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 Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. For more Information, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit us on our website at http://www.ON-A-BIKE.com
From TheGUNNY’S SACK
I’m just getting over moving an entire three bedroom house a distance of nearly 200 miles, and it isn’t as easy now as it was a few years ago. Next time my wife says we should move, I’ll burn everything and start from scratch at the new place. Anyhow, it’s done now and we are entrenched in the new digs. Now, maybe I can concentrate on things that have been laid aside for several weeks. The run schedule here in Oregon gets really on the move thru the month of August and into September. I’ll be at runs the rest of the summer, virtually every weekend till the end of September, so please STOP BY and see me, at the “AIM/NCOM” booth!
Enough of the Gunny and his whimpering for this month, let’s get on to important stuff. By the way, I’m happy to be back in home territory even though we had a wonderful trip to the NCOM Conference in Milwaukee, and then to West Virginia and back to Oregon. And, the new grandchild came home from the hospital July 12th after doubling her birth weight and doing better than Grammaw.
Pennsylvania is FREE, I say again FREE. Their Governor signed into law the right for adults to ride sans helmet, if you either have two years of endorsed riding experience, or if you take an approved rider ed course. Another huge victory for the motorcycle community! I really feel the day will come in my lifetime that we in all states will be free again. Check the ABATE of PA website or call AIM/NCOM (1-800-ON-A-BIKE) for reference to more detailed info if you’re going to the Keystone State.
Special credit for those who worked so hard to make this momentous event take place, especially ABATE of PA, and the Sons of Liberty Riders, who have all spent years making this happen with support from the NCOM, MRF and the AMA, and lots of other concerned motorcyclists as well. Every motorcycle rider who values freedom of choice and LIBERTY in this country should raise a glass to Pennsylvania. We also must thank Governor Ed Rendell for being a man who keeps his promises! He said if it passed, he’d sign it, and he sure did. So many of our elected officials think promises are just for elections. Thank you sir from the entire motorcycle community!
Remember, we are STILL always concerned about safety and I for one will never condemn anyone who wears a hat because that’s the way they feel. It’s freedom to exercise the right of choice, and that, my friends is individual liberty, the way it should be in this country.
GRESHAM, OR: We all thought that Eugene was the harassment capitol of Oregon, but it looks like this little town and suburb just east of Portland is in the running now. The Gypsy Joker MC had their strip poker run here. About half were not club riders. The idea was to stop at girly bars here and there to get your next poker card and go on to the next stop. The Gresham police decided that they didn’t want motorcycle clubs in their town – and they even SAID so. They pulled the oldest stunt in the world. They waited ?til a small pack went through a green light and some of the last in line MAY have squeezed the yellow or red a little so they pulled the whole pack over. Oh, and with the help of about TWENTY police cars.
As if that isn’t bad enough, they had people on their bellies on the ground, HANDCUFFED for over an hour on a 95-degree day. For an alleged traffic infraction! One biker needed an ambulance from the heat. While they had them down and cuffed, these cowboy cops brandished guns in their faces, and apparently threatened and swore at folks. Said they didn’t want bikers in their town and they best get out. Nearly ALL were cited for running a red light, even though only a few MIGHT have. You don’t get to ticket EVERYBODY just because a few MIGHT have committed an infraction! Several were even cited for FELONY attempt to elude. The whole thing is bogus and stinks to high heaven. Sam Hochberg, our Oregon AIM (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) attorney, and his associate and AIM Criminal Defense and Civil Rights Attorney Bill Redden are working the case and defending a whole slew of folks; for FREE, by the way. This sort of conduct by police anywhere is at best unprofessional, and is an abomination. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome of it all, especially if there is a CIVIL suit as well. Oh, and by the way, Gresham, Oregon is the home of the current MISS AMERICA, Katy Harmon, I believe she is. A little ironic. REAL AMERICANS, aren’t they, the Gresham Police? What a travesty.
PORTLAND, OR.: In August, Harley-Davidson has Portland as one of the “Kick-off” points for their 100-year Anniversary ride. A word to the wise who intend to participate: I hear that there will be lots of Police protection – hopefully without reinforcements from Gresham – and many of them will have “NOISE MONITOR” machines. This smacks of harassment to me so if you are part of the celebration just be aware.
WOMAN PLANS TO CLIMB MT. EVEREST ON A MOTORCYCLE:A lady by the name of Annie Seel plans to ride her Enduro motorcycle to Mount Everest’s base camp as a member of the Danish/Swedish climbing team in August this year. Base camp is at 16,732 feet. Seel will make the round trip from Kathmandu. Gonna be a pretty good climb but the lady is an experienced Enduro racer, so she should be able to pull this stunt off. Hey, more power to her.
TENNESSEE: Beginning in July, riders in this great state can proceed through red lights if they stop and give the light a chance to change first. If after waiting an appropriate period of time and if nothing happens, they can advance through the light with all due caution. Many times all over this country stop lights aren’t triggered by motorcycles. I have many times sat through several lights waiting for them to change. Guess the bike isn’t heavy enough or bulky enough for the road equipment to see it as a vehicle. After a wait I carefully advance even though it’s still red. This mainly occurs at left turn intersections for me. This very past session, in Oregon, our friend Clark Brooker, an officer in the Oregon Confederation of Clubs, introduced just such a bill, all on his own! Unfortunately, it didn’t make it out of committee. Maybe next session!
WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell has gone to bat for us again in our nation’s capitol. He has urged the director of the EPA to modify the proposed emissions standards for bikes. He says EPA is too stringent in their proposals. Don’t we all agree about that? I sure do and thank the Senator for his valuable help. We all want to be able to KEEP our old scoots, and keep fixing them with NEW parts. Gotta stop that EPA.
SOUTH CAROLINA: This is an item I’m seeing far to much of lately. Governor Mark Sanford may have eliminated S. Carolina’s motorcycle safety training with a veto. He vetoed $119,000.00 dollars in state funding for rider training. This is NOT a place to save money – our education is saving LIVES. Here in Oregon the training is funded by motorcyclists themselves by paying more for their motorcycle endorsements.
The present climate of shortfall budgets in many of our states is going to cause major cuts in many programs and motorcycle programs will be the first to go if the money for training isn’t dedicated and funded by bikers in some foolproof way to safeguard it from theft by bureaucrats. If you don’t, they will use our money to rectify their poor spending habits. It’s thievery at its best, folks.
In one case I’m familiar with, the bike was impounded February 2002, and the owner still hasn’t had his scoot returned. It was an assembled bike. It was inspected by, and had a title issued by the state of Oregon. Not good enough in Eugene. Hopefully, through the courts we will eventually get justice. Anyway there is more to our AIM attorneys than many of us ever see and we really appreciate what these good folks do for the motorcycle community, many times without cost to us. If you ever have questions about your rights as a biker – or, god forbid if you go down on your bike or wreck your car, these guys are ALSO experts in representing people in personal injury cases. That’s how they make a living, and get to have the TIME to RIDE, and to help US out. They’re always available, “24-7” as they say now, at 1-800-ON-A-BIKE, or www.ON-A-BIKE.com! Call ’em if you need ’em. But keep the round side on the bottom.
Gunny, Oregon AIM Chief of Staff
