The GUNNY'S SACK

October 1998 This summer has been a busy one and time seems to have sped up, although things I used to do in an hour now take twice as long. Maybe those are both a function of age. I was told one time that as life progresses, time seems to get away faster. At the time it didn't make sense to me, but it sure does now.

Well, the motorcycle runs and camp-outs have been great this year, but suddenly summer is gone. At my count, as I write this column, we have only 1 more major camp-out run left for this year in Oregon, the "End of Summer Run." That's it. I have made nearly all of them and several that were not ABATE sanctioned, such as "The Green Creek Run," two Goldwing affairs, and a couple of swap meets. Unfortunately, the season also brought me to a couple of funerals for lost bikers and friends we will never forget.

I look forward now to the fall and the upcoming elections in November, followed by the bi-annual legislative session in our state capitol. By the time this column hits the streets, we will have had our legislative planning session with BikePAC of Oregon, and we'll just see what our legislative roadmap looks like.

Here in Oregon we also have a term limits law, and we are losing some of our elected friends because of it. That also means we have an opportunity to elect some new folks who we can count on to help us in our fight for freedom of choice.

This year, our task will be more than just to get whatever bills we're backing for motorcycling and for freedom of choice passed in the legislature - THIS year, we need them passed by overwhelming margins, because we still have a governor that firmly believes bikers are not intelligent enough to deal with safety measures, and that we are public burdens when we are injured in accidents. It doesn't matter that most of them are caused by drivers that do not see us on our motorcycles. Hey, it didn't matter that our bill for freedom of choice passed BOTH the Oregon House and Senate. The Governor vetoed it. If we had the power to get that far, we'll just need to push that much harder this session and override the blasted veto.

All the more reason now for all Oregonians to support BikePAC, and of course, for MOTORCYCLISTS especially. BikePAC is the Oregon political action group that puts together an "Oregon Voters Guide" for our biker community. BikePAC is made up of too few tireless folks working for the betterment of all our community. BikePAC needs more bodies, more worker bees, and more support. Join or renew your BikePAC membership today before you forget it again. You'll find the form in your Oregon ABATE newsletter or call me and I'll send you one (or e-mail me at AIMGunny@aol.com). My NEW HOME NUMBER is 503/362-3767.

News bits'n pieces: Germany: A 60 page report released by the German Ministry of Environment has come up with the incredible suggestion that European authorities BAN roads to MOTORCYCLE use, and construct housing area roads with cobblestones, JUST to deter riding! They also suggest a 100 horsepower limit on motorcycle sales in all of Europe, and even punishment for revving your engine. All of this can come straight to the U.S., so we'd better be aware of it. It could mean bye-bye to our large heavy touring type scooters. Goldwingers are the prime bikes affected by this crap. This info comes via FEMA, the European bikers rights warriors.

Pennsylvania: After months of controversy, the Penn State Police said that State Trooper Devlin will no longer be a part of that organization. This is the cop responsible for the death of motorcyclist Ken Fowler, as a result of his unnecessary high-speed chase of a vehicle for the heinous crime of expired tags, five months ago.

Japan: The ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has released criteria for bids to supply them with nearly 75,000 motorcycle helmets. Traffic in Tokyo must really be getting bad. Put in your bids, folks.

Austria: The motorcycle maker KTM says they are in talks with Harley-Davidson for cooperation in some manufacturing ventures. They would not deny that Harley acquired some stake in the company! H-D moves in mysterious ways.

Jerusalem: A convicted motorcycle riding bank robber here is to receive a reduced prison tour for good behavior. He was famous in Israel in the late 80's for his motorcycle get-a-ways. His statement in court at sentencing was that robbing banks was the only way he could have a "decent lifestyle." Go figure.

Sturgis: Excelsior-Henderson unveiled their new production model heavy cruiser during the festivities. The principals of the company left Sturgis and rode the bikes to their production facilities in Belle Plaine, MN a distance of 650 miles. Good luck "EH." Another American company rising up!

Eatontown, NJ: Howard Stern is poised to show new condom ads on his TV show, featuring couples in seductive poses on motorcycles! Now, one of those actors might find a handlebar poking at someone's petootie. What is the world coming to? I can still remember when "Nudist" magazines were air brushed in strategic areas.

Karachi, Pakistan: Suzuki Motorcycle in this country has begun delivery of a contract for 1,020 units to Nigeria. That's worth over a million U.S. dollars to Pakistan. We live in a world wide economy now.

Hanoi: the old Honda DREAM motorcycle is back. Honda of Vietnam sold 45,000 of these bikes by the end of August, and they donated 65 Super Dream bikes to the Vietnam Red Cross people.

Sam's AIM Tip O' the month is about the PARTS on your bike. If you're building an assembled bike especially, you want to have a statement of origin on each major part, with a receipt identifying the part by it's number, if possible. Be careful of that frame at the swapmeet, too - get yourself some sort of paperwork on it. Cops in Oregon have a statutory right to SNAG YOUR BIKE out from under you if they find a part that has a number indicating it's stolen. Sam says to take a look at the books - at ORS 819.440 - where it gives them the right to seize it, even if just ONE component has so much as a MISSING, altered, defaced or destroyed serial number, even if it's NOT stolen! And get this: They can up and give the WHOLE BIKE back to the original owner if they find ONE stolen part, if they can show it, or to the insurance company who paid off the victim. Sam suggests you check with your DMV and your local police department on proper procedure on this, before you start on a project, just to be sure you're kosher.

Gunny again: Susie and I are moving to new quarters, so if I don't answer E- mail for a while it just means U.S. West hasn't hooked up our phones right. The NEW HOME address is 359 Glen Creek Rd, N.W, #85, Salem, OR 97304. The new phone is 503/362-3767. It should be in effect by the time you read this.

I can always be reached through Sam's office and, of course, Sam Hochberg is our own Oregon Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) Attorney. The statewide office out of Portland is 503-224-1106 and if it's a toll call for you use 1-800-347-1106. Sam's E-mail is: SamBikeLaw@aol.com, Gunny's E-mail address is: AIMGunny@aol.com. Nationwide, the 24-hour number for AIM is 1-800-ON-A- BIKE (also 1-800-531-2424).

Keep the round side on the bottom.

Gunny, Oregon AIM Chief of Staff