COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
MOTORCYCLE BUYERS ARE HAPPIER THAN EVER
Motorcycle manufacturers are trying harder than ever to please customers, and the result is higher quality bikes and happier owners.
Overall satisfaction with the motorcycle ownership experience has increased for a seventh consecutive year to a record-high level, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Motorcycle Competitive Information Study, and each of the study’s five criteria — product, quality, cost of ownership, sales, and service — have improved, with sales and service showing the biggest improvements.
“The result of increased competition is that the quality and performance of bikes is at an all-time high,” Power?s Todd Markusic explains, “and dealers are paying much more attention to their customers’ sales and service experiences.”
First-time buyers comprise 22% of all new motorcycle purchases, and with the average age of owners increasing from 40 to 47 since 2001, it is important for manufacturers to focus on younger Gen X and Y demographics to ensure continued growth in the market.
Now in its 12th year, the annual survey measures owner satisfaction with new motorcycles and fielded responses from nearly 8,000 owners between August and October 2009, focusing on 2009 model year bikes.
MISSOURI TO END SAFETY INSPECTIONS ON NEWER VEHICLES
New-ish car and bike owners can take that $10-12 you?ve been setting aside to pay for a state safety inspection and go buy something nice for yourself or your vehicle. Under legislation that took effect on New Year?s Day in Missouri, vehicles five years old and newer will no longer need an inspection when renewing license plates.
That means in 2010, 2005 model year and newer autos, including cars, trucks and motorcycles, will be exempt. Models from 2006 won?t need their first inspection until 2012. Previously, vehicles are exempt from safety inspections for their model year and the year after that.
Inspections are performed at thousands of repair shops across the state and cost $12 for cars and trucks and $10 for motorcycles. The Missouri Department of Revenue, which manages vehicle registration, estimates that 650,000 vehicles will be affected by the exemption.
INDIANA HARLEY DEALER FIGHTS SUNDAY BIKE SALES BAN
There are some things you can?t buy on Sundays in Indiana: alcohol, cars, and motorcycles.
One Hoosier Harley-Davidson dealer thinks this ?blue law? against buying motorcycles is ridiculous, and he’s teaming up with an Indiana state senator to change it. Mark Forszt owns four Harley dealerships throughout the state and says the law is hurting his business, and that it makes no sense. On Sundays, he’s open for business, and he can sell you everything you’d ever need to put a bike together yourself. He just can’t actually sell you the bike.
?It’s a huge loss to the state in terms of sales tax revenue,? said Forszt, who contacted state Senator Ed Charbonneau to address the problem in the legislature, framing the issue as a way to help small business. When you add up all the sales tax, it?s also a way to help the state of Indiana, home to some 300 motorcycle dealerships, said Charbonneau. ?If every one of those dealerships sold one motorcycle a Sunday, or even one a month, that’s a pretty sizable infusion of cash into the state coffers,? Senator Charbonneau told local NBC-affiliate WNDU.
The bill to change the law has been drafted and filed, but until something changes, the Sunday choices in this store will be limited. What dealers like Forszt complain about is you could sell a bike through a newspaper, CraigsList, or eBay on Sunday, but in a store it’s illegal. It is currently a class D misdemeanor to sell a motorcycle on Sunday.
WISCONSIN BILLS WOULD HONOR HARLEY-DAVIDSON
A bill has been introduced in the Wisconsin state legislature to create a special license plate commemorating Harley-Davidson, the iconic Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer.
The legislation would authorize the creation of an automobile license plate available for purchase that would include Harley-Davidson?s trademark bar and shield logo and the message ?Share the Road.?
Available for cars and trucks registered in Wisconsin, the revenue collected by the Department of Transportation from the specialty plate sales would be used for conducting public workshops on motorcycle safety; evaluating basic rider education courses; creating transportation messages at motorcycle rallies; providing funds for motorcycle-related safety and training programs; and grants to providers of motorcycle safety training courses.
?Motorcycling is a huge part of Wisconsin?s culture and plays a big role in our state?s economy,? state Rep. Jim Sullivan told The Business Journal of Milwaukee upon introducing the measure. ?This license plate helps us protect that heritage and promote sharing the road safely with all drivers.?
The goal is to have the plate ready by May 2010, which is motorcycle safety month in most states.
Wisconsin lawmakers are also currently considering legislation declaring Harley-Davidson the state?s official motorcycle, similar to recognizing a state bird or flower.
PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO LET MICHIGAN RIDERS BUY PERMITS TO RIDE HELMETLESS
Motorcyclists in Michigan would be able to buy a permit to ride without a helmet if a newly-introduced bill becomes law.
It would apply to riders who are 21 years or older, have been licensed to operate a motorcycle for at least two years or completed a safety class, and have at least $20,000 in health insurance. The $100-a-year permit would make helmets optional. Any passenger over 21 years riding with a permit holder wouldn’t need a helmet.
State Representative Richard LeBlanc (D-Westland) said wearing a helmet should be a personal choice. LeBlanc told Capitol News Service of the Macomb Daily newspaper that he’s been involved with the issue since the 1970s when he started riding a motorcycle, adding that he introduced the bill because he believes that wearing a helmet should be a personal choice.
The bill is pending in the House Committee on Regulatory Reform, though ABATE of Michigan reportedly does not support the legislation and is dedicated to working with their new governor to repeal the existing helmet law with no fees, additional insurance or stickers.
Michigan riders, spearheaded by ABATE and the Confederation of Clubs of Michigan, succeeded in passing helmet repeal legislation twice since 2006 only to have both bills vetoed by outgoing Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
MILLIONS IN INSURANCE OVERCHARGES DUE TO MASSACHUSETTS MOTORCYCLISTS
Massachusetts insurance companies have overcharged consumers on premiums by overstating and failing to depreciate motorcycle values.
Attorney General Martha Coakley?s Office entered into settlements with several insurance companies resolving allegations that they overcharged consumers for motorcycle insurance by using incorrect motorcycle values to calculate premiums. The settlements, which return $11.1 million to consumers, stem from an investigation spurred by consumer complaints and ongoing lobbying efforts by the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA).
Investigators found that insurers were not adjusting motorcycle values for their steady depreciation over time and instead were using the same value for a bike for several consecutive years to gauge premium levels.
?The settlements cover alleged overcharges going back to 2002 and require the insurers to pay 6 percent interest to consumers on the alleged overcharges,? reports the MMA in a prepared statement. ?Average refunds to consumers are anticipated to be approximately $300 with some consumers receiving thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands of policies are believed to have been affected.?
Motorcyclists praised the settlements, but warned that a number of other insurance companies also evaluated motorcycles incorrectly.
Betsy Lister, a politically-active insurance agent who rides a motorcycle, told the Enterprise News that motorcyclists have repeatedly raised this issue with the state Division of Insurance and the attorney general?s office. ?They?ve been doing it going back to the early 2000s,? Lister said of the insurers? overcharges. ?This is something we?ve been fighting for years.?
EUROPE SLAPPING RICH DRIVERS WITH MASSIVE TRAFFIC FINES
European countries are increasingly pegging speeding fines to income as a way to punish wealthy scofflaws who would otherwise ignore tickets. Advocates say a $290,000 (euro 203,180.83) speeding ticket slapped on a millionaire Ferrari driver in Switzerland was a fair and well-deserved example of the trend.
Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries also issue punishments based on a person’s wealth. In Germany the maximum fine can be as much as $16 million compared to only $1 million in Switzerland. A Frenchman was fined 70,000 francs after being caught on a highway doing 151 miles (243 kilometers) an hour. Only Finland regularly hands out similarly hefty fines to speeding drivers, with the current record believed to be a euro170,000 (then about $190,000) ticket in 2004.
The Swiss court appeared to set a new world record when it levied the nearly quarter million dollar fine in November, describing the speeder as a ?traffic thug? in their verdict as they took into account his prior traffic record as well as his $20 million in personal wealth. Swiss voters approved a 2007 penal law overhaul that let judges hand down fines based on personal income and wealth for moderate misdemeanors including excessive speeding and drunk driving.
The nationalist Swiss People’s Party wants to reverse the 2007 penal code changes, saying the current law could lead to “ridiculously low” penalties without any possibility of jail time for poor people who are caught driving drunk or speeding.
AFRICANS IMPOUND THOUSANDS OF MOTORCYCLES FOR LACK OF HELMETS
Lagos State Sector Command authorities in this Nigerian city reportedly impounded 21,300 motorcycles last year because of failure of the motorcyclists to wear crash helmets.
Public Education Officer, Mrs Ijeoma Nwachi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the command has intensified enforcement on the usage of crash helmets in the state. The public education officer also said that the command had confiscated 3,500 substandard helmets since January 2009. She said wearing of crash helmets by motorcyclists and their passengers was in line with section 41(1) (e) of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2004.
Nwachi also said that overloading with passengers is a serious issue, and added that many motorcyclists were in the habit of riding without side mirrors. ?Riding without side mirror is an offence under section 41(1)(p) of the Nation Road Traffic Regulations 2004, which states that all motorcycles shall be equipped with two rear view mirrors,? she said.
WEIRD NEWS: MAN ASSAULTED OVER PICTURES OF MOTORCYCLE
In a twisted version of ?Dog the Bounty Hunter? meets ?Repo Man?, Sioux Falls Police say a man hired to repossess a motorcycle ended up assaulting and kidnapping the bike owner?s dad instead.
A South Dakota father received a call from a man claiming he needed pictures of a motorcycle that his son owned. The father thought the person calling was from a dealership and needed evidence for a payment plan he had set up, but when the undercover repo guy arrived at his home, the bike owner?s dad became uneasy and told him he didn’t feel comfortable with the man taking pictures of the motorcycle.
The repossession agent refused to leave and when the father said he was going to call the police, he put the dad in hand-cuffs and threatened him with a taser. He was later arrested for aggravated assault and kidnapping.
NCOM BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND REGIONAL MEETING IN PHILLY
?As co-director of NCOM Region II (IA, KS, MO, NE, OK, TX), I recently attended the National Coalition of Motorcyclists Semi-Annual Board of Directors and Regional Meeting, November 13-15 in Philadelphia, PA, where over 300 motorcyclists took part in the conference,? reported Tiger Mike Revere of ABATE of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Confederation of Clubs.
Continuing his ?Tiger Tales? report; ?Following the morning?s NCOM Board Meeting, the afternoon Region VII Meeting consisted of a number of valuable and informative presentations on Biker Freedom-related topics, such as Freedom of the Road throughout the Nation, and Legal Issues such as Noise Abatement, Insurance Coverage, and interacting with Law Enforcement. The Regional Confederation of Clubs Meeting and Christian Unity Conference were also well-attended, with a lot of productive crosstalk, and Gimme Jimmy was there to present the Defenders? Program.
Incidentally, our recent successful Call to Action regarding Federal-level Right To Repair Legislation constituted a Nationwide test and fine-tuning of the Defenders Program. NCOM is very interested to hear more about the Strategic Alliance Program pioneered by our own Oklahoma Confederation of Clubs. This Alliance of Spiritual groups, Clean and Sober Clubs, and community service-oriented riders such as the Downed Bikers Association, is designed to function as a quick-response force to support the Riding Community during incidents where motorcyclists get killed, injured or locked down.
The NCOM Board has been expanded to include representation from the Sport Bike Community with a Board Liaison position for the National Sport Bike Association, now held by Brian ?Seven? Lawson. Quite a large number of Sport Bike Riders attended the conference, which was gratifying to see. All in all, the stage is now set for one of the largest and most festive NCOM Conventions ever, our Silver Anniversary event slated for May 6-9, 2010 in Orlando, Florida. Check out the NCOM Website at www.aimncom.com for a Pre-Registration application and make plans to attend!
There’s still a lot of political game-playing going on and bikers have to keep learning to play the game more effectively if we’re going to continue to be a force for good in the Motorcycling Community. Politics, by definition, addresses the skill of acquiring and utilizing power. By becoming more active participants in all levels of government through registering and voting, communicating with legislators, and attending events like the NCOM Convention and local legislative seminars, we’ll wield a greater degree of power as a special interest group representing this country?s ridership.?
QUOTABLE QUOTE:
“There is good news from Washington today. The Congress is deadlocked and can’t act.”
–Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
