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Gevin Fax Blazes Her Own Trail

By General Posts

by Emily Chavous from russbrown.com

Whether riding a motorcycle or challenging norms, Gevin Fax is no stranger to blazing trails.

She says, “I think this is the best, most wonderful country in the world, but we are not flawless. I want women to not sell themselves short. We are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. We are more possible than we could ever imagine.”

“Everybody kept telling me my life was going to change after I bought the Harley. Let me tell you something: Everything changed.”

CLICK HERE To Read this Feature Article on Bikernet.com

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Kanopolis City, Kansas Ordinance for Off-Road Motorcycles

By General Posts

from https://www.indyrepnews.com

(First Published in the Ellsworth County Independent/
Reporter, September 23, 2021)

ORDINANCE NO. 2021-O-02

AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE USE OF OFF-ROAD MOTORCYCLES (ALSO KNOWN AS ‘DIRT BIKES’) ON THE STREETS OF KANOPOLIS, KANSAS, AND PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THE SAME.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF KANOPOLIS, ELLSWORTH COUNTY, KANSAS:
The purpose of this Ordinance is to protect the health, safety, property and well-being of the citizens of Kanopolis by regulating the use of off-road motorcycles in the city which may endanger the safety of persons driving, bicycling or walking on the roads, the safety of motorists, cyclists or pedestrians, the safety of its operators, and which may disturb the use and enjoyment of land. This section shall apply throughout the city, both on and off streets and highways and on all public and private land.

• Sec. 1. – Definition.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Off-road motorcycle or dirt bike means any motorized nonhighway vehicle traveling on two tires, and having a seat designed to be straddled by the operator, and/or any motorcycle licensed for highway travel being utilized off of a street, roadway or improved surface.

• Sec. 2. – Unsafe use of off-road motorcycles prohibited.
The following practices constitute unsafe use of off-road motorcycles in the city:
(1) Use of an off-road motorcycle one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise without headlights and rear lights installed and illuminated.
(2) Use of an off-road motorcycle without a rearview mirror.
(3) Use of an off-road motorcycle without a warning device such as a horn.
(4) Use of an off-road motorcycle with more than one person on the seat, unless the seat has been specifically designed by the manufacturer to hold more than one person. In no case shall there be more passengers than the off-road motorcycle is designed to carry.
(5) Use of an off-road motorcycle without the driver and passengers wearing protective headgear. The headgear must conform with minimum standards of construction and performance as proscribed by the National Standards Institute specification Z90.1 or by the federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 218.
(6) Use of an off-road motorcycle by a driver under the age of 14.
(7) Operating an off-road motorcycle that is not equipped at all times with an effective and suitable muffling device on its engine to effectively deaden or muffle the noise of the exhaust. Each off-road motorcycle must meet noise emission standards of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and in no case exceed 82 decibels of sound pressure level at 50 feet on the “A” scale as measured by the SAE standards.
(8) Operating an off-road motorcycle that is not equipped at all times with a working spark arrester.
(9) Operation of off-road motorcycle at speeds greater than reasonable and prudent for the existing conditions.
(10) Operating an off-road motorcycle in violation of ordinances or regulations applicable to motor vehicles, except as expressively permitted by the article, or in reckless manner in such a way as to recklessly create a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to another person.
(11) Operating an off-road motorcycle in a manner so as to endanger any person or property.
(12) Operating an off-road motorcycle in such a manner as to create an excessive amount or introduction into the air of dust, dirt or other particulate or substance.
(13) Operating an off-road motorcycle in any manner that would harass game or domestic animals.
(14) The operation of an off-road motorcycle by a child under the age of 18 without the immediate and visual supervision of an adult.

• Sec. 3. – Restricted operation of off-road motorcycles.
Except as this Ordinance specifically permits and authorizes, no person shall operate a dirt bike or other off-road motorcycle vehicle within the city limits:
(1) On the portion of any right-of-way of any public highway, street, road, trail or alley used for motor vehicle travel, unless the motorcycle is fully licensed for highway use.
(2) On a public sidewalk provided for pedestrian travel.
(3) On private property of another without the specific expressed permission of the owner or person in control of the property.
(4) On any property owned by the City of Kanopolis or on any other public property, including parks and recreational areas, except by special event issued permit.
(5) Within 100 feet of any school, park, pedestrian, utility work, or construction area where the operation would conflict with use or endanger other persons or property.
(6). In or on a railroad right-of-way

• Sec. 4. – Responsibilities of parents and landowners.
(a) Parents and responsible adults. It shall be a violation of this division for any parent, guardian, or adult with supervisory responsibility to permit a child less than 18 years of age to operate an off-road motorcycle in a manner prohibited by this Ordinance.
(b) Landowners. It shall be a violation of this division for any landowner or rightful possessor of real property to suffer or permit the operation of off-road motorcycles on property that they own or possess as prohibited or in a manner prohibited by this ordinance.

• Sec. 5. – Violations and penalties.
(a) Upon a first conviction for a violation of sections 2 and 3, the court shall assess a fine of no less than $50.00. Upon a second conviction, the court shall issue a fine of no less than $200.00. Upon a third or subsequent conviction, the court shall issue a fine of no less than $350.00. No prior conviction shall be considered in determining the penalty to be assessed if 24 months have elapsed between the date of the violation and the date of the conviction next immediately preceding the sentencing date.
(b) No person shall be eligible for a parole, suspension or reduction of any part of a fine except that portion of any fine or combination of fines that exceeds $200.00 assessed from the same set of operative facts may be suspended for 12 months on the condition the violator have no further violations of the ordinance during that period.
(c) Each occurrence of a violation constitutes a separate offense and shall be punishable as such hereunder.

• Sec. 6. Standard Traffic Ordinance. A person operating an off-road motorcycle within the corporate limits of the City shall be required to follow all rules and regulations as set forth in the “Standard Traffic Ordinance for Kansas Cities” as prepared and published in book form by the League of Kansas Municipalities, Topeka, Kansas, as adopted by the governing body.

• Sec. 7. – Enforcement.
This division shall be enforced by the city police department.

ADOPTED AND APPROVED by the Governing Body, this 14th day of September, 2021.

CITY OF KANOPOLIS

By: Edward A. Hopkins, Mayor

(SEAL)

ATTEST:

Deborah Kralik, City Clerk

1t 9/23

Public Safety meeting discusses illegal dirt bikes and excessive noise

By General Posts

by Carolyn Noel from https://www.thereminder.com

CHICOPEE – A Public Safety meeting took place to discuss illegal dirt bikes, motorcycles, speeding and excessive noise in the City of Chicopee on May 19.

City Councilor William Courchesne, Ward 7, has been an active participant in the fight against this issue. At the City Council meeting on May 4, Courchesne spoke on the many phone calls he has received from upset residents in his ward. He also helped with updating the Code of the City of Chicopee to strengthen and modernize many noise ordinances.

During the Public Safety meeting, residents were given the chance to voice their concerns on illegal dirt bikes, motorcycles, speeding and noise. Members of the Chicopee Police Department were also in attendance to respond and answer questions.

One resident spoke on the danger of dirt bikes speeding along public streets.

“They’re turning our public streets into their playgrounds,” she said.

Attendee Gerald Lavoie agreed on the danger of dirt bikes speeding on streets, but also proposed that the city give them a safe space to ride.

“The kids need a place to ride,” he said.

Lavoie suggested opening up land for people to ride their dirt bikes safely by Westover Air Reserve Base, near Szot Park or anywhere else that could be accommodated.

Resident David Perault spoke on his motorcycle-related concerns at the meeting. He said that from April through November the noise is “crazy.” He even compared the area he lives in to a speed race.

“My apartment unfortunately faces the Chicopee River and what I like to call the Indianapolis 500,” said Perault. “These guys are flying.”

He spoke on the excessive motorcycle noise that he had to deal with during the COVID-19 lockdown when he was home. He said that a lot of the motorcycles backfire, which can sound like fireworks or even gunshots.

Despite the complaints, Perault did show understanding to the Chicopee Police force. He spoke on the lack of police staff in recent months, especially in the Traffic Enforcement Department.

“I understand that there’s not a lot you can do about it because you don’t have the manpower to do it,” he said. “Whatever you can do to address it, I would be eternally grateful.”

Two residents spoke on the issue of dirt bikes and motorcycles on Moreau Drive. They both emphasized the amount of kids who live there and how dangerous this could be to them, those at nearby Litwin School and those at the nearby Chicopee Country Club.

“We need to do something about this. We need to do better. Any assistance would be great,” said resident Jen Santere.

According to both, Moreau Drive has had three hit and runs within the last year. They brought forth a petition of over 100 neighbors demanding the excessive speeding to stop and asking the Police Department to restore safety to small neighborhood streets.

Many city councilors also attended the meeting to listen to concerns and voice their support. Courchesne said that he wants to see a task force of police officers who cover strictly traffic issues. This would ensure an instant response to these types of situations.

Councilor Gary Labrie agreed, as did Councilor Derek Dobosz. Councilor James Tillotson said that this needs to become a priority among the Police Department, especially now with nice weather approaching.

“I really think we have to make it a priority this summer and try to put an end to it. It’s only going to get worse once the weather gets warmer and the kids are out there more,” said Tillotson.

To finish the discussion, members of the Chicopee Police Department were given time to speak. According to the Captain of the Traffic Bureau, the department is having trouble making these issues their main focus due to a lack of overtime positions being filled.

“Our guys are burnt out with working hours,” he said.

The Chicopee Police Department is also having issues hiring new officers, he said.

Chicopee Police Capt. Jeff Gawron also spoke on the issue.

Gawron said that the Chicopee Police Department is working with other communities to help combat this issue.

“There’s issues all over the place. We are doing everything possible,” said Gawron.

He spoke on the fact that there might be a delay in response to traffic issues, but officers will always show up. There is a need to prioritize calls and, for example, a shots fired call will always take precedence over a traffic call.

“We’re doing the best that we can. The officers on the street are doing the best that they can. They’re working long hours, but, like I said, they can’t be everywhere,” said Gawron.

NYPD offering cash rewards during crackdown on illegal motorcycles

By General Posts

by Marcus Solis from https://abc7ny.com

NYPD offering cash rewards during crackdown on illegal motorcycles and ATVs

The NYPD is taking a new approach to fighting an old quality of life problem, offering cash rewards for the public’s help during a crackdown on illegal motorcycles and ATVs on city streets.

Residents who report where illegal vehicles are being stored could collect $100 per motorbike seized.

Dirt bikes and ATVs cannot be registered as street-legal motor vehicles because they lack safety equipment like brake lights, turn signals and mirrors.

But that hasn’t stopped roving gangs of riders from creating public disturbances across the five boroughs.

Chief of Department Rodney Harrison issued a warning to those who operate them.

“They are illegal and dangerous,” he said. “Don’t ride them. If you do, you are endangering yourself and others.”

Complaints of illegal motorcycles on streets and sidewalks are up 15% this year. Last week, the NYPD responded to 144 911 calls, most of them in Upper Manhattan.

A 76-year old man was attacked in Inwood Hill Park by two motorcyclists after he complained that they rode too close to him.

Police say they rarely initiate pursuits because of the potential danger to officers and the public, but they will confiscate motorbikes when they are parked in public.

An average of 1,000 seized vehicles are crushed and their metal recycled each year.

Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Historic Off-Road Show at the Harley-Davidson Museum

By General Posts

by Skyler Chun from https://www.milwaukeemag.com

Preview: A Historic Show at the Harley-Davidson Museum. Learn all about the history of off-road motorcycling at the Harley-Davidson Museum.

A new exhibit – about the storied past of off-road motorcycles and the people who rode them – has rolled into the Harley-Davidson Museum.

“There’s a deep history here with this type of riding,” exhibits curator David Kreidler says, adding that the company has long made special motorcycles designed to be ridden across difficult terrain. After all, when the company was founded in 1903, roads weren’t widely paved, and riders needed to be able to maneuver their bikes across rutted earth, or dodge fallen logs and debris.

The “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” exhibit was created to coincide with the introduction of the Pan America adventure-touring motorcycle.

One of the highlights of the exhibit, “Off-Road Harley-Davidson,” is the LiveWire, the company’s first all-electric motorcycle. The bike was featured prominently in the Apple TV+ show “Long Way Up,” which followed Ewan McGregor and his friend motorbiking from South America to Los Angeles. Older bikes are also on display.

While the museum is open to the public, it’s planning virtual events as well. To replicate the experience of walking through the galleries, Kridler will lead tours of the exhibit space that viewers can access online if they’d rather not visit in person.

“Off-Road Harley-Davidson” looks back at Harley’s history of all-terrain motorcycles. Visit the Harley-Davidson webpage for more information.

“Off-Road Harley-Davidson” exhibit celebrates the company’s past
by Mark Gardiner from https://www.revzilla.com

To celebrate the launch of its Pan America adventure bike, The Motor Company recently mounted a lovely exhibit called “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” at its museum in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, just as the exhibit was due to open to the public, a surge in COVID cases forced Milwaukee County to close museums!

I recently got a private tour of the exhibit from curator Dave Kreidler. You too can join Dave for a virtual gallery chat on Thursday (cost $6 or free for museum pass holders). The museum expects to reopen to the public next month.

The Pan America has been engineered for everything from comfortable touring to exploring gravel or dirt backroads and taking sand, mud and the occasional river crossing in stride. That might seem like a radical change for Harley-Davidson, but only if you forget that the company’s been selling motorcycles for more than a century. For the first few decades of its existence, sand, mud, and water crossings weren’t off-road challenges — they were features of American roads.

Harley-Davidson is older than 99.9 percent of U.S. paved roads

The first modern asphalt roads were paved in the mid-1800s, before cars and motorcycles. Bicycles became popular in the 1880s and bicyclists were the first group to lobby governments for improved roads. Still, by 1900 less than five percent of America’s roads were paved. There was a bit of an asphalt boom during the First World War, but it was limited to roads connecting manufacturing centers to ports. The war in Europe convinced the U.S. Army that trucks — and roads that could support them — were a strategic asset.

After the war, the Army sent 79 vehicles, 260 enlisted men and 35 officers, including a young Lt. Col. named D. Eisenhower, on a cross-country convoy to demonstrate the practicality of trucks and the need for better highways. They traveled from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco on the Lincoln Highway. Eisenhower returned dismayed by the dismal state of the country’s roads and bridges. Dozens of flimsy wooden bridges were destroyed by the Army convoy!

Little was done to improve the situation until the Works Progress Administration improved and paved about half a million miles of roads as part of the New Deal. Many farm-to-market roads were paved; one New Deal slogan was “Get the farmers out of the mud!”

Ike never lost his interest in road construction and as president he signed the bill that created the Interstate Highway System.

That’s a roundabout way of pointing out that the first 100,000 or so Harley-Davidson motorcycles were used on a mix of surfaces that riders of today would say called for an ADV bike, if not a full-on dual-sport. Back then, though, there were just “motorcycles.”

Curator Dave Kreidler shows “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” exhibit

The exhibit’s not arranged chronologically. “We organized it in five sections, based on the type of riding that the company was selling to people,” Dave said as we stood in front of a 1964 BTH model.

Sold as the Scat, the BTH was a 175 cc two-stroke that’s recognizable as a dual-sport in spite of its rigid rear end and a plunger fork with only a couple of inches of travel. It was one of the last models in a line of lightweight motorcycles based on the German DKW RT 125. (DKW’s intellectual property was essentially seized as war reparations, and versions of the RT 125 were sold as BSA Bantams in Britain, Harley-Davidson Hummers in the United States and the MMZ M-1A Moskva in Russia.)

The Scat was a road-legal trail bike sold with a high pipe, high fenders, and fairly knobby trials-pattern tires. An extra-low final-drive ratio was available as an option. It was one of many Harley-Davidsons that, over the years, were marketed as perfect vehicles for hunters and anglers.

Next up were a couple of displays devoted to touring in the 1910s and ’20s, which would be considered pretty intense adventure-touring by today’s standards.

In 1914, the Model 10-F was Harley-Davidson’s flagship. It had a two-speed gearbox and a “step starter” that allowed it to be started without putting it up on its rear stand. That was a real advantage if you were in terrain where there was no firm, level spot for the stand.

While researching this exhibit, Dave found a 1914 article in H-D’s dealer magazine describing a young naturalist named Hamilton Laing, who dropped by the Juneau Avenue factory on a ride from New York City to western Canada.

“I got kind of interested and poked around a little bit more on the internet for him,” Dave told me. “Lo and behold, he became a fairly well known naturalist, worked for the British Columbia Museum, and they had all of his papers.”

Laing’s papers included a memoir of another epic ride, from Brooklyn to Oakland in 1915. Laing “talks about the motorcycle in very poetic terms,” Dave said. “There’s this great passage where a speeding car passes him in Pennsylvania, and he goes on for a few paragraphs about how the motorcycle is a superior form of transportation, if you just want to stop and smell the roses. You know, not much has changed actually in that regard.”

The British Columbia Museum noted that although Laing kept his motorcycle for several more years, he did most of his work travel in Canada by canoe. An intrepid fellow!

Another period touring display is a 1921 WJ Sport, one of Harley-Davidson’s rare boxer twin offerings. “The popularity of this machine for cross country touring is due in part to its ability to travel even a burro trail,” bragged an advertising copywriter of the time.

“We wouldn’t call this a lightweight today,” Dave said. “But it was lighter than our Big Twin. The engine was easier to work on and it got good fuel mileage.” In 1921, those were important considerations. Touring riders had to perform most of their own maintenance and repairs; gasoline was expensive and often was only available from mechanics or automobile and motorcycle dealers.

Although you can see that the WJ doesn’t have much ground clearance, it does have a forgivingly low center of gravity, which was surely a boon when picking one’s way through difficult terrain at slow speed.

The next display we looked at was devoted to purpose-built race bikes. Enthusiasts had raced H-D’s heavy big twins in tough off-road events like Michigan’s Jack Pine Enduro forever but by the mid 1950s lighter, purpose-built off-road motorcycles dominated in the dirt.

The 1958 XLCH Sportster was a true production racer, sold without lights. “In some ways you could say that this was our first real off-road motorcycle,” David noted. (The first road-going Sporty — equipped with a headlight — came the following year.)

Both the Sportster and an elegant 1972 ERS Sprint scrambler evoke an era of spare and elegant production racers like the company’s KR and XR flat track bikes. The Sprint was one of the models that emerged from H-D’s acquisition of the Aermacchi company, which happened in two stages. It purchased a half interest in the Italian firm in 1960, then AMF-Harley-Davidson purchased full control in 1974.

One thing that’s conspicuously missing from the exhibit is an Aermacchi two-stroke motocross bike. Harley-Davidson fielded a factory team in the AMA 250 cc Championship on and off between 1975 and 1979. The ’75 MX-250 was produced for one year only. It used an adapted Kayaba fork instead of rear shocks. Although it was not really a competitive motocrosser, Bruce Ogilvie won the 1975 Baja 500 on it.

In 1978, they produced another limited run of MX-250s but the chassis was instantly obsolete compared to the monoshock Yamaha YZ250. The Aermacchi motor made good power but it was peaky as hell. Harley-Davidson sold Aermacchi to the Castiglioni brothers later that year and abandoned its AMA motocross effort altogether in 1979. In spite of its checkered history, the MX-250 is a bit of a cult bike with the vintage MX crowd.

Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should

The most compelling display may be a much abused 1985 FXRP police model. It’s hard to imagine anything further from a factory off-roader. But Charlie Peet, a Harley-Davidson enthusiast from Florida, chose that bike for his mount in the 9,000-mile Trans-Amazon Rally held in 1988.

Peet’s police bike was modified at a Ft. Lauderdale Harley dealership. They fit a larger fuel tank from a BMW, saddlebags, a skidplate, handguards, extra lights, and louder horns! It was shipped to the starting point in Cartagena, Colombia. It baffled the 170-odd other competitors. Most were two-person teams in cars or trucks; the six other motorcycles entered were all purpose-built dirt bikes.

“They voted Charlie least likely to finish because not only was he on this thing, but he didn’t have a support team,” Dave told me. “It was really dangerous. Normally with rallies, you have sweep teams; there were none. Every country handled its own leg of the rally. The maps were a mess. At one point, Charlie was riding and looking at his map, and what he thought was a road was actually the border between two provinces.”

In spite of that, he was one of four motorcyclists to reach the finish in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Harley-Davidson engineers convinced the company to acquire Peet’s FXRP so they could study it. Evidently they couldn’t believe it had finished the race either.

The FXRs were the first new models released after the management bought Harley-Davidson back from AMF. The chassis was developed with input from a young pup named Erik Buell, and there are people who claim these are the best hogs ever farrowed. Be that as it may, this 1,137 cc beast, which weighed 683 pounds, was a crazy choice for the Trans-Amazon Rally.

Into the modern era

The exhibit also includes a 2006 Buell Ulysses and Ewan McGregor’s LiveWire from the recent Long Way Up TV series.

The Ulysses, recently profiled on Common Tread, is another short-lived model that became a cult fave once it was discontinued. In this case, the whole Buell brand was killed off. It’s often seemed to me that Harley-Davidson employees dare not speak the Buell name, but perhaps the Ulysses reputation will be rehabilitated to help establish the Pan America’s bona fides.

McGregor’s LiveWire might be cool to see but next to Charlie Peet’s FXRP, McGregor and Boorman’s ride was little more than a jaunt.

All of this leads to, of course, the Pan America. Even the museum doesn’t have one of its own yet. The bike on display at the moment is a late prototype or early production model that belongs to the Parts & Accessories side of the business. They used it to test the fit of components and as a photo model.

With the exception of the Ulysses, the motorcycles on display in “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” are too old to be thought of as Pan America progenitors, so it’s up to you to decide whether the exhibit serves to bolster faith in Harley-Davidson’s ADV chops. That said, I admire The Motor Company’s sense of its own history, which obviously includes a lot of very adventurous riding that is nicely shown off in this exhibit. As I’ve come to expect from the Museum, the lighting and displays are beyond reproach.

David Kreidler scoured his employer’s extensive archives for photos, copies of old ads, and other ephemera which round out the stories of the motorcycles on display. As noted, a few models were conspicuous by their absence but it’s better to leave visitors wanting more than footsore and overwhelmed.

In addition to this week’s virtual debut of the exhibit, the museum is planning to reopen to the public on March 5 with hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.