MRF Reports - July/August 2009

WHATS INSIDE:

Always Room for More

Page 2

The MRF’s New Vice President

Page 3

2009 Lifesavers Conference

Page 5

Bikers Inside the Beltway

Page 6

MAFT: Where Are They Now?

Page 8

They Don’t Care

Page 9

MOTM is Almost Here

4

Register for MOTM ‘09

Page 15

FEMA and MCC

Page16

Call for Candidacy Papers

Page 17

Advertise in The MRF Reports

Page 18

Around the States

Page 20

Northern Arizona in the summertime...

The�MRF�does�not�endorse�any�products�or�services�other� than� i ts�own�product� l ine. �This�does�not�apply� to�pol i t ical �endorsements

Vol. �18, �No.�4� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �July/August�2009

Mototcycle Riders Foundation July/August 2009

Always Room for More

Kirk “Hardtail” Willard

MRF President

The engines are barely coolingoff on my V-Twin motorcycleshaving just completed a 3,500mile month, what a great way toemerge from the long winters ofnorthern Wisconsin. Includedwas a ride out to our first everand very successful Motorcycle

Riders Foundation (MRF) National Motorcycle Awareness Day inWashington D.C. known as the Michael “Boz” Kerr Memorial Bik-ers Inside the Beltway event held on the Capitol grounds. I amextremely pleased to say we had right at 100 motorcyclists in at-tendance representing 17 states. We completely filled up our al-lotted spaces for the event near the Capitol and most of ouroverflow parking between the Capitol and the Washington Mon-ument. I know if “wishes were horses all beggars would ride” butI do wish every one of our MRF and SMRO members could haveexperienced how cool it was to roll into D.C. early in the morningbefore the city came alive with the Washington Monument andthe U.S. Capitol in site and round the corner to see a long line ofbikes and bikers assembled and ready to celebrate National Mo-torcycle Awareness Day to be followed by hitting the Hill for a dayof lobbying their Congressional Members. It was even more grat-ifying to walk into the event to join fellow bikers representing Okla-homa, Colorado, and most of the Midwestern and Eastern states.A special call goes out to a strong showing from ABATE of Penn-sylvania, ABATE of Maryland, and as promised at the Beast ofthe East Conference a large group from ABATE of South Car-olina, the D.C. area may never be the same as these folks cer-tainly enjoyed themselves after the business of the MRF wascomplete. Several key motorcycling supportive members of Con-gress came out to join us and speak on behalf of and to promotemotorcycle awareness. The event kicked off with CongressmanNick Rahall (D-WV), the number two Democrat in the HouseTransportation and Infrastructure (T & I) Committee and Chair-man of the House Resources Committee addressing the group ofassembled riders. Additional keynote speakers included TomPetri (R-WI), a subcommittee chair of the House T & I Committee;Brad Ellsworth (D-IN); Judy Biggert (R-IL); and of course GabrielleGiffords (D-AZ), the co-chair of the House Motorcycle Safety Cau-cus and sponsor of House Resolution 269, the motorcycle safetyawareness bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Represen-

tatives. What a monumental event that carries with it great im-portance as we strive to further our presence and influence in ournation’s Capitol in a time of expanding governmental control.

I travel a great deal for the MRF, ABATE of Wisconsin, and my full-time job. Returning from one of these trips as I was heading intoa small town I saw motorcycle after motorcycle heading into aparking lot full of hundreds of bikes and it was raining cats anddogs so naturally I had to find out what was going on. As I enteredthe place I saw some ABATE State Motorcycle Rights Organiza-tion (SMRO) patches so I was secretly hoping I was heading intoan ABATE event. Come to find out it was one of the major bikercharity events held throughout the country each spring. I left andheaded over to the local bike shop, the kind that more often thannot has a history of supporting the local motorcycle rights com-munity because I needed, I think, my fourth motorcycle battery tostart the riding season. I took the opportunity to strike up a con-versation with the owner and inquired about the local ABATEchapter and how strong and active they were in the area. The re-sponse I got was disappointing. He said the meetings and eventswere sparsely attended and they always seemed to have cashflow issues yet a few miles away were over a hundred bikersdropping big money on a non-motorcycle related charity. As Iheaded back out to the big road, as I often do, I used the time toponder what I just experienced and came up with a few thoughts.First, let us never forget those of us that are SMRO members tobe an active participant in our local motorcycle rights organizationboth with meeting and event attendance and as important finan-cial support. Second, let us not forget the potential these nonmotorcycle charity events have as a place to promote motorcyclerights. I say that because many of the bikes in the lot were non-globally harmonized bikes modified and customized in some wayand a vast majority of riders were exercising their freedom ofchoice regarding the gear and apparel there they were wearing.These are a few of the examples we can touch and feel of whatwe stand and fight for every day, we need to make sure our fel-low riders understand and appreciate why they can do thesethings, it is on the back of a motorcycle rights freedom fighter,nothing else. Let’s stand tall and proud of our contributions toour freedom of the road and our lifestyle and loudly announcethere is always room for more in our movement.

Advertising in the MRF ReportsThe�MRF�Reports�reaches�approximately�5000

motorcyclists�six�times�a�year.�Even�more�visit

our�web�site�(www.mrf.org)�every�month�and�this

is�a�prime�location�to�get�the�word�out�about

your�product�or�service�to�motorcyclists.

Contact�Susan�Huttman�for�more�information.

[email protected] MRF President Kirk “Hardtail” Willard’s sidecar: proof he really

believes there is always room for more

July/August 2009 Mototcycle Riders Foundation

Right to Repair Reintroduced in U.S. HouseJeff Hennie

MRF Vice President

of Government Relations

Earlier this spring, in announcing the gov-ernment's blueprint for saving the BigThree automakers, President Obamasaid, "The United States government willstand behind your (car) warranty." Whileit's unlikely many car owners would trustthe federal government with an engine

overhaul, a bipartisan bill has just been introduced in the Houseof Representatives that would in fact make it cheaper and easierfor millions of consumers to have their cars repaired, the Right toRepair Act of 2009. While similar legislation has been introducedin previous Congresses but not voted on, it takes on additionalurgency in these tough economic times, especially with the clos-ing of many auto dealerships.

Currently some manufacturers only make diagnostic tools andsoftware available to their dealerships, severely limiting the uni-verse of repair opportunities. Enter HR 2057, introduced by Edol-

phus Towns (D-NY), would require car manufacturers make thetools and diagnostic information needed to repair their vehiclesavailable to independent repair shops, on the same basis as totheir dealer-operated shops. (The legislation expressly protectsmanufacturer trade secrets from public disclosure.) Its enactmentwould be a win for small business and for consumers at a timewhen both need a boost.

In addition, vehicles that are well maintained operate more effi-ciently, which means more fuel-efficient and cleaner cars andtrucks. Basic consumer choice in vehicle repairs means fair-mar-ket competition, which keep repairs affordable. This argumenthas resonated somewhat with Chairman Waxman whose com-mittee, US House Energy and Commerce, has jurisdiction overthe bill.

HR 2057 does have a greater likelihood of passage this Con-gress than others, however, it’s still got a long way to go beforebeing signed into law. At this point, it has 16 cosponsors and 18months before the Congress adjourns. No Senate bill exists. Thelegislation is somewhat controversial within the manufacturingcommunity and because of that it will likely stall in Congress.

Contact Your Congressman

U.S. Senate:You may phone the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly withthe Senate office you request.

U.S. House:You may phone the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly withthe House Representative office you request.

Information about your Federal, State and Local Senate andRepresentatives is also available from a link at the top of theMRF web site’s home page (www.mrf.org). You will need yourZip+4 number when running this search.

Jay Jackson Accepts Nomination and is

Voted In as the MRF’s Vice PresidentI fear that my communi-cations will not containthe same eloquence orpolitical history lessonsof "my good friend" Boz.Michael "Boz" Kerr pos-sessed such enthusi-asm, a remarkablegrasp of the politicalprocess and a vastknowledge of the "who'swho" in politics. I longcontended that weshould send Boz to ap-pear on Jeopardy as wecould fund the MRF foryears on his winnings

as long as the categories were politically based. It is unlikely thatwe will ever find anyone with his ability to motivate and inspire.

While I have agreed to fill the remainder of Boz's term as VicePresident, I know that no one can fill his shoes. We are gratefuland appreciative of the time Boz served on the MRF Board of Di-rectors and many of his ideals, concepts and goals are either inplace or in the works. The legacy of Michael "Boz" Kerr in themotorcyclists' rights movement is so extensive that it will benearly impossible to fully define.

As a member of the MRF Board, Boz was one of my mosttrusted and respected colleagues. I will miss his passion, dedica-

tion, professionalism, wit (albeit a bit dry), integrity, wisdom andfriendship. However, at the Bikers Inside the Beltway event onCapitol Hill I got the feeling he hasn't really gone anywhere andwill always be with us.

Ride Safe,

Jay Jackson


Jeff Hennie

MRF Vice President


The Consumer Product Safety Commis-sion (CPSC) voted on the issue of ban-ning sales of youth ATV’s andmotorcycles because of lead levels. Thecommission voted to keep the ban inplace; however, they did issue a two-year stay of enforcement of the ban.This stay of enforcement will allow man-

ufacturers and retailers of youth ATV’s and motorcycles to con-tinue building and selling the items. It also gives industry twoyears to comply with the new law, and if for some reason it’stechnologically feasible to manufacture a certain part with lesslead than allowed by law, industry will have a chance to make anargument to the CSPC.

The decision was made unanimously by the two-member safety

commission board. Both the acting Chairman, Nancy Nord andCommissioner Thomas Moore voted to deny the petition from in-dustry to completely overturn the ban and to issue the two-yearstay.

Both also cited the same reason for their vote, safety. Nord andMoore both claim “A bigger safety concern than lead exposure isthat the elimination of youth ATV sales will likely increase thenumber of adult ATV’s purchased to be used by younger chil-dren; therefore increasing risk of injury and death.”

Read the decision letter of the CPSC here:http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/ballot/ballot09/atvexclusion.pdf

Legislation does exist that would force the CPSC to exempt allyouth ATVs and motorcycles. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) has intro-duced HR 1587 and the bill has 35 co-sponsors to date. TheMRF encourages you to ask your Member of the US House toco-sponsor this important legislation.

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Update

Long-Time Freedom

Fighter Tom Gordon

of New Jersey Passed

Away on May 17thLong time Freedom Fighter Tom Gor-don of New Jersey passed away onMay 17th, 2009. Tom was the Leg-islative Coordinator for ABATE of theGarden State (New Jersey) and astaunch supporter of the MRF. Tomwas a fixture at MRF Conferencesand a frequent visitor with the MRF in

Washington D.C. and in fact had just returned from Bikers Insidethe Beltway.

Ride To Gettysburg; Steve Zurl (MRF Asst. PA Rep.), and late Lt.

Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll (PA)

The late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll (PA) shows off her hel-

met in the PA Senate Chamber with Charles Umbenhauer

(BikePAC Chairman and Lobbyist) and Steve Zurl (MRF Asst. PA

Rep.)

Parade of bikes to

the PA Capitol for

the Rights Rally


2009 Lifesavers ConferencePaulette Korte

MRF Corporate Secretary

The 27th annual Lifesavers Con-ference was held in NashvilleTennessee this year.

For anyone who has never at-tended one, this is put on by thenational government divisions forsafety advocates such asNHTSA, NTSB, DOT, and so on.

This is a national gathering of safety authorities to share what isgoing on in their respective departments. Folks who have re-ceived funding share what they used the funding for, and alsothey share trends and what changes they see for the future.

You might ask why a motorcycle interest? Well, motorcycling hasbecome a conversation piece over the years in many aspects.Helmets, road usage, enforcement, insurance, statistics, andother information applied to the motorcycling community.

Let’s talk about the vendor area for a moment. There is anythingand everyone from child advocates, bike helmets, interlock sys-tems, trucking, MADD, SADD, police, highway control, alcoholmonitoring, light systems, traffic signal, camera systems, NHTSA,MSF, and others - - get the picture? At each booth there is alwayssomething to take hom or sign up for to receive further informa-tion. When signing up at registration, you receive a large bag inwhich to haul all this home.

Break-out sessions on motorcycling included presentations aboutmotorcycle safety research. This included discussion on alcoholuse and skills impairment while intoxicated. Highlighted was atest study from 2006, whate the results were, and a future studyfor use in lowering the BAC level for motorcyclists.

Also in this session, discussion of brake usage and use of the in-terlock system on a motorcycle. This was presented by IIHS (In-surance Institute of Highway Safety) There was discussionabout braking systems used, determining brake usage, andcauses and effects related to these systems.

There was discussion also on the helmet usage states and whathas been applied by age groups and so on. This is old hat andwe all know what the history of helmet state usage has been.

Another break-out session was Motorcycles and Enforcement.There is a study and education being done by a group to educatelaw enforcement about motorcycling. It would be interesting tokeep an eye on this one to see if this is going to be a positive as-pect for law enforcement.

Reducing Alcohol & Other Impairments Among Motorcycle Riders:

This included presentations from Innocorp and the systems used

and offered to states for alcohol detection.

New Mexico gave a presentation on how they went about chang-ing the laws and how it affected the state and motorcycles. Whatan eye opener on how the law was written and passed. Wiscon-sin also gave the presentation on the Green-Yellow-Red projectused in the state.

Strengthening Motorcycle Helmet Safety Regulations

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 and where it is rightnow, with the usage of non-compliant or "novelty" helmets: Theage-old statistics are being used. The comment period is overand response to these individuals is happening now, with stan-dards to be changed in the "near future". Of course, the "near fu-ture" has been at upon us for at least a year now.

Other breakout sessions covered law, judicial, insurance, childsafety, seat belt, older drivers, working with local communities,advertising, and much more.

Session topics included Electronic Stability Control for cars, for-ward collision and lane departure warning systems. Increasingproper licensure among motorcycle riders was up and on theradar screen this year at the conference. Suggestions made thatthe SOS set up tasks forces to address this in each state.

As SSMRO organizations we should be present at these confer-ences whether they are in your own state or nationally to seewhat is going on and what is being presented.

Go to the Lifesavers website to get information on where the next3 conferences are going to be and get involved. Start saving upnow to attend. 2009 is in Pittsburg, PA, 2010 Phoenix, AZ, 2011Disney in Florida.

This is just a general summation of the activity going on at thisconference, if you want more information try to attend to get thedrift of the conference.

In closing, the points of interest are the helmet standard to bechanged; the long-awaited alcohol study update to be comingsoon so as to mandate BAC level for motorcyclists to be lowered;the helmet check list website for the general consumer to access;Police checkpoints to be set up to be motorcycle specific, and ed-ucation to be implemented towards law enforcement about motor-cyclists. And as always, to lower crashes and fatalities in theUnites States.

As always ride safe, ride soberPaulette KorteMRF Corporate Secretary


The Michael “Boz” Kerr Memorial


Bikers in Beltway Bonanza

The Michael “Boz” Kerr Bikers Inside the Beltway national mo-torcycle awareness day event took place last month and was asuccess on all fronts, but best of all, attendance was high andthe roads were dry.

The event, held on the grounds of the United States Capitol,was an opportunity to invite members of Congress to come outand talk motorcycle safety with some of their constituents. Thegroup of riders was addressed by Congressman Nick Rahall(D-WV). Rahall is the number 2 Democrat on the HouseTransportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee and theChairman of the House Resources Committee, Tom Petri (R-WI) a subcommittee chair of the House T&I committee, BradEllsworth (D-IN), Judy Biggert (R-IL), as well as Gabrielle Gif-fords (D-AZ) who is the co chair of the House motorcyclesafety caucus and sponsor of H Res 269, a motorcycle safetyawareness bill recently passed by the House.

The attendees were in the triple digits and represented 16 dif-ferent states in all. The high miler for this year was CharlesFletcher who rode out all the way from chilly Minnesota.

Thanks to every one who attended and supported this event.Photos and video will be on the MRF website soon.

ABATE of PA makes their presence known

with great numbers

Congressman Petri (R-WI) with MRF, ABATE of WI, and St.

Croix Valley Rider members

MRF V.P. of Government Relations, Jeff Hennie, astride his

ride

Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV) with MRF Office Manager

Tiffany

Bikers Inside the Beltway parking on U.S. Capitol grounds

Bikers Inside the Beltway overflow parking


The Michael “Boz” Kerr Memorial


Kirk “Hardtail” Willard and Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)

ABATE of Maryland

BIB attendees with Illinois Congresswoman Judy Biggert

MRF President Kirk "Hardtail" Willard, MRF VP Jay Jackson,

AMA Washington Representative Richard Podliska, MRF VP

Gov't Relations Jeff Hennie

BIB attendees head out to lobby their Congressional members

BIB attendees with West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall


MAFT – Safety, Education & Awareness

Rock Stars - Where are they now? Cindy Hodges

Member Representative

Board Member

At the Meeting of the Minds inDenver last September, we gavethe Motorcycle Awareness Foun-dation of Tennessee (MAFT), theMRF’s highest award for achieve-ment in the area of motorcyclesafety and awareness. With so

many organizations doing excellent work in the safety field, that’squite an accomplishment for an organization that’s only three yearsold. Thankfully, others who were already in high gear, such as ourfriends in Iowa, helped MAFT get started. We in the Biker Nation arefortunate in that there is such ego-less sharing of programs and ideas

We recently caught wind of more MAFT activities and decided tocheck in with State Coordinator Bob Edwards, and State Educationand Safety Coordinator Cindy Davidson to find out just what exactlythey’ve been up to since last year’s MOTM.

GEE. WOW.

MAFT does a lot of the same things many of us do. They set upbooths at county fairs and teach high school students to be aware ofmotorcyclists on the roads. They send representatives to the annualLifesaver’s Conference and are reportedly one of the conference’smost popular presenters. They’ve cultivated a stellar relationship withTennessee’s Governor’s Highway Safety Council.

After being exposed to MAFT at the Lifesaver’s Conference, a na-tional trucking firm, US Xpress, contacted them requesting the devel-opment a program to make their nation-wide fleet of drivers moreaware of motorcycles. The program that was developed has beenapproved by the TN Trucking Association and TN Dept. of Safety andis now being used in orientation and safety meetings for truckingcompanies across the state of Tennessee. US Xpress is now usingthe program in all their terminals across the nation. This programalso inspired MAFT to help re-write the Commercial Driver’s Licens-ing manual for Tennessee and it has been submitted for approval, atthe request of the Dept. of Safety. The Federal Motor Carrier SafetyAdministration has obtained the Campaign Save a Life commercialdrivers education program and it is under review in Washington rightnow. (Presently, the Feds have no motorcycle awareness informationin any of their materials)

Also while at the National Lifesavers Conference, MAFT was ap-proached by several different states about developing CampaignSave a Life and/or similar motorcycle awareness programs for them.Additionally, the U.S. Army is reviewing MAFT’s version of CampaignSave a Life for their use and a presentation is being prepared for theArmy’s Criminal Justice system.

In April of 2009, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force (at selected bases)began using MAFT’s “Telly” award-winning video “Shattered”. This isa powerful piece wherein MAFT members tell their own stories, intheir own words, about their lives after having their right-of-way vio-

lated while riding.

After presenting a session seminar about motorcycle awareness andaccident scene management at the Tennessee State Incident Man-agement Conference, MAFT was contacted by their state’s RegionalSafety Council. That organization is now passing out MAFT aware-ness materials in their classes. The Regional Safety Council over-sees the training for the government’s own drivers andcourt-mandated driver’s ed classes.

Also since the Denver Meeting of the Minds, MAFT has obtained aseat on the committee that is rewriting Tennessee’s State StrategicPlan with the Governor’s Highway Safety Council, the TN Dept. ofTransportation and the TN Dept. of Safety.

A program being used in Austin, Texas wherein motorcycles are beingused as EMS vehicles in disasters and large accident scenes reallygot MAFT members excited and they brought it to the attention ofTennessee officials. This idea was well-received and a formal pres-entation by MAFT and representatives from the Austin program willbe made later this year.

All MAFT programs are made available to all TN law enforcement andEMS personnel, free of charge.

MAFT partnered with the Suzuki Owners Club of North America fortheir 76-day, 76-city “Roadway Safety Awareness Tour” for their Ten-nessee leg of “Cruising for Change”.

On May 2, MAFT partnered with the Governor’s Highway Safety Of-fice and the TN Dept. of Safety for the “Share the Road” festival. Thisincluded a press conference, and a promotional ride to kick off Mayas Motorcycle Awareness Month. There are plans in the works tomake this an annual 3-day event.

Starting this year, at every Vanderbilt University home baseball game,two 60-second motorcycle awareness PSA ads (produced by MAFT)are aired on radio. They also have static and LED messages at thestadium. MAFT is now working with other Tennessee universities andcolleges to insert this into their sporting events.

Because of their fabulous track record, MAFT was awarded a$50,000 grant from the TN Dept. of Safety to be used to fund theirmotorcycle safety programs and awareness campaigns. They alsocontinue to work with the TN Governor’s Highway Safety office tooversee distribution of federal grant monies earmarked for motorcyclesafety and awareness programs. This year’s distribution to the stateof Tennessee is $108,000.

The latest project MAFT is working on is yet another partnering, alsowith TN’s Governor’s Highway Safety office. It involves working withNashville’s country singers and entertainment personalities who havegraciously donated their time to do awareness spots, videos, and ad-vertisements.

Talk about raising the bar!

MAFT, you ROCK!!!!http://www.maft.us/


They Don’t CareSteve Zimmer

MRFPac Director

I joined Freedom of the Roads Rid-ers in Missouri in 1983. Over theyears there is something I havefound to be the one inescapabletruth, They Don’t Care. You might bewondering ‘Okay Zim what’s you’repoint? Who doesn’t care?’

We fight for our rights, plain and sim-ple. Depending on what state you are from you may be fighting toprotect your freedom to choose; or fighting to gain your freedom ofchoice; you may be fighting to keep bureaucrats from confiscatingyour motorcycle because it’s too loud, or too polluting; you may befighting for the privilege of riding in a specific area, or riding at all.At the national level we fight to make sure employers don’t withholdthe health care we pay for just because we ride; we fight to maintainstates rights to decide the rules that govern their citizens; we fight tokeep bureaucrats from using our tax dollars to lobby against us; wefight to insure accuracy when the government bean counters gatherstatistics they then use to regulate us. We also know there are ahost of other reasons and causes for which we fight.

And then there are those who don’t care. Certainly the general pub-lic doesn’t care, they don’t ride it doesn’t affect them. Other mo-torists are too busy racing to soccer games and ballet lessons ortalking on their cell phones; it’s obvious they don’t care. Bureau-crats say they care but they are too busy perpetuating their own ex-istence and “doing their job”, do they really care? Legislators mustall get re-elected, most just follow the popular wind, they really don’tcare. I must be fair there are some elected officials that really docare about the same things we do, but that is a short list. Most ofthese people that don’t care are not bad people, they are caught upin their own lives and because life is what it is they don’t care for ourfight. It is entirely understandable particularly in these hard times,everything costs more, everyone is getting paid less and has to domore, unemployment looms as a scary possibility or a devastatingreality, free time is a prime resource that we guard jealously andgive away to only the most deserving of causes. And this is the lifewe live, the reality of our existence.

You might think we have covered it all but; there are some that don’tcare that are most troubling. Once again I have to say these are notbad people they are simply too caught up in their own lives to care.

Dealers and manufacturers are caught up in making the bottom line.Profit and, by extension, earning a living are their ultimate concern.In these hard economic times it is understandable but they aremissing an important point, the rights we fight for will help them withtheir pursuit and continued existence. They ought to, but many ofthem just don’t care.

The general motorcycling public rides down the road oblivious to thefact that they are in danger of losing the their motorcycle or the abil-ity to travel the roads on their chosen mode of transportation. Wehave called them “free riders” in the past because they ride on thefreedoms we have fought for, they don’t care that others have

fought for years to protect them and their right to ride. Many ofthem don’t know anything about the fight, they haven’t been in-formed of the where’s, why’s, and how’s, that’s our job. Unfortu-nately, many of them just don’t care.

Now we come to the group of people that are most troubling, thoseinside the motorcyclist rights movement that don’t care. What is sadis that these folks actually took a step forward; they joined theirState Motorcyclist Rights Organization, SMRO, or even joining theMRF at the national level. Many had the best of intentions whenthey joined; to protect their rights; to work for motorcycle safety; tohelp with fund raising for the organization or community charities; orjust to help wherever they were needed. Some rise to the leader-ship of their organization, but they get caught up in the day to dayaffairs and forget the reason for their joining, it’s not that they don’tcare they are just sort of confused. Others joined just to get into theparties and events, they don’t really care because when asked towrite a letter or step up to help with some task they are convenientlybusy, or it’s not their area of expertise, or their pet guppy lost it’sfeathers. Then we have those who get involved because they seean opportunity. It may be a chance to gain some financial advan-tage; perhaps the chance is more personal they view it as a way tobecome, as my mother used to say, “a big fish in a little pond”, theydon’t care unless it will help with their self promotion; some join, paytheir dues and figure ‘well I’ve done my part, I’m not going to doanything else, some one else can do it’, they don’t really care.

There are a couple of groups that are important to mention becausethey deserve special attention. There is a group that says ‘Whatelse can I do?’ They don’t believe in themselves or their ability tohave an effect, these folks care but they lack the confidence to act,these folks need someone to provide them with the tools to gain theconfidence and knowledge to act, and the understanding that wecan all make a difference. They care but they need help.

The last group should be the ones we are most concerned about,they are the ones who care the most but for some reason or anotherthey seem to not care anymore. These people gave and gave andgave until they burned out, in their hearts I’m sure they still care.They lead, they followed, they worked until there was nothing left togive and now they have disappeared, faded to the sometimes for-gotten past. A few of these people we have remembered for theirdedication and commitment, others we ignored once their useful-ness was over, and some we didn’t even know were there until theywere gone and something wasn’t getting done, and most all of themwe let slip into obscurity.

The question now lies with you, “Do you care?” Are you one ofthose that don’t care at all and are content to be a free rider and letsomeone else do the work? Do you not care because you justdon’t know what to do? Then step up and let people know you arewiling to learn. Don’t care because you have given up, come backto the fire and rekindle the passion you once had. And if you areone of those that are here for personal gain, or a title, we wish youthe best of luck, you will soon move on to the Corvette club or someother group.

Are you going to be able to look back and say I did everything Icould because I care?


Crash Causation Pilot Study Results and

Federal Motorcycle Council Convenes Jeff Hennie

MRF Vice President


The much anticipated preliminary re-sults of the Crash Causation Study pilotstudy were released last month. Just afew tidbits of early data were revealedsuch as after launching on 53 crashesthey were left with complete data forjust 23 due to refusals to participate orno injury sustained etc. The methodol-

ogy is a 1700 point data collection process with a double controlfunction.

That means after collecting the 1700 different data points on aqualifying crash the investigators go out to the scene of the crashone week later at the same time of day and ask for volunteer mo-torcyclists riding by to pull over and answer some questionsabout why they think they didn’t crash. To simply collect the datafrom this process runs $ 7,507. That is less than the $10,000 es-timate that has been rumored but that number doesn’t includethe data crunching, reporting and the many other administrativecosts.

The full study is still laboring away with funding problems but thefeds have promised that a study will be done. It may not be aslarge as everyone had hoped but they have vowed to do some-thing.

The study was mandated by Congress at the request of the AMAand included in the last highway bill signed into law august 2005(PL 109 59).

FHWA MAC

The FHWA MAC met for its semi annual meeting May 7th. This isthe first meeting for the groups new Designated Federal Official(DFO), Mike Griffith. Griffith is a career government transporta-tion official spending much time in the statistics and engineeringfields and he held up well for his first meeting with the MAC.

The council is comprised of rider groups, private sector engi-neers and government officials and meets to analyze every as-pect of the nation’s transportation infrastructure and critiqueareas that impact motorcycles. The recommendations are thendelivered to the Secretary of Transportation for consideration.

The council spent a lot of time hearing about the upcoming na-tional traveler opinion and perception survey. The MAC wastasked with developing questions concerning motorcycles andmotorcyclists to be included in the random survey of 5000 Ameri-cans.

Also it was revealed that the Intelligent Transportation Office atDOT has adopted an “all weight vehicles” approach to includemotorcycles and the heaviest highway users.

Another noteworthy item was the announcement from the Trans-portation Research Board of a study titled “factors related to seri-ous injury and fatal motorcycle crashes with traffic barriers” dueout late 2011.

Read more about the charter, minutes, mission statement andmembers of the FHWA MAC on the web.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/mac/

Motorcycle Safety Month Bill

Passes U.S. HouseLast month the United StatesHouse of Representativespassed House Resolution 269.The bill “supports the goals ofMay is motorcycle safetymonth”.

The bill was introduced byGabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) andDr. Michael Burgess (R-TX)both of whom also chair the USHouse motorcycle safety cau-cus. Congresswoman Giffordshad this to say in the Housechamber the day of the vote;“H. Res. 269 also serves as areminder to all riders and mo-

torists to always share the roadrespectfully. I have been ridingand racing motorcycles for over20 years—so the issue of mo-torcycle safety is of great im-portance to me. I also want totake this opportunity to thankthe Motorcycle Industry Coun-cil, the American MotorcyclistAssociation, and the MotorcycleRiders Foundation for all thatthey do to support motorcy-clists.”

We thank Mrs. Giffords and Dr.Burgess for the commitment tomotorcycle safety.


Mike Berger

MRF Asst. Rep, Minnesota

When was the last time you spent a while observing some-thing? Take bird watching for example. You can sit yourselfdown in a chair, maybe in a park, maybe in your own back yard,and watch all manner of birds flit about. They come and go,some landing, some feeding. You can count the number ofthem, make record of the various species, note what each iseating or where you think their nests might reside. As I said –observing.

Now try to be aware of the same birds. Try to feel a senseof why they behave the way they do. Why is it that they flaretheir feathers as they come into the feeder? Why do some hoparound in a group while others maintain a solitary perch, seem-ingly caught up in their own birdie thoughts? Why does thenuthatch hang upside down on the trunk of the nearby willowtree while the redwing blackbirds congregate together, all puffedup and trilling from the tops of the tree branches?

The cool thing about awareness is that, the more you prac-tice it, the more you gain understanding of the thing that you’retrying to be aware of. Behaviors start to make sense. Patternsemerge. Understanding sets in, and, if you’re lucky, you beginto feel as one with the very things that brought about yoursense of awareness.

The same holds true with us motorcyclists. How many mo-torists simply observe us? They can no sooner fathom why weride as they could what lies at the bottom of the ocean. Theysimply see us darting around on the road, flitting to and fro likechrome- and leather-encrusted birds (albeit rather large andnoisy ones), and they neither care about us nor about our

habits. They have no awareness.

But on the rare occasion when a motorist attempts to beaware of us, the picture changes. They start to see us as morethan an obstacle on the road, more than an annoyance. Theybegin to see us as fellow travelers, others who deserve respectand attention. They learn that there are rhymes and reasons tothe way we ride, and they slowly come to know us for who wetruly are.

When was the last time that you helped a motorist becomeaware of you as a motorcyclist? I’m not talking about the lasttime you rapped your pipes or hit the horn to gain some soccermom’s attention. I’m talking about the last time you engaged anon-rider in a friendly conversation about your bike.

Ever notice some car driver stealing glances at you whileyou’re filling up with gas? Take a moment to say howdy, to flasha friendly smile and to answer any questions that “observer”may have. Sure, their first question may be something like,“Aren’t motorcycles dangerous?” But once you get past thoseearly-on roadblocks, you may be able to shine a little light onyour motorcycling world for them, and as a result, change themfrom a state of mere observance to one of awareness.

Awareness doesn’t come from brightly colored vests, retro-reflective materials, large flashy signs or bumper stickers thatplead the cause. Instead, it comes from each of us as we inter-act with the world around us. The more we strive to impart atrue sense of who we are to those that cross our paths, themore likely it is that we can change the world in which we live.You may not be able to immediately observe that change, but ifyou stop and watch carefully enough, you might be aware of it.

The View Past the HandlebarsSeeing – and Being Seen: Awareness can bring a sense

of understanding that mere observance cannot achieve.


Send Your Media Contacts!Please!

Direct your media contacts to me [email protected] if you have it, I’d like name ofmagazine/blog/ezine/radio or television show, owner/ed-itor name, snail mail address, business phone, business

fax, email, web URL, and any other information youmight have.

Local, state, national… you name it. I’d like to have it.

And thank you!

FREE! To all M.R.O. members worldwide! All M/C Rights members and public are welcome.

*** 26th ANNUAL *** A.B.A.T.E. SOCIAL HOUR

Hosted by A.B.A.T.E. of South Dakota

Thursday Aug. 6th 12pm-5pm at the Whitewood City Park 7 miles west of Sturgis on I-90, take Exit 23, look for signs

INFORMAL MOTORCYCLIST’S RIGHTS WORLDWIDE GATHERING

Unity of Motorcycle Rights Organizations for your Freedom

Prices at the gate: ALL MRO & SMRO (ABATE, MRF, etc.) MEMBERS GET IN FREE! Must show current MRO card at the gate!

ALL OTHERS…….....…$10

Have a relaxing afternoon with A.B.A.T.E. of South Dakota hospitality and away from the crowds! FREE REFRESHMENTS, POP AND BEER!


There Oughta Be A LawGraydon WheelerState Reps Board Member

A friend of mine at work once made the comment, "There oughtabe a law that anyone elected to public office should be forced towear clown shoes".

The snow melted enough for me to make it out to the paved roadand go for a ride. While riding, I gave his statement somethought. Shall we make politicians wear clown shoes to see ifthey're passionate enough about the job to be willing to withstandpublic humiliation, or make them wear the shoes because of howmost of them act?

What is it about our legislators that causes them to think that thefirst thing they need to do upon achieving office, is to create morelaws? Is it because this is the only way they can show the folksat home that they are earning their salary? I have an idea: paythem a salary with a sum deducted for every law they pass. Con-versely, we could give them a bonus for every law repealed.

I'm kinda libertarian in my needs from my government: Securethe borders and fix the roads.. That's all I ask.

Now I'm not saying all laws are bad, it's just, when is enoughenough? Have you ever tried to read and understand all the lawsfor your city/state/country? Seriously, try it sometime.

Problem is, whenever someone does something stupid, some-one else thinks, "There oughta be a law".

Whenever a motorcyclist is involved in an accident, the firstquestion usually asked: "Was he wearing a helmet? No? Thereoughta be a law!" Doesn't matter that the cyclist was cut off at anintersection and walked away with nothing more than a little roadrash, someone will always think "If he was forced to wear a hel-met, it would have been better for him". Never mind the driver ofthe car that caused the accident.

But as I ride and watch others riding, I sometimes think abouthow your average citizen sees us. I love to leave an intersectionat times with more throttle than necessary, simple because Ienjoy the deep-throated rumble that I control. However, some-where out there may be Joe Citizen, annoyed by the sound of myride, thinking how he should contact one of his elected officialsabout the noise of my bike because, "There oughta be a law".

So I've learned to be aware of my surroundings when I feel theneed to show off.

Have you ever watched some of the sport bikes as they do afront wheel stand as they come to a stop? Impressive when doneproperly. I know I don't dare try it lest I leave a mark in the pave-ment of my rugged features. But as they are doing this, espe-cially if they make a mistake and go down, someone will observeand think - you know the phrase by now - "There oughta be alaw".

Ever watch someone do burnouts with their bike on a publicsteet? Drag race? Chat on their phone? (I have seen that one!)

One of the image problems bikers have is that if one of us doessomething foolish, then we all are doing something foolish. Andall it takes is one upset citizen combined with an over-zealouspolitician armed with a statistical anomaly, and we're off fightinganother unjust, ill-conceived law.

I get bothered whenever I see the pilot of a small plane buzzing aneighbor's house trying to impress somebody. Because I knowthat because of his actions, I'll probably find the FAA doing rampchecks at the airport the next time I want to rent a plane. Butthat's a shared similarity pilots and bikers have: One of us didsomething stupid so we all must be doing that.

I guess the point of this rant is ask that you try to be aware of theimage that you project to the masses. It doesn't help our causewhen someone on a bike feels the need to impress those thatare watching, and impresses them badly.

I'd hate to think that the day may come that we lost our freedombecause somewhere a politician said, "There oughta be a law".


Bikers Inside the Beltway (even more)

MOTM is Almost HereTodd Riba

Director of State

Representative Program

I would like to start off bythanking all of you that at-tended the Best Of The WestConference. It isn’t alwayseasy to commit a full weekendto hang out in a hotel but it isimportant for us to get togetherto talk about the motorcycle

rights movement. I would also like to thank all of the volunteersthat helped make the conference possible, it takes a huge effortand a lot of dedication to put one of these conferences on. I amstarting to find out just how much work it is to put on a confer-ence. I am a member of the Meeting Of The Minds 09 planningcommittee and I have to tell you that the committee membersare working hard to make sure MOTM 09 is a huge success, socome on up and see us in warm and sunny Minnesota thisSeptember.

We will have a Reps meeting again at MOTM so now is thetime for all of us to start thinking about what topics we aregoing to discuss at the meeting. Also we will have elections forthe State Reps Board Member positions once again. If you area State Rep and you are interested in a position contact Dave

Dwyer or me. This meeting is real important for the Reps pro-gram; it really is the only opportunity that we have to get mostof the Reps in a room at one time. If you are in town on theWednesday before the conference the Reps Growth Commit-tee will be meeting and it would be a big help to have a fewReps in attendance to offer their opinions.

Now I just want to touch on the MRF’s financial situation a bit.Last year at Meeting Of The Minds in Denver we put out a callto the Reps to help increase our membership by 1,200 by thenext MOTM in Bloomington. It doesn’t look like we’re going tomeet that goal, however our membership numbers have in-creased nicely and I firmly believe the Reps were the drivingforce behind that increase. The MRF budget is in much bettershape, however we are not out of the woods by any means.This will be a topic of discussion in Bloomington, as a matter offact there will be a Treasurers update at one of the general ses-sions, so hopefully we will ride away from MOTM 09 informedand ready to right the ship.

In closing, I just can’t say thank you to the Reps enough times,your dedication and service is very much appreciated. Thestreet riders in this country are riding on your gas and youshould be proud of that.

Until next time, ride safe and take care and I hope to see all ofyou in Bloomington in September.

ABATE of Pennsylvania State Legislative Coordinator Tom

Christofes, JR, State Coordinator Kevin Snyder, Hardtail ABATE of Pennsylvania members

ABATE of PA MRF State Rep. Lynn Wesley, Kevin Snyder, Tom

Christofes, Jr.


September 24th–27th, 2009Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, Minneapolis, MN

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PRESS RELEASE:

From the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA)

10 June 2009

Guardrails: CEN members give priority to details

rather than saving lives

Last week, CEN’s technical committee on road equipment(TC226) held its annual meeting in Berlin. The draft standardwhich would make guardrails safer for motorcyclists was noton the agenda for adoption. Too many comments received.FEMA will push again this issue at the next sub-committeemeeting (TG1) in September!

The Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations(FEMA) is sad to announce that its efforts to get the draft stan-dard for motorcycle-friendly guardrails adopted in 2009 havenot been successful. The draft proposal, based on the Spanishstandard, has not been submitted for the formal voting in Tech-nical Committee 226, which met on Thursday and Friday lastweek in Berlin, due to more than a hundred comments re-ceived.

One may reasonably ponder the reasons behind such anamount of comments over an existing standard with proven ef-ficiency records, also used by several other countries in theirnational efforts to find a solution for motorcyclists hitting crashbarriers. Indeed, every stakeholder around the table is defend-ing different interests in the development of the standard, or in-deed non-development, and economic interests at stake arenot negligible.

FEMA’s General Secretary, who has actively participated in thepreparation of the draft, says: “I believe some CEN participants

tend to forget the reality behind the objective. Some partici-pants are trying to minimize the problem while some othersonly focus on detailed technical criteria in order to have thebest standard at first shot. But the truth is that motorcyclistsare being killed sliding on roads in the meantime. And to thosewho complain that this issue is a minor problem consideringthe number of motorcycles in comparison to other vehicles, Iwould like to strongly remind them of one very essential princi-ple in road safety: whatever minority or majority of road users itis about, in no way should the safety of some endanger the lifeof others! FEMA wouldn’t have spent 20 years of energy andmotorcyclists’ money if this was not a real issue!”

FEMA supports the draft standard proposal as it is. Any otherimpact configurations and/or technical improvements of theproposed standard should be considered at a later stage.FEMA members will not accept that 20 years of efforts raisingawareness and financing FEMA’s work on the issue will simplydeserve vertical archiving for whatever interests behind.

The next TC266 sub committee (TG1) meeting is expected totake place sometime in September. FEMA will propose to splitcomments received into 2 categories: those that can be con-sidered for this version of the standard and those to be ana-lyzed once the standard has been adopted, hopefully not laterthan 2010.

NEWS FROM:

The Motorcycle Confederation of Canada

7th Annual Dead Zone Dual-Sport Motorcycle Ride

The premier annual dual-sport motorcycle event in British Co-lumbia is named after a series of challenging trails in theOnion Lake Riding Area west of Spences Bridge. We antici-pate almost 200 participants on the first Saturday of July, whowill enjoy a day ride through the spectacular ‘Gold Country’ re-gion.

The Dead Zone event will be based out of the village ofSpences Bridge, British Columbia. This is on Highway 1 in theFraser Canyon, less than 4 hours north of Vancouver and theUS border.

Pre-Registration by June 16, 2009 will be strictly enforced.

DualSportBC is a web-based motorcycle club with more than

2,000 members; the majority of whom are BC residents. Dual-sport or ‘adventure’ motorcycles differ from traditional dirt-bikesin that they are ridden by licensed operators, insured and li-censed for use on public roads. So with appropriate tires andpreparation, a dual-sport motorcyclist is not limited to ridinghis/her bike on asphalt, and is able to explore the fabulousback-country of our province.

DualSportBC promotes safe, legal and low-impact use of trailsand forest roads, in harmony with ranchers, loggers, mountainbikers, horseback riders, hikers and other motorized trailusers.

Please visit www.DualSportBC.com to learn more about thisevent and our other activities; ultimately we hope that you andyour customers will ‘Come for a Ride with Us’.


Second Call For Candidacy Papers

For MRF Board of DirectorsThis is the second call for candidacy papers from the ElectionsCommittee of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation for candidatesfor our Board of Directors. The Elections Committee is DaveDwyer, chairman, Cindy Hodges, Thomas J. “Doc Ski” Wasileskiand Graydon Wheeler. Contact information for all BOD membersis listed in this issue of the MRF Reports and on our website;www.mrf.org. If you would like any information on the duties ofthe open positions please contact any of the Elections Commit-tee members.

All positions on the MRF BOD are two-year terms, with alternat-ing election cycles. Our Executive Officers, President, Vice Presi-dent, Secretary and Treasurer are elected by the BOD at theMeeting of the Minds BOD meeting, with Vice-President andSecretary up this year. We also have three Administrative posi-tions up for election this year, Communication Director, Rider Ed-ucation Director and Conference Director. The MRF ElectionsCommittee is charged with finding candidates to run for these po-sitions. These members are also nominated and elected by theBOD.

The MRF BOD has six At-Large positions elected by our mem-bers by ballot. The first is the Member Representative. These twoBOD members represent the general members of the MRF onour BOD. Ballots are to be printed in the Nov-Dec issue of theMRF Reports and all Individual, Individual Sustaining, and JointMembers are eligible to vote by mail for this position. This yearthe position up for election is vacant.

If you would wish to run for this position, your Candidacy Papersmust be submitted to the MRF office in Washington D. C. prior toJuly 31, 2009. These will be published in the Sept-Oct issue ofthe MRF Reports. Your other option to become a candidate forthis position is to gather the signatures of 50 MRF members ingood standing on a petition and submit that to the ElectionsCommittee prior to the end of the Meeting of the Minds. To be eli-gible you must have been an MRF member for at least one yearby the time of the election. The winning candidate will be seatedat the January 2010 MRF BOD meeting.

Our next At-Large position is State Representative BOD member.In this position you bring the concerns and needs of the StateReps to the BOD. The position up for election this year is vacantdue to the resignation of Lynn Oldenberg for personal reasons.

If you are a State Rep and are interested in this position youneed to have your candidacy papers into the MRF Office by Au-gust 20, 2009. Copies of all Candidacy Papers will be mailed toall State Reps by Sept 1, 2009. The election will be by the StateReps during the Reps Meeting at MOTM. To be eligible for thesepositions you must have been a State Rep for at least one yearprior to the date you will assume office, the January 2010 MRFBOD meeting.

The last At-Large position is the Sustaining State Motorcyclist

Rights Organization BOD member. This year the position held byThomas “Doc Ski” Wasileski is up for election. “Doc Ski” has indi-cated that he will most likely not be seeking another term due tohealth reasons. If you wish to run for this position, you need tosubmit your candidacy papers to the MRF Washington DC officeby the first Friday following MOTM, October 2nd this year. Ballotswith copies of the candidacy papers will be mailed to all eligibleSustaining State Motorcycle Rights Organizations by Oct. 9 andwill be due back at the MRF Washington DC office by Dec. 15th.

As per MRF bylaws; “Each supporting state motorcyclists’ rightsorganization shall have one vote for each position which shall becast by its highest elected officer. Any organization open to mem-bership on a statewide basis may choose to participate in theelection of Supporting State Motorcyclists’ Rights OrganizationsBoard Members. State Organizations wishing to do so must meetthe following qualifications: A) Having previously been recog-nized by the MRF as a supporting SMRO, or B) Having existedas a viable functioning entity for at least two years prior to thetime of voting; be in support of the MRF’s purposes and be asustaining member of the MRF for the year in which they chooseto vote. If the MRF BOD questions the status of a viable function-ing entity for at least two years, articles of incorporation shall suf-fice. Recognition once given may be withdrawn only by ¾ votesof the members of the Board of Directors ...”

With the current financial position of the MRF we would expectthat all candidates would work with their SMRO to have their ex-penses, such as travel and lodging needed for BOD meetingsand other requirements of their position covered by their SMRO,or that they are in a position to self fund these expenses if theyare elected. Expenses will include travel and lodging for twoBOD meetings, the third BOD meeting will be conducted by tele-conference again next year. Attendance at our Meeting of theMinds Conference and one of the Regional Conferences, eitherBEAST of the East of BEST of the West, is also a part of the job.BOD members do not have to pay the Registration fees for theseConferences, but must pay for their Banquets.

Email is the preferred form for submission of candidacy papers.Please note “Candidacy Paper” in the subject line. The addressis [email protected]. You may submit your candidacy papers forany of these positions by mail if you desire to; Motorcycle RidersFoundation, 236 Massachusetts Ave., NE #510, Washington DC20002. Please mark “Candidacy Paper” on the outside of the en-velope. All Candidacy Papers must be received by the deadlinelisted above for the position you are interested in running for.Your Candidacy Papers should include which position you aredeclaring your candidacy for, your SMRO and/or other experi-ence, positions currently and previously held and any other perti-nent information you feel would further your chances of success.


News from CMT/ABATE of TennesseeMAY IS MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS MONTH -

EFFORTS EXTEND THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER

Carol Simpson

MRF State Rep

Through a massive volunteer effort of Concerned Motorcyclists ofTennessee/American Bikers Active Toward Education(CMT/ABATE) the message of May is Motorcycle AwarenessMonth is being spread across the state. Along with a generousgrant from the Motorcycle Rider Education Fund of the Ten-nessee Department of Safety, litter bags are being delivered toall 13 Welcome Centers in the state, for distribution throughoutthe summer months. The message imprinted on the bright yel-low plastic bags reads “LOOK TWICE, SAVE A LIFE, BIKERSARE DYING TO BE SEEN!”

Local charters of CMT/ABATE are staging motorcycle rides todeliver the bags to the Tennessee Welcome Centers, with photoops available to all media sources.

An additional feature of the Litter Bag Project is local distribu-tion of thousands of the bags to local businesses and events. If

your entity is interested in giving these free items to your cus-tomers/attendees to events, please contact Carol Simpson (seeabove) to connect with a nearby CMT/ABATE charter.

Another project of the grant is screen advertising in major mar-ket theaters across the state for the next 14 weeks.

The kickoff event for these projects is the presentation of HouseJoint Resolution 92, brought by Rep. Judd Matheny of Tullahoma(District 47) during the Floor Session on May 21. Joining Rep.Matheny in the well will be motorcyclists from across the state,Department of Safety Rider Education Program Director JohnMilliken and Assistant Commissioner of Department of TourismPhyllis Qualls-Brooks.

CMT/ABATE, Inc. State Director Tom Quaranto enthusiasticallycommented, “Our great working relationship with the Depart-ment of Safety is much appreciated, and we hope the applicationof this grant will result in less motorcycle crashes, and moresaved lives.”

Advertising in The MRF REPORTSEric Hampton

MRF Director of Communications

Several months ago, the Communications Department of theMRF received approval from the Board of Directors to initiate anadvertising program in the MRF Reports.

After much gnashing of teeth and (greatly appreciated) gratislegal work, we eventually came up with a contract - after wepolled our Sustaining Members and Sustaining State MROs as towhat should be allowed and what should be disallowed.

The final tally included these exclusions:

o No advertisements from politicianso No advertisements from attorneyso No advertisements from insurance companieso No advertisements from alcohol & tobacco industrieso No advertisements from the adult entertainment industry

Granted, without attorneys’ advertising, ad space moves pretty

slowly in the motorcycle rights arena. However, I want to appealto all of our Sustaining Members and Sustaining State MROs tostep up and put their proverbial “money where their mouth is”...

approach companies and organizations (other than those

listed) and convince them to advertise in the MRF Reports.

Blinders were placed on my Communications team by our sus-taining membership - in a manner of speaking - so we’re needingyour help to find our way funding our newsletter.

Advertising rates are reasonable - considering that this paperreaches a little more than 5,000 motorcyclists, world-wide, sixtimes a year. Contact Susan Huttman at [email protected].

To get a copy of the MRF advertising Contract - including ratesand all the details - download it here:

http://mrf.org/pdf/MRF_AdvertisingContract.pdf

Sound like a personal challenge? You better believe it.Oh yeah... thank you.


Common Civility: Where Has it Gone?Lynn Oldenburg

Maryland MRF State Rep

Do you recall any acts of common civility displayed recently?

If you have, then I would guess you can probably also recall theparticulars of the incident.

If you are one of the fortunate recipients of this tiny blessing, I’malso wagering that you are one of those folks kind enough tohave passed it forward as well.

Unfortunately, for far too many of us, it’s a very rare componentof our daily lives. We’re much more often subjected to rude andhostile behavior.

There just seems to be too much focus on oneself and one’s owndesires above any others’needs, for people to take thetime to be kind, both to otherroadway users and to oneself,and spend a second to checkbefore pulling out into road-ways, intersections and mergeareas. Far simpler and certainlysafer for all concerned to slowdown to a complete stop beforefinding oneself dealing with theaftermath of a traffic nightmare,a crash in which someone is se-verely injured or killed.

It seems the mainstream mediafocuses mostly on the negative,because that’s what sells, whatever form the sale may take, fromads in the newspaper, on radio and television, etc. Unfortunatelyfor those of us in the motorcycling community, this usually meansseeing our lifestyle getting that dramatic two to three second dis-play of machismo on two wheels, yes, I mean the wheelies downthe highway between lanes of traffic at times, or the remains of amotorcycle after a fatal accident on the evening news or thephoto in the paper or magazine.

This has the effect on the non-motorcycling community of a glassof ice cold water being thrown in their faces. It’s too shocking andscary to consider anything but that one image of disrespect, devilto you all, death and mayhem on our roads.

Unless those of us in the motorcycling family can establish a rap-port with the mainstream media and get our side equal time forall the good works our brothers and sisters do in our daily lives,we will never sway the general public that we’re not all out thereon two wheels spreading fear and danger to all who cross ourpaths.

Our family extends even to those young enough and foolish

enough to be out on two wheels doing fool-hardy and dangerousstunts on our public roadways to display their skills.

We can’t reach all of our newer members, any more than all ofyou can reach that cousin, sibling or other member of your familywho’s gotten out of control and is out causing harm to your ownfamily circles. But that doesn’t mean that we throw out the babywith the bathwater, does it? We just have to continue trying to es-tablish a dialog with the younger generation of riders out there,hard as it is to persist at times. We do share a common love ofmotorcycles.

I’ve got to profess that I am not above the fray in trying to sellsomething. I’ve nearly always got some ABATE raffle tickets onmy person, just ask the folks I see in Annapolis on Monday nightwhile we lobby our elected officials on our bills, or the people Isee while waiting in most any line I happen to find myself in.

But what I do have a hardtime with is what seems thesale of liberty and freethought in so many aspects ofour lives, to those who feel itis their duty to take over fromour parents to ensure ourevery waking moment andthose spent sleeping as well,are done in strictest safety,from what they view is dan-ger, death and or mayhem..

I take exception to that notionof a totally safe life.

For I believe growth comes only at the price of risk, be it safefrom broken hearts in affairs of love, financial risk in monetary af-fairs, or spiritual affairs of one’s soul, if that is one’s belief.

For me, life is far too short to spend so much of it in contentiousendeavors, such as legal battles and matters of the legislature.And yet, here I am spending what is my most precious commod-ity, time, to speak with you today about these bills dealing withmy number two passion, motorcycling.

In case you are wondering about number one, it’s my family,many of whom are also avid motorcyclists. When I speak of myfamily, I speak of the entire family of humans, both here andabroad, who are motorcyclists.

For many of us, motorcycles are our only means of transporta-tion. For many of us, that second of kindness can mean life ordeath.

Please pass the Right-of-way bill and the Night-time awarenessbill.


Around the StatesArkansasConnie ShepherdMRF State Rep

Arkansas' legislative sessionended the second week in May.The only way to bring the legisla-tive session back would be for2/3's majority vote of both houses.We don't see anything coming upthat would bring them back in ses-sion.

Our beginning riding season hasbeen a very wet one. In April, itseemed to have rained just abouteveryday. The beginning of Mayhas brought on more rain. This was the fate of the ABATE StateRally that was held on May 1st-3rd. This was the first rally thestate has put on in a couple of years. The Districts were verygenerous and donated money to cover ALL the expenses so thatthe State could benefit from the rally. Even though it rained andrained those that made the trek up to Marble Falls, had a greattime!! Usually it's always a good time when your with a bunch oflike minded people!! So if you didn't make the rally this time,make plans to make it next year, rain or shine!!

The Hub had indoor facilities with room to do a lot of the peoplegames, and boy were they interesting!!!! Congrats to all the win-ners of the state rally events!!

The ABATE Districts have managed to hold their events thru allthe rain. And the summer is FULL of places to ride with things todo!!

ABATE's SSFE (Safer Streets For Everyone) program is under-way with volunteer members across the state presenting thisclass to the different age levels. If you are a member of ABATEof Arkansas, and want to present thisclass on motorcycle awareness, orknow of a group that would benefitfrom this class contact Patti Elzey [email protected] or 501-843-1139. She has packets that includea color CD and all corresponding pa-pers for each presentation. Thiscourse is divided into lessons forupper elementary, junior and seniorhigh students and then Patti devel-oped an "information lecture" to bepresented in club meetings such asKiwanis, Lions Club, AARP, etc. Iwill be presenting this class at the Mid-South MILE in Oct.

I would like to remind everyone, if you haven't had a riders edclass in a couple of years, please consider taking one this year.

The life you save could be your own. ABATE of Arkansas offersthe Basic and Experienced Rider Ed courses. Contact TomWewers at 501-778-8678. And the last note on getting educated,

ABATE promotes The MotorcycleAwareness Foundation ofArkansas (MAF) which givesclasses on what to do if someone"goes down" that you are ridingwith. They have a new trainingcenter in Franklin, AR.

There are some nice roads to ridein this area of the state, they offerweekend classes with SaturdayNite dinner and Sunday morningbreakfast included in the cousefee. You can contact them at 501-

940-9785.

Have a great summer, get educated and.......

Ride Safe, Ride Free,Connie

CaliforniaTim TennimonMRF State RepInformation by Jim Lombardo & John Palowado

Our helmet repeal bill AB 1205, authored by Assemblyman DanLogue, was heard and voted on April 20th after our testimonyand that of the opposition the score card was 4 ayes and 4 Nays.The bill was on call for 4 hours but finally the rest of the No votestrickled in and the final ended up 7 to 4 and AB1205 will beturned into a two year bill. That means we have until next Janu-ary to change two No votes to Yes votes.

Riders who attended the Rally then went to the state capitol andlobbied the Transportation Commit-tee to vote for our repeal bill, AB1205, did double duty by visitingSenators’ offices to lobby for the de-feat of the bill to smog test motorcy-cles, SB 435.

As it stands as of this writing, SB435 has been passed to the Assem-bly as a SMOG CHECK BILL on theverbal promise to amend but hasnot yet been fulfilled. It would appear that it may go so far as to in-clude all 3 (smog check, noise, and

catalytic converter with random pull over inspection thrown in forgood measure). ABATE of CA is asking all out of state motorcy-clists to contact the Chairman of the Assembly TransportationCommittee, Mike Eng at phone 916-319-2049 fax 916-319-2149


Around the Statesemail [email protected] and Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger at phone 916-445-2841 fax 916-558-3160email gov.ca.gov and let them know that if you are going to be atrisk of being singled out and pulled over for exhaust system in-spections when you come to thisstate then you will choose anotherlocation to spend your vacation dol-lars, That you urge their no vote onSB 435.

Unfortunately many laws of this typestart in California and spread to otherstates, the place to stop it is hereand now, then hopefully you won'thave to deal with anything like this inyour state.

If you live in California; Write, Fax, Call & E-mail your SenatorTODAY, telling them to Vote No on SB 435.

I was able to make this appeal to the other states at the Motorcy-cle Riders Foundation Best of the West seminar held in PhoenixJune 12 and 13 where bikers from all over the western part ofthis great country and as far away as Pennsylvania attended.

I want to thank all the folks out of California that attended theMRF Best of the West seminar with me, we had good represen-tation. Due to the efforts of some mighty talented individuals a lotwas learned from the various training seminars that were given.The MRF’s work is a critical component of the motorcycle rightsmovement and the strength they add to the motorcycle lobby inthis country is very important. I urge everyone to support this or-ganization and join your local ABATE, stay on top of what bothorganizations are doing for us at the local and national level.

ConnecticutRon TroiaMRF State Rep

Happy springtime from Connecticut!

Riding season has finally arrived herein the northeast and unfortunately wehave already seen several motorcyclefatalities. I have said it before and I’llsay it again; Ride like they are out toget you because sometimes I thinkthey really are.

Seven of us from Connecticut at-tended the Beast of the East inDelaware and what a wonderful event it was. I am sure we alllearned from the leaders of the MRF. Sadly we all know aboutthe loss the MRF family suffered the day after we all returnedhome. “Boz” we all miss you but we also know you are ridingfree and watching over us as we carry on the fight.

On May 21st three members of the CMRA made the trek toBoston to support the MMA in their “Storm the Statehouse”event. It was a picture perfect day, the ride was great and hope-

fully the lawmakers took notice ofthe citizen motorcycle lobby. Daveand his staff did a great job and weare proud to be a part of their efforts.Never give up brothers and sisters!

The CMRA has a poker run comingup on August 2nd out of Columbia.All the information can be obtainedon the website at www.thecmra.com.Be there, we need your support!

Here in Connecticut the New London Day Newspaper came outwith an editorial supporting reinstatement of a mandatory helmetlaw for all motorcyclists in Connecticut. As usual with this type ofsensationalism many of the points they made were not based infact. I personally responded on their blog and also sent a writtenreply which to their credit they did publish. They did “edit” someof what I said but the major points of my response remained in-tact. We must always remain vigilant in our fight for freedom.This is my response to them as I wrote it.

My name is Ron Troia and I am an area rep with the ConnecticutMotorcycle Riders Association as well as the Connecticut StateRep for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation based in Washington,D.C. I am also a life member of the American Motorcyclist Asso-ciation and The Harley Owners Group. I am 57 years old andhave been riding motorcycles for 40 of those years. With that inmind, I would like to respond and comment on the issue ofmandatory motorcycle helmet laws.

First of all we as a society should focus more on crash avoidancerather than safer crashes. Personally I prefer not to crash at allas opposed to crashing and maybe, just maybe not getting hurtas bad as I could have. Let us be clear, there is no helmet on the

market that can prevent a crash. Myresponse for many years to peoplewho question my decision not to weara helmet when I ride is “It’s not whatis on the head but what is in the headthat keeps you safe”.

I have no doubt at all that educationand motorcycle awareness are a bigpart of the answer to preventing mo-torcycle injuries and fatalities. Motor-cycle riders and those who do not rideneed a better understanding of how to

safely co-exist on our nation’s roadways. Motorcycle riders muststart using their heads and not ride while under the influence.Other road users must concentrate on driving and not talking oncell phones, putting on make up, shaving, or reading the paper.Distracted driving is just as dangerous and maybe more so than


Around the Statesimpaired driving. A very large number of crashes occur due toright of way violations caused by someone turning in front of anoncoming motorcycle. We always hear the same thing. “Officer,I didn’t see the motorcycle”. I feel that we as a society must lookout for each other at all times.

There is of course no cure all for thetragedies that occur on our nation’shighways but I do want to remindyou that motorcycle crash fatalitiesand injuries account for approxi-mately one tenth of one percent ofour nation’s medical expenses. Notmuch at all in the grand scheme ofthings. The fact of the matter is thatthe twenty states that do requirehelmet use by all riders have fatalityand injury rates very similar to thosewho do not. There is really no statistical difference between thetwo. Your claim that statistics show that motorcyclists wearinghelmets are overwhelmingly more likely to survive a crash orsustain less severe injuries is not based in fact. Last year UnitedStates Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters issued a reportthat stated nationwide forty per cent of motorcycle fatalities werenot wearing helmets. Well conversely that means that sixty percent were wearing helmets and died anyway.

I would also like to point out that I am not personally against hel-mets but am vehemently opposed to any law requiring their useby adult riders. There is a very distinct difference. I have noproblem with our government encouraging helmet use but theyshould never mandate it for adults. And just to clarify, the lack ofhaving a mandatory helmet law does not prohibit someone fromwearing a helmet if they chose to do so.

In closing I would just like to say that we can have freedom andsafety together if we approach it in the proper manner and notwith a band aide type of response. This great nation wasfounded on the principle of individual freedom and we shouldnever begin surrendering those freedoms. To do so would tar-nish the memory of those who went before us and made the ulti-mate sacrifice for that freedom. Weshould defend their efforts withevery breath we take. Freedom isnot and never has been free.

That is all for now so have a greatsummer and ride safe!!Ron Troia

IdahoDavid CazelMRF State Rep

On May 2nd both ABATE of North Idaho(ANI) and the Idaho

Coalition for Motorcycle Safety (ICMS) held their Annual Aware-ness rallies, the former in Coeur d’Alene and the latter in Boiseand Idaho Falls. All rallies were generously attended by motorcy-cle riders to bring motorcycling to the public forefront. Between

250-300 riders paraded throughdowntown Coeur d’Alene. Duringthe rally, held at the KootenaiCounty Courthouse’s Veteran’s Me-morial Courtyard, MRF Rep DaveCazel discussed motorcycling free-doms. The MRF’s and MRF A&E’sdirector Chuc Coulter talked aboutthe last legislative session for thestate of Idaho.

Although Idaho is relatively free ofgovernmental intrusion into thefreedoms of the motorcycling com-

munity one issue that arose this past legislative session was toincrease the registration fees for motorcycles. The idea was in-cluded in the Governor’s bill to increase the state’s transportationdollars for road repairs. In so far as the Idaho motorcyclists insti-gated a mandatory increase in license endorsements six yearsago to underwrite motorcycle education, through intense focusby the ICMS in Boise this section of the bill was dropped. Idaho’smotorcycle registration fees will NOT more than double over thenext five years or increase at all, as it now stands.

IndianaJay Jackson

Although not a true rarity in today's economy, the Indiana Gen-eral Assembly failed to pass a state budget this session (theironly constitutional requirement). Governor, and ABATE member,Mitch Daniels will be required to call legislators back for a specialsession in order to develop a budget. We do not anticipate any"extra-curricular activities", but ABATE of Indiana will be monitor-ing the budget closely to protect rider education funds. Hoosierbikers still have a vivid memory of the $10 tax attached to motor-cycle registrations for spinal cord and brain injury research justtwo years ago. ABATE of Indiana was successful in repealing

that tax in 2008.

LouisianaJames “Poet” SiscoMRF State Rep

Greetings from Louisiana, I am thenew MRF State Rep for Louisiana.Right now we have our Legislativesession in full swing and it promisesto be a good year for motorcyclistsin this State. In 2007 when I last at-

tended the Meeting of The Minds in Cedar Rapids, Iowa I made a


Around the Statespromise, as State President of Abate Of Louisiana, Inc., that Iwould work to gain Freedom of Choice for the motorcycling com-munity in this State. The promise was made with the understand-ing that the Governor (Bobby Jindal) would get involved anduphold his campaign promise to themotorcyclists of this State to restore ourfreedoms.

Unfortunately that didn’t come to passand the Bill we presented in the 2008session met with great opposition andbecame a Frankenstein that no one oneither side of the issue could support.This year is quite different though. Let’stake a look at what this year’s Legisla-tive session has going on and I thinkyou’ll agree.

HB 442 (Representative M. J. "Mert" Smiley District 88): MTRVEHICLE/MOTORCYCLES: Transfers the Motorcycle Safety,Awareness, and Operator Training Program to DPS&C.

This Bill has already passed through the House TransportationCommittee, House floor, and Senate Transportation Committeeintact and looks like a done deal. The DPS&C has promised tonot only safeguard the funding for this course but also to findways of getting increased funding.

This is an important Bill to the motorcyclists here due to the factthat the riders training course has been in BESE (Board of Sec-ondary and Elementary Education) and every time the schoolsget in financial trouble they have taken the training money, whichis paid for out of the motorcyclists endorsements, and used it forthe schools. A good example of this was after Hurricane Katrinaand Gustav devastated most of this State BESE shut down ALLtraining course sites, including the ones that weren’t affected.When I asked the Administrator of the program where the re-maining funds were going I was told that he could not “officially”respond. I won’t print what he stated “unofficially” but I know youget the picture.

HB 639 (Representative James H. Morris District 1) MTR VEHI-CLE/MOTORCYCLES: Repeals therequirement to wear a helmet for cer-tain motorcycle riders and operators.FREEDOM OF CHOICE! Currentlythis is a clean Bill which allows riders21 and older to decide whether or notto wear a helmet.

The Governor has stepped up tokeep his campaign promise finallyand as proof of this fact he sent histop legal advisor to testify in his behalf at the House Transporta-tion Committee hearing on it on May 26th. For the first time evera helmet repeal Bill went through this Committee UNOPPOSED.

It is scheduled to be heard by the full house on June 2nd andwe’re hoping that the Representatives that ruined our Bill lastyear, Jean-Paul Morrell (Dist 97), Neil C. Abramson (Dist 98),and Damon Baldone (Dist 53), hold off on the anti-motorcyclist

amendments. Only time will tell but I’msure the Governor has had a word ortwo with them. I have personally talkedto a majority of the Representatives andSenators and found overwhelming sup-port for this Bill.

This is truly a good year to be a part ofLouisiana politics and things are lookingup for us in Louisiana. In conclusion Ileave you with this:

Remember: One voice is but a whisper,but a thousand voices are a ROAR!!!

Later,Poet

MaineEric FullerMRF Asst. State Rep

May 21, 2009, Bill LD 453, An Act to Require Motorcycle Helmetswas defeated in the Maine Senate with a vote of 25 -9. On Tues-day, May 19th, the House defeated it with a vote of 118-20. Wedid lose a bit of ground and under 18 year olds now will have towear helmets. Also killed in Committee was a Noise Bill directedspecifically at motorcycles.

MichiganFizMRF State Rep

Region 15 Steps Up For the MRF

Region 15 Treasurer Tony Pin Head put together a Poker andEuchre Tournament to help raise money for the Motorcycle Rid-

ers Foundation’s efforts in Washing-

ton D.C. to protect our right to ride.

The tournament was held on SundayApril 26, 2009 at Tony’s home. Foodwas provided by Tony and membersof Region 15. Members and nonmembers started arriving around 3PM and I understand the tournamentlasted until 1AM, I left around 8PM.By the end of the evening Tony hadcollected $161.00 to help the MRF.

For any Region that would like to put on a benefit for the Motor-cycle Riders Foundation, let me know where and when the event


Around the Statesis and I will come to the event and put your region in the nextnewsletter Please remember this summer it looks like I’ll be rid-ing my old Pan Head due to some Softail problems. The MRF isfighting in D.C. at this time to stop a ban on youth motorcyclesand quads, for more information on this take a look at Vince Con-sigilo letter to Federal RepresentativeThaddeus McCotter in the April Michi-gan Rider.

MinnesotaMike BergerMRF Asst. State Rep

Once again in Minnesota, our “Failureto Yield” bill, HR45, did not pass thelegislation. This piece of legislation,which simply sought stiffer penalties formotorists who kill someone throughinattentive driving, became hung up in the House Finance Com-mittee, and there it remained. We did get further this year than inthe past, and we learn something each time. Of course, we’ll bereintroducing this bill during the 2010 legislative session, and youcan rest assured that we’ll do everything in our power to finallyget it passed.

Sadly, one piece of legislation that did pass was the PrimarySeatbelt law. Now in Minnesota, police will have the right to pullyou over for no other reason than not wearing your seatbelt – aprimary offense. Until now, lack of seatbelt usage was a second-ary offense, only ticketable if you were pulled over for anotherreason. Why do I mention an automobile issue in a motorcy-clists’ rights publication? Because it shows how far personalrights are crumbling away in Minnesota. And even now the auto-mobile drivers are crying foul as they see us ride by: “Hey! I haveto wear a seatbelt – why do they get to ride without a helmet?!”The primary Seatbelt law does not bode well for keeping Min-nesota a freedom-of-choice state, and we need all concerned cit-izens to stand up and have their voices heard on this issue.Contact your legislators and tell them that you want Minnesota’shelmet law left intact, just as it is.

Minnesota gets to have its own bit of bragging rights from the re-cent Bikers Inside the Beltway event,thanks to its own Charles Fletcher.Charles was singled out as the at-tendee who rode the most miles to getthere. Charles is an active member ofA.B.A.T.E. of MN, currently serves asvice-chairman of the Minnesota Motor-cycle Safety Advisory Committee, andwill transition into the role of Chairmanin September.

Lastly, planning continues for Septem-ber’s Meeting of the Minds. A.B.A.T.E.of MN and the St. Croix Valley Riders are co-hosting the confer-

ence, and based on what’s planned so far, I can personally prom-ise that this will be an event to remember. I don’t want to let thecat out of the bag as far as the many surprises that are in store –besides the fantastic seminars and world-class speakers andchampions of freedom that are lined up – but if you want a small

hint of just one event, well, you betterpractice your fishing and casting skills!

Stay Shiny, Mike BergerAsst. State Rep

NevadaJohn BlandMRF State Rep

The 2009 Nevada legislative session isabout to come to a close. Our helmet

bill AB300 to allow freedom of choice died in the transportationcommittee because the chair of the committee would not call itfor a vote. I thought I had mentally prepared myself for the bill tobe killed, but so much effort and passion is expended, it justknocks it out of you for a while. We’re back up; we’ve brushedoff the dust and ready to go another round. I just got off thephone with Mike Davis, Southern ABATE President, and he ispassionately working to gain support for next session in 2011.You’ve got to love guys like Bones, he does not understand No,or it can’t be done. We will continue to work close with ourSouthern ABATE. There are legislators that are adamant aboutprotecting us from ourselves and we want to make it very clear tothem that it is not a job we want them to be concerned with.

We appreciate all the support we have received for all the free-dom fighters across the country.

John Bland - ABATE NNV President/MRF Rep.

OhioBarbara TittleMRF State Rep

The wheels of legislation grind slowly inOhio, but at least they are moving.Since the last report, our Right of Way(ROW) bill(s) are moving. In May wehad second and third hearings to pres-ent testimony to the House CriminalJustice committee on House Bill 128.The Senate Criminal Justice committeedid not meet since May. This bill ismoving along and we have some goodtestimony from proponents. The sum-mer recess will hold sway for somemonths and if anything more develops,

you will see it here or in a posting on the STATES web site. Now


Around the Statesthat ABATE of Ohio has a new Legislative Director, KristyHawthorne (formerly O’Leary), you can expect to see regular up-dates of the site as anything happens in Ohio on the legislationscene. Kristy is also our Ohio Assistant MRF rep. She is very in-volved in the safety programs in Ohio as well as the ROW billprogress since its introduction.Kristy lives in central Ohio, nearColumbus and works on legisla-tive agendas for her job, so sheis the closest to the activity inour state legislature. She plansto be more available to our Con-gress people in both Columbusand D.C. Her plan is also tospread the involvement of thelegislative process throughoutthe membership for better con-tact with all our representatives,rather than isolating it in one person only.

One of the initiatives with which Kristy has worked is the SafeCommunities Coalition. This coalition provides funding to groupsin 36 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Money from NHTSA is funneledthrough the Ohio Dept of Public Safety for community outreachthrough various sponsoring groups on the county level. Typicalcampaigns are supportive of seatbelt use, such as “Click It orTicket” and “What’s Holding You Back?”

In 2008, the State included a motorcycle safety event require-ment for all funded counties. Because of this, the 36 countiesare developing safety and awareness campaigns through com-munity partnerships and many are working with local ABATE re-gions. This is a great opportunity for ABATE and all concernedmotorcyclists to be involved and help educate community leadersabout motorcycling issues.

Lifeline of Ohio, the nonprofit organ procurement organization re-sponsible for promoting organ and tissue donation in central andsoutheastern Ohio, is setting out to show the public what anorgan donor really is: a hero. The goal is to demonstrate the pos-itive impact of registering in the Ohio Donor Registry and let mo-torcyclists know they have the opportunity to live on and ride onby donating life.

Lifeline of Ohio is working to connectwith motorcycle enthusiasts. DuringMotorcycle Safety Awareness Month,they will launch their “Live On. RideOn.” campaign and reach out to mo-torcyclists at events, retail locations,rider training programs and throughsocial media. They chose to launchduring Motorcycle Safety AwarenessMonth because they know the mem-bers of this community are safe driv-ers and to show that ‘organ donor’ shouldn’t be a negative term,

it’s the ultimate gift.

Lifeline of Ohio(www.lifelineofohio.org.) will kick off its campaignat the 5th Annual Brandy Winfield Memorial Poker Run in Marion,Ohio, on June 6th with a water/information table. The group will

also participate in several otherevents throughout the summer.Event attendees who show theyare registered donors, and thosewho register onsite, will receivetheir choice of a cruiser-style patchor a sport-bike inspired t-shirtshowing support for the cause.

In central Ohio, information dis-plays and brochures will also beavailable at A.D. Farrow Co.Harley- Davidson locations, Cen-

tennial Park Harley-Davidson and Iron Pony Motorsports Super-store. Lifeline of Ohio is also spreading the word throughoutreach to motorcycle groups. Groups interested in learningmore about donation can call Rachel Lewis at Lifeline of Ohio(614.384.7329) for materials and to talk about hosting a freespeaker who has been touched by donation, like Tim Jones ofCambridge, who is a lifelong motorcyclist and a heart transplantrecipient.

Motorcycle enthusiasts in central Ohio can also connect atwww.Lifelineofohio.org/LiveOnRideOn, where they can read sto-ries, see the latest schedule of events, and register to be anorgan and tissue donor. Enthusiasts outside of the central Ohioarea can visit www.donatelife.net to register as donors.

The need for organ and tissue donation is a national crisis, withmore than 102,000 Americans waiting for a life-saving transplant.While about 90 percent of the population supports organ dona-tion in theory, only half of Ohioans are registered donors.Ohioans are foremost in numerous areas and Ohio motorcyclistscan lead the way in supporting life.

Certainly, anyone in any state can volunteer to be an organ/tis-sue donor. In Ohio, it is noted on our driver’s license. Perhaps afuture news story about a motorcyclist’s death will ignore whether

or not the rider wore a helmet, butmention that he/she was a registeredorgan donor and concentrate onsomething positive. Keep looking outfor yourself and others!

PennsylvaniaSteve ZurlMRF Asst. State Rep

Riding throughout Pennsylvania inMay, I had a feeling of pride. I was proud to be a part of the MRFand ABATE of PA – two successful motorcycle rights organiza-


Around the Statestions! Looking at the accomplishments, it’s obvious we make adifference in PA!

The month of May has traditionally been the start of the ridingseason for most motorcyclists in PA. We don’t experience harshwinters, so the bikes can be on the road most of the year. But be-ginning in May, you can shed theheavy clothes, and not worry muchabout the elements.

The month of May was designatedMotorcycle Safety & AwarenessMonth in a proclamation by GovernorEd Rendell. It’s a reminder to mo-torists to be aware of motorcyclists.It’s also a reminder for motorcycliststo sharpen their skills and practicesafe motorcycling. Driving down theinterstates and highways, for the entire month of May, largelighted signs displayed the message of Motorcycle Safety &Awareness, thanks to the folks at the PA Department of Trans-portation.

Bikers inside the Beltway – PA Doing its part! On May 14, ap-proximately a dozen MRF and ABATE of PA members left PA insteady rain to participate in the MRF’s Bikers Inside The Beltway.A few miles in to Maryland, the skies cleared, and we had a de-cent ride. While all were familiar with lobbying in Harrisburg, lob-bying in DC is much less personal and much more formal. InHarrisburg, we’re used to riding to the capitol, parking our bikesat the door, and walking in to a warm reception by many of ourbiker-friendly legislators. DC is a different world, and much“colder” than Harrisburg. The guys on the corners with the auto-matic weapons sure don’t make one feel very welcome either!Legislators’ offices are spread out, spanning a few city blocks.Making visits to the offices takes a while. Fortunately, Jeff Hen-nie and Tiffany had packets prepared, gave us a briefing, andsent us on our way to visit our representatives. On May 11, ABATE of PA hosted its annual Rights Rally at thestate capitol in Harrisburg. Hundreds of bikers from around thestate assembled in the rotunda wherewe were greeted by biker-friendlymembers of the Senate and HouseOf Representatives. This year’s Rallywas dedicated to the memory of thelate Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, orCBK as she was known around Har-risburg. CBK was a strong supporterof motorcyclists rights, and even rodein ABATE of PA’s annual Ride To Get-tysburg. During her years as Lt. Gov.,CBK took a special interest in the bik-ers, and became a true friend. Manyof the bikers from ABATE were invited to the State House for din-ner and conversation. She was sincerely interested in listeningto what her constituents thought about issues in PA.

On behalf of the MRF Rep’s, I’d like to thank those that partici-pated in the Rights Rally and Bikers Inside The Beltway. Your ef-forts are making a difference in Harrisburg, and in DC.

Steve ZurlAssistant State Rep., PA

Rhode IslandLou Petrucci

The General Assembly in our smallState still has big problems. Like every-where else the unemployment is at thehighest it’s been as far back as anyonecan imagine. With this economy youwould think that someone would get theidea that maybe, just maybe we arespending more then we are taking in.

Anyway with this problem many of the Bills pertaining to motorcy-cles and motorcyclist are either dead in the water or burdenedwith many sinkers.

Our right of way bill that would increase fines for anyone violatinganyone's right of way did get hearings but, so did every bill. Theproblem now is that the majority of them are being held for fur-ther study.

There is a bright side. Senate bill S 0133 Sub A, our designatedparking at public buildings passed the full Senate today withoutany objections. This has been a bill in the works for four years.Now it is on to the House.

We will keep you informed.

Have A Safe One.

South DakotaLarry NielsonMRF State Rep

Several South Dakota ABATE mem-bers and officers attended HeartlandSteam in Bismarck ND in May. Thankyou to ND ABATE for hosting a suc-cessful conference. Also, We extendour sympathies to The family of Boz,Illinois ABATE , as well as MRF lead-ership, for their loss.

We are in the process of working with the South Dakota Off High-way Vehicle Coalition (SDOHVC) and the Blue Ribbon Task force(a group of state and national level off road motorcycle, snowmo-bile, and atv riders organizations) to develop legislation for next


Around the Statessession to deal with the inequities in our laws regarding the issueof vehicles that are not defined as an “automobile”-our laws cur-rently lump them all together and put motorcycle plates on them.While the solution we are proposing will not make everyonehappy, we feel it will eliminate a lot of the concerns that currentlyexist. This is a work in progress,I again request suggestions fromany other groups that have suc-cessfully dealt with this issue, tocompare notes.

South Dakota is working on theissue of stoplights that wontchange for motorcycles. If, whileyou are visiting our state, you en-counter an (sensor controlled) in-tersection where the light does notwork properly(only in SD please),I ask you to contact our Roadway Hazard Program telephonenumber: 1-866-470-6765. We will use this information in twoways: We will contact the DOT in charge of that intersection tomake them aware of the malfunction and see if they fix it, and wealso will be building a case for possible legislative action nextyear. If you get a red light citation at a controlled intersection(again, only in SD please) we also would be interested in a copyand the circumstances for possible legislative use…of course lawenforcement says they don’t write tickets for this issue……….weknow better.

If you are going to Sturgis be sure to stop at one of the restareas in South Dakota and get a copy of our maps of the BlackHills, which rate the roads according to skill level. Check out ourbooth in the Rally Headquarters building (East end of MainStreet, across from Gunners), and put the Whitewood Social onyour calendar for Thursday afternoon (see flyer in this issue orvisit our website www.abatesd.com).

Finally, if you are traveling thru SD on the way to MOTM inBloomington in September feel free tocontact us for recommendations for pitstops , we would love to help host youon the way.

Larry NielsonLegislative Officer ABATE of SD

MRF Rep South Dakota

WashingtonMRF State Co-Reps,Mike Campbell and Jay Jackson& Assistant Glenyce Jackson

Happy Summer Riding! The first sun burn of the season is feel-ing better and starting to turn brown. Wonderful, wonderful sun-shine!

Yesterday, Saturday, May 30th, ABATE of Washington put on theFreedom Run to the state capitol in Olympia. The day was to-tally gorgeous! Dry, bright sunshine, no wind, hot when not mov-ing and perfect when running down the road; the kind of day wedream of during the long cold, grey, wet season. About 60 bikes

found their way to the Capitol for atotal of about 85 people. Even ifthere was a plethora of “FUN” Runshappening in the neighborhood(west side of the Cascades), itseems a few more of the thousandsof motorcyclists in the state couldmake a showing at this event. Wewonder why there is no media cov-erage—I think maybe there issomething with broader appeal forthe media to cover. There were nu-merous WSP who helped the group

through the traffic lights near the Capitol campus who hung out atthe entrances/exits to the area where we gathered on the steps.One former Representative showed up late to say a few wordsencouraging us in our fight for our rights. We have lots of workhere to maintain our rights to ride in the future. There are somegood pictures on line at www.BikerInformationGuide.com.

Washington Legislators went home mid-April without special ses-sion. It appears they did the same as the other Washington bypassing a budget that was largely un-read and put the state bil-lions of dollars in the red at the same time cutting budgets so thatState agencies, including Education, have to lay off workers! Ourgovernor is very proud that the state is able to make use of thefederal stimulus monies. What was given up to get that “welfare”package? We all know every time we “get” something there is aprice attached somewhere.

The session ended without much action on the Motorcycle Rightsfront except for the bill which adds 3-wheeled cars to the motor-cycle category. Yes, cars. These vehicles are fully enclosed, roll

barred, bench/bucket seated, steeringwheel guided, motor vehicles that donot have to meet any of the automo-bile standards since they are motor-cycles!! The writers of this bill alsosaw fit to change the description oflegal helmets to “meet the language”of the federal standards. The end re-sult is a mish mash of jargon thatlooks like it will be impossible to en-force since it is confusing, vague, anopen to interpretation.

The bill, presented by the pedal bik-ers, to require traffic signals be modi-

fied in sensitivity to recognize bikes and motorcycles waspassed. It is up to Bikers to identify the dysfunctional signals andthe state will put them on a list to be fixed as the funds becomeavailable or the road is re-surfaced. That may help with the State


Around the Statesowned traffic signals but does nothing for the signals owned andmaintained by counties and cities. It is a step in the right direc-tion.

The bill reducing toll ratesfor motorcycles died. Thatwas to be expected sincethe state is facing a terriblecash flow. The efforts toget anti-profiling legislationwere also unsuccessful.As it stands now, any threeor more in a group wearingthe same apparel are agang. Move over BoyScouts of America, GirlScouts, Future Farmers ofAmerica, 4-H, and every-one else who wears “iden-tifying insignia”; here wecome!

ABATE in Washington is growing, adding members and Chaptersso we really are in the education business with our new mem-bers as well as those outside our organization. We need to workto educate all road users that we must all share the road. And,we need to make sure that all motorcycle riders know the worknecessary to preserve the right to ride and the need for them tojoin the fight. We were encouraged by the NCOM’s acceptanceof sport bikers at the national conference in May. Sport bikersnow have a seat on the NCOM board. Isn’t this a big step to in-clude ALL riders?

Enjoy the fresh air in your faceand the sights, smells, andsounds of summer as yousafely ride down the road.

Ride safe, Ride free,Glenyce Jackson, AssistantRep to Jay Jackson & Mike Camp-bell, Washington Co-Reps

WyomingBrian CoxMRF State Assistant Rep

Hi All -

I was recently asked to givean on-air interview regarding the Consumer Product Safety Com-mission (CPSC) possible action to stop sales of some ATVs thathave lead paint. In addition, the subsequent stay on that ban.Andrew Schenkel of Chanel 13 CNBC in Casper Wyoming is thereporter we worked with and I do want to thank him of the oppor-

tunity.

Background: the CPSC is a government group whose sole pur-pose is to protect us allfrom all types of harm,danger and injury.

We all I think are aware tosome level about the risksand danger of lead in painttoday. The real problemwas when we used lead inall kinds of products be-cause it worked so well.Until we discovered that, itis also very toxic and evenharder to get out of ourbodies. Children are theone group we all agree wehave to protect; after all,they are our future.

The idea to stop sales of children's ATVs is because it was dis-covered that many of these vehicles coming to America fromother countries have lead paint, and if the ATVs are not in themarket then our kids will be safer. Other countries do not havethe product restrictions we have here in the USA. Often theseproducts are not made to the USA standards on many levels.Therefore, the answer to save the lives of our children is… yes toban the sale of these ATVs because of the lead paint.

I agreed to the interview because I do have an opinion and thequestion was if I agreed thatthe Local State Attorney Gen-eral should stay the ban onthe ATVs with lead paint onthe frames. I do agree withstaying the ban.. Besidesbeing an MRF member, bikerand lifelong rider, I love off-road sports and was a prorider for many years. I wasalso an ASI (ATV Safety Insti-tute Instructor) for severalyears. So low and behold Iactually am fairly well pre-pared to discuss this subject.

In 1986, the CPSC outlawedthe sale of new ThreeWheeled ATVs in the Ameri-can market. This was be-

cause of several lawsuits that cost especially Honda but alsoseveral other manufactures lots of money and took this machin-ery off the market. To this day, I still disagree with that decisionand we (Juli and I) still own several 3-wheelers. This decision re-sulted in a consent decree that outlawed the sale of new 3-


Around the Stateswheeled ATVs. It also mandated rider training, and age restric-tions by vehicle engine size for minors.

In the interview I did interject, alittle humor as I did say that mychildren were in fact raised withchild sized ATVs in the familyand in use. I also never recalledany of my and many other kidschewing on the ATV. In fact as Irecall that may be the only thingthey may not have attemptedwith that little ride. We did ownfor six years a Suzuki LT-80 ATVthat was supposed to be mydaughters ride when in fact itwas the most popular ride in thefamily’s stable of ATVs. That littlemachine was the one everyoneborrowed, took and rode on awhim.

Children are fearless, not because they have no fear but be-cause they just do not have the experience in life or familiarity toknow what may hurt them. This is a parent’s job to give the chil-dren good experiences to learn and grow with so they can buildjudgment to be able to make their own good decisions. That saidhonestly I wonder why God gave me children, even now I canquestion why I am still alive from some of the “learning experi-ences” I created for myself? I can say with authority stupid hurts!As parents, we need the tools or vehicles to help educate ourchildren. Taking some of these tools off the market will only makethis education moreexpensive and diffi-cult.

The proper sized ma-chinery along withsome good parentingand supervision cangive children lots offun and good experi-ence. The key here isto have machinerythat is appropriate forthe kids to ride. Thatis to say, I do not likethe Governmenttelling us as citizensand parents what iscorrect. Therefore, weas parents need to beprudent. That meanswe do not teach our children to ride by starting them off with pilot-ing an 800 cc ATV that is more like a small jeep than a childsized vehicle. Hey these ATVs even though they are small andcute, they are tools and vehicles, not toys. They have the poten-

tial to harm their riders if they are misused. Taking these built forchildren vehicles out of the market will result in more childrenbeing hurt because we all know children find limits and step over

them. That is what kids do it’scalled learning and growing.Therefore, if the machinery isnot there to help provide aware-ness and education somethingwill be substituted becausethese families already ownlarger equipment. Is it reason-able to think that adults will stopchildren from trying out machin-ery that was not designed withtheir small stature in mind? Iknow how my kids created op-portunities for mischief.

Andrew also asked me to com-ment on the rise of motorcycle

fatalities. Motorcycles are enjoying a dramatic rise in popularity.Motorcycles are cool, they are fun, and they provide a very effi-cient and ecologically sound method of transportation. When westart to put a lot more of any type of vehicle into use, we shouldexpect that the misuse and accidents with those vehicles wouldalso increase. Anything different is not logical or probable.

Just as with any new tool or equipment there is a learning curveso new operators are likely to have a different level of confusion,and difficulty, this can lead to accidents. Therefore, we have toanswer with help, training and sound advice from experiencedriders that can help our new fellow riders. Again, I will say it we

need to step up andprovide this help, ad-vice and care aboutthese riders. If you seea rider of any level ofexperience do some-thing you know is haz-ardous and wrongplease say somethingto that person. Hon-estly, I would ratherhave that person getmad at me than tohave an accident. Theywill get over beingmad, but dead is dead.

If not now, then when,if not you then who?Ride Safe, Ride Aware,Ride Straight, Keep the

shiny side up

Brian CoxMRF Asst State Rep


SMROs in ActionConnecticut

Sandra, Ron, and Neil of the CMRA at the Massachusetts State

House.

Idaho

Left to right Chuc Coulter ICMS, Dave Cazel MRF Idaho

State Rep, Chuck Gilmore Coordinator ABATE of North

Idaho. Moose Wittrock ST. Joe Chapter ABATE of North

Idaho Coordinator and awareness rally organizer, Pastor

Ernie Crocker Independent Christian Bikers of America

Massachusetts

Members of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association

gather in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse during their

Annual "Storm the Statehouse" lobbying day on May 21,

2009.

Let’s Make A Deal Cindy HodgesMember Representative

I’ve gotten some fairly unique tee shirts. Once, I got an ABATEcookbook! I’ve purchased some GOOD local wines, gourmet-blended dip mixes, and some great motorcycle fiction. Once Ibought a pair of earrings hand-made by an attendee. I’ve alsogotten microwave pork skins, rubber biker duckies, and specially“marinated” cherries. Then of course, there were Eldon’s eggs. Istill have them and we may see them again. If you weren’tthere, I won’t tell you so the surprise will be fresh <grin>.

So, what have YOU brought home from a BEAST, BEST, orMOTM auction? Sure we spend money to support the MRF and,sure, we donate items or make them to support the MRF. But –we get something “different” from time to time that we cherish.Things our friends will ask us where they can get one of theirown.

Has there been an item you’d like to see again? Do you have aninteresting story about what happened with your item once youleft the conference? Like the $20 I found while broke down onthe side of the road on my way to MOTM many years ago (whichBrian Stovall auctioned off for a few years in a row)…. Has youritem traveled some miles?

Peck out a few lines and let me know [email protected].

Arkansas

Don Wesson with Mayor May of McGehee (Arkansas) signing

a proclamation as May 2009 as Motorcycle Safety Awareness

Month.

Old watches never die...

they just becomecool little

mototcycles!


PRESIDENTKirk “Hardtail” [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT-INTERIMJay [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT OF GOV’T RELATIONSJeff [email protected]

SECRETARYPaulette [email protected]

TREASURERFrank [email protected]

Eric HamptonCommunications [email protected]

Carol DownsConference [email protected]

Dave DwyerSSMRO Board [email protected]

Cindy HodgesMember [email protected]

Jay JacksonMotorcycle Safety/Rider [email protected]

Steve ZimmerMRFPAC [email protected]

Todd RibaState Reps Program [email protected]

John PierceMembership [email protected]

Graydon WheelerState Reps Board [email protected]

Thomas “Doc Ski” WasileskiSSMRO Board [email protected]

Tiffany LatimerDC Office [email protected]

MRF A&E Board of Directors

Deborah Butitta, Chair928-308-1117 [email protected]

Carol Downs, [email protected]

Chuc Coulter, [email protected]

MAIL TO BOARD MEMBERSmay be sent to the MRF office and will beforwarded. If you must mail time-sensitivematerial to a board member, contact thatperson by phone or email first to makearrangements.

Motorcycle Riders Foundation Board of Directors

Board Assistants

Chuc Coulter

Asst. Treasurer

[email protected]

Susan Huttman

Assist. Communications

Advertising Manager

[email protected]

Tiffany Latimer

Assist. Communications [email protected]

Helen Wesson

Assist. Products

[email protected]

Polly Schoeller

Assist. Membership

[email protected]

Sarah Muckenhoupt

Assist. [email protected]

Michael McGuire

[email protected]

Dave Condon

Asst. to the

State Reps Program Director

[email protected]

Mike Berger

Editorial [email protected]

For your convenience, we

can accept memberships,

donations, conference

registrations and product

orders by phone or fax, or

via our website, using

VISA, MasterCard, Discover

or American Express.

Ex-Officio Board

Mark Buckner, [email protected]

Deborah Butitta, Arizona928-308-1117 [email protected]

Chuc Coulter, [email protected]

MRF Reports EDITOR

Eric Hampton, [email protected]

Send all submissions for publication to:

[email protected], 602-367-9524

DEADLINE

The FIRST of every even-numbered month

ADDRESS CHANGE

Please send in writing to:

Motorcycle Riders Foundation

236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 510

Washington, DC 20002-4980

[email protected]

MRF Office

236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 510

Washington, DC 20002-4980

Phone: 202-546-0983

Fax: 202-546-0986

[email protected]

Website: http://www.mrf.org

Mission StatementTo continue developing an

aggressive, independent nationaladvocacy for the advancement

of motorcycling and itsassociated lifestyle, which is fi-

nancially stable and exceeds theneeds of motorcycling

enthusiasts.

It’s

tim

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MRF�Reports

MRF Committees

COMMUNICATIONS: Eric Hampton (Chair),

Jeff Hennie, John Pierce, Paulette Korte,

Cindy Hodges, Jim “Legs” Korte, Tiffany La-

timer, Susan Huttman, Deborah Butitta, Mike

Berger, Michael McGuire

ELECTIONS: Dave Dwyer (Chair), Cindy

Hodges, Thomas J. “Doc Ski” Wasileski,

Graydon Wheeler

BY-LAWS: Kirk “Hardtail” Willard(Chair),

Carol Downs, Paulette Korte, Jay Jackson

ALCOHOL AWARENESS: Steve Zimmer

(Chair), Jeff Hennie, Lynn Oldenburg, Susan

Huttman, Carol Simpson, Thomas J. “Doc Ski”

Wasileski, Jay Jackson

MRFPAC: Steve Zimmer (Chair), Chuc Coul-

ter, Dave Dwyer, Jeff Hennie,

FINANCE: Carol Downs (Chair), Kirk “Hard-

tail” Willard, Chuc Coulter, John Pierce,

Paulette Korte, Frank Carbone, Graydon

Wheeler

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: John Pierce

(Chair), Tiffany Latimer, Sarah Muckenhoupt,

Cindy Hodges, Polly Schoeller, Todd Riba,

Eric Hampton, Mike Berger

CONFERENCE & EVENTS: Carol Downs

(Chair), Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, Jeff Hennie,

Cindy Hodges, Todd Riba, Steve Zimmer,

Graydon Wheeler

PRODUCTS: Carol Downs (Chair), Polly

Schoeller, Helen Wesson, Frank Carbone

FUNDS STEERING: Todd Riba (Chair), Kirk

“Hardtail” Willard, Cindy Hodges, Jay Jack-

son, Mark Buckner, John Pierce, Jim “Legs”

Korte, Graydon Wheeler

RESEARCH & STATISTICS: Thomas J.

“Doc Ski” Wasileski (Chair), Paulette Korte,

Jeff Hennie, Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, David

Tuschel, Jay Jackson, John Pierce

MRF REPS &REPS GROWTH: Todd Riba,

Cindy Hodges (Co-chairs), Polly Schoeller,

Tiffany Latimer, Carol Simpson, John Pierce,

Dave Condon, Graydon Wheeler

STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE

AWARDS:

STATE& FEDERAL: Dave Dwyer (Chair),

Thomas J. “Doc Ski” Wasileski, Jeff Hennie

AWARDS:

FARMERS: Kirk “Hardtail” Willard (Chair),

Mark Buckner, Deborah Butitta

FOUNDERS: Kirk “Hardtail” Willard (Chair),

Mark Buckner, Marc Falsetti, Steve Zimmer,

Gary Sellers

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Kirk “Hardtail”

Willard (Chair), Deborah Butitta, Paulette

Korte

RON SHEPERD SAFETY RECOGNITION: Jay

Jackson (Chair), Carol Downs, Chuc Coulter,

Paulette Korte, John Pierce

THOMAS PAINE: Kirk “Hardtail” Willard (Chair),

Sarah Muckenhoupt, Tiffany Latimer, Eric Hamp-

ton, Graydon Wheeler

MRF CHAMPS: Jeff Hennie (Chair), Kirk “Hard-

tail” Willard, Dave Dwyer

Mission Goals

* Maintain and improve our ability to act asan advocate before national, state and local legislative, executive and judicial bodies, andwith private or public entities, regarding is-sues affecting motorcycles, motorcyclists ormotorcycling.* Maintain and improve our financial baseand ensure financial stability.* Maintain and improve our capability tomeet and exceed the needs of our member-ship base and all state motorcyclists’ rightsorganizations.* Maintain and improve our capability to bethe national information center for motorcy-clists’ rights information.* Enhance the training of national, state andlocal motorcyclists’ rights activists.

This newsletter is an official publication of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, 236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 510, Washington, D.C. 20002-4980; phone(202) 546-0983; fax (202) 546-0986. All rights reserved. Portions may be reprinted with proper attribution. MRF Reports is published six times a year and distributed

nationwide. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation,

its officers or representatives. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation will not knowingly contract with or do business with any entity that discriminates against motorcyclists in any way, shape or form.

Motorcycle Riders Foundation236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 510Washington, DC 20002-4980

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