COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled and Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists
Bill Bish, author, national motorcycle rights freedom fighter, legal analysist, good guy.
PENNSYLVANIA HELMET FREEDOM! CONGRATULATIONS to ABATE of Pennsylvania and Keystone State motorcyclists, who scored a monumental victory over the Independence Day Weekend when Governor Edward G. Rendell signed a helmet law repeal on July 6, 2003, making Pennsylvania the 31st state to allow adult freedom of choice.
Effective September 4, 2003, riders 21 and older who have had a motorcycle license endorsement for at least two years, or have completed a motorcycle safety course, will have the freedom to decide when and where to wear a helmet. Passengers must wear a helmet if the operator is required to wear one.
“This was a classic example of grass roots activism,” said an exuberant Charles Umbenhauer, ABATE’s lobbyist. “We’ve been working at this for more than two decades, and it proves that patience and persistence pays off.”
Earlier this year, on June 16, the State Senate approved Senator John Wozniak?s helmet law modification bill, SB 259, by a vote of 29-20. Then, on July 1, the House of Representatives passed the measure by a vote of 118-79, sending the bill to the governor?s desk.
Governor Rendell promised to sign the bill if it got to his desk, and he kept his word to the state’s 700,000 motorcycle riders.
“This governor knows how to keep a promise,” said Umbenhauer, referring to former governor Tom Ridge, now Secretary of Homeland Security, who vetoed a similar bill over a technicality in 1998, after publicly supporting ABATE’s efforts to repeal the law.
ABATE is planning a celebratory ride on Saturday, September 6, 2003, forming on Commonwealth Avenue behind the state capitol in Harrisburg. Governor Rendell has been invited to do a ceremonial signing of the bill before the “Ride to Gettysburg,” which will be the state’s first helmets-optional ride in 35 years!
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PITTSBURGH POLICE PROMPT HELMET REPLACEMENT Pittsburgh police supervisors recently ordered all motorcycle officers off the streets and bought new helmets after mistakenly believing their helmets failed government safety tests. And they are standing by the decision, claiming enough questions were raised about the old helmets to warrant replacement.
Assistant Chief Nathan Harper sidelined the 22-member squad after Sgt. Reyne Kacsuta told Harper she was concerned about the Bell Pro Police helmet model SD600V, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on March 10.
The problem began when an officer saw one of the helmets for sale at a police uniform store without a Department of Transportation sticker and began searching the Internet. The officer found a Web site run by the Massachusetts branch of the Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education, a group opposed to mandatory helmet laws. The site contains a list of helmets that failed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing, including the 1998 Bell Pro Police SD600V.
Helmet makers test helmets themselves to ensure they comply with DOT standards, and the government may do its own testing. In 1998, the government tested four of the Bell models in question.
“There was one test result that didn’t match up. That happens a lot,” said Tim Hurd, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “That doesn’t mean it’s failed the standard. It means we want to check up on it.”
Bell told the government that out of 304 impacts on 38 helmets, one failed. The data satisfied the government that the helmet was safe.
Lt. Karen Dixon, who was in charge of investigating the helmets, maintains the helmet shouldn’t be used by Pittsburgh police because of the impact failure.
POLITICIANS HOG MEDICARE SPOTLIGHT It was a sight not often seen in Washington — the Secretary of Health and Human Services, clad in black leather jacket and leather chaps, atop a Harley leading a photo-op parade of motorcycle riders from downtown Washington to a community health clinic in Brandywine, Maryland.
Tommy G. Thompson, the Bush Administration’s top health official, took to the road Monday with about 35 other riders in an effort to boost the momentum of congressional debate over a Medicare prescription drug benefit, wrote Todd Zwillich for Reuters news service on June 16.
Thompson was joined by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the ranking member of the Finance Committee and a key sponsor of a Senate plan to provide prescription drug subsidies for Medicare beneficiaries.
“We’re trying to rev up the Congress,” Thompson said moments before members of the Port Washington, Md. chapter of the Harley Owners Group (HOG) roared away from HHS headquarters.
Congress has debated a Medicare drug benefit for nearly a decade, always falling short of agreement on the politically charged and expensive proposal. Proposals moving through the House and the Senate now offer roughly equal coverage for seniors opting to stay in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service plan and for those who choose to move to a managed care plan.
HOG member Jim Leopard, 59, said in an interview that he wanted his participation in the politicians’ ride to help increase public pressure on lawmakers. The retired 23-yearveteran of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department said that he was happy to ride with high-powered politicians if it helps make subsidies available by the time he becomes eligible for Medicare in another six years.
“They definitely use the (Harley) image to look more mainstream instead of driving their Mercedes and BMW’s,” said Leopard, who considers himself a political independent. “But they need to boost Medicare up. It’s not enough now.”
GOVERNOR VETOES SOUTH CAROLINA RIDER ED BUDGET One of Governor Mark Sanford’s vetoes threatens a motorcycle safety course that saves lives in the state with the highest rate of motorcycle deaths in the country, the program’s founder says.
Sanford’s decision to eliminate $118,675 in state funding “is a real shame,” said Wayne Wilkes of Columbia PowerSports, who has overseen the program since its inception in 1990.
The $118,675 that Sanford vetoed pays for three motorcycle safety classes at technical colleges around the state, Wilkes told Knight Ridder writer Aaron Gould Sheinin. Motorcycle dealers also donate $120,000 a year in equipment, Wilkes said.
Created in 1990, the program originally was paid for by a grant through the Department of Transportation. The statewide program is overseen by Midlands Technical College with money from the S.C. Motorcycle Dealers Association and the state.
CANADIAN RIGHTS GROUP RAIDED BY POLICE The Bikers Rights Organization (BRO) of Ontario recently had its monthly meeting stormed by heavily armed officers who stuck machine guns in the faces of members, allegedly over a false tip.
BRO is a registered non-profit group formed in 1982 that lobbies for bikers rights in the Canadian province.
But at their April meeting, about 30 law enforcement officers participated in the raid, roughed up BRO members and ransacked the meeting room, reports the August issue of Biker Magazine.
According to a newspaper article on Cnews, “Police got excited when they found an ammunition clip in a corner?Then police realized it belonged to them.”
No charges have been filed.
ORCHARD BEACH NOISE ORDINANCE AIMED TO CHANGE IMAGE For decades, this Maine beach town has been known for honky-tonks and earsplitting Harleys. Now, officials want to put a lid on excessive noise and freewheeling drinking to make way for a family-friendly tourist town.
Critics complain that a bunch of do-gooders are trying to turn Old Orchard into something it isn’t, wrote Clarke Canfield for the Associated Press on June 9. In recent years, the town has put the kibosh on cruising, dirty T-shirts, sidewalk display racks and loud concerts. “They’re taking away your rights little by little,” said Ron Hill as he stood outside a food stand near the town’s seven-mile beach
May is the month when Old Orchard’s storefronts, food stands, arcades and carnival rides that have lain dormant all winter come to life for the first onslaught of tourists. This May will also be remembered for the Town Council’s decision to ban loud motorcycles and place a moratorium on new bars.
The noise ordinance not only prohibits motorcycles with altered mufflers but also makes it illegal for riders to rev their engines.
It’s not as if Old Orchard hasn’t gone through change before. In the late 1800s, this was a highfalutin? summer hangout for the rich. That all changed in 1907, when a fire wiped out most of the town and destroyed 17 large hotels. When the town began rebuilding, car and motorcycle races took place on the beach, amusement rides went up and the foundation of the modern-day Old Orchard was established. Bars and B-grade motels proliferated, and over time the Lowbrow image has stuck and it became a vacation haven for blue-color tourists, many from Canada. But since the late ’70s, when public drinking was banned, the town has slowly made changes to upgrade its image. In the late 1980s, it installed tasteful brick sidewalks and Victorian-style streetlights on the main drag. Then came an ordinance prohibiting cars from cruising congested downtown streets.
But banning loud motorcycles? Wayne Dube, who rides a 1961 Harley with a “Bar Hog” vanity plate, said the town’s weekly fireworks show and the train whistle on the new Amtrak train are equally noisy. Dube and his wife, who own the American Motorcycle shop, say it seems like some people want to turn Old Orchard into Kennebunkport, the well-heeled tourist retreat to the south. “It isn’t going to happen,” Robin Dube said.
BIKERS WITHOUT BORDERS TAKES MISSION ON THE ROAD Take two ambitious young men with the desire to help others, add in a love for motorcycles, and give them two brand-new Kawasaki KLR650s. The result is Bikers Without Borders (BWB), a non-profit organization comprised of two college-aged motorcycle enthusiasts, traveling through several countries and volunteering their time at non-profit organizations along the way.
Founding members James Mallory and Steven Wallstrom, aboard Kawasaki KLR650 dual-purpose motorcycles, will set out on a trip encompassing over 20,000 miles, eight months and 16 countries. After a stop at Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. headquarters, BWB will travel through Central and South America volunteering in hospitals, schools, missions and soup kitchens.
“There are many non-profit organizations in these countries desperately in need of volunteers. And, there are many folks such as ourselves who are willing to donate their time and energy but aren’t sure how to find where they can volunteer,” said Wallstrom, president of Bikers Without Borders. “The key is matching these two groups up, and that’s where BWB comes in. Our goal is to create a source of information for volunteers to get accurate information on the many groups in need of a helping hand.”
For more information about BWB or for periodic updates on the progress of their journey, visit
WIERD NEWS OF THE MONTH: ST COLUMBANUS, PATRON SAINT OF BIKERS From the Old Country comes proof that if the almighty himself does not don the leathers and climb aboard his scooter, one of his representatives on Earth certainly does.
Step forward the “biking bishop”, as he is affectionately known in England, in the shape of Bishop John Oliver. This man of the cloth and leathers is a keen Harley fan and rides Milwaukee iron as well as a cross-section of other bikes whenever he gets the opportunity.
In fact, so serious is he about his biking that the biking bishop has secured permission from none other than the Pope to have one St. Columbanus to be officially named as the patron saint of bikers.
Robert Daines writes, in his European Harley News report for Thunder Press, that the inauguration took place in the Italian town of Bobbio, the final resting place for the man who will be looking after bikers from now on. Fittingly, the service was attended by Bishop Oliver and hundreds of his fellow bikers.
St. Columbanus was originally from Ireland and as a young man was somewhat of a “lady’s man.” To avoid the temptations of the flesh, he turned to religion and traveled the world doing numerous good deeds until his death in Italy in 1651.
As for all his good deeds on behalf of bikers around the word, the bishop was modesty itself. “Bikers need all the protection they can get,” he told the British press, “so this is undoubtedly a good thing.”
So the next time you take a tumble and find yourself dusting down your bike and feeling great to be alive, you will know who to thank.
HARLEY SIGNED BY GOVERNORS TO BENEFIT COLUMBIA FAMILIES A 100th anniversary Road Glide signed by all 50 state governors and President Bush will be auctioned off later this year to benefit the families of astronauts killed in the space shuttle Columbia disaster.
The project is the brainchild of Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne and Barry McCahill, who works in public relations with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. With the help of Harley-Davidson, the governor’s office contacted New York Myke of San Diego Harley-Davidson, and the plan began to come together.
Myke and his operations manager Fuzzy drove across the country for 50 hours straight with the bike to make it to the National Governors Meeting in Washington, D.C. in time to get all of the signatures.
“The President signed thinking it was a great idea,” said Governor Kempthorne. “They were all so excited-they were affirming with each signature their support for the families. It’s a gesture from the public of how much affection we have for our astronauts.”
For more information about this bike, log onto the National Science Center website at
QUOTABLE QUOTES “When will the world learn that a million men are of no importance compared with one man?”Henry David Thoreau, American author, poet and philosopher (1817-1862)
