THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists(A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the LawOffices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE orvisit us on our website at
NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWSCompiled and Edited By BILL BISH, National Coalition of Motorcyclists
FEDS PROPOSE NEW MOTORCYCLE EMISSIONS STANDARDS No more air-cooled engines? No morecarburetors? Catalytic converters? By 2010, motorcycle tailpipe emissions must beslashed by over 80%, making it necessary for manufacturers to use fuel injection on theintake and catalytic converters on the exhaust in order to comply with tough new federalregulations, as well as altering cam timing and making other engine modifications,including liquid cooling.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, which has already succeeded in curbingemissions for the first time from off-road motorcycles, ATV’s, snowmobiles anddiesel-powered boats to help reduce pollution, is now turning their attention to streetmotorcycles, and new bike buyers in future decades will likely see a big difference indesign, styling and price.
The EPA released its proposed rule on motorcycle emissions on July 26, 2002, andfollowing a brief public comment period intends to implement the California-stylecutbacks in a two-phase plan beginning in 2006.
Stricter new limits will be established for hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emitted bythe engines, requiring motorcycles over 280cc to reduce emissions from a currentlyallowable 5 grams of Hydrocarbons per kilometer to 1.4 grams/km by 2006 and .8 grams by2010, achieving more than an 80% reduction in less than a decade. Nitrogen oxides, whichare unregulated at this time, must also be reduced to 1.4 grams/km in 2006 and .8grams/km by 2010.
Smaller cc motorcycles must also meet stringent new standards, ultimately reducing HC andNOx emissions to1.0 grams/km by 2010.
The proposed standards for new motorcycles will not affect their performance, says theEPA, adding that the Agency’s proposal does not in any way change the existing law thatmakes it illegal to modify the emission control devices causing the emission systems toexceed applicable standards. Motorcycle owners may make cosmetic changes such as thecolor and chrome.
Public hearings on this proposal will be held by the EPA on September 17, in Ypsilanti,MI, with the public comment period ending November 8, 2002, after which the finalregulations will be issued. For more information on the proposed rule, how to submitcomments and the public hearings, visit: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/roadbike.htm andhttp://www.epa.gov/otaq/recveh.htm.
The National Coalition of Motorcyclists encourages all concerned riders andmotorcyclists? rights organizations to make their feelings known to the EPA and ourelected officials on this important issue which will affect the future of motorcycling aswe know it.
HANDLEBAR HEIGHT REPEAL CLEARS PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE House Bill 1553 to repeal heightrestrictions on motorcycle handlebars in Pennsylvania, passed unanimously through theHouse of Representatives and is expected to see movement in September when the Senatereconvenes, reports Rocky Gambale on behalf of Pennsylvania’s Confederation of Clubs.
“This Bill passed the House 196-0 on June 12th, and has to date no opposition in theSenate,” according to Rocky-G, adding, “I cannot stress enough that we also thankBikePac, Charles Umbenhauer and ABATE of Pennsylvania for their assistance with thislegislation, their help has been invaluable.”
Earlier this year, both New Hampshire and Minnesota modified their motorcycle handlebarheight requirements. Minnesota eliminated the handlebar height limit altogether, whileNew Hampshire amended their “15 inches higher than the seat” maximum height limit with a”no more than shoulder height when seated” legal limit.
MASSACHUSETTS MOTORCYCLISTS DEMAND EQUITIBLE INSURANCE The MMA of Massachusetts hasrequested to meet with the Division of Insurance to discuss discriminatory price andcoverage practices, and seeking equitable changes in insurance practices for more than125,000 registered motorcycles in the Commonwealth.
“We’re tired of not having the same coverage availability for our motorcycles as we havefor our cars and trucks,” said Jimi Ricci, Chairman of the Massachusetts MotorcycleAssociation (MMA), and a member of the NCOM Board of Directors.
“It’s unfair,” said Betsy Lister, MMA Safety & Education Director who has been anindependent insurance agent over 28 years and owns Lister Insurance Agency, “that as’motor vehicles,’ motorcycles don’t have the same options as other vehicles when it comesto coverages and limits.”
She cites that motorcycles are excluded from “stated value” coverage, when the marketvalue of a custom or specially modified motorcycle’s value exceeds it “book value”; no”multi-vehicle” discounts; no “anti-theft” discounts; and only $5,000 in coverage can bepurchased in “optional” medical payments coverage by riders, despite their ability to paythe increased premiums. Premium income and loss data over the past 3 seasons is”unfairly disproportionate,” she says.
MMA Legislative Director Paul Cote, a former insurance claims examiner and currently alegal consultant on accident reconstruction and claim handling, sent a letter to Divisionof Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler “requesting a meeting with policy-makers withinthe Division to address these inequities” that the MMA has uncovered.
“Nationwide, more than 80% of the motor vehicle/motorcycle accidents are the motorvehicle operator’s fault,” says Cote, “yet we suffer due to their negligence and ourlimited coverage availability. We want to address that, and our rates with theCommissioner.”
“I’m happy we have the talent, experience and energy of Betsy and Paul on our MMA Boardto address these issues professionally,” said Ricci. “We believe a lot of good will comeout of this for those who ride motorcycles in the Commonwealth.”
ALLSTATE LOSES —– MOTORCYCLISTS WIN! An attempt by Allstate Insurance to eliminatemotorcyclists from medical payment coverage went down in defeat in the case of a youngpassenger on a bike in Virginia, thanks to the efforts of Virginia Aid to InjuredMotorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney J. Thomas (Tom) McGrath.
Jennifer L., a teenager living with her grandmother, went for a ride on a motorcycleowned by a friend. The driver crashed the bike and Jennifer was injured. Hergrandmother had a policy of insurance on her car with Allstate Insurance Company, and foran extra premium she purchased a $1,000.00 medical payment benefit which would reimburseany resident relative of the grandmother’s household up to $1,000.00 for injuriessustained in an accident.
The law in Virginia requires an insurance company that sells bodily injury liabilityinsurance to also offer medical payment insurance provided it covers the named insuredand any resident relative of the named insured while in or upon, entering or alightingfrom or through being struck by a motor vehicle?
“Allstate sold the coverage to Jennifer’s grandmother but had changed the language init’s policy to limit the coverage to injuries sustained while in or upon a four wheelvehicle,” said attorney McGrath. “This attempt to cut motorcyclists out of coverage ispart of what I see as an ongoing struggle between us and the insurance industry. Theykeep trying to take away our freedom to ride by trying in every way to deny us coverage.”
Suit was filed in the Circuit Court of The City of Richmond based on the statutorylanguage and the fact that the definition of “motor vehicle” in Virginia includesmotorcycles. In addition to the $1,000.00 that we claimed was owed to Jennifer L., weasked for double the damages plus attorney fees and court costs.
McGrath argued, and the Court agreed, that Allstate’s effort to change it’s policy wasreally an attempt to change the Virginia statutory law. “The Court declared Allstate’sdefinition void and we received a check in the amount of $6,345.00,” said McGrath. “Notbad for a $1,000.00 claim.”
If you have medical payment benefits on any of your policies check the language and ifyou find that it is similar to Allstate’s, in that it defines a motor vehicle as anautomobile or vehicle having four wheels, please let AIM know.
“Remember this,” McGrath admonishes, “companies that write insurance are always seekingways to limit what they have to cover. Only we can protect our rights.”
POLITICS AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS With another election cycle coming upon us,we’d like to share with you the following article by Marcia Mercer written June 25 forthe Media General News Service, regarding the political appeal of motorcycles:
WASHINGTON — In the world of presidential politics, it was hot news. John Kerry, theDemocratic senator from Massachusetts, had decided to make a serious bid for the WhiteHouse.
No, he didn’t announce his candidacy. Officially, Kerry was still testing the waters.
But to political observers, Kerry had sent a clear sign of his intentions. He got rid ofhis Italian-made Ducati motorcycle a few weeks ago in favor of a shiny blackHarley-Davidson.
The switch wasn’t just a matter of what Kerry is riding. It said Kerry is running.
In America, it’s not enough to dash around the country, raising money, making eyecontact, acting humble and talking about your vision. Lots of people do that.
To show you’re a real presidential contender, you need to do something that shouts, “I’ma regular guy.”
It’s a curiosity of American politics that presidential candidates have to prove they’reordinary men, the kind of guy other guys enjoy hanging out with.
Kerry may be super-smart and super-rich, a fellow with four houses and a chestful ofcombat medals. Voters may have elected him to the Senate three times. But he has aproblem: People see him as aloof, arrogant and stiff. (Shades of Al Gore?)
So, Kerry works at presenting himself as a man’s man. He tells people he fliesairplanes. Plays ice hockey. Windsurfs. And he hopped on a Harley.
A man with three purple hearts shouldn’t have to prove anything. But that’s a topic foranother day.
“It’s an American icon,” said a Harley-Davidson spokesman. Sales of the American-madebikes are up 21 percent post-Sept. 11.
At least Kerry didn’t send his wife, Teresa Heinz, out on a chopper. In 1996, GOPcandidate Bob Dole’s wife Elizabeth rode onto the Tonight Show stage on the back of aHarley, behind Jay Leno. The very ladylike Dole wore jeans, motorcycle boots and a blackleather jacket with chains.
The motorcycle effect was dramatic in Ames, Iowa, in August 1999, when the Republicanssponsored a presidential straw poll, a symbolic test of popularity in the state with thefirst presidential caucuses.
At first, it looked as if the governor of Texas might skip the event. But no. The signthat the man with the famous pedigree had decided to be a serious presidential contendercame when he rounded up a couple hundred bikers.
Led by the unlikeliest of Republicans – Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, withhis ponytail and black leather jacket with chains – the bikers swooped in off the prairieand revved their Harleys for George W. Bush in the parking lot outside the arena. Takethat, Gary Bauer.
George Bush, the elder – senator’s son, prep school, Yale – never could shake theperception that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. George Bush, the younger -president’s son, prep school, Yale – wasn’t going to let that happen to him.
Bush didn’t actually straddle a motorcycle that day, but that was OK. He was one ofthem. He won the straw poll.
A few months after that, Elizabeth Dole, a presidential candidate in her own right, rodeon the back of a Harley to a barbecue in Salem, N.H.
Later in the 2000 campaign, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, visitedthe Harley-Davidson factory in Kansas City. Lieberman donned a helmet and hopped on theback of a Harley. The candidate joked that putting on the helmet was “another act ofcourage.”
A few weeks before Election Day 2000, Al Gore went on the Queen Latifah Show and talkedabout how much he and Tipper had loved riding motorcycles in their youth.
In 2002, when it comes to projecting an image of raw, American manliness with the help ofa motorcycle, John Kerry has an edge. He likes riding bareheaded, and freedom-loving NewHampshire, site of the first presidential primary, has spurned mandatory helmet laws.
Brace yourself for a barrage of pictures showing regular guy Kerry astride his blackHarley, hair blowing in the wind.
WEIRD NEWS OF THE MONTH: Children Blackmail Parents With Landmine Suicide Threats Authorities in India say children are using landmines to blackmail their parents. Armypersonnel patrolling India’s border with Pakistan claim to have averted eight suicideattempts in the last month. The Dainik Ujala newspaper reports a teenager who wasrescued after crossing into mined territory claimed he was trying to kill himself becausehis parents refused to buy him a motorbike. Harnam Singh, a farmer from the bordervillage of Kahangarh, said: “The mines have become a very effective tool for blackmail.Children know they can extract anything from their parents if they threaten to walk intothe danger area.”
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY “Little Jimmy” Rouse, Business Manager for the Modified MotorcycleAssociation (MMA) of California and member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists(NCOM) Board of Directors, died on Friday, July 19, 2002, in Sacramento of complicationsfrom lymphatic cancer.
“Lil’ Jimmy was one of the founding fathers of the MMA of California back in 1972 and hasbeen involved ever since,” said “Sleepy,” Chairman of the MMA Board of Directors. “Lil’Jimmy helped fight for motorcyclists alongside Ron Roloff, Gorilla, Whitey, and Sonny.
Lil’ Jimmy was involved to the very end, even reviewing and approving the newsletter thenight before. Lil’ Jimmy was always there for all motorcyclists and will be missedbeyond description.”
Our sympathies go out to the MMA and to the family and friends of “Little Jimmy” Rouse, apioneer in the motorcyclists rights movement and a true freedom fighter.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “If we don’t all hang together, then we’ll all damn sure hangseparately, by the straps of our own helmets.””LITTLE JIMMY” ROUSE, MMA of California
–BILL BISH
NO CELL PHONES FOR YOUBy Elisa Batista,3:40 p.m. Aug. 15, 2002 PDT.New York was the first major city in the United States to prohibit driving while talking on a cell phone. Now a city councilman wants cell phones banned in public places throughout the city, including libraries, movie theaters and museums.
In a move lambasted by the cellular phone industry, Councilman Philip Reed introduced legislation that prohibits the use of cell phones in “any place to which the public is invited or permitted and where members of the public assemble to witness cultural, recreational or educational activities.”
While the bill makes an exception for emergency calls, it punishes anyone who infringes on the rule with a $50 fine.”New Yorkers are sick and tired of people on their cell phones in the middle of a play or a movie,” Reed said. “It’s distracting, it’s annoying, and as a public nuisance, it should be against the law.”
While members of the cell-phone industry discourage its customers from using a mobile phone in, for example, the movie theater, it is vehemently against such legislation for safety reasons.
“We’re going to have policemen come into a theater and take the phone away from a mother speaking with her child’s babysitter?” asked Kim Kuo, spokeswoman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. “That’s ridiculous.”
Kuo said that educating the public on cell-phone etiquette was needed, but “it’s silly trying to legislate common sense.”
Reed, however, said that movie theaters and other public places are already asking patrons to shut off their cell phones to no avail.
“Apparently, the requests of theater management and the disapproval of the rest of the audience is not enough for some people to quit their gabbing,” Reed said. “You have to legislate so they’ll put it on vibrate.”
The council will vote on Reed’s bill next week.
ABC, BIKERS AND PUBLIC BURDEN ABC News is airing a segment tonight that, as usual, attempts to paint the motorcycle community as a “Burden on Society.” The AMA, MRF and others have begun posting to the message board at Nightline their views on this subject. The links are posted below.?I have also tossed in my nickle’s worth of opinion. You can read it at this link I urge each of you that care about personal freedom to post your views on ABC’s message board. This may be a feeble attempt to bolster ratings and stir up controversary, (because they know motorcyclists will vehemently respond) but if it is, then it is. There will be plenty of uninformed, me-too tv watchers who think motorcyclists are too stupid to think for themselves and therefore need “protection.” The “I’m doing this for your own good” crowd never sleeps nor takes a day off. –Scott Cochran, Editor
Dixie Rider Motorcycle News
