The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride is a global motorcycle event for a cause. This unique themed event held on the last Sunday of September each year sees thousands of riders dressed in their best while riding classic and vintage styled motorcycles to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer and male suicide prevention.
The ride was founded in 2012 by Mark Hawwa in Sydney, Australia who was inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper on a classic bike in a fine suit.
The event has a style guide for the motorcycles and attire to be used to keep things classy and unique. Ride participants are requested to wear dapper attire like tailored suits, silk waistcoats, vests, tweed suits, stylish caps, and polished brogues. Not every motorcycle is considered suitable for the DGR either. We joined the DGR Manila in 2016 but I just rode pillion with Art on his Royal Enfield Classic since I didn’t have a custom bike yet.
To be honest, one of the reasons I wanted my own custom bike was for the chance to join this ride. I was out of town last year and I haven’t been able to use Fenrir much because of other trips and the rainy season, so am glad I was able to get him fixed in time to join this year.
According to the official DGR Style Guide, acceptable rides include Cafe Racers, Bobbers, Classics, Flat Trackers, Scramblers, Old School Choppers, Modern Classics, Sidecars, Classic Scooters, Brat Styled motorcycles and Classic Sidecars.
The ride has no entrance fee, but participants are encouraged to register and raise sponsorship money for prostate cancer research and male suicide prevention on behalf of charity partner The Movember Foundation.
Over the years, the event has become a global phenomenon. This year, 1,100 riders officially registered for the DGR Manila, raising over 5,000 dollars for the cause. Other major cities in the Philippines like Cebu and Davao also held their own simultaneous DGR events.
There are a lot of negative stereotypes about motorcycle riders, especially here in Manila, with many incidents and accidents related to irresponsible drivers or criminal activity, so I think it’s great to show a different side of the motorcycle culture.
The DGR organizers limit the number of riders to keep the event relatively small. Without the style guide, they say the event might become harder to handle. According to the event founder, larger crowds riding through the heart of each city heightens risks and increases requirements for insurance, permitting, police and city council.
The Manila ride kicked off at the Quezon City Hall along the Elliptical Road. It was great seeing other rider friends who I haven’t seen in a while, celebrities in the motorcycle world, as well as the amazing variety of classic, vintage and retro style bikes all in one place. The whole event was just pure eye candy! You get a lot of inspiration and ideas seeing how other people style and customize their bikes.
The route passed through some high-traffic areas, so the ride was very slow-paced and leisurely. Despite the volume of participants, the whole event was very organized with marshals ensuring that everyone rode in an orderly fashion and didn’t cause too much traffic for other vehicles on the road. The group made a rendezvous point at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), where everyone took a break to buy cold drinks, cool off, take photos and test each other’s bikes.
I felt kind of under-dressed this year seeing how everyone really got into the spirit of the event with their outfits and gorgeous classic and retro bikes. I was actually planning to wear this thick brown leather winter jacket with elbow patches I have that fits more with the style guide, but was glad I didn’t because man, the heat in Manila is scorching. The suggested outfits are appropriate for countries like Europe and Asutralia, but tiis porma talaga for those based in Manila! Haha.
I opted to wear a more breathable leather jacket and Inficool jeans while Art wore a checkered polo (and his only tie) from Wrangler Philppines. We just accessorized with helmets, goggles and aviator shades from Spyder Philippines but I think our outfits looked too normal compared to the other riders. Will prepare better next year!
Thanks to fellow Wrangler True Wanderer EJ Quiroz for letting me try out your Vespa! I’m really loving the classic look and vibe of Vespas. This has always been one of my dream bikes. Feeling ko Vespa na talaga yung next bike ko.
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Event isn’t about speed, miles or the destination, but rather a celebration of the art of being dapper, classic custom motorcycles and camaraderie on the road. It was great to finally drive my own bike in this motorcycle event in Manila and be part of something bigger celebrated around the world.
The ride concluded at the first ever Philippine Moto Heritage Weekend at Ortigas Technopoint One, Dona Julia Vargas Ave, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The event was hosted by Ride PH, a motorcycle tele-magazine show produced and hosted by a veteran journalist Jay Taruc.
The expo honored the heritage of the motorcycling community. It was a fun event with food trucks, people could test rides of different motorcycle brands, there was a swap-meet of vintage motorcycle parts, and lots of stuff were on sale from motorcycle accessories and gears, clothing and novelty items. All in all, it was a great motorcycle weekend!
Check out the video highlights of the DGR Manila 2018 as captured by All About Wheels Manila. I appear for 1 second at the 5:03 mark. Yehey!
And here’s the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride 2018 Official Global Wrap Up Video featuring amazing video imagery from around the world. An estimated 115,000 riders, 648 cities and 101 countries took part in this spectacular event! The video managed to cram video contributions from 75 cities (including Cebu, Philippines)!
First photo of me by Kim MacLovin posted by Mark McCullie grabbed from Facebook. Thanks for the candid shot!