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COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS–Compiled and Edited by BILL BISH,National Coalition of Motorcyclists
NCOM CONVENTION “JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!” As NCOM Chairman DocReichenbach was making last-minute preparations for the 16th Annual NCOMConvention in Orlando, Fla., May 10-12, 2001, he told Bill Bish, NCOMexecutive director, that ”I just want everyone to say that this was the bestconvention ever!”By the time the National Coalition of Motorcyclists’ Convention wounddown to the Silver Spoke awards banquet on Saturday night, it was clear tothe nearly 1,100 conventioneers that this really was the best one ever!But, as Bish pointed out during his keynote speech at the banquet, ”Thefunny thing is, that’s what we hear every year!”Aside from the record attendance, full agenda and thought-provokingseminars, one of the things that made this year’s convention special was thatwe got to help ABATE of Florida and the Confederations of Clubs of Florida,our convention hosts, celebrate their newly won freedom of choice on helmets!”Celebrate Freedom” was the theme for the convention, and Florida nowmakes the fifth state to repeal its adult helmet law in the fiveyears since bikers from across the country worked together to repeal thefederal helmet law mandates.Next year’s NCOM convention will be held at the Downtown Radisson in NewOrleans, La., May 9-11, 2002. Call NCOM at (800) 525-5355 for moredetails.
HEALTH CARE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MOTORCYCLISTS LEGALIZED. In one of hisfirst official acts as new secretary of health and human services underPresident George W. Bush, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, anavid motorcyclist himself, revealed that after personally reviewing theinterim final rules for nondiscrimination in health care coverage, his officecannot find legal justification to modify or disallow the new regulations.
In effect, this revelation revokes the efforts of multitudes ofmotorcyclists who successfully lobbied Congress in 1996 to guarantee accessto medical benefits for employees injured in motorcycle accidents. The newrules, which went into effect May 8, 2001, basically say that motorcycleriders and participants in other recreational activities cannot be excludedfrom health care coverage, but benefits can be denied if the employee isinjured while participating in those activities.
SUPREME COURT ALLOWS ARREST FOR TRAFFIC OFFENSE. A divided U.S. SupremeCourt ruled on April 24, 2001, that police may arrest individualsfor minor traffic violations or other misdemeanor offenses normallypunishable only by a fine, such as unbuckled seat belts or public littering.By a 5-4 vote, the high court declared that the Fourth Amendment, whichbans unreasonable arrests and searches, does not prevent police from makingsuch arrests without a warrant. TEXAS POLITICIAN DONS LEATHERS FOR BIKERS’ RIGHTS. El Paso StateRepresentative Norma Ch?vez wore a black leather vest with ”LegislativeWarrior” embroidered on the back when she passed legislation to enhance therights of motorcyclists on April 20, 2001.As she introduced the bill on the House floor, she pulled her hair backto help give her a ”biker look,” according to the Capitol Notebook writtenby Gary Scharrer in the El Paso Times.
”That is tough!” House Higher Education Chairwoman Irma Rangel,D-Kingsville, said in assessing Ch?vez’s motorcycle look.Ch?vez’s bill breezed to passage without discussion and without a single”no” vote. Part of it is intended to stop police harassment ofmotorcyclists who don’t wear helmets. Only motorcyclists younger than 21 arerequired to wear helmets. Ch?vez’s bill allows police to stop helmet-lessmotorcyclists only if they appear younger than 21, and they cannot stop arider to check if their helmet meets DOT specifications.
ARIZONA ENACTS PRO-MOTORCYCLE LEGISLATION. ”As our Arizona lobbying teamwaited in the gallery for our bill to come up, it became apparent that thebills we were listening to had significant social impact and that ours wasimportant enough to have made it this far,” recalls Roger ”Priest” Hurm ofthe day their motorcycle safety bill passed the House and was eventuallysigned into law by Governor Hull, allocating $1 per motorcycle registrationto be spent on programs that benefit motorcycle riders.When SB1037 was called for vote and the green lights started showing upon the big board, with only six red lights, we knew we had a winner,”continued Priest, who is chairman of the MMA of Arizona and member of theboard of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists.
HERE’S ANOTHER UPCOMING HORSE COVERGIRL– Thought you needed a break. Watch for the issue of “Only the lonely” Choppers and down home freaks to hit your newsstand shortly.
ISLE OF MAN MOTORCYCLE RACES CANCELED OVER LIVESTOCK DISEASE The Isle ofMan TT motorcycle races became the latest sporting event to fall victim toBritain’s foot-and-mouth epidemic, as the island’s ministers have called offthe world-famous races for the first time since wartime because of fears that40,000 visiting race fans could spread the livestock infection.
The Isle of Man has so far remained free of the disease that has affectedmore than 1,450 farms in mainland Britain. The TT races attract hugeinternational interest, partly because of the danger of the two-week race. Since 1907, almost 200 riders have died on the island’s perilous 37-mile”Mountain Circuit.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY– ”We were free until we stopped fighting, now no onehas freedom. Chief Tawonka”–Inscription on Cigar Store wooden Indian
Mark Your Calendars…July 21, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and July 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.at theLong Beach Queen Mary
TheL. A. Calendar Motocycle ShowBikes, bikers, babes, vendor booths, free stuff and funSaturday, 9 p.m.
Bikernet sponsored partyin the Observation Room barLive band, prizes, fun
HOT BIKE IN THE NEWS–Check out the July issue of Hot Bike. Mainly the cover. Bitchin M2 and even more better is the lady in “Blue.” Don’t care for the rear tire setup the guy did at all! The Airtech body work has been around since ’97 or so. Has the Buell carbon fiber chin fairing.
Like the Showa front forks with the dual disk setup. I can tell from the pic. the swing arm recall has not been done. Also the header pipe has the small 2″ Dia. collector. This was stock on the 95/96 S2’s. Not a good one for big H.P. Check out page 43 (Big HP Buyers Guide) At the bottom is Rivera’s Fatso motor. Twin Camcylinders and heads on a Evo single cam set of cases. This engine would look great in a RigidChopper. I really like the whole concept of this setup. No fucken cam timing chains. No base or rocker box gaskets problems. Very cool!!
— Paul
VIAGRA INGREDIENTS RELEASED–
3% vitamin E
2% aspirin
2% ibuprofen
1% vitamin C
92% Fix-a-Flat
HEY BANDIT–Thought you might want to see what we had made to welcome you at H-D of Charlotte. Aren’t you impressed? By the way, that’s M & M holding the banner. French Fry is our official shop photographer. You’ll understand why we call her F.F. when you see her.
Boy, do you have a lot of Southern stuff to learn while you’re here. You’ll be especially interested in the “mud” we asked you about before. Paul (your cub reporter) said he had already asked you about mud for your turtle. You better pay attention to this stuff.
–See ya!M & M
Hittin’ Da Garage–It’s Miller time at the headquarters and we’re going to bolt NuttBoy’s Pro Street together and roll it off the lift, so I can get the Buell in place for some maintenance, then a tear-down for Sturgis preparations.
Before it reaches happy hour and the girls get off work, I hope to cut a dusty trail. When it comes to women, I’m a chicken-shit. Remember “Three Redheads in a Swimming Pool,” a story I wrote a couple years ago? Well, I feel deja vu coming on.
Let’s Ride–Bandit
