COVID-19

Pentagon rejects permit request by veterans group for Memorial Day motorcycle ride

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by Nikki Wentling from https://www.stripes.com WASHINGTON – The Defense Department rejected a request from organizers of a traditional Memorial Day weekend motorcycle ride in the nation’s capital, throwing logistics of the event into uncertainty just weeks before it is scheduled to take place. Motorcyclists typically use the Pentagon’s parking lot as a staging area for the ride, but defense officials denied the permit application Friday for this year’s event. Officials cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the size of the expected crowd as the reason. Despite the denial, thousands of motorcyclists are planning to gather in Washington during Memorial Day weekend. As of Monday, organizers didn’t know where to gather the riders before and after they drive along the National Mall. AMVETS, a national veterans organization, is coordinating the motorcycle ride. The group said it was committed to still running the event on May 30 and organizers were searching Monday for a backup plan. “There are no options with as much space and convenient routes to the memorials, meaning it will be more difficult, disruptive, and expensive than if the Pentagon parking lots were available,” said Joe Chenelly, national executive director of AMVETS. The group criticized the Pentagon’s slow decision-making process. Chenelly said he applied in July to use the Pentagon parking lot on May 30. He was expecting to hear back by January. Chenelly told the Pentagon last month that he needed an answer by April 16. Officials called with their decision on Friday. “The biggest disappointment in the Pentagon’s denial was that AMVETS was ignored for months as its professional staff in Washington requested numerous times an opportunity to hear the Defense Department’s concerns and present a [coronavirus] safety plan,” Jan Brown, the national commander of AMVETS, said in a statement. AMVETS leaders said they were confident they […]

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Laconia Motorcycle Week gets approval for parking and traffic

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from https://www.wmur.com Laconia City Council approves 100% parking, traffic capacity for Motorcycle Week Council considers lifting all COVID-19 restrictions on vendors, beer tents. Pre-pandemic parking approved for Laconia Motorcycle Week. The Laconia City Council voted Monday night to return to pre-pandemic parking and traffic flow for this summer’s Motorcycle Week. LACONIA, N.H. — The Laconia City Council voted Monday night to return to pre-pandemic parking and traffic flow for this summer’s Motorcycle Week. Last year, the event was scaled down and pushed to August. There were no vendor tents or big scheduled events as organizers and state officials hoped to cut down on the potential spread of COVID-19. With Monday night’s vote, the council opened the door to having full capacity at this year’s event, which is scheduled for June 12-20. Some council members also want to do away with COVID-19 restrictions when it comes to vendors and beer tents. “Everything is going 100% — restaurants, bars — everything,” said Councilor Tony Felch. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t open things up for this event.” Others argued there should be some restrictions to limit risk as the pandemic continues. “We’re really asking people here who have health concerns to be totally not considered, and I do think we have some responsibility,” said Councilor Henry Lipman. “Above all else is safety.” Motorcycle Week organizers plan to revisit the issue at a special meeting in the next week or two.

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Organizers say Pentagon is jeopardizing Memorial Day motorcycle ride

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by Nikki Wentling from https://www.stripes.com Organizers of the traditional Memorial Day motorcycle ride in the nation’s capital accused the Pentagon on Tuesday of jeopardizing the event. AMVETS, the national veterans group organizing the ride, said the Defense Department has ignored its application to use the Pentagon parking lot as a staging area. For 32 consecutive years, thousands of motorcyclists gathered in the parking lot before and after the ride around the National Mall. There are fewer than 40 days until the event, and the Pentagon hasn’t communicated its decision, said Joe Chenelly, national executive director of AMVETS. The Pentagon “won’t even talk to us,” Chenelly said. “We’ve been trying to really be good partners in all of this and not blast the Pentagon, but we’ve gotten to point recently where we have to put the pressure on them.” Chenelly said he submitted an application in July to use the Pentagon parking lot on May 30 this year. He was expecting to hear back by January, but no response came. The Pentagon’s special events office sent Chenelly an approved permit earlier this month but then rescinded the approval eight days later and said they hadn’t made a final decision. At that time, Chenelly told the Pentagon he needed an answer by April 16. “It’s April 20 today, and we still haven’t heard anything back,” Chenelly said Tuesday. Pentagon spokeswoman Sue Gough told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday that “there’s been no decision yet.” She cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the cause of the delay and said the department is monitoring community spread of the virus. Masks and social distancing are required on Pentagon grounds, she said. “The permit request is still being evaluated in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Gough said. AMVETS has gained approvals for the event from

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Americade reschedules 2021 motorcycle rally for Sept. 21-25

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from https://www.news10.com After last year’s rally being canceled, the 2021 Americade Motorcycle Touring Rally is playing things as safe as possible in order to rev the engines around the COVID-19 pandemic. The 38th annual Americade rally has been rescheduled from its original planned June dates to Sept. 21-25, according to event manager Christian Dutcher. That additional time was added to make the difference in safety confidence for riders, vendors, and the village of Lake George. “We want to make 100% sure that a 2021 Americade will happen, but we’re not confident an event of this size will be permissible in June,” said Dutcher. “But, moving it to September gives us a very high likelihood of it happening. And, September is also a perfect time of year for riding, with mild temperatures, no rain, and foliage season beginning. It should be beautiful.” Americade said that the decision also helped them to secure certain venues, some of which can more easily agree to involvement with more time for vaccines to be administered across the state and nation, and ideally for coronavirus restrictions to be lifted. The new dates also allow riders and visitors to enjoy the village during the fall, not too far past the summer tourist season, without bumping heads against Labor Day weekend. “We’re very lucky to have found a 2021 date that works for the community and for the motorcycle industry,” said Dutcher. “I feared we may have to cancel until Americade 2022, but miraculously we are able to slide it into September.”

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What we know for certain about COVID-19 so far

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by J.J. Solari 1: The pandemic reached immediate-global-emergency-level one day after the impeachment effort was killed in the Senate. Suggesting Donald Trump’s Presidency is the actual cause of the virus. His orange skin dye may have been the incubating agent. 2: Covid-19 started in a bat and also in a clandestine biological warfare lab in China run by The Weekly World News and MI-6 and also in a “wet-market” which is journalese horror-vocabulary for butcher shop, and also in a Vietnamese dog-eating contest vomitorium and from a leaky freezer used by Dracula for unspecified purposes. 3: Covid-19 is so deadly that the only way to fight it successfully until the time comes that we can fight it more successfully is by lowering the body count of deceased victims, which now is everyone’s responsibility. CLICK HERE to read the Article on Bikernet Join the Cantina – Subscribe today https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

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Harley-Davidson Museum to Temporarily Close

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from https://communityjournal.net The H-D Museum will remain closed to the public until at least January 3, 2021 MILWAUKEE, USA (Nov. 20, 2020) – The Harley-Davidson Museum is announcing that beginning Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, the campus will be closed to the public until at least January 3, 2021. Additionally, the H-D Museum’s Holiday Weekend Sale originally scheduled for Nov. 27-29, will be postponed to a later date to be determined. After assessing the City of Milwaukee Order 4.2 and the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the H-D Museum has made this decision in an effort to help keep guests and staff safe. The H-D Museum team will closely monitor the situation to determine a reopening date in 2021. The H-D Museum website (H-DMuseum.com) and social channels will continue to connect with the community through virtual gallery talks, behind-the-scenes video vignettes and more engaging stories of innovation, perseverance and adventure. Additionally, enthusiasts are invited to visit The Shop online to purchase gifts. MOTOR® Bar & Restaurant will also close beginning Friday, November 20, including carry-out and delivery operations, and will reopen when it’s deemed safe to do so. Guests who have already purchased H-D Museum tickets may contact our staff at Tickets@H-DMuseum.com for information about rescheduling and refund availability. Since the H-D Museum reopened in June, safeguards and protocols – including enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures, installing signage to encourage social distancing, requiring face coverings for all visitors and more – have been successfully practiced for the health and well-being of our guests and staff. About the Harley-Davidson Museum Discover culture and history through stories and interactive exhibits that celebrate expression, camaraderie and love for the sport at the Harley-Davidson Museum. A visit to the H-D Museum is an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime. With an unrivaled collection of

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Motorcycles Sales Bounce Back Post Pandemic Slump

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by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com Rising from the ashes. To say that 2020 has been an eventful year so far is an understatement. “2020, written by Stephen King” is probably the best description of this year’s events we found so far. Of course, with a pandemic forcing most of the global population into lockdown, the health crisis was bound to have an impact on the motorcycle industry. For several manufacturers, between suspended production and customers shying away from the dealers, the months of April and May 2020 have been challenging to say the least. Thankfully, with life gradually resuming, so are sales, and the numbers are bouncing back. Things Are Going Better Than Expected: An increasing number of people and publications suggest that the pandemic will encourage more people to turn to motorcycles and scooters for transportation—the perfect type of commuter for social distancing. In the U.S., buyers didn’t waste any time running for the hills—literally—as soon as COVID-19 poked its ugly head. Honda, BMW, Suzuki, and Yamaha’s North American branches reported that sales are thriving since the beginning of the year, particularly in the off-road segment. For instance, American Honda Motor Co. confirmed that motorcycle sales for May 2020 have more than doubled over May 2019—both in the road and off-road segments (+103% and +172% respectively). For BMW North America, while official sales numbers were not disclosed, the spokesperson did say that May 2020 sales were far exceeding last year’s. The European market is showing a similar, positive trend. Italian sales numbers for June 2020 show a 37-percent increase over June 2019—not even over the catastrophic month of May 2020. More bikes and scooters sold in Italy post-pandemic than last year, back when nobody had even heard of a coronavirus. A total of 39,085 motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds have

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Real Bikernet Bandanas

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These puppies are the greatest. They are real 100% cotton bandanas dyed through, no silk screening. They are Covid approved and Sin Wu started to sew official Covid masks. She can make three mask from one Bikernet Bandana. They are soft and large 21 by 21 inches. And with each order you will receive a signed K. Randall Ball book and Bikernet and 5-Ball stickers. Hell, what could be better! –Bandit Dimensions: 21” x 21” Cost: $19.50 for two Bikernet bandanas, one orange and one black. CLICK HERE TO SHOP 5-BALL LEATHERS AND GEAR https://shop.bikernet.com/

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Ducati resumes motorcycle production at Bologna plant in Italy

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by Pradeep Shah from https://www.financialexpress.com Production at Ducati’s Bologna factory been reorganized. From an eight-hour shift, the working shifts have been converted to two seven-hour shifts in order to allow a minimum number of people. Premium bike maker Ducati has announced a steady resumption of production at its Borgo Panigale factory in Bologna, Italy starting today. With the Covid-19 outbreak, the Italian superbike manufacturer had temporarily suspended production at the said plant on 13th March to reorganize production schedules. The company said in a press statement that the gradual improvement in health conditions has allowed the government to enable companies, whose activity is primarily aimed at exports and for firms for which prolongation of the suspension would risk losing the country additional market shares, to resume production. Ducati says that masks will be mandatory for everyone working inside the factory, regardless of the social distancing. Ducati says that it will be an extremely difficult year but starting up again is still a beginning. The company says that it has a lot of orders for the Streetfighter V4, Multistrada GT and the Panigale V2. The brand adds that the first phase of return will only involve a portion of workers that work on the production lines. The workshop staff will begin first followed by engine assembly workers and starting tomorrow, motorcycle assembly workers will begin working. The brand also says that the use of smart working will remain mandatory for the employees and only for those who are not in a position to carry out their work from home will be allowed to enter the factory. That said, all resources employed in the commercial, marketing, IT, personnel management, finance, purchasing and logistics areas will be working remotely. Ducati has announced that the production at its Bologna factory been reorganized. From an

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Laconia Motorcycle Week mulls August back-up date due to COVID-19

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by Paula Tracy from https://www.seacoastonline.com LACONIA – On Monday night, Laconia City Councilors will be asked to approve the 97th Progressive Laconia Motorcycle Week for Aug. 22-30 if it cannot be held June 13-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Charlie St. Clair, executive director for the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, said he is hopeful the request will be approved. “It’s too important an economic event for it to be canceled,” said St. Clair, who is also a Democratic state legislator. He said if the rally is postponed until August and the pandemic is not greatly improved in summer, he would look to find a date and hold it into the fall. “We would not expect the numbers to be what they normally are,” he said, estimating 300,000. “But who knows, maybe everyone will be chomping at the bit.” Gov. Chris Sununu is in the driver’s seat ultimately. He is concerned about health and safety as well as the economic consequences. Sununu said this week he wants to hold out as long as possible before deciding. He has held out, as well, on closing or modifying the use of campgrounds, which many bike week enthusiasts rent out from across the country, along with hotels, motels and house rentals. The visitors would require, gas, groceries, and restaurants, which currently allow for only take-out under the emergency orders due to the pandemic. Sununu said he spoke with Laconia Mayor Andrew Hosmer and discussed the matter on Thursday. Laconia Bike Week is the oldest and third largest motorcycle rally in the nation. The largest is in Sturgis, South Dakota, Aug. 7-16. The Sturgis City Council will vote June 15 on whether to hold the rally this year. Lake George, New York, which holds a motorcycle event the week before Laconia Bike Week, has decided

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