Political Interest

WHAT ABOUT US? I’ve held the position of Vice-President of Government Affairs for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation for roughly 18 months. And during those months I’ve sat in countless meetings, congressional hearings, public information sessions, symposiums, conferences and breakout sessions, which have covered a gamut of issues that affect riders. Anything and everything from ethanol […]

  Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is settled science, proclaim the predictors of weather doomsday. Settled Science? Science evolves continuously and can never be settled, unless, of course, the ‘settled’ subject is dogma, not science. Is it just a ‘my way or the highway’ attempt by vested interests to close discussion on their terms? Consider the

  A petition containing over 5,000 signatures was delivered to the first meeting of the Federal Highway Administration’s Motorcyclist Advisory Council on Tuesday. The document was presented by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation and demanded that the Council designate additional seats to represent the motorcycle rider community. Currently, the Council has 10 available seats; only one

    ABATE of Wisconsin was concerned about the number of motorcyclists injured by negligent motorists, and especially those injured by right of way violators. There was an inequity in the amount of punishment these violators faced, even for causing serious bodily injury or death.  A remedy to this situation was attained through the passage

Conspicuity has long been touted as a means of making you safer while riding your motorcycle. Along with all the high visibility clothing, like Conspicuity’s See-Me and Super See-Me vests, advanced lighting systems for motorcycles have improved safety for motorcyclists. The Federal Government has recognized the importance of preventing motorcycle crashes by allowing modulating headlamps,

    Most people have been there: a few drinks at a restaurant or bar and then into the car to get home. Am I over the legal limit? Hard to say. Is my driving impaired? It doesn’t seem to be. But what if I get stopped? Will I lose my license, go to jail,

  ABATE of Wisconsin has been fighting for motorcyclist’s rights since 1974. Known for repealing the mandatory helmet law for adults in 1978, ABATE has continued to represent the rights and safety of the state’s motorcyclists in a variety of ways. Legalizing angle parking for cycles and allowing three motorcycles to share a single meter

  **Editor’s Note**  We as motorcyclist should pay attention to anything that has to do with roadways, bridges, road dividing barriers etc. as in the past they have been designed for automobiles. The roads bridges etc. need input from the motorcycle community and we should be asking people who ride or otherwise involved what the

  The American criminal justice system is aptly named. It is criminal the way the system dispenses “justice,” and that criminality infests the entire system. That’s because the system has become a business and a blood sport based on profit, control and winning rather than determining a person’s guilt or innocence. The result is that

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week (August 2016), the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) released its preliminary data and findings regarding motorcycle fatalities in 2015. The GHSA represents the state and territorial highway safety offices that implement programs to address highway safety. Although GHSA’s primary mission is to improve traffic safety, their latest report appears to

    My name is Jeff Kraus. I am the Motorcycle Community Liaison for Operation Gratitude (www.operationgratitude.com), a 501(C) 3 military charity based in Van Nuys, CA. Over the past 12 years it has mailed over 1,200,000 care packages to our nation’s service members deployed in hostile regions all over the world along with special

  I’m a nut about regulation. I see it as a negative to the human spirit. Others see it as dollar signs, control issues, power struggles, all in the name of safety, or in this case, saving the planet. The most recent regulatory threat is climate change. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to

Paternalism is a control over others, like a father attempts to control his children (Pater; Latin for father). Some control and protection are necessary because children sometimes lack the ability to make rational choices. As we mature, we learn life lessons that will hopefully protect us as adults. In other words, we take control of

      What is the price of freedom?     First you have to define freedom. You have to strip away all the rules and regulations, all the bureaucracy and start with one man by himself in the wilderness. He can hunt, fish, grow his own food. He will only take from the land

With one of the longest and hottest riding seasons on record, higher gas prices and a slight increase in motorcycles registrations, 2012 saw a small increase in motorcycle fatalities with over half of those being fatalities being riders not endorsed to operate a motorcycle. The year also saw an increase in motorcycle tourism since the

Editor’s Note: I’ve been holding on to this report for a while waiting on a response from the MRF, because I knew it was false. If the sky was blue, and these agencies weren’t fighting for more money, they would support FREEDOM, training, and awareness campaigns, and fewer regs. This is why I have been

In 2009, at the request of the industry, ARB adopted a new regulatory provision for the exemption of aftermarket critical emission control parts on highway motorcycles. In 2012, the Air Resources Board’s (ARB) Enforcement Division, in conjunction with ARB’s Office of Legal Affairs, discovered that performance exhaust manufacturer V&H Performance, LLC. sold, offered for sale,

Please be sure to pass this along far and wide to all your contacts as we need as many phone calls generated on the following bills as possible. The number to call to leave a message for your legislator is 1-800-372-7181. Even if you do not know who they may be the very nice folks

I’m just going to come right out and say it: This is a commercial. If the government has its way, motorcycling as we know it is coming to an end. You might be a member of a motorcycle rights organization (MRO) or at least you know someone who is. You know the guy that travels

How secure are property rights if the police can take your stuff and keep it, citing no particular reason at all? Not very secure. This is the way police work in the developing world. Of course, this practice is increasingly common in the U.S. too. Municipalities around the nation are battling to stay afloat, and

Analysis A number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies have been uncovered in examining data related to motorcycle crashes, injuries and fatalities. If the information is incorrect it can only lead to theories and conclusions that are also incorrect or, at the very least, suspect. Solution Since much of the data is obviously flawed and most of

Editor’s Note: This is a perfect example of why we all need to support our motorcycle rights groups. One bureaucracy, in one state, California, chose to supersede EPA rulings and guidelines: The California Air Resources Board (CARB). Bikernet will continue to follow and report on these issues and on the groups trying to protect our

If you have time, and most of us don’t, check out this court decision from New Hampshire. It’s the perfect example of over-regulation in this country. You’ll run across federal regulations, state regulations, and some damn city’s new regulations, all to kill the life-saving sound your motorcycle makes. I say this is misguided because the

  Where the hell is Dothan, Alabama? Well, to Berry Wardlaw, its home and has been since 1996 when he moved his business, Accurate Engineering, to L.A. (lower Alabama). It’s where he has produced incredible engines for just about every notable in the industry including the powerhouses for many Discovery Channel bikes, the motors for