cameron’s ideal ride is a powerful sports bike, David Beckham should be revving a Japanese street bike and X-Factor judge Sharon Osbourne should be taking long trips on her touring bike.

Bennetts commissioned sports psychologist and biking enthusiast Dr Murray Griffin from the University of Essex to analyse the data of over 2,000 UK bikers. The research revealed that celebrities, together with people across the country, are harbouring a biking alter ego and these can be divided into five simple categories:

1) Bank Holiday Bikers - born to ride a touring bike into the sunset
2) Boardroom Bikers - escaping the pressures of work on a powerful Harley
3) Scooter Commuters - speeding around the city on a stylish scooter
4) Rossi Rev Heads – desperate to impress with speed and strength
5) Muscle Motor Heads – passionate about having fun with a streetfighter bike

The data, now combined to form the Bennetts Biker Tribe online calculator, can quickly and simply reveal the biking persona of anyone completing the test. Simply log on to www.bennetts.co.uk/tribes, answer a few easy questions and your personalised biking tribe will be revealed.

Dr Griffin’s study found that Gordon Brown is a Boardroom Biker and should escape the pressure of running the country on a Harley. No longer leather-clad Hell’s Angels, the majority of Harley riders are senior officials who don’t necessarily have experience of riding a motorbike. For David Cameron, image is everything and he longs for speed and power as a Rossi Rev Head. Younger than Boardroom Bikers (77% of the tribe are under 44); the majority of this biking tribe are made up from professionals and managers who are enjoying a final fling before taking on further responsibilities in life.

Other surprising celebrity biking personas identified by the Bennetts Biker Tribe Calculator include:
• Lewis Hamilton – Scooter Commuter
• Simon Cowell – Rossi Rev Head
• Victoria Beckham – Muscle Motor Head
• Ozzy Osbourne - Bank Holiday Biker
• Louis Walsh – Boardroom Biker

Dr Griffin says, “The traditional stereotypes of bikers have changed rapidly over the years and it’s no longer just bike fanatics riding motorbikes. Scooter Commuters, for example, are a rapidly expanding group with more and more people wanting to escape congestion on the roads.”

* Based on independent research conducted in July 2006
ENDS