BIKERS FIGHT FOR THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS Two Reno bikers arrested after refusing to remove their club vests at the Carson City, Nevada, courthouse have sparked a First Amendment debate they say they'll ride all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
The two members of the Branded Few motorcycle club were arrested March 9, 2001 on suspicion of trespassing after they were told they could not wear their vests wiith the club's swastika-decorated patch inside the courthouse, and they then refused to leave.
''We don't allow people with swastika symbols in the courtroom,'' said Carson City District Judge Michael Griffin, explaining that the swastika symbol is disturbing to some people and could be disruptive.
But the bikers believe that the court shouldn't tread on their right to express themselves, saying that asking them to remove their vests is the same as asking a Boy Scout to remove his uniform; ''That uniform is who they are, and our vest is who we are, which is just a bunch of guys who love to ride motorcycles.''
What was supposed to be a simple visit to the courthouse to contest a traffic violation has turned into a showdown over freedom of speech, according to Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) Attorney Kevin Karp, who serves as legal counsel for the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs.
''They were arrested for trespassing on a public building where they not only had a right to be there, they had an obligation to be there because of a scheduled court appearance that day,'' said Karp. ''We're not talking about the clothing itself, we're talking about what was written on the vest, and that's a violation of the First Amendment.''
When the two bikers and their lawyer showed up in court on March 26 to enter not guilty pleas to the trespassing charges, they were supported by more than fifty motorcyclists from six clubs who gathered at the courthouse to protest what they view as an infringement on their First Amendment rights.
For their efforts, citations for trespassing were issued to 10 of the bikers who went inside the courthouse with their colors on.
Karp, who said he believes the law will be on the side of his clients, said they were singled out because they are members of motorcycle clubs. ''If these guys have beards and ride bikes, if they are less than Wally
Cleaver, they get harassed,'' he said.
Glen Gurr, chairman of the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs, who received a citation said Harley riders are seen as bad guys. ''We have businessmen, family men, we are not drug addicts and criminals.''
''First off, these men are not in a gang,'' said Karp. ''If these were Shriners or Boy Scouts in uniform, they wouldn't have any problem.''
Karp promised to push the issue as far as it will go, including all the way to the state's highest court.
''Quite simply,'' Karp said, ''If this were a legitimate policy, why isn't it policy across the state?''
AID TO INJURED MOTORCYCLISTS/NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS

BIKE RELATED FATALITIES DROP AFTER FLORIDA REPEALS HELMET LAW ''Motorcycle riders who fought so hard to get Florida's mandatory helmet law repealed are seeing the numbers from Daytona's Bike Week as real vindication,'' said an ASSOCIATED PRESS article from Daytona Beach.
This year, all eyes turned toward the state's premier biker event to gauge the impact of repealing the state's helmet requirement last July 1, and despite fears that more motorcyclists would die, deaths actually dropped
sharply.
''A record 15 bike-related fatalities occurred in Central Florida during Bike Week 2000. But during Bike Week 2001, accidents claimed the lives of six people in Volusia County, a reduction that bikers claim proves their point. They say that it's safer to ride motorcycles without helmets that impede vision and hearing,'' said the article.
Statewide, bike-related fatalities fell from 110 during the first six months of last year to 86 during the last six months, the period when helmets were no longer mandatory, the AP reported.

NATIONWIDE MOTORCYCLE FATALITIES ON THE RISE After nearly a decade-long decline, motorcycle fatalities are on the rise again - and statistics show that aging baby boomers may be behind the increase, according to a LOS ANGELES TIMES analysis of federal statistics.
Motorcycle fatalities among riders 35 and older rose 59 percent between 1994 and 1999, while federal statistics show that deaths for those 34 and younger fell 22 percent during the same period. For the first time, in 1999, older riders accounted for a majority of those killed. That was also the year the trailing edge of the baby boom generation turned 35.
''These trends fly in the face of the conventional wisdom about who's getting killed on motorcycles,''' said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Motorcyclists accounted for 2,472 of the 41,611 people killed on America's roads in 1999-about 6 percent of the total. During the past ten years, the average age of motorcyclists killed rose from 29.3 in 1990 to 36.5 in 1999, according to NHTSA statistics.
No one knows exactly why older cyclists are dying on the road in greater numbers, although inexperience, overconfidence, and alcohol consumption may all play a part. So can the tendency among older riders to embark on all-day road trips, which exposes them to the hazards of the highway for longer periods.
Or it could be demographics, pure and simple - the sheer number of baby boomers saddling up for the first time or returning to the sport after a long absence. That has prompted a rapid ''aging'' of the motorcycle population.
As people remain active later in life, the number of older - even elderly - bikers can be expected to climb higher.
Statistics also indicate that older bikers are more likely to drink alcohol before riding. The highest intoxication rate among fatally injured motorcyclists in 1999 was in the 35-39 age group - 45%. That was followed by the 40-44 age group at 39%. Â The drunken driving rate for motorcyclists of all ages is much higher than for drivers of cars and light trucks.
The rising death statistics for older riders comes at a time when baby boomers are more enamored than ever with the romance of the motorcycle.
Last year, the typical profile of a new motorcycle buyer was a 42-year-old male with a median income of $67,000, according to the marketing research firm J.D. Power and Associates.

MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY BOOMING ''Money generated by new motorcycle sales in 1999 might rival the gross national product of some small countries - the total came to an estimated $4.4 billion,'' report MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY MAGAZINE.
That figure is up almost a billion from 1998, and it's more than double of what is was in 1994. Talk about a booming industry.
Motorcycles themselves accounted for less than half of the $9.9 billion in sales generated by motorcycle retailers across the country. The rest of the money came from sales of used motorcycles, parts and accessories, and
service labor.
In 1999, a typical franchised motorcycle dealer averaged $840,000 in new unit sales, $294,800 in parts and accessories, $281,600 in used sales, $82,100 in service and $23,800 from other related sales. On average, a motorcycle dealer has 11.2 full-time employees and 2.0 part-time workers, with an average payroll of $351,000.

IT'S YOUR HIDE Leathers are the only way to go, as most of us learn after we've been sandpapered and cheese-grated by doing the blacktop bebop a few times.
So dig this disintegration comparison study of scooter-thickness leather vs. other materials hitting the pavement at 50 miles per hour: Heavy denim--a measly 4 feet Kevlar (the same material used in bulletproof vests)--18 feet
Yuppie leather (the cheap, thin, Wayne Newton-style crap)--29 feet Honest-to-God motorcycle-quality leather--86 feet
Simply put, when it comes to body armor, don't be a skinflint--unless you want to someday end up tweezing pieces of gravel outta your skin. SAVAGE, BIKER MAGAZINE

NO HARLEY ATTIRE ALLOWED I got my ass chewed a while back by what I saw then as an over zealous ABATE Member of a drunken rage. Hell, what was he yelling at me for? I didn't do nuttin'. NOTHINGâ?¦there was the problem: I was riding around blind not realizing the seriousness of what they were fighting for, or for that matter, WHAT they were fighting forâ?¦besides the helmet issue.
I became a member of ABATE, honestly, to avoid a similar incident again; after all, I want to wear my helmet sometimes. Â But I don't wear a D.O.T. approved helmet and I damn sure never want to be told I have to wear a full
faced helmet when I ride.
Let's take it a step further; what if you were told you had to wear a leather jacket every time you ride. Or what if you drive thirty miles to hear a band and then can't get in because you are wearing ''biker attire''? It is not so far fetched. There is a club near Atlanta that actually had the balls to put up a sign that reads ''No Harley Attire'' at the front door.
It's even worse for patch holders, as they are often turned away by places of business and I have been informed that even ABATE members have been turned away.
Where will it all end? I say it won't, and so does Bear, Chairman of Georgia's Confederation of Clubs and a member of the Iron Cross Motorcycle Club. He states, ''Patch holders have been denied their rights, and the
other motorcyclists are next.''
The Confederation of Clubs of Georgia is working to pass Bill #52 in the Senate, a Biker Anti-Discrimination Bill, and COC's all over the country are trying to do the same. Currently, Minnesota is the only state that upholds the law protecting bikers, but it seems Texas is very close to passing it. Â It will take 29 votes to pass in Georgia, and Bear says the bill already has 21 cosponsors.
We are lucky to have organizations like ABATE and the Confederations of Clubs willing to stand up and fight the virus, even for those of you that won't take a stand and fight for your own rights! Not everyone has time to go to the Capitol, but I'm pretty sure we can all afford to give up the money we'd spend on one trip to the movies to help support their cause.
It is so important for motorcyclists to join together on these issues. If we don't, we may find ourselves sitting in the back of the bus and drinking from a separate fountain before we know it! ANITA McLAURIN, DIXIE RIDER

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ''Everything that I did in life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.''
FORMER U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE EARL WARREN


NOTE: If you would like to receive ''Coast to Coast Biker News'' and other important motorcycle information each month, simply e-mail a "SUBSCRIBE" message to aimncom@aimncom.com.