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RESCUE MOTORCYCLE SAFETY FOLLOWING NHTSA/NBC NEWS ATTACK!– The joint Motorcycle Riders Foundation/State Motorcyclists? Rights Organization (SMRO) campaign to advance motorcycle safety through the 107th Congress hit full steam last week, only to suffer damage when a torpedo hit was leveled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and ?NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.?You may have missed the broadcast that millions watched, so here are the details and an urgent call to action.
On Thursday, May 17, ABATE of Colorado became the ninth SMRO to visit Washington, D.C., in concert with MRF, to advance, among other initiatives, a meaningful, no-strings resource injection to help eradicate the waiting period for safety training for all riders. The motorcycle safety component of the joint MRF-SMRO agenda calls also for the first-ever national campaign of Motorist Awareness of Motorcycles to wake up clueless motorists who continue to be at fault for most serious accidents involving cars and bikes.
Colorado?s intervention on Capitol Hill came at a pivotal time and brought the total to nearly 100 members of Congress who?ve heard our pro-safety/pro-freedom message.
Thursday evening, as your brothers and sisters returned to Colorado after a job well done, NHTSA and NBC News launched an agenda of their own: mandatory training and, of course, a bid for more and more research.
Not content with lobbying state legislatures to restrict motorcyclists? freedom, NHTSA came to the aid of NBC News last week to point out that there has been an increase in fatalities among older riders. Armed with what NHTSA later confessed to an MRF member as ?a power point presentation? based on ?raw data,? NBC News took aim at all motorcyclists and wrote a prescription for disaster: mandatory training for older riders and a scare campaign aimed at large motorcycles.And how did NBC balance the May 17th piece against the call for new mandates? By talking to dealers and riders who speak only for themselves and rely on best guess and anecdote. Had NBC bothered to talk to national advocates of motorcyclists? rights and safety, the network would have learned the truth:
The call to action:YOUR SAFETY IS ON THE LINE! CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS WATCH NBC NEWS AND THEY ARE JUST AS LIKELY AS OTHER AMERICANS TO TAKE NHTSA-SPUN RAW DATA AS GOSPEL — UNLESS YOU ACT NOW.
1. Write to your congressman and U.S. senators and object to NHTSA lobbying the media about the dangers of motorcycling with ?raw data.? You can find email addresses for your members of Congress by entering http://thomas.loc.gov/ on your browser. You can also telephone your congressman and senators by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Phone calls are preferred.
2. Explain to your senators and congressman that the key to safety is the joint MRF/SMRO agenda: a resource injection to the states to satisfy the overwhelming need for voluntary training of motorcyclists — and the training of car and truck drivers with the first-ever national program of Motorist Awareness of Motorcycles.
3. Pick up the TELEPHONE and CALL the STATION MANAGER of your LOCAL NBC TELEVISION AFFILIATE. You can find the number of your local NBC affiliate under ?television stations? in your local Yellow Pages.
NEW SONNY BARGER BOOK PROJECT–Do you (or a friend or family member) have a thrilling or amusing biker story to share?
Sonny is writing his second book with the same co-authors as “Hell’s Angel” and it will include tales and adventures of other riders — club members and independents, celebrities and unknowns, bike builders, riders and fanatics, all the colorful characters that make up the biker lifestyle and culture.
Tell us your story by e-mail (200 words or less, please) before June 15. Be sure to include your name and phone number, so we can contact those with the best stories. In the book, names and events may be changed to protect the innocent and the guilty.
Help us show the rest of the world what “Ridin’ High, Livin’ Free” is all about.
Reply to this message or send to story@sonnybarger.com.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE OR MYRTLE BEACH–While Myrtle Beach was in full swing, our East Coast correspondent was delivering the new and photographed such as above to Bikernet. Now this:If you disliked the closing of Ocean Boulevard northbound as much as I did,here is the e-mail address of Myrtle Beach City Manager ThomasLeath. He is the man who made this decision and said on TV that hehadn’t received any negative comments about it. I have already sent hima letter and hope each of you will as well and pass his name and addressto anyone who would care to complain.
Thomas Leath
tleath@cityofmyrtlebeach.com
–Debbie Swain/Rogue
RUMORS FROM MILWAUKEE– Some news passed on to me. Second hand but the source is good. Buell is testing an overhead cam air cooled engine M/C at the testing grounds in Yucca, Ariz. The rear shock is said to be in a more coventional position, more like the way the Buell Blast rear shock is mounted.
It was said that the motor is much faster. Harley is working closely with Ford and Cosworth. Don’t know if this engine design is directly from that combined effort or not.
Rumor was that 2002 models were to have a new engine. It may be 002 or 003, don’t know for sure. The new models will be shown at the dealer meeting in July /Aug. I guess time will tell.
–Mystery Man
TRUE STORY–While standing in line, waiting to give hisnote to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him writethenote and might call the police before he reached the teller window.Sohe left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo.
After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and, surmising from his spelling errors thathe wasn’t the brightest light in the harbor, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America.
Looking somewhatdefeated, the man said “OK” and left. He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America.
GAINS MADE AT ROAD ATLANTA AS REBUILDING SEASON PROGRESSES–Picotte Posts VR 1000’s Best Ever Finish at Road Atlanta; Smith Gets Up to Speed
BRASELTON, Ga. (May 21, 2001) – Racing in damp to drying conditions, Pascal Picotte gave Harley-Davidson’s VR 1000 its best ever finish at Road Atlanta with a 7th place on Saturday during the AMA Superbike doubleheader weekend. Teammate Mike Smith, who finished 12th Saturday after experiencing tire problems, nearly equaled Picotte’s mark in dry conditions Sunday, running competitive lap times and racing for 8th before crashing just before the final lap. Picotte suffered a mechanical failure on Sunday and did not finish.
“Although the second race didn’t turn out the way we would have liked, the weekend was another step in the right direction,” said Harley-Davidson’s Director of Racing John Baker. “A lot of development work is in progress and this weekend was about achieving specific improvements in suspension and handling. With an integrated effort the race team and engineering were able to achieve this result.”
Also over the weekend, Harley-Davidson VR 1000 privateer Jordan Szoke finished 13th on Saturday and 11th on Sunday racing for the Austin-Bleu Bayou H-D team.
The Harley-Davidson VR 1000 team will test at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., this week and compete again June 8-10, when the AMA Superbike tour heads to Road America for another double-header weekend.
ANTIQUE OF THE DAY IN THE CANTINA–Besides the babe of the day, the Cantina is graced with an antique of the day and a contact for buying antique bikes. We hope to have one hot antique deal weekly in the Cantina. Give it a shot. It’s growing like crazy. “I rode my 50EL over to the Dutchess Col Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, N.Y.,yesterday for an antique show and swap meet.Thought you could use these for the antique of the day feature in theCantina. Knock yourself out with these. I got more if you need them,just please give me credit for the shots.
Thanks and enjoy,
Teddy Bear
BIKE SHOW WINNERS FOR APRIL–Sorry about that. I just got back from the Keys. I forgot to e-mail you withthe list before I left. The Keys trip was insane. It’s the only word todescribe it. I just need to check myself into the looney bin and get it overwith. I still can’t believe it. Like something out of a movie. And I thoughtthis past winter’s adventures were too much. Not even close.
Here’s the list and picture.-JoAnn
In The “Competition” Category
Ray Devine
ST. LOUIS, Mo.
In The “Pro-Street” Category
Thad Cranford
Zachary, La.
In The “Radical Custom” Category
Clay Huckins
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
In The “Ridden” Category
Jay McGuire
Indio, Calif.
In The “Sportster” Category
Shelly Robertson
Iowa Park, Texas
In The “Street Custom-Stock” Category
Jim Spaciel
Milwaukee, Wis.
In The “Vintage” Category
Teddy Bear Babolcsay
Elizaville, N.Y.
Each Winner received a signed book from Bandit, a T-shirt from JIMS Machine or Crime Inc., or a Crime Inc. wallet or a gift certificate from Samson Exhaust. Of course each winner also recieved one famous Bikernet Bike Show trophy.
HEY NOW–Check out the first-ever Blue Cafe Blues Festival info.!!!1st. Annual Blue Cafe Blues FestivalThe Fabulous Thunderbirdsheadline!!!
The Green on the Hill27th & Walnut, Signal Hill Ca.Sunday June 17th. FATHER’S DAY!!!sorry, forgot the date… and i’m a father!Don’t tell my son…
–vj
A TEXAN–a Californian, and an Oregonian are out riding horses. The Texan pulls out an expensive bottle of whiskey, takes a long draught, then another and suddenly throws it into the air, pulls out his gun and shoots the bottle in midair.
The Californian looks at him and says, “What are you doing? That was a perfectly good bottle of whiskey!”
The Texan says, “In Texas, there is plenty of whiskey and the bottles are cheap.”
A while later, not wanting to be outdone, the Californian pulls out a bottle of champagne, takes a few sips, throws the champagne into the air, pulls out his gun and shoots it in midair.
The Oregonian can’t believe his eyes, “What the heck did you do that for? That was a perfectly good bottle of champagne!”
The Californian says, “In California, we have plenty of champagne and bottles are cheap.”
So, awhile later, the Oregonian pulls out a bottle of Widmer Hefeweizen.He opens it, takes a sip, and then chugs the whole bottle. He then puts the bottle in his saddlebag, pulls out his gun, and shoots the Californian.
The Texan, shocked, says, “Why the hell did you do that?!”
The Oregonian replies, “In Oregon, we have plenty of Californians and the bottles are worth a nickel.”
NEW BIKERNET BIKE FEATURES–from the creator of the White Brothers Calendar series and the Calendar Show at The Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif. Jim G. has been photographing some of the finest bikes in the world for over a decade, and now you’ll see them on Bikernet. He also shoots some of the hottest babes in the world and you can see them in the Cantina for $1.65 a month–Enjoy
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