Bikers Hangout: Biker Radio Station for Riders

In 2022, there was over 1.3 million registered motorbikes in the UK alone. Yet dedicated radio stations for the riders are few and far between. Thankfully one exciting station does exist. Introducing Bikers Hangout Radio. The biker radio station for this bubbling biker community.

From serving up motorcyclist's favourite tunes to sharing riding experiences, Bikers Hangout Radio provides the space for all things to biker. We caught up with the team about their journey so far.

Bikers Hangout: The Backstory

When biker India Hayes was recovering from pneumonia in hospital, she started looking for a place to connect with other riders. As well as find general info, she wanted to chat to them about their experiences. But after several weeks of searching online, her quest proved fruitless. Surprisingly, it seemed the space she was after - “impartial, socially interactive and interesting” - didn’t exist. So she decided to set one up. Bikers Hangout was born.

The Need For a Biker Radio Station

In its infancy in 2019, Bikers Hangout started as a Facebook group. Despite the popularity and liveliness of the Facebook group, India felt some things were missing. Those things were an element of communication, as well as a healthy dose of entertainment. When thinking how to remedy this, she settled on the idea of a radio station. For India, creating a biker radio station was a no brainer:

All us bikers love our music and bike rallies have been around for years .. so why not a bikers Radio station?!

Setting Up A Biker Radio Station

Overcoming Obstacles in Starting a Biker Radio Station

Creating a biker radio station was not all smooth sailing though. They’ve experienced their fair share of forks in the road. For India, attracting a good team for Bikers Hangout Radio was an initial challenge. Thankfully, she recruited a great station manager, DJ Moto. As well as her ideal presenters, The Wombles and Big Paul. Each bring a ton of enthusiasm and are a fantastic fit.

Reverend Womble has wanted to be on the radio since he started playing live gigs in his teens. Since then, he’s always been after the opportunity to broadcast to a bigger audience. Like the rest of the team, Reverend Womble shares the passion of making Bikers Hangout a great biker radio station. His goal is simple:

Give the people some great sounds to listen to and get them tapping on their steering wheels and handlebars.

Reverend Womble clocked up some experience by doing hospital radio but was broadcasting on terrestrial radio. Like India, he didn't have much experience with internet radio:

The initial challenge was I didn’t have a clue how to go about it. I knew how to use a mixing desk but I didn’t know how to get online.”

But DJ Moto helped Reverend Womble get set up, and the Bikers Hangout team found they could draw on each others knowledge as well as Radio.co tutorials and help from the support team.

Making Bikers Hangout Radio a Reality

For Bikers Hangout, the benefit of having an online radio station is it's accessible whatever your lifestyle. No matter where or when listeners want to tune in, there are options for them. As Station Manager DJ Moto explained:

Radio is a great medium and you can listen to it on multiple platforms. There’s loads of cool things and it's quite versatile.

With the help of Radio.co’s support staff, Bikers Hangout were able to make the most of their Radio.co account. Like creating an Alexa Skill so people can tune in via Alexa-enabled devices. And having their own radio apps designed and published in the app stores.

We’ve done a lot of testing along the way for any kind of issues that come up. Radio.co have been really supportive and really helpful to get our apps out there and get listeners.

From The UK To The World

Thanks in part to the radio station, Bikers Hangout has evolved into a fully fledged online space for the biker community. This includes a forum, a directory for bikers clubs & motorcycle services and even a dating space.

The radio station acts as the voice of Bikers Hangout: it champions music from the biker community, regales listeners with stories from rides, and keeps listeners in the know with biker related events and info.

Bikers Hangout Radio broadcasts from the UK to bikers across the world. It runs 24/7, bringing a steady stream of Biker related content to the community.

Key Takeaways from Bikers Hangout Radio

Bikers Hangout show there are still communities out there that are missing radio stations and could benefit from one. Many radio stations follow a similar formula. But by serving a particular community, stations can get impressive listenership. India also points out what marks Bikers Hangout Radio as different is its willingness to experiment. She encourages other broadcasters to keep trying various things and not to be scared to be different.

Bikers Hangout Advice for Other Broadcasters

Bikers Hangout have picked up some tips during their broadcasting journey.

Format

Obstacles didn’t deter the Biker Hangout Radio, who with the help of Radio.co have kept throwing their hat in the ring. India shared this advice:

The secret being having good support which Radio.co provides and to keep trying various things.. don’t be scared to be different!

Bikers Hangout have shown listeners have an appetite for new ideas, so experiment and see what sticks.

Production

Meanwhile, from a production standpoint DJ Moto advised you can get set up with second hand equipment but there's one bit of kit you shouldn't scrimp on:

Don’t skimp on a crappy or cheap microphone. A good condenser mic with an XLR connection would be a good starting point.

Bikers Hangout know a good microphone can mean good audio quality, which is a must-have for any successful radio station.

Promotion

The team behind Bikers Hangout lean on the community to grow the station, making good use of their own networks. DJ Moto explained everyone pulls their weight by actively promoting their own and other peoples shows. And by being across all social networks and adapting content for each.

Next Steps For Bikers Hangout Radio

Bikers Hangout have established themselves as the number 1 UK biker radio station but they're still intent on growing. While rock music is their bread and butter, they're after people with an interest in any genre of music and motorcycles. The end goal is to have different people with different content so Bikers Hangout can represent all corners of the biker community.

Beyond the UK, Bikers Hangout want to build upon their global appeal and become the go-to radio station for bikers across the world. You can listen here.