The majority of MTA Queensland members are workshops servicing their local community, but sometimes there are exceptions. Motor Trader magazine caught up with Director Ellyse O’Connor to learn more about Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures – a Cairns–based business which takes clients on motorcycle tours throughout the world.
WORDS: Lara Wilde | IMAGES: Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures & Lara Wilde
How much are motorcycles a part of your life?
EOC: Motorcycles are a massive part of my life. My dad is 73 now and he has always ridden every day, so that has been a huge influence on my life. I grew up with bikes, have been racing and riding motorcycles for about 25 years, have been tour guiding for five years, and have a collection of vintage dirt and road bikes.
I spend my spare time riding motorbikes and when I am home in Cairns, and I also like to race in the local Gravity Enduro events on my mountain bike.
Our tour season clashes with many of the local competitions but I am always up for a motorcross or enduro cross race when I can fit it in.
Tell us a little about your business
EOC: My partner Woody and I opened the doors to Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures in 2020. Since then, we have been taking our clients on their bucket list adventures of a lifetime all over Australia and now the world. We regularly take groups to Cape York, Darwin, the Simpson Desert, the Kimberley, Victorian high country and Nepal in the Himalayas. Our tours include everything the client needs from the bike to food to camping gear to the support vehicles and staff.
Your tour business is booming but what else do you do?
EOC: Besides the tours, we also have a full motorcycle repair workshop where we maintain and service our fleet of vehicles but also bikes for external clients. With more than 50 motorcycles in our fleet, we can keep our mechanics very busy but we like to share that expertise with our Cairns community.
That sounds full on, you must be very organised.
EOC: But wait there’s more! With clients flying into Cairns to follow their dream of a motorcycle adventure, we noticed that there were very few options for them to hire a motorcycle in Cairns. We had fallen in love with the Royal Enfield motorcycles we use on tour in Nepal and so we have invested in a fleet of Royal Enfields to hire to our clients. All of the motorcycles are in excellent condition and are approved for Learner riders. We provide them for local rentals including the Daintree, Port Douglas, Atherton Tablelands and the greater Cairns region. We have had great feedback, and we look forward to providing a professional and reliable motorcycle hire service for our clients and friends.
With all of that going on, what is your role in the business?
EOC: Almost every tour has me riding a bike to provide guidance and management. When I am not on the bike, I am in the office managing the administration side of the business. Of course, in my spare time I like to get on the tools and I am looking forward to finishing my trade as a qualified motorcycle mechanic.
Who else is in the Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures team?
EOC: Being on tour in remote outback locations means that our team is very close knit. We all enjoy our job and love working with our clients. My husband Woody is the other Director. We also have my brother Leroy, our mechanic Don, our second-in-command Gav, our other sweep-rider Pete and during the peak season we also have a few casuals to help.
What training do you do with staff in your team and for yourself?
EOC: We do lots of first-aid training for the tour side of things, we do team training and learn from our mechanic. We are always looking to adopt more training programs into our business to build our employees knowledge. As a business owner trying to wear all the hats, I am learning to stay in my lane and focus on learning my trade as well as running the business.
How has MTA Queensland played a role in your business?
EOC: We joined MTA Queensland about six months ago. Our membership has provided great advice and industry-specific guidance and networking. The ability to connect with other members such as Wayne Leonard Motorcycles who sold us our Royal Enfield motorcycles for our rental service and the opportunity to attend networking events such as Auto Women.
Do you sponsor any local motorsport and individual competitors?
EOC: Being super passionate about all things motorcycles, we like to support community facilities so the riders of the future have somewhere to practice and compete. Because our footprint is larger than just Cairns, we sponsor beyond our local community. We sponsor the Rockhampton MX track, the Broome Mx track and also Dungog Enduro cross. We have riders from all of the country and world, so we like to add value to clubs all over Australia.
How much importance do you place on social media for your business?
EOC: Social media is everything for our marketing strategy. We very rarely advertise – we only post on social media which is where we get 90 per cent of our bookings. It’s a great way to show the experiences people get when they come on a journey with us. We create an amazing environment for all level of riders to achieve their goals and it’s easy to see that we absolutely love what we do. Social media communicates our passion, our story, our capabilities and the satisfaction of our clients.
What do you see as the greatest advancement in technology for your business?
EOC: For us it’s probably the use of GPS and in-reach messaging. We work in very remote locations and now we can communicate on the bike super quick if we have mechanical issues. That means we can get in contact with our support truck and get the help our client needs in record time.
What are your plans for the next few years?
EOC: Personally, I will get signed off as a qualified motorcycle mechanic and be an asset to my team. As a team, we are working hard to continue to build our tour and motorcycle rental business. We will put three of our employees through their motorcycle mechanic trade. By continuing our training, we will learn more around the mechanical side of our job and be able to fix any bike no matter how remote we may be. In the process we will add value to the motorcycle and adventure community of Cairns as we continue to grow our business and offer exciting new adventures and tours to people from all over the world.
What advice would you give to a young Ellyse starting out in the industry?
EOC: Be patient and put the effort in. Nothing worthwhile comes easy so put the effort in. Show up and bring with you a can-do attitude no matter what.
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (October 2024)
16 October 2024