NCOM Coast To Coast Biker News for February 2014

Opponents of E15, such as motorcyclists whose vehicles are not approved to use fuel containing higher levels of ethanol, won a major victory on February 7, 2014 when President Barack Obama signed the Agricultural Act of 2014, with a provision removing subsidies for biofuel blending pumps.

The provision, tucked into page 735 of the 949-page farm bill, could make it more difficult for gasoline blended with higher concentrations of ethanol to find its way to rural areas, where demand for the fuel is greatest.

Blender pumps mix gasoline and ethanol for sale at gas stations, so restricting the grant money to purchase the pumps necessary to dispense E15 would greatly deter its distribution.  That, in turn, could make it more difficult for the United States to implement a program known as the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, which mandates increasing amounts of biofuels like corn-based ethanol be blended into the nation’s fuel supply.

The Obama administration previously set a goal of installing 10,000 blender pumps to promote consumption of higher-ethanol gasoline, but currently only 59 stations across 12 states sell E15, compared with 125,000 U.S. gasoline stations.

The win for motorcycle and ATV owners, who risk damaging their machines and invalidating warranties by even inadvertently putting E15 in their tanks, follows a November move by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce for the first time the amount of ethanol required to be blended into U.S. gasoline supplies. Ironically, the EPA proposed the cuts in part due to concerns over the lack of infrastructure, such as blender pumps needed to sell gasoline with greater concentrations of ethanol.

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) has reported that annual motorcycle sales grew 1.4% in 2013. The 465,783 unit total represents a 6,485 increase from 2012.

The dual-purpose and off-road segments enjoyed the greatest percentage annual growth, with scooter sales declining in 2013.

On-Highway motorcycles sales tallied 324,691 for the year, a 2% increase from 2012. The On-Highway segment is by far the largest tracked by the MIC, and it includes all street-legal bikes excepting dual-sports and scooters. It recorded a 6,485 unit year-over-year (YOY) increase.

The smallest volume segment, Dual, reported the largest YOY percentage increase at 7.8%. The Dual category includes small street-legal dual-sports as well as popular Adventure bikes. The yearly total for this market was 32,979 for a 2,387 unit increase in 2013.

Off-Highway motorcycle sales grew 5.7% for the year. The annual total of 73,371 represents a 3,976 unit boost from last year. The near 4000-unit gain comes despite a slow finish in 2013, recording a YOY decrease of 1,025 units in December.

Scooter sales, which are traditionally more volatile than bike sales, struggled to match 2012 totals. The annual tally of 34,742 was 6,363 units short of the 2012 total – a 15.5% decline.

ATV sales for 2013 posted a nearly identical tally of 228,305 – a mere 0.5% increase over 2012. The quad market benefited from a strong December to push the annual tally into the black, with a 1,799 unit increase YOY for the month. Notably, the MIC does not track sales for UTV and side-by-side units, which have reportedly eclipsed ATV sales in recent years.

With 8,410,255 motorcycles registered to 311,800,000 U.S. citizens, according to the most recent DOT and Census data that means that out of every 37 Americans you meet, one of them probably owns a motorcycle.  But in some states your odds are better than others, and when you compare statewide motorcycle registrations with population figures, you might be surprised where some states stand in the rankings.

For example, Iowa comes in third with 18 people for every motorcycle, more than double the national average.  In 2011 the state had 173,929 motorcycles registered, and a population of just over three million.

The second highest ratio of bike ownership is in New Hampshire, whose 1.3 million population shares 79,266 motorcycles, equaling 17 people per motorcycle.

First on the list is South Dakota with 12 people for each motorcycle, over three times the national average.  In 2011 the state had 69,284 motorcycles registered, representing just 0.82% of all motorcycles in America, but its sparse population of 816,598 gives it the highest concentration of motorcycling in the country.

Rounding out the Top Ten are; Wisconsin (4th with 18 people per bike); Wyoming (5th/19); North Dakota (6th/21); Vermont (7th/21); Montana (8th/21); Minnesota (9th/22) and Alaska (10th/23).

The Ten Lowest ranked states are; South Carolina (40th/43 people per bike); Kentucky (41st/44); Hawaii (42nd/45); California (43rd/47); Utah (44th/47); Maryland (45th/48); Georgia (46th/49); New York (47th/56); Texas (48th/58); Louisiana (49th/67, almost half the U.S. average); and lastly Mississippi (50th/106, nearly a third the norm).

It’s interesting to note that due to large populations, some of the states with the largest numbers of motorcycles finished low on the rider density list; California is number one in motorcycles owned with 801,803, representing 9.5% of all motorcycles in the U.S., but with a population of over 37 million it comes in a lackluster 43rd place!  Likewise, New York with 345,816 motorcycles, and Texas with 438,551, came in near the bottom of the rankings.

It is also worth noting that only one of the Top Ten motorcycling states has a helmet law, while 6 of the 10 least bike-friendly states requires riders to wear them.

Like many states, it is against the law in Missouri for dealers to sell cars, trucks or motorcycles on Sunday.  Due to archaic “Blue Laws” influenced by religion during the Colonial Period, sales are prohibited on the Sabbath, but there is a trend brewing and some states are removing this outdated ban.

The latest state to allow Sunday motorcycle sales was Indiana last July, when Hoosiers joined Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland in removing their Sunday sales ban.

Now Missouri’s Blue Law is being challenged, and lawmakers are proposing three bills that would allow for motorcycles to be sold in Platte and Jackson Counties on Sundays.  The reason is because some Kansas City metro dealers feel it is not fair that they can’t sell on Sundays when just across the border in the neighboring state of Kansas, dealers can.

Other states that currently prohibit the Sunday sales of motorcycles and automobiles are Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wisconsin.  In Missouri, dealers are not even allowed to discuss a sale on Sunday, or face a $300 fine and possible jail time.

Legislator Thomas F. Barraga (R-11th District) says people should not ride bikes at all in his district because “Suffolk County is a suburban automobile community — drivers expect to see other drivers on the road, not bicyclists and motorcyclists.”

The anti-motorcycle/bicycle lawmaker from West Islip, New York made those remarks in response to a high school senior who wrote to him as a part of a government class assignment.

On January 29, the 17-year old, Matthew Cutrone, wrote to Barraga requesting “some sort of bike lane or maybe even warning signs in certain areas of the county” after his mother was hit by the driver of a van that illegally turned left in front of her.

Stating that he believes that “no one who lives in our hamlet or for that matter Suffolk County should ever ride a bicycle or motorcycle,” Barraga’s callous response lit up social media and prompted a ton of angry responses, though the legislator said he’s standing by his remarks.

Motorcyclists in Washington could turn left at an intersection if the traffic light doesn’t give them the green arrow after a complete cycle under a bill that received strong support from the Senate in Olympia.

SB 5141 would change state traffic laws to account for a problem some motorcyclists have at intersections controlled by sensors that fail to recognize them.  They don’t register on the sensor, and the left-turn arrow never turns green, said Senator Jim Hargrove, a Hoquiam Democrat who rides a motorcycle and said he’s experienced the problem first-hand.

Under the proposed legislation, a motorcyclist would have to wait through a complete cycle of lights changing for all directions before making a left-turn when clear. The bill passed on a 46-2 vote. The same bill passed the Senate last session but didn’t receive a final vote in the House.

Michigan lawmakers are looking to close an “apparent loophole” that allows motorcycle operators to obtain a temporary permit each riding season without ever completing a safety course or skills test required for full endorsement.

Temporary Instruction Permits, intended for new or returning riders, are valid for 180 days and require operators to travel alongside an endorsed adult.  But enforcement is difficult, and TIP holders are significantly over-represented in traffic accidents each year; 52% of riders who crashed were not properly endorsed.

Current law allows operators to obtain a temporary permit every season. But House Bill 4781, introduced by state Rep. Bradford Jacobsen (R-Oxford) and 15 co-sponsors, would limit motorcycle operators to two TIPs over the course of a 10 year period.  “That’s certainly adequate time to ride with a friend, take an instruction course and get the experience necessary to drive a motorcycle,” Jacobsen said in testimony before the House Transportation Committee, which has not voted on the bill.

“It’s a no brainer really,” said Vince Consiglio, president of ABATE Michigan, which led efforts to repeal the mandatory helmet law but also supports stronger endorsement requirements. “These unendorsed riders are maybe 10 or 20 percent of the population, but they’re over 40 percent of the fatalities since 1989. It’s incredible that nothing has happened.”

Officials have known about the endorsement issue for years, and the Secretary of State and Office of Highway Safety Planning have both pushed educational programs to raise awareness. But education alone is not working, prompting motorcycle safety advocates to push for legislative action.

Indiana state law bans driving off-road vehicles on public streets, but ABATE of Indiana, a motorcycle advocacy group, is asking Tippecanoe County commissioners to exercise a clause that allows county officials to allow all-terrain vehicles, gators and various other off-road machines, including snowmobiles, to use county roads in unincorporated areas.

“We’re just requesting that they at least evaluate this, look at what other communities have done with this — what other counties have done with this” said Jay Jackson, executive director of American Bikers Aimed Toward Education. “We’re not aware of any significant ramifications as a result, so we don’t see a downside to it.”

Jackson told commissioners that 45 Indiana counties allow off-road vehicles on public roads. The vehicles still must comply with state laws governing off-road vehicles.  State law requires the rider or driver be 16 years old and licensed, and also requires that the vehicle be registered, much like a boat.

 

Police in Guapa, Brazil, investigating a string of carjackings believed they found a key piece of evidence that could blow the case wide open: a Harley-Davidson cap belonging to a suspect: “He left a grey T-shirt which he had used to cover his face, and also a baseball cap with a skull embroidered on it, along with the name Harley, and the citizen’s surname, Davidson, who is probably the miscreant we’re looking for,” a police officer told a local news station.