The GUNNY'S SACK

October 2006 This month is gonna be full of Thanksgiving turkeys and all the trimmings, so don’t get mixed up with that bird unless ya have a fork in yer hand. I’m lookin’ forward to a little time to take a break and RENEW this old Gunny. For some reason, this season has been a tuffie to deal with. I’m not sure if it was the price of gas or if I’m just gettin’ old. The bike events were great, but I didn’t see the same enthusiasm this year. People do burn out and then come back, and I DO see some seeds of an upswing. Gas prices are down – a little – and things are looking better. I mean, if we don’t get nuked! Watch next month for my report on the West Coast Regional Conference of NCOM, the National Coalition of Motorcyclists. It’s over by LAX in sunny Southern California, and I’ll be there as soon as my boss Sam Hochberg gets me my plane ticket to Los Angeles!

ELECTION FEVER: Now is the time to renew and plan for next year, and we need to be ever watchful of who we vote for. Those term limits I talked about last month are now at hand here in Oregon and some other states. If you’re unhappy with an elected guy’s work, put someone else in! Real term limits should come from the ballot box, not a statute.

BikePAC of Oregon helps us with some of those choices, and most other state MROs (motorcycle rights organizations) also make endorsements or recommendations. Look over their voter guides and then vote your conscience…but most importantly, VOTE!

NEWSBITS ‘N’ PIECES:
The following is something from the Sons of Liberty Riders’ website. These folks are an excellent resource for info for BIKERS RIGHTS. They’re at www.solriders.com, and you can get on their discussion list and boards as well, and it’s all free. Here is what I saw there:

“Just when you thought it was safe to ride your bike again...our old enemy, Senator Frank Lautenburg of New Jersey is coming after us again, via our Governors! It's not enough that we killed his Safety-Nazi agenda during the amendment process in TEA-LU. He doesn't care about what we or anyone else wants. He's a one man jack-booted thug that won't stop until we're all wearing helmets and paying homage to him. Read his latest attempt at stealing away your rights at the following link:
http://www.solriders.com/pdf/lautenberg.pdf. What he did was write a letter to every Governor, singing the praises of helmet laws! Spread THIS news far and wide. EVERY biker in the nation needs to see how this snake-in-the-grass is working against us, not only in Washington, but in our statehouses, too. Contact YOUR governor tomorrow, and explain that you and your state don't appreciate Frankie sticking his nose in our business.

And, it might not hurt to send Frankie-boy a little message about how he should stay out of issues that are strictly "states’ rights" – read his letter first, and if you wanna comment,
here's a link to his "contact page." These elected servants don't use regular e-mail anymore: http://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/
Or, contact him the old fashioned way:
Hart Senate Office Building
Suite 324
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3224
TTY: (202) 224-2087
Fax: (202) 228-4054”

DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS: The European Commission is at it again. The idea to begin with was to make motorcycles more visible. Now they propose to make them invisible by putting daytime running lights on ALL vehicles in Europe. Of course, just about all new vehicles here in the USA do that nowadays, too. Lets make up our minds.

CHINA: Here, where they are outlawing the use of motorcycles in many of the more crowded cities, their cops are loading up on bikes. Saw a picture on the net the other day of a Chinese cop walking among 1,200 Police bikes. They must be expecting a riot or something.

WHIZZER BIKES: Speaking of China, how many of ya remember the wonderful little motor mounted on a bicycle with a belt drive? The company is alive and well again, and you guessed it, they’re manufacturing in China. I owned one of these when I was a kid. We had great times on it, and now ya can buy them brand new, mounted on a 26 or 24 inch bike with telescoping front forks. They top out at 25 miles an hour and will run in the 160-mile range on a tankfull of regular gas. Street legal and can be titled. Neat rig to ride to work on, and leave the gas-burning cage home.

NEW FEDERAL MOTORCYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL: The Federal DOT announced the appointees to the Motorcycle Advisory Council this week. The group is chartered to “coordinate with and advise the Secretary of Transportation on infrastructure issues of concern to motorcyclists, including: barrier and road design, construction and maintenance practices, architecture and implementation of intelligent transportation system technologies.”

The Members of the 2006 Motorcycle Advisory Council to the Federal Highway Administrator go for 2 yrs, with no pay. They are:
Mark Bloschock -Texas Dept. of Transportation, Ed Moreland – AMA, Darrell Killion -ABATE of South Dakota, Gerald Salontai - Kleinfelder Incorporated, Robert McClune - North American Potters Industries. Kathy VanKleeck - MSF, Jeff Hennie – MRF, Ken Kiphart - State Motorcycle Safety Administrators, Steve Zimmer - ABATE of Ohio, and Donald Vaughn - Alabama Department of Transportation.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Here in rainy PORTLAND, Oregon, the Police here (PPB) are back on a tactic from a dozen years ago: They sent a NOTICE to our man Turtle, a member of Brother Speed MC, telling him that, pursuant to CITY ORDINANCE, he’s been classified as a member of a “criminal motorcycle gang.” Our AIM (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) lawyer Sam Hochberg is gonna be coming out swinging again. Sam and lawyer Spike are both long-time riders, and they went at it against the PPB in Federal Court about 12 years ago when the police sent just such a notice to Bobbay, ALSO then a member of BSMC, Portland Chapter. The litigation left bikers with no clear rule, except that after THAT, the PPB stopped such nonsense. Until now. Some of us are speculating that it’s because Turtle runs a great, clean little neighborhood bar out on SE Division in Portland, and it’s biker-friendly. THAT, apparently, is more than the PPB can stand, just like it was with Wet Willie’s bar a few years ago. So, the ‘Gang Notice’ went out to Turtle. We’ll keep you posted here in the SACK. Meanwhile, head to the Turtle Shell Bar and Grill on 117th & SE Division here in Portland, and show your support. On the Internet, Turtle’s just started, at: www.theTurtleShellBar.com.

AID TO INJURED MOTORCYCLISTS: At 1-800-ON-A-BIKE, 24/7 our AIM attorneys are our first line of defense when we find ourselves in an accident OR in a discrimination situation. Don’t make the mistake of hiring an attorney that doesn’t understand the dynamics of a motorcycle wreck, or who don’t “put back” into the motorcycling community. Motorcycle accident attorneys who RIDE know the drill, and will help you get the care you need. On the web, too, at www.ON-A-BIKE.com, or call ‘em and talk free.