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.
NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
MOTORCYCLE OWNERS REPORT HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTIONDespite higher prices and fewer sales, motorcycle owners are expressing record-high levels of product satisfaction.
Overall satisfaction with the motorcycle ownership experience has increased for a sixth consecutive year, according to a recently released ?Motorcycle Competitive Information Study? compiled by market analyst J.D. Power and Associates. Now in its 11th year, the study measures owner satisfaction with new motorcycles by examining five major components of the overall ownership experience: product; quality; cost of ownership; sales; and service.
While all five components driving satisfaction improve in 2008, the most=2 0notable increases occur in the areas of cost of ownership and product quality. Overall, satisfaction with cost of ownership has increased steadily over time, with 18% of owners reporting the cost of owning a motorcycle is ?outstanding? compared to only 10% of customers in 2005. Furthermore, 30% of motorcycle owners in 2008 indicate that the value they received for the price paid is ?outstanding,? compared with 21% in 2005.
The study also found that product quality has improved in 2008, primarily due to a decrease in owner-reported problems. In addition, the number of owners who report having a problem-free experience with their motorcycle averaged 42% in 2008, an improvement of 3% compared with 2007. Among motorcycle owners who visit a dealer for repair work, 79% said that the work was performed right the first time–a 4% improvement over last year.
?Despite the fact that owners report paying 14% more for their motorcycles this year, they are also more satisfied with the value received for the money spent,? said Tim Fox, research manager of the powersports practice at J.D. Power and Associates.
The study was based on survey responses from 7,334 owners who purchased new motorcycles between September 2007 and May 2008.
If there’s a problem, it’s that buyers are getting older because the industry is not getting enough younger consumers into riding. J.D. Power says that since 2001, the average=2 0age of motorcycle owners has increased from 40 to 47 years. “This indicates that the current population of motorcycle buyers is aging, and a large proportion of these owners are likely to soon exit the market,” says Fox. The firm says first-time buyers constitute about 22% of all new-motorcycle purchases, and that number has not changed since 2001. “It is critical for manufacturers to focus on attracting first-time and younger buyers–primarily those in the Gen X and Y demographics–in order to ensure continued growth in this market.”
In a separate survey of 3,022 buyers of new 2007 model year motorcycles, J.D. Power analysts identified the top reasons why motorcycle manufacturers miss out on sales. The No. 1 reason motorcy cle buyers select one brand over another, according to the ?2008 Motorcycle Escaped Shopper Study,? is price. The cost of the rejected model is simply too high. An inability to test-ride a bike, a perception that maintenance costs will be high, an uncomfortable riding position and limited availability rounded out the study’s top five reasons for why a specific brand is rejected.
NEW CAR TECHNOLOGIES MAKE ROADS SAFER FOR MOTORCYCLISTSEach year automotive manufacturers unveil their latest vehicles, often touting new technologies designed to make roadways less dangerous. Not only do drivers and their fellow motorists benefit from these advances in safety technology but motorcycle and scooter riders reap rewards as well.
?Driver awareness and riding training are the most crucial components of motorcycle and scooter safety,? said Bill Windsor, associate vice president of safety for Nationwide Insurance. ?However, the latest automotive technologies are also a plus for riders because many make motorists more aware of their presence and location.?
In particular, four advances in automotive technologies help make the roads safer for all riders:
1. Blind Spot Warning Systems that identify vehicles in blind spots. A warning light, sound, or vibration is activated if a lane change is attempted when a vehicle is present in a driver?s blind spot. The system is valuable to riders, who are often ?hidden? in the blind spots of other vehicles, particularly large SUVs or trucks.
2. Lane Departure Warning Systems that activate if a vehicle has inadvertently drifted out of its lane. As with blind spot warning systems, a light, sound, or vibration is employed to warn drivers and prevent them from wandering over the lane line. The lane departure warning system protects riders from inattentive drivers, particularly those who drift lanes while talking on cell phones.
3. Forward Collision Warning Systems that monitor the distance between vehicles. If a driver is too closely following another vehicle, the system activates and, with a light or sound, warns the driver of a potential collision. The forward collision warning system helps prevent rear-end collisions, protecting riders from motorists who have turned their attention from the road to a distraction, like texting.
4. Adaptive Headlights / Night-Vision Assist. A variety of night-vision technologies are available, including infrared headlamps and thermal-imaging cameras to provide drivers with greater recognition of objects, such as animals, people – even motorcycles and scooters – that are obscured by darkness. Adaptive headlights bend the light around corners, compensate for ambient light, and may also be speed sensitive. Each of these developments makes it easier for drivers to spot riders in the dark.
U.S. TRADE OFFICIALS CONSIDER HUGE TARIFFS ON EUROPEAN MOTORCYCLESThe price of European motorcycles would double in America if federal trade authorities move forward with a 100% tariff in retaliation for the European Union?s refusal to lift an ongoing ban on imported American beef. Since EU officials won?t lift the 20-year old ban on U.S. beef from cattle treated with growth hormones, despite a World Trade Organization order to end it, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative recommended to the President that a 100% import duty be imposed on over 100 European goods, including bikes and scooters under 500cc; affecting such popular brands as Aprilia, Beta, BMW, Fantic, Gas Gas, Husaberg, Husqvarna, KTM, Montesa, Piaggio, Scorpa, Sherco, TM and Vespa.
Piaggio Group Americas, Inc. President and CEO Paolo Timoniwhose, whose company will be especially hard-hit as it imports and distributes Vespa and Piaggio scooters, as well as Aprilia and Moto-Guzzi motorcycles under the 500cc displacement cutoff, made the following statement about the proposed changes to the EU-Beef Hormone dispute sanctions: “We urge USTR not to punish the U.S. employees of a healthy and growing personal transportation company, along with the 400+ U.S. dealers and employees that retail our scooters and small displacement motorcycles, when the only focus of this trade dispute is an agricultural product. We also urge USTR not to punish the American consumer who in rapidly increasing numbers is choosing to add these clean-running, fuel-efficient machines to their transportation fleets in order to reduce U.S. fuel consumption, foreign oil dependence and today’s massive congestion and environmental issues. Finally, we urge USTR not to impose measures that would quickly force Piaggio Group Americas and a significant number of its dealers out of business.?
The Bush Administration wants to impose $116.8 million in import duties to equal the amount of money it claims the U.S beef industry loses each year because of the ban.
NEW YORK LEGISLATOR CRITICIZES MOTORCYCLE CHECKPOINTSSuffolk County Legislator Jack Eddington said that Suffolk should turn down a $25,500 motorcycle safety grant unless it can find ways to use it at something other than checkpoints.
The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee grant is for Suffolk police to check if motorcyclists are complying with state law. “I would be upset if they told me they’re going to pull over all pickup trucks,” said Eddington (I-Medford), who rides a Honda Shadow motorcycle. “This sounds like harassment to me.”
But Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said it’s just one of many state grants the department receives for checkpoints.
Jim Barr, president of Long Island ABATE, said the checkpoints are a hassle for cyclists. “There’s no probable cause to suggest all motorcycles must pull over,” he said.
ABATE of New York has expressed its opposition to the state?s burgeoning tactic of conducting motorcycle-only ?safety checks?, and has pledged support of a class-action initiative by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) against the NYS Police and the NYS Dept. of Motor Vehicles if such discriminatory road blocks continue.
LAWSUIT PROCEEDS AGAINST MYRTLE BEACH HELMET AND NOISE ORDINANCESAlthough a judge denied an injunction to stop Myrtle Beach, S.C. from enforcing its new municipal motorcycle helmet law and noise ordinance, a local couple’s lawsuit was allowed to move forward. In September, Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) Attorney Tom McGrath was the first to file a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of two of 15 new anti-biker ordinances passed by the city to curb motorcycle rallies.
The suit, filed on behalf of resident motorcyclists William and Carol O’Day, questions whether it’s within the city?s ?home rule? authority to supersede state law in both cases.
Horry County Circuit Court Judge Larry B. Hyman ruled against the injunction request, which would have prohibited the city from enforcing the new laws that McGrath contends are unconstitutional because the city doesn’t have the right to pass ordinances that contradict existing state law. South Carolina’s helmet law states that anyone 21 or older may choose whether to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle, and they already have a muffler statute in state law.
McGrath said he requested the temporary stopgap when the city intended to begin enforcing all the ordinances by Dec. 21, but it has since delayed implementing several of the ordinances to give City Manager Tom Leath more time to set up the city’s administrative court system.
McGrath said he thinks that delay played into the judge’s decision. “The city hasn’t issued any tickets yet because it hasn’t set up the administrative court,” he said. “Since my clients haven’t been adversely affected yet, he had to weigh the equity issues.”
Other causes of action set forth in the lawsuit were allowed to go forward, in accordance with Judge Hyman?s ruling, though no other hearings have been scheduled yet in this case, nor in either of the two cases filed in federal court on behalf of business owners who have stakes in the success of the May motorcycle rallies.
CALIFORNIA HELMET LAWSUIT DISMISSEDA Superior Court judge has ruled on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California?s mandatory helmet law, and the case has been dismissed.
The lawsuit, filed November 9, 2006 (Case No. CV 155682), was heard on May 19-20, 2008 in the Santa Cruz Superior Court, and after hearing evidence presented by Wendy Lascher (representing the plaintiff parties) and the Attorney General?s Office (representing the California Highway Patrol), Judge Robert Atack made the following comments:
“It is clear to this court that the policy of the CHP is consistent with the statutory scheme. Although the Statutes under sections 27802 of the vehicle code and 27803 certainly could be clearer as it relates to these provisions, there does not seem to be any showing which would establish that the statutes themselves are unconstitutional for vagueness as applied under the circumstances and under the evidence that has been received during the course of this trial…I do not believe that the statutes found in the Vehicle Code should be declared unconstitutional for vagueness. They would be perhaps cleaned up as some of the other case law has indicated, but they are not vague in this Court’s opinion, and that the injunction directing the CHP prohibiting them from citing anyone for a violation of 27803(b) in particular seems to be unwarranted in this case. And that is the Court’s finding.”
According to ABATE of California, Inc. Executive Director Tim Tennimon, Sr., ?The case was dismissed. There is no further avenue of appeal on this lawsuit. It is finished.?
In 2006 ABATE of California established a Judicial fund for the purposes of raising funds to defray the legal expenses of Richard Quigley, et al, in this action, and donations in excess of $60K were received from individuals and other organizations throughout the country.
?ABATE of California wishes to thank all those individuals and organizations who so generously contributed to the Judicial Fund,? said Tennimon, adding that the attorney for the plaintiffs has been paid in full from the fund and ABATE of California is no longer accepting donations for this lawsuit.
?ABATE of California further wishes to state that it is in no way connected or associated with any other organization that may be collecting funds for a ?Judicial Fund? related to past or future helmet law litigation,? explained Tennimon, concluding that ?ABATE of California remains committed to working on a broad spectrum of issues of concern to all motorcyclists, including those relating to helmet laws, as well as safety issues of concern to all motorcyclists.?
WEIRD NEWS: RIDING MOTORCYCLES COULD CAUSE IMPOTENCESay it ain?t so! As if motorcyclists didn?t already have enough to worry about on the road, new medical studies claim that men who ride motorcycles are at increased risk of impotence and urinary problems, possibly because the vibration of the engine causes nerve damage.
Doctors in Japan, who published studies on the dangers in the International Journal Of Impotence Research, said seats on most motorcycles put undue pressure on the perineal region and restricted blood flow to the penis. It found that out of 234 motorcyclists who rode about three hours every weekend, 69% reported mild to severe erectile dysfunction. Of 178 motorcyclists with hard-padded seats, 70% had erectile dysfunction. Of 32 motorcyclists with soft-padded saddle, 63% had erectile dysfunction.
Approximately 76% of riders aged 40 to 49, and 93% of those aged 50 to 59, reported severe erectile dysfunction, compared with 37% and 42% respectively among those who did not ride motorcycles.
Doctors have also pointed out impotence affects most males during their lives and can be caused by emotional issues, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking or alcohol. The researchers also said more studies are needed to determine the cause of erectile dysfunction in motorcyclists.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: ?Motorcyclist are all bound together by a brotherhood tie through their love of the sport, and what difference does it make what make of machine he rides as long as he belongs to the clan.?
–Walter Davidson, December 1920 edition of Harley-Davidson?s Enthusiast Magazine
