The GUNNY'S SACK

January 2002

Wow! Here it is gettin' near Valentine's Day already, and the year just now seems to have started. Haven't even gotten over the year-end holidays yet, and away we go again.

Guess I'd better get with it and get ready for our upcoming National Coalition of Motorcyclists Annual Convention in NEW ORLEANS, over Mother's Day weekend in May.

We all know how important this gathering is to the motorcyclists' struggle for Freedom of the Road, among other things. The seminars you will attend all are geared to help each of us to return home with tools that help us in this all-important task.

It's not just the helmet thing anymore, folks. It's also what's coming at us, like "End of Life" requirements to recycle older cars and bikes, unrealistic emissions controls, anti-tampering laws to prevent performance modifications, and a myriad of other restrictions that our lawmakers, and their compadres from across the oceans, are foisting upon us with the notion that these laws are for the good of everybody, and bikers aren't very smart anyway so we shouldn't mind if we can't ride anymore.

A dear friend of mine once said, "If this keeps up we will go to museums to look at the machines we once rode with pride on our nation's highways."

If that thought makes you ill at ease, don't miss this year's NCOM Convention in New Orleans, May 9-11. It promises to be a real doozy. Check with NCOM to get you the information. Call 1-800-ON-A-BIKE, or 1-800-531-2424, or e-mail NCOM's Bill Bish: ncombish@aol.com, and somebody will happily send you the info. Check the website, too: www.ON-A-BIKE.com. DON'T MISS IT THIS YEAR! Hey, and they've got a great Radisson Hotel booked for the conference at $79 a night, near the French Quarter. THOSE rooms are gonna go fast, so call NCOM, or the Radisson Hotel right away. Don't forget to mention NCOM for the special Convention rate.

NEWS BITS 'N PIECES:

CHINA: Can ya believe it? ANOTHER banner year of motorcycle production in China. We'll NEVER catch up in this race, that's for sure. In a story from AsiaPort and Alestron, we hear that the Chinese manufacturing output of putts went UP by almost 9%. That brings them to a whopping 11 MILLION bikes built in China -- just last year. WOW!

We could use some of that Chinese entrepreneurial spirit over here. If we could build even ten percent of that, man oh man... I guess then you're faced with getting them out of the showrooms and onto the street. Hey, maybe it would give our economy a shot in the arm.

TORONTO: Police in Canada's largest city said they've asked businesses to enforce a strict dress code barring members of the Hells Angels from wearing any of the motorcycle club's colors when they roll into town.

Boys and girls, I was in the motel business about ten years ago when the Angels came to town and some stayed at my establishment. They were the best customers I had, and they left their rooms the neatest. And they didn't use motel towels to wipe their scooters off, either. They have their own dress code, and their own code of behavior, and don't need to be told how to dress or act in public. At least not here in the good old US of A.

LOS ANGELES: Suzuki has done something interesting that we're seeing more lately: They've married the motorcycle and car into these "speed merchant" cars they've shown at the auto shows. No info on production for sale of the sports car or their open wheel racer. Check the web site at www.media.suzuki.com.

AUSTRALIA: We've all heard or read about the terrible fires in Australia this summer. Reuters news service reported that there have been at least 21 people arrested who were on motorcycles, intentionally setting fires. Millions of acres and countless homes have been lost. Police are also on two wheels, chasing these clowns on dirt bikes. What makes some people tick, I wonder.

FRANCE: According to Berry van Gestel the managing director of Harley-Davidson France, most of the people that buy Harleys there are well-to-do businessmen and not celebrities. Hells bells, even I knew that one! I wonder if they have to wait as long as we do to get a scoot. They say they sold 3,000 rides in 2001. Not bad for the French.

MORE CHINA NEWS: You'd kinda expect SOME motorcycle news here 'n there from China, lookin' at our last story of 11 million built in 2001! Seems the Chinese government's plans to limit bike use in the centers of their BIG cities has helped create a different result -- more Chinese are buying bikes who live OUTSIDE those big cities. Hell, if I lived there, you wouldn't catch ME in a bike-banned city! I guess just because they're having more ECONOMIC freedom over there doesn't mean they have ALL their freedoms. Maybe they need some of our biker Freedom-Fighters to go over there and teach those Chinese bikers a thing or three.

THAILAND: Betcha didn't hear that there were Muslim separatist attacks goin' on here now, too. It just doesn't stop, does it? Well, THIS one, right after Christmas, was carried out by a band of five of 'em on BIKES. Why is it that bikes keep popping up in wartime? I guess it's just 'cause they do the job, for friend or foe. And these guys are killin' COPS! In this country that would be a BIG no-no.

WASHINGTON: Well, here's one from right here in the Northwest that caught the eye of our AIM Attorney for Oregon, Sam Hochberg. He caught a wire story about some poor 19 year-old kid up in Renton, Washington, who was racing at 70mph on a city street, and he decided to pull a WHEELIE at 70! The expected happened -- somebody pulled out, and the boy died.

Sam says his own first serious bike accident was when HE was 21 -- and that's quite a number of moons back, folks -- when HE was popping wheelies on his little 2-stroke -- inside a big GARAGE! Smeared him and that little Yamaha right into a Cadillac bumper. Good thing he survived, so he can be on the job for us. Hey, maybe THAT'S why he likes to represent us injured bikers? All the same, if this kid had taken some training, maybe he would still be with us. Wheelies are for the dirt where there is some room to fall down, not on city streets and certainly NOT at 70 mph.

LOS ANGELES and YOUR town: Comin' around the corner, I hear there's gonna be a new and improved Independent Shop Program (ISP) for bikers in the USA. It's sponsored by AIM -- Aid to Injured Motorcyclists -- those are the lawyers who actually DO RIDE, sponsored by Richard M. Lester. Just show your AIM card to any participating ISP shop, and you'll get a discount or a deal. Lots of states have shops already signed up now -- but watch for more and better to come at your local independent shop!

If y'wanna know more, look in your local ABATE or MRO newsletter, and chances are, you'll see an AIM Independent Shop Program ad, showing who's a member in YOUR area. If ya don't see it, call AIM's national headquarters in California, toll-free, at 1-800-ON-A-BIKE, or e-mail 'em at aimncom@aimncom.com, and ask about it!

These AIM lawyers are the same folks, as regular Sack readers know, who handle our big and little mishaps on the road. If you get in a wreck, don't forget to go STRAIGHT to a lawyer, whether it's AIM or not. Sam Hochberg here in Oregon reminds us NEVER to call those insurance adjusters until you've talked to a competent attorney! AIM is there too, "24-7," at 1-800-ON-A-BIKE. Sam hangs around at 800-347-1106, or in Portland, Oregon at 224-1106, or email SamBikeLaw@aol.com. The Gunny gets his fan mail at AIMGunny@aol.com.

Keep the round side on the bottom.
GUNNY, AIM Chief of Staff for Oregon

IMPORTANT NOTE: Several people sent in subscription requests recently for the AIM/NCOM Motorcycle E-News Service, but unfortunately the computer got hungry and ate them! So, if you or someone you know sent a SUBSCRIBE message to aimncom@aimncom.com, and you aren't receiving this directly, please re-submit your request and we'll process it right away. It's FREE, so what're you waitin' for?