Norayr Martirosyan, Ashtarak, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Following on from my previous posts on the Armenian branch of the Hye Riders MCC here, here and here, I’ve finally managed to write up last week’s interview with the motorcycle club’s local leader, Norayr Martirosian. Later this evening I’ll sort out writing the article and putting together the photo story based upon yesterday’s opening of the riding season in Armenia for tomorrow’s Hetq Online.
In the meantime, here’s the transcript of the interview with Norik.
Onnik Krikorian: Before you became the Armenian branch of the Hye Riders MCC, did the club exist under another name?
Norayr Martirosyan: Before Hye Riders I founded a motorcycle club here in 1997 which didn’t really have any name. We’ve been Hye Riders for two years at most, but officially for one year.
OK: In 1997 did you have many members?
NM: No, only four or five. There were lots of riders, but only a handful of actual members. I had the idea of forming a club after returning from Europe, but when I tried to form the club I discovered that most people here do not think in such a manner. There’s a difference between riding a motorcycle and being a biker, and most of the people didn’t want to be part of something bigger. They didn’t want to take any responsibility for something beyond motorcycling.
Basically, with a club you develop your own unwritten rules and ethics with time, and all the members are responsible for keeping them. In 1997 when I established the club, all the people that were complaining that bike clubs exist in foreign countries and none exist here started to realize that this was a far more serious matter than they initially thought and disappeared. I’ve traveled a long and difficult path to get here today, and I finally found a couple of people who are responsible and able to be part of something big.
OK: Were you riding motorcycles in the Soviet era?
NM: I’ve been riding for over 25 years [shows Soviet driving license].
OK: Although it’s kind of going off the point, in the Soviet era you had long hair which is interesting for me in regards to contemporary Armenian society. In the Soviet period people did have long hair, but nowadays in an independent Armenia, people look at you strangely if you do. Why do you think that this is?
NM: You’re starting to ask painful questions, and it’s not only about hair. It’s also about changes in lifestyle, and I’ll tell you my opinion of why I think this has happened. When everything in the Soviet years was forbidden, including certain types of music, Armenians, and especially youth, were more united and whatever was forbidden seemed sweeter starting from Levi jeans through Pink Floyd discs to everything else such as long hair.
Then when independence came, with the collapse of the Soviet Union everything else such as youth and culture collapsed with it. Some other lifestyle was born which was basically, who ever had lots of money defined the principles of individual lifestyle. Everything was lost. Everything that was shiny started to appear from Europe and the United States, and became part of our lifestyle instead. A more fundamental approach to life became less and less.
Most of the people became shallow, and were attracted by these bright things from Europe and the United States. To some extent, that’s how I’d answer your question. That’s all. I understand your question very well, and I have a deep pain because of this, but I can’t talk more about this now.
OK: Were there more people riding bikes in the Soviet era as well, and if so, do think that this situation is changing now and why? Because it’s dangerous to ride a bike anywhere in the world, the situation in countries such as Armenia must be even worse so what kind of person here decides to ride a motorcycle?
NM: Ok, so I want to continue to answer your last question. What has been lost needs to be restored, but when it comes to why people ride motorcycles today, 80 percent of those that own motorcycles in Yerevan do not understand what it means to be a biker and what it really means to have a motorcycle. Thirty of forty percent of these people only have a motorcycle as if its a fashion accessory to show off. A minority of this 80 percent of motorcycle owners use it as a means of transportation, and some part of these people are engaged in trade.
They’re showing off their bikes to sell them. Only 20 percent of owners in Armenia know what it means to have a motorcycle and what it is about a bike that they love. They really love motorcycles. This 20 percent are guys who love extremes, and this city is perfect for those that love extremes. My second motorcycle, a gift from Italians, is a perfect motorcycle for Yerevan because when I ride it I feel as though I’m in the Paris-Dakar rally. It’s a 650 Enduro [off road trails bike]. However, it’s nothing to do with being a biker. I have a chopper for that. It’s transport.
OK: Right, Armenia is one of those countries where off road trials bikes must be perfect for the roads.
NM: The Italian who gave me this motorcycle told me that it was perfect for Armenian cities.
OK: How many members are there in the club now?
NM: In Armenia there are currently 15 members, but in America 50-55. In France there are 10-15, and in Syria around 10 members. The mandatory condition for being a member is to be Armenian.
OK: Most of the members of the Armenian branch are based in Yerevan?
NM: They’re from everywhere. They’re equally from Yerevan and the regions.
OK: And what about the ages of members?
NM: The youngest is Areg, who’s 21, and I’m the oldest. The President is Berje Kasbarian and he’s residing in Los Angeles.
OK: So what about the perception of bikers in Armenia? What is the stereotype?
NM: That’s an appropriate question, because a motorcycle is an outstanding thing here, and most of the general public have heard that bikes are a very bad thing. Usually the perception is very negative, and I feel responsible for changing this stereotype although its very difficult to change the minds of all these people. It is interesting that pensioners do not like motorcycles, but it strange that even middle-aged people and government officials are scared and have a negative opinion of bikes, especially when you take into consideration one of a fundamental basis of our club is patriotism.
Ironically, when there’s a need for motorcycles, government officials ask us to provide an escort or whatever it is they want. When four Italians came here on their trip from Italy to China — the Marco Polo route — government officials decided that motorcycles should escort them n their way through Armenia. They asked our club to do this because they didn’t have anyone else to do it. About 8 people provided the escort.
OK: Even though I heard from Areg that there is apparently a law that says that groups of more than three or four motorcycles can not ride together. I find it hard to believe that such a law exists.
NM: I’ve read it myself and that law really does exist, and not only for riding together, but also for parking together.
OK: Have you thought about lobbying to have this law changed?
NM: No.
OK: But are you considering doing so?
NM: When it is already more than 10 years that government officials can see what we’re doing in what should be a positive way, but still display a negative attitude towards us, I understand that there is no way on earth that there is no way we can change this law. Nobody in this country has the power to change the law. All laws instead have their backdoors, and their are other ways to achieve what we want by finding friends among government officials.
OK: However, it shouldn’t be like that.
NM: You’re right. I was in France recently, and saw how they lived and was amazed, but this is how things are here and that’s how it will remain here for the next 50 years. And it’s not just about bikes. It’s about anything outstanding. I love my nation very much, but that’s how it is. We’re now sitting in a bar that bikers should fit in with. However, if we were to come to this bar in our motorcycle gear, the people on the other tables would still look at us strangely even though this type of bar and bikers match.
It’s like this in every sphere, and not just motorcycling. For eighty percent of the youth, their idols are the oligarchs and rich people who have different goals in life, and they want to be like them.
OK: Do you think that this is changing, albeit slowly.
NM: Maybe slowly.
OK: It was interesting to see that the a shop selling motorcycles has opened up on Abovian Street, although the bikes are very expensive.
NM: Only very rich people buy motorcycles from there. It is very interesting for me that in a city of 1-2 million there are only a few young people such as Areg who find motorcycling exciting. We can draw a conclusion from this. The rest are thinking about something completely different. And it’s not just about bikes. People do not think about uniting and being part of something where you can share common interests. It would be easier for the government to deal with groups of people that are united than with individuals.
OK: Actually, I think that the government is scared of people who are united. That’s my opinion.
NM: Actually, you’re probably right.
OK: On a more practical level, is it a problem being a biker in Armenia when it comes to things such as spare parts and the quality of petrol?
NM: There are no parts. Everything we need is either shipped her after ordering online or stuff that we ask our friends to bring when they come here. After France I went to Greece specifically with the intention of buying tyres for my motorcycle which I brought back to Armenia with me. It cost 150 Euros, but somebody with a knife has already tried to slash the tyre. Yesterday we were attempting to fix it.
There are many people doing such things. It’s not they don’t like our club, but when some people see that others are different and united, they become jealous. Groups of shallow people who don’t like this type of thing start to think negatively about you because they cannot live with a normal fundamental approach to life. They don’t like it when someone else is able to do that.
When the Italians came and were asking for the specific fuel for their motorcycles in a Gyumri petrol station, the attendants had their mouths open. Basically they had to use any fuel they could find into their BMW motorcycles even though it shortens the life of the engine. There is no petrol station that sells proper petrol in Armenia.
OK: Is there motorcycle clubs in neighboring countries such as Georgia?
NM: There is no club in Azerbaijan, but there is one in Georgia.
OK: Do you have any links with them?
NM: This year we’re trying to establish those links with Georgian bikers, but we have excellent relations with the largest motorcycle club in Russia through the telephone, emails and letters because before becoming Hye Riders we had an offer to join the Night Wolves Club in Moscow. That’s the biggest club there.
OK: What kind of activities does the Club engage in?
NM: We can’t compare ourselves to clubs in England that were founded 50 years ago, and who have come a long way. Our club has only been together in one shape or form for seven years. We have a long way to go, and we have a lot to understand. Today, we have our special riding events and we’re trying to pay tribute to our national heroes that represent significant values for this nation by visiting their towns and the monuments dedicated to them.
OK: So, on the anniversary of someone like Garegin Njdeh you might ride somewhere?
NM: It’s good that you mentioned Garegin Njdeh because in 2000, we didn’t ride because his anniversary is in the winter, but on 17 June we did do something. That’s the same day that [Paryur] Sevak was killed, so first we did something for Sevak and then for Njdeh. We feel responsible for paying tribute to these people — Njdeh, Sevak, Minas, Komitas, people like this — because they could lead an entire nation on their own. And we come to the question I answered earlier.
When the soul of the nation is killed, we turn our attention to bright and stupid things coming from Europe and the United States. We hold about seven or eight special rides annually. One of the fundamental purposes of holding such rides is to concentrate the attention of the public to the places that we are riding to. We met schoolchildren in Sevak’s village last year and they were amazed that the stereotypical biker, harsh and rude, are visiting such sites so this also helps change public perceptions.
Actually, we’re very polite. The government knows very well that they shouldn’t expect anything bad from us.
OK: You think that the wrong things from Europe and the United States have been brought here instead of the positive aspects of life in the West?
NM: We are bringing the shiny things, and not the real, good things. Some things have changed since the Soviet years and it’s not as bad as it used to be, and if we wait for another 20-30 or 50 years, everything will be good.
OK: What about female bikers?
NM: You can count them on your fingers. There are two or three, and there’s a girl around her early twenties who rides, but can’t really be called a biker. Our first victory in terms of public perception, however, was when we made it normal for people to see a girl as a second passenger [riding pillion], and the next milestone to reach is to change their minds so that seeing a woman riding a bike is normal.
OK: Especially when until recently it was considered abnormal for a woman to drive a car in Yerevan, and the situation in the villages is still the same.
NM: It is good that we have adopted this aspect of European life and mentality.
OK: I heard you did a charity ride. Do you do many of these rides?
NM: It was our first, but for many years I’ve wanted to do such things but I couldn’t get even a box of cookies to take to children in the orphanage in Vanadzor. Hye Riders in the United States have helped us organize this now, though.
OK: Do you have problems with the police?
NM: Some of the guys have problems registering their bikes because there are no defined ways to do this. There are guys who have built their motorcycles from scratch, sometimes using a car engine, and there are no guidelines as to how these vehicles should be registered.
OK: How many bikes in the club are built from scratch?
NM: Probably 50 percent, because it depends on the social conditions in the country. Not many people are able to afford anything else.
OK: Is there anything you’d like to add about the club?
NM: I’m going through a very painful period at the moment. Ten or fifteen years ago when I was thinking about starting up a club I though that I’d have lots of young riders, but now I’m amazed that it’s not so.
OK: Sorry to interrupt, but from my own observation, over 90 percent of young people still live with their parents — even up until the age of 30. Maybe that has something to do with it. I can imagine their parents forbidding them from riding a motorcycle. I mean, even in Europe, a bike is a dangerous vehicle to ride although mainly because of unobservant and careless car drivers.
NM: I have a different opinion about this. Here in Armenia, it’s not just that drivers don’t see motorcycles, they also don’t like them. It’s not just because they don’t like you riding a motorcycle, it’s also because they envy you. There is no respect for anything different unless it comes from someone rich.
OK: It’s interesting that I’ve never seen a police motorcycle in Armenia.
NM: Twenty days ago they brought some motorcycles for the police from Russia, and are guys are currently repairing them. Soon they’ll probably appear in the streets, and yesterday I was interested to the guys that will be riding them. They’ll be used by the traffic police, but there will also be 12 Hondas for escort duties, and some good guys among their riders. They respect me too. During the Soviet years the police had many motorcycles here, but then they disappeared.
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
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.