MICHIGAN HELMET LAW RIDING BUMPY LEGAL ROAD As reported here earlier, Michigan's helmet law has been declared legally invalid by numerous courts throughout the state and some police departments are instructing their officers to not ticket bare-headed bikers.
''About three dozen Michigan district court judges have tossed out tickets for motorcyclists who weren't wearing helmets, giving some bikers more courage to ride with the wind in their hair'' according to the DETROIT NEWS, further explaining that, ''...judges who threw out tickets for riding bare headed -- including 15 district judges in Metro Detroit -- agreed with an argument by a defense lawyer that the law can't be enforced because Michigan State Police haven't provided a list of approved helmets, as the law requires.''
Although some police agencies insist that the law is still enforceable, Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney Larry Katkowsky has challenged the law on behalf of ABATE of Michigan on the grounds that State Police hadn't compiled a list of helmets since the 1980s. The state adopted scientific federal standards of what it would take for helmets to be considered safe, but it doesn't name specific models meeting those standards, cited the June 18 newspaper article.
''They tell you what's legal, what's not legal; what's approved, what's not approved,'' Katkowsky said. ''The law is very clear about that...Until the state police do what they have to do, it's not enforceable.''

SHOULD MOTORCYCLE HELMETS BE LAW IN ILLINOIS?
Yes 15.82%
No 84.18%
Total Votes: 1416
Source: Online poll conducted by THE TELEGRAPH.COM (Alton, IL)

NOT EVERYONE FITS THE IMAGE Hefty Larry Lockeby, with his flowing gray beard, black leather biker vest and a hook on his amputated right arm, stood out among the more conservatively dressed Texas State Republican Convention delegates.
''We vote like everyone else. We just dress a little different,'' said Lockeby, an alternate delegate from the Hill Country town of Mason, TX, as he took a cigarette break outside the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Disabled while fighting in Vietnam, Lockeby belongs to a veterans' motorcycle group called ''Survivors United,'' which is emblazoned on the back of his vest.
Lockeby, 55, and his similarly clad wife, Mary, said they have been refused service by motels and other places of business because of their dress.
''We've been turned away in the pouring rain. The way you dress and your mode of transportation should not make you a target,'' she said.
That is why they were so intent on attending the convention and seeing the party pass an Equal Access resolution, the couple said.
''We know there is already a federal law not allowing discrimination on creed, race or ethnicity. But the party needs to reaffirm that,'' he said.
They said the Democratic Party convention in Fort Worth last week was more open. They attended it as guests, but bikers also were delegates there - one of the larger special interest groups at the Democratic gathering. By JO ANN ZUIGA, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

BILOXI MAYOR HONORS ASGARD MOTORCYCLE CLUB Tuesday, June 27, was ASGARD Motorcycle Club Day in the city of Biloxi, Mississippi, by proclamation of Mayor A.J. Holloway.
The mayor thanked the club for its charitable endeavors just before the club turned over a check for $14,560 to the Gulf Coast Multiple Sclerosis Society. ASGARD MC also gives money to numerous other charities from the profits it makes from the annual All-Harley Blowout - an event that has been criticized and was heavily policed this year by Harrison County Sheriff George Payne.
''I tried to get Sheriff Payne to come here, but I couldn't locate him,'' Holloway joked, eliciting laughter from around the room.
The club members received a standing ovation from people in the council chambers.

BIKER TRASH The COLUMBIA OUTLOOK, a newsletter published by the Columbia (Washington) Sierra Club, had this to say about a recent trash clean-up; ''Despite having planned some really cool outings, attendance for April events decreased. For instance, no Sierra Clubbers showed up for the SOLV-IT Trash Clean up on April 29. Our absence was especially humiliating considering the fact that 50+ off-road vehicle enthusiasts showed up to pull cars and sofas out of the forest.''
Will the real environmentalists please stand and hold up your helmets?

MARYLAND CONSIDERS DIRT BIKE BAN Baltimore, Maryland 4th District Councilwoman, Catherine Pugh, will propose legislation to ''ban dirt bikes on city streets,'' according to the Baltimore Sun. Pugh is quoted to have said, ''It is obvious these dirt bikes are just out of control, ...What we really need to do is prohibit dirt bikes altogether.''
A highly publicized accident in which two individuals were killed while riding an unregistered off-highway motorcycle on a public street appears to have been the catalyst for this threatened action. The AMA believes that enforcement of existing laws is the prudent response, not creating redundant and overly broad regulations that threaten to ban all dirt bikes. AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION

WILL DRIVERS BECOME OBSOLETE? To build a safer car, Japanese automakers are trying to replace the most mistake-prone part: the driver.
''Inspired by statistics that blame human error for most crashes, Toyota and its rivals are rolling out 'intelligent' cars that can almost drive themselves on the highway,'' states a June 22 article in the Los Angeles DAILY NEWS.
Current innovations revolve around using laser radar, infrared and cameras to keep cars within their lane, even in curves, and maintain safe driving distances between vehicles in variable highway traffic.
Although not designed for look-Ma-no-hands driving, at least not yet, one system coming out soon will ''see'' the road ahead through a tiny windshield mounted camera and will help steer the car down the middle of its lane by nudging the steering wheel in the right direction.
According to Japanese research, human error was at least partially to blame for every crash studied over a three-year period, and only 10 percent were related to mechanical failure.
Japan's Vehicle, Road and Traffic Intelligence Society estimates that widespread adoption of intelligent systems could halve fatal crashes over 30 years.
Toyota, which now offers adaptive cruise control on three domestic models, has sold more than 10,000 vehicles with the advanced add-ons since 1997. But that's only a fraction of the 5.1 million cars and trucks the automaker shipped last year alone.
New technologies may soon replace sore eyes and wandering minds, and developers are betting that as prices come down on these high-tech gizmos, they'll become standard equipment.
Let's just hope they program their SMART cars not to run over our dumb motorcycles.

WHO PEED IN THE GENE POOL? One of the long awaited moments of each new year is the announcement of the Annual Darwin Awards...the prestigious recognition of those people who, by their own incredible, conscious actions remove their apparently faulty DNA/chromosomes from the gene pool.
Though the list of foolish demises is too long to reprint here, this year's Second Runner up Award should serve as a lesson to anyone contemplating animal husbandry on a motorcycle...
(28 January 1999, London) A flock of sheep charged a well-meaning British farmer's wife and pushed her over a cliff to her death. Betty Stobbs, 67, was charged by dozens of sheep as she brought them a bale of hay on the back of a motorcycle. The sheep rushed forward and rammed the vehicle, knocking Betty and her bike over the edge of a vacant 100-foot quarry.
''I saw the sheep surround the bike,'' neighbor Alan Renfry told reporters. ''The next thing she was tumbling down the incline.''

WHAT'S THAT SMELL? Motorcycling may be getting a facelift according to a recent announcement from Ducati that the Italian bike builder has teamed up with the cosmetics manufacturer MAC to launch a Lady Danger line of cosmetics, ''Designed for the woman who rides the edge and seeks exhilaration in everything she does.''
Okay, so when is Harley coming out with their Hogs Blood brand of men's cologne? Nothing smells manlier than 50-Weight oil!

AMERICAN IRON ON THE GRIDIRON Plazico Burress and Joe Hamilton were drafted for their speed, but taking a joy ride on a Harley wasn't exactly what the Steelers or the Buccaneers had in mind. At a NFL rookie photo shoot for several trading card companies, the players were told the Harley-Davidson motorcycle was a stationary prop. But that didn't stop the two NFL's Angels from taking a spin around the field at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Hey, they were also picked for their reckless abandon. ESPN THE MAGAZINE

RIDING THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL U.S. Senate candidate Willie Logan, who was a co-sponsor of Florida's helmet repeal bill while serving as a Democrat in the Florida House, recently concluded a campaign tour of the state on a motorcycle. Logan, who is running with no party affiliation for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Senator Connie Mack, decided to retrace Governor Lawton Chiles' famous walk across Florida, but with a twist...of the throttle that is!
He said he was riding his newly purchased Harley-Davidson instead of walking because the bike symbolizes his status as independent of political parties.
Logan wrote to ABATE of Florida; ''Our motorcycle tour is a symbol of everything that's missing in American politics today. Freedom to be your own person and not have your vision clouded by others. Freedom from being beholden to special interests that prevent you from doing what's right for the people of this country. Freedom from being chained to a political party that represents the rich by exploiting those less fortunate. Freedom to say what's right and to do something different for a change - to represent the real interests of the American people and not just cater to the corporate elite because they've paid you off.''
Logan began his historic motorcycle tour May 8 in the Panhandle town of Century, the day he officially qualified to be on the fall ballot, and he plans to complete the tour July 4 in Key West.
Logan, 43, is no political novice. Twenty years ago, he became the youngest elected mayor in the nation, leading the Dade County City of Opa-Locka. At 25, he won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives, where he will remain until term limits force him to step down at the end of the year.
He found himself in the middle of a political firestorm in 1998, reported a June 2, 2000, article in THE NEWS-JOURNAL (Daytona Beach), when the state House Democratic caucus abruptly removed him as their speaker-designate, a move which enraged black Democrats who felt the party was taking them for granted.
Logan in turn endorsed Jeb Bush's candidacy for governor, but says his decision to run for Senate as an independent is not an act of political revenge against his former party.
He remains friendly with many prominent state Democrats, and has spurned numerous invitations to join the Republican Party.
Rep. Willie Logan is a long time supporter of ABATE of Florida,'' said John Banta, Treasurer for the Daytona Beach Chapter of ABATE. ''He was a co-sponsor of the recently passed helmet law amendment and truly believes in our issues. He is also aware that discrimination affects many of us who ride motorcycles.''
For more information, log onto www.logan2000.org, or call (305) 681-5042.

BLESSING OF THE BIKERS The roar of motorcycle engines drowned out the usual hymns in St. Peters Square on Sunday, July 2, as nearly a thousand bikers revved their engines to greet Pope John Paul as he appeared at his window for his weekly appointment with the faithful.
The motorcyclists honked horns, raised their helmets and raced their engines when the Pope acknowledged their presence.
During the Holy Year, various groups have had their day at the Vatican, but on this Sunday it was the bikers who turned out en masse. Before greeting the Pope, the throng of motorcycle riders had their helmets blessed. FOXNEWS.COM

MONEY BAGS Drivers helped to collect money scattered over M-way recently in England, as a motorcycle courier drove along the motorway unaware that thousands of pounds were fluttering out of his rucksack and scattering all over the road, according to police.
Surprised motorists stopped their cars on the M65 near Accrington in Lancashire and helped pick the money up before handing it back to the grateful rider who had by now been alerted to the notes escaping.
Lancashire Police were called to the scene and discovered people collecting scattered notes off the road.
A police spokeswoman said: ''It seems a motorcyclist was carrying a rucksack with an amount of money in the region of £10,000 and as he was driving along the money was fluttering out of his bag.
''Luckily for him the people who collected the money handed it all back again.''
I'll bet you'd never see that happen on the New Jersey Turnpike! from STEVE GARCIA, ABATE of California

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: ''I believe government oversteps its legitimate role when it excessively interferes with personal freedom. That interference includes regulating an adult's decision about his or her well being if such decisions do not endanger the life or safety of others. Reasonable adults should be trusted to make reasonable decisions.''
Florida Governor JEB BUSH, in a statement to the press after signing the helmet law repeal bill on June 16.