There were hardly any motorbikes on Christchurch's roads this morning. That's because they were all at Canterbury Agricultural Park.
Motorcycle fatalities are up on last year, so an event has been held in Christchurch to promote rider safety.
The event, run by local councils, ACC, police and motorbike trainers, attracted hundreds of motorcyclists and their bikes.
"There's a need for motorcyclists to realise motorbikes are changing, they're getting faster and they're more powerful," says David Golightly of the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council.
"They [motorcyclists] should actually, at the start of the riding season, realise their skills have probably deteriorated over the winter."
In 2015 ACC had more than 3800 medical claims for motorcycle injuries. This year, 34 motorcyclists have been killed on our roads - up four on the same time last year.
"We see far too many riders killed or seriously injured, or with ongoing, life-changing injuries as a result of bike crashes, and we want to do something about that," says Carey Griffiths from ACC.
Mechanics were on-hand at today's event to give bikes a free once-over.
"We had one bike this morning with hardly any air in the tyres," said a mechanic at the event.
"One tyre's bald front brake lever was loose. It shouldn't be on the road really."
Jono Black was one of those riders lining up for a free check. His bike just passed a warrant yesterday, but he was taking no chances.
"You always just want to be sure of things, even though the WOF people might say it's okay. It's good to get different opinions from different people."
It's sound advice the organisers hope all motorcyclists took away from today's event.
Newshub.
