Distinguished Gentleman's Ride set to have best year yet as thousands prepare to don their dapper gear this May

The annual Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) is set to take place in over 950 cities in more than 100 countries this coming weekend, with upwards of 70,000 motorcyclists already signed up to take part.

• Get the results: DGR 2024 final fundraising figures

Founded in Sydney, Australia in 2012 by Mark Hawwa, the event encourages vintage and retro motorcycle enthusiasts across the world to ‘dress dapper’ and join in on a group ride near them – all the while raising money for Movember’s prostate cancer research and men’s mental health charity initiatives.

Since its inception, the event has raised almost $49 million, with Hawwa telling MCN that he would personally like to see the May 19, 2024 ride raise as close to $9 million as possible.

“It’s definitely grown a huge amount,” Hawwa said. “It’s definitely up on last year and everything’s tracking 10% up at the moment, which is amazing.

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• Related: 2023 DGR fundraiser announced as best year to date

“I always thought the ceiling on this event would be around the $6million mark a year and we’ve now raised over $45 million and we’re probably going to add another eight to nine and I think it’s testament to the people who take part and the hosts that do it,” he continued.

“For me, it’s just seeing some of the creativity around some of the outfits and some of the incredible motorbikes. The core of event is a huge amount of fundraising, but we’ve also got to remember that a lot of people take part in this event as well because it’s fun.”

Alongside individual riders, there are also leader boards for both the top fundraising pillions and teams. The current leading group is Triumph Motorcycles, who have supported the event for over a decade as an official partner and have so far raised £54,975 (at the time of writing) this year.

On top of gathering donations, the Hinckley factory will also be giving away a £15,095 Triumph Thruxton Final Edition café racer to this year’s top fundraiser globally – a bike being produced across 2024 only to mark the end of the model in the brand’s range.

A selection of special Triumph DGR clothing is also available at the Triumph website, with 15% of each sale going towards the good causes.

“We share the DGR’s ambitious goal for 2024; to bring even more riders together, in more places around the globe, to raise even more money for men’s mental health and prostate cancer,” Triumph Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Stroud said. “We hope to unite and inspire Triumph riders across the world to join Team Triumph, dress dapper, raise money and enjoy the ride.”

Alongside Triumph, the event also gets official backing from Elf lubricants, Hedon helmets, Quadlock, and more – with additional prizes also given out for other fundraising accolades.

Alongside the Thruxton, the top fundraiser will also get a special edition Hedon x DGR Kingpin helmet. The following 99 highest global fundraisers will also receive a limited edition 2024 Hedon X DGR Hedonist open face lid.

But that’s not all, the second highest fundraiser will receive a Triumph Bonneville T120 Black, and third place will get a Triumph Scrambler 1200. Quadlock have also committed to giving the top 100 finishers a $249 (around £199) voucher to use on their website.

There are currently 61 rides arranged across England alone. If you fancy taking part, visit the DGR website today.