Born To Ride News

The following article appeared in the Space Coast Florida Today Newspaper.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106100309

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

www.bikerrogue.com

Brothers to build motorcycles at Billy Lane’s former Melbourne shop

BY WAYNE T. PRICE • FLORIDA TODAY • June 10, 2010

Marc Parker certainly doesn’t look or talk the part of the bad boy.

There’s no swagger as he walks around his soon-to-open Melbourne showroom and workshop. Every other word out of his mouth isn’t an expletive. He’s not covered with tattoos.

 ”It’s because I’m from South Carolina and tattoo parlors are illegal in South Carolina,” the 40-year-old Parker said. “You actually have to travel out of state to get tattoos and I never did it. Now that I’m living here in Florida, I guess I should get some.”

 Body art, however, isn’t Parker’s main mission these days. The art of building custom motorcycles is.

Craig Rubadoux, FLORIDA TODAY

 In less than two weeks, he and his brother Shanon, plan on opening Parker Brothers Choppers at 1243 N. Harbor City Boulevard. If the address is familiar, it’s where Billy Lane operated Choppers Inc. for several years.

Parker Brothers has its logo — a shadowy image of the comic and tragedy masks — but it hasn’t been placed in front of the 3,500-square-foot burnt orange colored building where Parker and his brother will operate the business.

They plan to design, build and sell motorcycles ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Unlike other so-called custom motorcycle shops, the Parker brothers will build entire bikes, including fabricating parts and hand-manufacturing frames and metal work.

“All my life I’ve been building motorcycles and cars,” Parker said. “Where I grew up you start learning to swing a wrench at a pretty early age. You start tinkering with stuff when you’re young and then you start customizing things when you’re a little bit older because you want to make it cool.”

One of those “cool things” is the replica of the “bat pod” motorcycle from “The Dark Knight” Batman movie. The two brothers spent 1,500 hours designing and putting together a working replica and then advertised it on eBay.

It drew tens of thousands of hits and, unfortunately, earned a rebuke from the “Dark Knight” film studio for using an image from the movie in their advertisements without permission.

The brothers quickly removed the movie image and then they decided to raffle off their creation, selling 5,000 tickets at $20 each. The drawing will be held at noon July 31.

If nothing else, the “bat pod” has been good promotional buzz for Parker Brothers Choppers at a time when chopper makers aren’t getting the best publicity.

Lane, whom Parker knew socially, was sentenced in August to six years in prison after pleading no contest to one count of vehicular homicide for crashing his pickup truck head-on into 56-year-old Sebastian Inlet Park ranger Gerald Morelock’s motorcycle in 2006.

Parker, who once owned Parker Brothers bar in downtown Melbourne, stresses that for him, designing motorcycles and choppers is less about image and more about art. And art, more so than the fate of guys like Lane and James, is driven by the tepid recovery of the economy.

By all means, 2009 was a wreck of a year for the industry, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based Motorcycle Industry Council. Sales of street bikes, off-road motorcycles and scooters fell 43.2 percent from 2008. In the first quarter of this year, sales of motorcycles and scooters were down 4.6 percent compared with the same period in 2009.

Choppers, in the last 20 years, have become more popular as motorcycling in general has increased, said Pete terHorst, a spokesman for the Pickerington, Ohio-based American Motorcyclist Association. That niche has been hit by the recession just as the industry as a whole has been affected, he said.

“It’s not inexpensive to buy custom-built motorcycles like that,” terHorst said. “You have to have some expendable dollars to buy them.”

Parker said he is well aware the rocky road ahead, at least for the near future, but he’s confident Parker Brothers Choppers won’t take a spill.

“Everybody is hurting right now,” Parker said of the economy. “But if you do things that are unique enough and you stand out from the rest of the crowd, you can still make a decent living doing the custom-bike thing.”

CONCLUSION

We find that the City Helmet Ordinance fails under implied field preemption due to the need for statewide uniformity and therefore issue a declaratory judgment invalidating the ordinance. Moreover, we hold that certain Motorcycle Ordinances were impliedly repealed by the ordinance repealing the administrative hearing system.

JUDGMENT FOR PETITIONERS.

TOAL, C.J., BEATTY, KITTREDGE and HEARN, JJ., concur.
[1] Petitioners contend the following ordinances were invalidated by repeal of the ordinance establishing the administrative hearing system: 2008-61 (accommodations restrictions); 2008-62 (consumption and open possession of alcohol in parking areas); 2008-63 (use of parking lots for non-parking activities); 2008-64 (helmet and eyewear requirements for cycles and mopeds); 2008-65 (parking of trailers on public streets or unlicensed private lots); 2008-66 (convenience store and premises security); and 2008-67 (minor or juvenile curfew).
[2]Because we find that the Helmet Ordinance fails under implied field preemption, we need not reach Petitioners’ remaining preemption issues. See Futch v. McAllister Towing of Georgetown, Inc., 335 S.C. 598, 613, 518 S.E.2d 591, 598 (1999) (appellate court need not discuss remaining issues when disposition of prior issue is dispositive). Additionally, we need not address Petitioners’ request for a writ of prohibition barring the municipal court from exercising jurisdiction over the alleged ordinance violations. See Sangamo Weston, Inc. v. National Surety Corp., 307 S.C. 143, 148, 414 S.E.2d 127, 130 (1992) (“This court will not issue advisory opinions . . . .”).
[3] Though Petitioners phrase their argument as whether the administrative hearing ordinance is “severable” from the Motorcycle Ordinances, Petitioners actually argue implied repeal.

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/06/08/1519956/read-the-sc-supreme-courts-opinion.html#ixzz0qHI2KKuj

Rogue
Sturgis Freedom Fighters
Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005
www.bikerrogue.com

Cops want to stop people from photographing them, especially when they are doing wrong. This also appears to apply to professional journalist. Why is the PRESS not all over this? 

http://gizmodo.com/5553765/are-cameras-the-new-guns?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29

Are Cameras the New Guns?

In response to a flood of Facebook and YouTube videos that depict police abuse, a new trend in law enforcement is gaining popularity. In at least three states, it is now illegal to record any on-duty police officer.

Even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defense, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists.

The legal justification for arresting the “shooter” rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland are among the 12 states in which all parties must consent for a recording to be legal unless, as with TV news crews, it is obvious to all that recording is underway. Since the police do not consent, the camera-wielder can be arrested. Most all-party-consent states also include an exception for recording in public places where “no expectation of privacy exists” (Illinois does not) but in practice this exception is not being recognized.

Massachusetts attorney June Jensen represented Simon Glik who was arrested for such a recording. She explained, “[T]he statute has been misconstrued by Boston police. You could go to the Boston Common and snap pictures and record if you want.” Legal scholar and professor Jonathan Turley agrees, “The police are basing this claim on a ridiculous reading of the two-party consent surveillance law – requiring all parties to consent to being taped. I have written in the area of surveillance law and can say that this is utter nonsense.”

The courts, however, disagree. A few weeks ago, an Illinois judge rejected a motion to dismiss an eavesdropping charge against Christopher Drew, who recorded his own arrest for selling one-dollar artwork on the streets of Chicago. Although the misdemeanor charges of not having a peddler’s license and peddling in a prohibited area were dropped, Drew is being prosecuted for illegal recording, a Class I felony punishable by 4 to 15 years in prison.

In 2001, when Michael Hyde was arrested for criminally violating the state’s electronic surveillance law – aka recording a police encounter – the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld his conviction 4-2. In dissent, Chief Justice Margaret Marshall stated, “Citizens have a particularly important role to play when the official conduct at issue is that of the police. Their role cannot be performed if citizens must fear criminal reprisals….” (Note: In some states it is the audio alone that makes the recording illegal.)

The selection of “shooters” targeted for prosecution do, indeed, suggest a pattern of either reprisal or an attempt to intimidate.

Glik captured a police action on his cellphone to document what he considered to be excessive force. He was not only arrested, his phone was also seized.

On his website Drew wrote, “Myself and three other artists who documented my actions tried for two months to get the police to arrest me for selling art downtown so we could test the Chicago peddlers license law. The police hesitated for two months because they knew it would mean a federal court case. With this felony charge they are trying to avoid this test and ruin me financially and stain my credibility.”

Hyde used his recording to file a harassment complaint against the police. After doing so, he was criminally charged.

In short, recordings that are flattering to the police – an officer kissing a baby or rescuing a dog – will almost certainly not result in prosecution even if they are done without all-party consent. The only people who seem prone to prosecution are those who embarrass or confront the police, or who somehow challenge the law. If true, then the prosecutions are a form of social control to discourage criticism of the police or simple dissent.

A recent arrest in Maryland is both typical and disturbing.

On March 5, 24-year-old Anthony John Graber III’s motorcycle was pulled over for speeding. He is currently facing criminal charges for a video he recorded on his helmet-mounted camera during the traffic stop.

The case is disturbing because:

1) Graber was not arrested immediately. Ten days after the encounter, he posted some of he material to YouTube, and it embarrassed Trooper J. D. Uhler. The trooper, who was in plainclothes and an unmarked car, jumped out waving a gun and screaming. Only later did Uhler identify himself as a police officer. When the YouTube video was discovered the police got a warrant against Graber, searched his parents’ house (where he presumably lives), seized equipment, and charged him with a violation of wiretapping law.

2) Baltimore criminal defense attorney Steven D. Silverman said he had never heard of the Maryland wiretap law being used in this manner. In other words, Maryland has joined the expanding trend of criminalizing the act of recording police abuse. Silverman surmises, “It’s more [about] ‘contempt of cop’ than the violation of the wiretapping law.”

3) Police spokesman Gregory M. Shipley is defending the pursuit of charges against Graber, denying that it is “some capricious retribution” and citing as justification the particularly egregious nature of Graber’s traffic offenses. Oddly, however, the offenses were not so egregious as to cause his arrest before the video appeared.

Almost without exception, police officials have staunchly supported the arresting officers. This argues strongly against the idea that some rogue officers are overreacting or that a few cops have something to hide. “Arrest those who record the police” appears to be official policy, and it’s backed by the courts.

Carlos Miller at the Photography Is Not A Crime website offers an explanation: “For the second time in less than a month, a police officer was convicted from evidence obtained from a videotape. The first officer to be convicted was New York City Police Officer Patrick Pogan, who would never have stood trial had it not been for a video posted on Youtube showing him body slamming a bicyclist before charging him with assault on an officer. The second officer to be convicted was Ottawa Hills (Ohio) Police Officer Thomas White, who shot a motorcyclist in the back after a traffic stop, permanently paralyzing the 24-year-old man.”

When the police act as though cameras were the equivalent of guns pointed at them, there is a sense in which they are correct. Cameras have become the most effective weapon that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse. And the police want it to stop.

Happily, even as the practice of arresting “shooters” expands, there are signs of effective backlash. At least one Pennsylvania jurisdiction has reaffirmed the right to video in public places. As part of a settlement with ACLU attorneys who represented an arrested “shooter,” the police in Spring City and East Vincent Township adopted a written policy allowing the recording of on-duty policemen.

As journalist Radley Balko declares, “State legislatures should consider passing laws explicitly making it legal to record on-duty law enforcement officials.”

Wendy McElroy is the author of several books on anarchism and feminism. She maintains the iconoclastic website ifeminists.net as well as an active blog at wendymcelroy.com.

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

www.bikerrogue.com

2010 FREEDOM FIGHTER ANNOUNCED

April 2010 – - The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame is proud to announce the 2010  Freedom Fighters Hall of Fame Inductee, Gordon “Sonny” Bridges from Maine.

The Freedom Fighters Hall of Fame recognizes the commitment and sacrifices individuals across the nation, and world, have made to protect the rights of motorcyclists. In their honor the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame established the nation’s first and only Freedom Fighters Hall of Fame.

Gordon “Sonny” Bridges spearheaded a group of bikers in the early 1970s to repeal the state’s mandatory helmet laws. Eventually, this group became the United Bikers of Maine. Sonny was elected its first President and worked tirelessly gathering support and members. Thanks to the efforts of Sonny and others, the helmet law was repealed in 1976. Still, even 35 years later, the issue continues to rise and Sonny continues to battle. 

The mandatory helmet law repeal was just the beginning for Sonny. While he stepped down as President of United Bikers of Maine after the repeal, Sonny continued to work tirelessly for bikers rights in the Maine Statehouse. By spending time at the capital and making friends with legislators, Sonny has been there to fight for bikers rights any time legislation dealing with motorcycles has been introduced. Just this last year, Sonny fought a noise ordinance that would have required that all motorcycles in the state have stock pipes. 

Sonny is a lifetime member of United Bikers of Maine and continues to speak about motorcycle awareness. He was a speaker at this year’s Governor’s Tea – which each year kicks off May as Motorcycle Awareness Month. Many years, he has participated in UBM’s Toy Run – the state’s largest single day charity event.

Although Sonny claims to be slowing down, he is currently developing a program to go to schools throughout the state of Maine and speak to driver’s education courses to encourage new drivers to pay attention and watch for motorcyclists.

Bridges will be honored at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Breakfast, Wednesday, August 11th, at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Breakfast tickets are available for a $35.00 donation, tables of eight for $300.00.  Tickets can be purchased through the Museum 605.347.2001 or on line www.sturgismuseum.com/.

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

www.bikerrogue.com/

Are Connecticut Riders On The Verge Of Getting Scammed?

It looks like the Motorcycle Safety Foundation has CMRA in their Pocket.

There is no difference in a Mandatory Helmet Law and a Mandatory Rider Education Program. This is a Money Making Scam. I have no problem with people going to school that think they need it BUT they should have to go to the State and take the test Not Walk In With A Piece Of Paper from Some School. If the schools are so good they will not have a problem with this!!!!

Will the school be free? Of course not! It will also mean that people who have grown up in and around motorcycling and could easily pass a test will now be forced to pay to ride.

Hope all will fight to see this does not pass. It is in Florida and sucks costs $300.00 to take class. They also closed the testing sites at the motor vehicle department.

 http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-motorcycle-poll-0421,0,5742277,post.poll

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

http://www.bikerrogue.com/

Biker in Florida Pulled Over for Wearing a Gladiator Helmet

By Jeremy Taylor

Pam Guenther was enjoying a Saturday morning ride on the back of her husband’s motorcycle in Ocala, Fla., when a cop driving in the other direction abruptly turned around and pulled them to the side of the road.

“I knew we weren’t speeding,” Guenther told Asylum. “So my first question was why is he pulling us over? [The officer] just pointed to my husband and said, ‘He’s wearing a mask, and it’s illegal to cover your face when riding a motorcycle.’”

Luis Santiago’s motorcycle helmet, a custom-modified gladiator-style head protector (pictured), is certainly a bit different. Yet, as Guenther pointed out to the officer, it doesn’t obscure the face any more than the typical tinted-visor biker helmet would. Nevertheless, the officer wrote Santiago up a warning for “wearing a mask prohibited.”

Irked by what had gone down, and sure her husband hadn’t done anything approaching illegal, Guenther contacted the Florida Highway Patrol. She was eventually told that Santiago was in violation of Florida statute FL 876.12.

“876.12 is a criminal statute based on an old (anti-) Klan law where you are not allowed to cover your face or head,” says Guenther, who has sought legal counsel. “It isn’t suppose to be a traffic rule that applies to people on motorcycles.”

When we got in touch with Captain Mark Welch, the Chief of Public Affairs for the Florida Highway Patrol, he also cited FL 876.12. In addition, he speculated that the officer may have pulled Santiago over because he wasn’t sure if Santiago was wearing eye-protection, which is required by state law. (Although, again, it’s hard to see how Santiago’s helmet differs from some more traditional ones in that respect.)

While it is true that a literal reading of 876.12 would prohibit face masks, we asked Welch if it’s typical for bikers to be cited or warned on that statute. “This is somewhat unusual,” he admitted. “In fact, it’s the first case that I know of.”

Guenther feels that she and her husband were unfairly targeted by what she describes as “a young officer jealous of a cool bike and a cool helmet looking for a reason to pull us over.” What she wants is for the department to apologize and make clear that a biker protecting his face is not breaking any laws.

Florida law doesn’t require adult bikers to wear helmets at all. So maybe the best way to limit the risk of being pulled over while riding the streets of the Sunshine State is to throw caution (and hair) to the wind and go without any head protection.

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

www.bikerrogue.com

ABATE of Florida’s Doc Reichenbach to speak at BETC

To all who have asked re: Doc Reichenbach and Sport Bikers

Recently a number of people have contacted me asking about the President/Lobbyist of ABATE of Florida’s, Doc Reichenbach’s, statement, made, during the battle over the Florida Legislatures attempt to pass legislation allowing the state to sieze motorcycles that the motorcyclists (sport-bikers) depicted in a film were, “not bikers.”

My apologies for being late in responding, I have had some medical problems as a result of an MC crash.

I was present at the meeting in question and heard him make the comment. He later tried to clarify the
statement by stating he was referring only to the persons in the film who were breaking the law.  He was also quoted making the following statement to the Miami Herald News,

“I don’t consider those people bikers,” said James ”Doc” Reichenbach, president of ABATE of Florida. “Every time someone is killed or there is a major accident, law-abiding bikers get categorized. I would call those thrill-seekers, and if they break the law we agree that they should pay a penalty.”
as posted on Bruce and RC’s motorcycle forum here:  http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3562429698&frmid=48&msgid=971141&cmd=showHowever as those of us who were involved in the fight against this egregious legislation are aware, many of his statements were disingenuous and did not match his actual actions. If you will remember it was the ABATE President/lobbyist that put  out emails that the bill “hb137” was dead,  stop writing your legislators (10-12-07 wherein the ABATE of Florida legislative representative offered what could be construed as a  positive statement re: the sponsor of the bill Lopez-Canterra,

“Know that the sponsor is new to the legislature and is generally an ABATE supporter, but he is trying to crack down on the flyboy/flygirl stunt riders or anyone racing around and riding wheelie.”
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2007/10/continuing-questions-reabate-of.html) and that he was not working with the Bills sponsor Representative Lopez-Canterra. This despite an aide in his office telling us over the phone that Doc Reichenbach was working with Canterra and our posting of a letter from Canterra validating that the ABATE President/lobbyist was doing so, see: http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2007/11/one-letter-from-politician-cantera-one.html

As we all know HB 137 turned into a nightmare of a bill that would impact all of us who ride that we first warned about  on our site here on 9-27-07 here: http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2007/09/sport-bikers-and-rest-of-us-beware.html
and that Lopez-Canterras had personal reasons for introducing the bill that had nothing to do with motorcycle safety as we posted here: http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2008/11/florida-representative-lopez-cantera.html

Dara Mclain and I attended a number of committee meetings at the Florida State Capital to speak out against this legislation, as we did to speak out against it’s eventual permutation into SB1992, both of which were supported by the ABATE lobbyist, James D. Reichenbach.

The request for this info came along with notification, followed by a press release that the ABATE lobbyist would be presenting at  the 7th Annual PRO (Public Relations Officers) Convention and
Bikers Empowerment Training Conference http://www.betconference.com/.

The Press release would be funny were it not so sad that enough people have taken what is contained therein as truth without doing the research. For example:

“Some topics of Doc’s address may include ABATE of Florida ‘s many legislative successes over its almost

30 year history, including the long battle and resulting success repealing Florida ‘s Helmet Law in 2001.”

This, along with a number of other bogus claims, is far from the “REAL” truth which reading this post will plainly reveal: http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/04/wctv-helps-abate-of-florida-lobbyist.html
In a time of 2 minute sound byte news  and increasing government intrusion in our lives it should be incumbent upon all of us to learn the truth of our history if we are to have any hope at saving ourselves from those who would oppress us and the charlatans that would profit off us.

More can be found at
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?oe=utf8&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&hl=en&q=HB137+blogurl:http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/&sa=N&start=0
 or
http://tiny.cc/d1ZpQ

or by searching the archives of Bruce and RC’s biker forum,
http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3562429698&frmid=48

which contain over 400 postings on the topic, resulting in Bruce Arnold having his ABATE life membership revoked in violation of ABATE of Florida by-laws.

This mail out will be posted at Big Bend Bikers For Freedom and Bruce and Rays Biker Forum along with some e-mails that this writer has been in possession of that will further demonstrate how the lobbyist of ABATE of Florida’s actions have resulted in many BOD members.

This information is free to distribute with the appropriate accreditation.

rc

Let Freedom Reign
http://bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/

The following is an answer in response to a press release that ABATE of Florida sent out about Doc.

I received this from Rogue who is a true advocate for motorcyclist not a charlatan like Reichenbach. It would be appreciated if you could spread the word about Reichenbach’s lack of success in the Florida legislature and show that he is riding on and claiming to have been the force behind the helmet law. On several occasions Reichenbach has been asked to explain exactly what “success” ABATE of Florida, Inc. has made. As usual there is no response. Why … because there has been no success. He has sold us down the river on several issues and lied to the very members that pay his outrageous salary. Remember HB139? Remember the handle bar height? We didn’t have any restrictions before ABATE of Florida, Inc., became involved. Have you renewed your Red-White-Blue tag? None of that money goes to injured motorcyclists-Thanks Reichenbach. Have you renewed any of your licenses or tags? Have they increased? Thanks Reichenbach, for bringing this to our attention … NOT! He has lied so much, I do believe he actually believes himself. Don’t let this parasite ruin what is left of Florida motorcyclists, we have so few rights left that if Reichenbach is left in his current position and you do NOTHING you have no one but yourself to blame. Do your research-do not endorse someone without having researched their successes or failures. Don’t do this for me-Do it for yourself.
 
Diana
Ride Free

Here are some sites to read:
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/10/abate-of-florida-what-hellwhat-we-have.html
 
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/08/abate-calls-us-liars-and-cowards-and.html
 
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/07/is-abate-of-florida-credibility-being.html
 
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/03/abate-of-florida-continues-to-feed.html
 
http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/2009/02/another-abate-of-florida-e-mail-finds.html

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

http://www.bikerrogue.com/

This is happening in to many places around the country

The MMA is scheduled to meet with Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) Registrar Rachael Kaprielian and Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan on Monday, January 11, 2010 to discuss the misappropriated Motorcycle Safety Fund monies.

The RMV reported 182,215 motorcycles registered through September 2009.   According to MMA calculations there should have been $364,430 deposited into the Safety Fund Account ($2.00 per registered motorcycle).   Since there was

only $177,801 initially deposited, $12,157 was removed, AND another $50,000 was also removed for other purposes, the MMA is fighting to get $248,786 added back to this fund and demand we receive a full accounting of the monies already stolen from this fund.

M.G.L. Chapter 90, Section 34 specifically states, “$2 from each motorcycle registration fee shall be paid by the registrar or by the person collecting the registration fee into the General Fund and shall be appropriated solely for the purpose of promoting and advancing motorcycle safety.”

To repeat:   By Law, $364,430 should have been put into the Motorcycle Safety Fund to be used solely for safety and awareness.

Please send a WRITTEN LETTER to RMV Registrar Kaprielian, MASSDOT Secretary Jeffrey Mullan, and Governor Deval Patrick TODAY expressing your feelings regarding the raiding of YOUR Safety Fund.   The addresses are at the end of this message and a sample letter is available on the MMA’s Web Site.

For MAXIMUM IMPACT, we need your letters to get there BEFORE our meeting!

Please act today!   For further information and details, please check the

MMA’s Web Site:

http://www.massmotorcycle.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=769540&item_id=11278

Registry of Motor Vehicles

Attn: Registrar Kaprielian

General Mail

Box #55889

Boston, MA   02205-5889

Massachusetts State House

Office of the Governor

Room 280

Boston, MA   02133

Massachusetts Department of Transportation

ATTN:   Jeffrey Mullan

10 Park Plaza, Suite 3170

Boston, MA   02116

For more information, please contact LegislativeDirector@MassMotorcycle.org or go to the MMA’s Web Site:  www.MassMotorcycle.org

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

http://www.bikerrogue.com/

PAY FOR FREEDOM – NO WAY!

This is what happens when motorcycle rights organizations make compromise deals with state legislative bodies. Motorcycle Rights Organizations need to go Back To Protests and Civil Disobedience.

That worked and will again; you just need some balls to do it.

Now enter law enforcement wanting to shake down motorcyclists who want to ride without a helmet. The Michigan State Police Union and the Deputy Sheriffs Union have come out in favor of the bill if the fee is charged BUT were against it without the fee— just Proving It Is About The Money and Not Safety!

ROGUE

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2009/12/29/news/srv0000007195138.txt

By Jordan Travis, Capital News Service

LANSING — Motorcyclists would be able to buy permits to ride without helmets if a bill introduced by a Westland lawmaker becomes law.

It would apply to riders who are 21 years or older, have been licensed to operate a motorcycle for at least two years or completed a safety class, and have at least $20,000 in health insurance.

The $100-a-year permit would make helmets optional. Any passenger over 21 years riding with a permit holder wouldn’t need a helmet.

Rep. Richard LeBlanc, D-Westland, said wearing a helmet should be a personal choice.

“I’m not critical of anyone who believes that cars should have airbags, and that children who ride bikes should wear a helmet,” he said, “but as adults, I think we should have a choice.”

LeBlanc said he’s been involved with the issue since the 1970s when he started riding a motorcycle.

“I know that people have very strong opinions about this,” he said. “I doubt people will change their minds because of politicking.”

However, Peter Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Institute of Michigan, said his organization strongly opposes the bill.

“Regardless of whether or not the consumer has coverage of $20,000, we think bike drivers ought to wear helmets,” he said.

One of the main reasons the institute opposes LeBlanc’s proposal is because current law allows motorcyclists who collide with an automobile to collect from the auto driver’s insurance company.

Making helmets optional would result in more motorcyclists receiving head injuries, he said, which would raise insurance costs.

Nancy Cain, communications director for AAA Michigan in Dearborn, said the organization also disagrees with the bill. AAA Michigan, the state branch of a national automobile insurer and drivers organization, said a year without helmets would result in 30 more motorcycle fatalities and cost Michigan citizens an extra $129 million in medical expenses.

AAA pointed to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data showing a nationwide rise in motorcyclist deaths. In 2007, 5,154 motorcyclists died, 120 in Michigan. That was a 7 percent increase over 2006.

Dan Quinn, owner of U-Win Motor Sports in Ludington, said he probably wouldn’t support the bill.

He recommends that his customers wear helmets. “Even people who come in here and buy mopeds, we recommend a helmet.”

The bill is pending in the House Committee on Regulatory Reform. Cosponsors include Reps. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, Gabe Leland, D-Detroit and Fred Miller, D-Mount Clemens.

Rogue

Sturgis Freedom Fighters

Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Member 2005

www.bikerrogue.com

If the State of Florida was really smart they would have Billy teach others how to build a motorcycle and then they would have a job to go to when the get released. A bike built in prison could then be auctioned and or raffled off to raise money for inmates their families and the prison system.

Of course the action of Billy doing this should be counted towards extra gain time and an earlier release from prison. Florida has prison industries named PRIDE and this may be something they would be interested in as well. With the increase in motorcycles there is always going to be a need for people to work on them.

Lane wrenching in prison

Bike builder in ‘motor pool,’ teaching others to weld

BY KEYONNA SUMMERS • FLORIDA TODAY • January 3, 2010

Celebrity motorcycle builder Billy Lane hasn’t lost his passion nor shed his “gearhead” persona while serving time in the state penitentiary.

A state prison spokeswoman says Lane, serving six years for a 2006 car crash that killed another biker, has spent the last four months using his mechanical skills at the Avon Park Work Camp to fix Department of Corrections vehicles as part of the “motor pool.”

Lane, 39, was sentenced in August to prison after pleading no contest to one count of vehicular homicide for crashing his pickup truck head-on into 56-year-old Sebastian Inlet Park ranger Gerald Morelock’s motorcycle while speeding past slow traffic in a no-pass zone on Sept. 4, 2006.

“It looks like he’s using his skills to help the state of Florida,” said corrections spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff.

In the meantime, the Melbourne Beach founder of Choppers Inc. has resolved his other legal problems surrounding the crash.

Court records show a civil suit filed last year by Erin Derrick — the passenger in Lane’s truck the night of the Labor Day 2006 crash — seeking compensation for hospital bills and suffering related to back injuries was settled through mediation.

The suit also held liable DaimlerChrysler, which provided the promotional vehicle to Lane despite his prior driving history.

Derrick’s attorney, Martin T. Buckley of Orlando, declined to comment on the suit or its resolution. Lane’s attorney, G. Jeffrey Vernis of North Palm Beach, did not return a call seeking comment.

A wrongful death suit brought against Lane and DaimlerChrysler by crash victim Morelock’s family was settled out of court in July 2007 for an undisclosed amount.

Greg Eisenmenger, Lane’s attorney in the criminal case, said he visited the prison work camp around early October to discuss filing a motion seeking a reduced sentence for Lane, claiming Morelock’s family thought Lane could do more good outside of prison.

A judge denied the motion, and Eisenmenger said no more are planned.

Lane has tried to turn the experience into a positive by helping other inmates learn how to weld, according to Eisenmenger.

“He’s adjusting as best he can,” Eisenmenger said. “They are allowing him to work in the shop, help other people and make good use of his time, so I think that’s a positive.”

Corrections spokeswoman Rackleff said inmates are assigned to facilities and work based on extensive mental and physical screens during reception.

She said Lane was immediately assigned to the “motor pool,” where his skills could be used.

Working doesn’t automatically equal gain time, Rackleff said. Instead good behavior earns that, and working is part of it.

Lane, placed in a minimum custody setting, has not been the subject of any disciplinary action, Rackleff said.

Eisenmenger said Lane is still willing to comply with a request Morelock’s family voiced at sentencing asking Lane to use his celebrity status to help save the lives of young people through a foundation they plan to create in Morelock’s name.

“While in prison, he’s not in a position to do that,” Eisenmenger said. “But it’s still his plan when he gets out.”

Contact Summers at 242-3642 or ksummers@floridatoday.com.

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