The GUNNY'S SACK

Aprilr 2001

Well, folks, I'm a bit tardy this month because my ABATE of Oregon, Washington County Chapter decided (democratically, of course) that I should represent them at this year's annual ''Best of the West'' in Phoenix, AZ. I am honored that my people have the kind of faith that makes them willing to spend good money for me to represent them.
These conferences, whether it's the MRF or NCOM who puts them together,
are very important for us because it's how we refuel our energies for the continuous fight to keep the freedoms we have and regain those we have lost.
For many years we have ''Preached to the Choir'' (ourselves) but we have done little to insert ourselves into academia to educate them. Having attended the BOW, the theme that stood out was our need to get to these folks or we will always be the unintelligent little brothers and sisters they feel the need to protect. Big brother is watching every move we make, except when we are on the road and we are then invisible.
We've made great strides getting involved in politics and we are ever widening the scope of our influence in the schools with motorcycle awareness programs around the country. Now we need to expand into the general population and get our message to the public. Let's pick each other's brains and get it done. We are the losers if we don't.

NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS (NCOM) CONVENTION: LAST CHANCE, LAST ANNOUNCEMENT! The 16th annual NCOM Convention will be in Orlando, FL May 10-12, 2001. Don't miss this one folks. It's gonna be the biggest and best yet. We're expecting around 1500 motorcycle rights activists from ALL over the U.S. and the World, from ABATE's to Confederations of Clubs, and every type of rider in between.
But hurryâ?¦the Marriott Hotel has been sold out for months, and now we've sold out the overflow hotel next door. So now, if you need a room, you'll need to call the AmeriSuites hotel on the same block at (407) 240-3939, and be sure to mention NCOM for our special Convention rate of $69.00 single/double.
Rotten Roger of ABATE of Oregon will receive a Special Recognition award for his lifetime of service in bikers rights. He is truly one of our special people (anyone ever heard of "ABATE of Roger?") and richly deserves to be honored. Phone Bill Bish at NCOM, at 1-800-ON-A-BIKE for info and reservations. If you can't make it, talk to someone who does! I'll report here in the next Gunny's Sack.
NCOM is made up of hundreds of motorcycle rights organizations around the country, and is fully funded by the Aid to Injured Motorcyclists program (AIM)â?¦it's part of our AIM Attorneys' commitment toward recycling money FROM motorcycle accidents BACK IN to making motorcycling safer and better for all of us.

NEWS BITS'N PIECES:

RENO, NV: From the Reno Gazette-Journal, Mary Thompson says: The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has offered to help Northern Nevada AIM Attorney, Kevin Karp, and a group of Reno motorcycle club members with the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs who are contesting Carson City courthouse rules that ban them from wearing their colors in the public building, because the judge said that their swastika-decorated vests could disrupt his courtroom.
The line where the judge's power starts and where First Amendment rights stop is a point of debate. ''But the swastika isn't the issue here,'' Karp said. ''Some of the people who were cited weren't even wearing a swastika. And it's not about what's allowed in the courtroom, because they never even got there. It's a first amendment issue, whether there's a swastika on the vest or not -- it's the government regulating speech and expression in it's own buildings.''
Here in Oregon our AIM attorney Sam Hochberg is involved in similar issues for the Oregon Confederation of Clubs.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL: Bikers are riding without helmets, but bike-related fatalities have dropped after the helmet law was repealed! The numbers from Daytona's Bike Week are a real vindication to all the Florida bikers who fought so hard to undo their helmet law. Bike Week was under particular scrutiny to gauge the impact of repealing the lid law last July 1. The fear was more motorcyclists would die, but instead deaths actually dropped
sharply. I'll bet those figures didn't come from The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA)!
In 2000, 15 deaths were attributed to scooters and this year we lost only 6. Any loss is too many, but reductions are always welcome.
Statewide in Florida, 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 in Florida. It's a WIN - WIN!

BITS ABOUT BIKERS: According to a May 1999 survey conducted by Progressive Insurance (a group founded in 1937 that bills itself as the largest insurer of motorcyclists and their bikes): Lawyers who ride motorcycles dedicate four times as many days to charitable causes (eight per year), compared to lawyers who don't ride (two days per year). They also found that lawyers who ride motorcycles were the group least likely to say that they need money for happiness! Sounds like our crew of AIM Attorneys to me. You don't find a more dedicated bunch -- and here's proof, even from an insurance company!

BIKER'S BOOK CORNER: A new must read book is ''Wild Ride'' -- the book explores motorcycle ''outlaws.'' The blurb for the books says ''They are everywhere. The big bikes, the long hair, the leather jackets. There is a certain distinction that follows motorcycles and the people who ride them.''
In ''Wild Ride,'' Tom Reynolds explores the myths, fact and fiction of motorcycle outlaws. Beginning with the Boozefighters in the 1940s, he explores how several of the modern-day cliches came to be through movies like
''The Wild One,'' starring Marlon Brando, based loosely, if not inaccurately, on a weekend in Hollister, CA. During the event, a group of clubbers supposedly took over the town, got drunk and generally caused havoc. I
thought the town was ecstatic over all the money it made during the weekend, although the book perhaps doesn't make that point.
If you can't go for a ride this is a good read, brothers and sisters. Send me your comments on the book and I'll print 'em. Email me at AIMGunny@aol.com, or FAX them to my boss, Oregon AIM Attorney Sam Hochberg,
at 503-224-3869, and he'll get them to me.

From PA NEWS comes this nice little worry for ya. AIRBAG VEST FOR MOTORCYCLISTS TO GO ON SALE! A motorcycle clothing manufacturer in Italy has dreamed up this device that supposedly instantly inflates all three of its ''PROTECTIVE'' bags in the event of a crash and envelopes the rider in a cocoon of safety thereby saving the life about to be lost.
Just maybe, if PROPERLY TESTED, this thing might be of some value. My fear would be the thing would go off just because and there I'd be all wrapped up and no where to go with my scooter going on without me to God
knows where. The thing is monitored by miniature computers on the bike and the rider. Oh my God! Computer reliability too! Count me out.

ENGLAND: A pro boxer was arrested for riding without a helmet. He said he thought it was a ''gray area'' on a small scooter, whether he needed a helmet, since he figured it was technically not a ''motorcycle,'' but a moped. Hooray for him! Don't try it in Oregon -- Sam Hochberg, AIM lawyer, says the statute here specifically mentions mopeds. This boxer is either a real freedom fighter or has taken too many pokes in the beak.

Keep the round side on the bottom.
Gunny, Oregon A.I.M. Chief of Staff