Reflections

Another riding season in Wisconsin has come to an end for everyone except a few die-hard scooter tramps. If you’re like me, it’s time to put the bike on the lift and start working on all the short-term fixes you did to get through last season and get ready for next year. During tear down I pretty much assess what went wrong, how I plan on fixing it, and how can I prevent the same problem from happening again or at least maximize the time between costly teardowns. ABATE of WI Inc. does the same thing this time of year. Our state officers and directors take the time to evaluate how things ran in our organization in the past year and evaluate how best to keep things running in the future. Just like you maintain your ride throughout the season, our organization’s leaders do periodic checks throughout the year and adjust resources according to our direct needs. I’m happy to say that ABATE of WI Inc. has made it through the year in much better shape than my scoot, and our ongoing preparations are shaping a successful 2020. But, before we start talking about what the new year has in store, let’s review how 2019 went so we can all agree that ABATE of WI is moving in the right direction.

For the sake of brevity, which is unlike my norm, I’ll try not to go into too much detail on each of our actions that I find successful because let’s be frank; if you’ve been reading this newsletter all year you’ll remember most of them. As a motorcyclist’s rights organization our three main focuses are legislation, education, and safety although other aspects of our organization such as marketing, fundraising, and membership are equally important to achieving our ultimate goals of freedom of the road.

Early in the year at our annual Officer’s Training our marketing committee received feedback on some of the new membership and recruitment tools and we began to brand some of our information with a uniform look and message. We took that message to several new large venues in the Milwaukee area at events such as Mama Tried and the Brewtown Rumble with some small success but more importantly we were able to reach out to a new generation of dedicated motorcyclists that will undoubtedly become the future of our organization. Regions are utilizing our EZ Up canopies and marketing tools well at their local events and we are looking to increase what we have to offer regions for promotions. Also, social media is seeing some great results and feedback from both the state and regional pages. Keep up the great work regions; you’re doing an outstanding job of getting the word out. In 2020 we will be expanding our presence at more biker events which will include sponsoring a Hooligan flat track/ ice racer and sponsoring the Build program which supports hands on bike building at local high schools.

We sent a small contingent of the legislative committee to introduce ourselves to our newly elected officials in Washington early this year and then followed it up by sending a strong contingent of riders to DC in May for Bikers in the Beltway (BIB), the Motorcycle Riders Foundations annual lobby day. We achieved some success at BIB with both of our Senators introducing and supporting our issues along with almost full bi-partisan support of our issues from our congressional delegation.

We held another successful Biker Lobby Day in Madison with almost five hundred members in attendance and all of our legislative offices reached.

Our awareness efforts once again started out the riding season and we sponsored over thirty billboards throughout the state and were able to secure longer term viewing on many of them for most of the summer. Regions continued to put the awareness message up with a variety of other mediums also including, but not limited to, the handouts our state office provided early in the year along with hosting many rallies and events held to support our message. I believe that along with our quality Share The Road program, regional promotion of awareness has substantially reduced ROW crashes in the past several years with numbers that back it up.

We were able to meet with the new leadership of the WI DOT, in part because of our involvement with the Motorcycle Advisory Council, and develop an understanding of our views toward safety in WI and how we can all work together to provide a safe riding experience for all motorcyclists in Wisconsin without infringing on our personal freedoms.

We were able to exceed our fundraising goals with creative new ideas and regional support even with the loss of several of our larger fundraisers statewide. Fundraising has been declining for several years but our pleas at Officer’s Training didn’t go unnoticed as many regions picked up the pace and the results proved positive. Along with our dues increase that takes effect Jan 1st, we should be able to offer more value to our membership with these much-needed funds.

Our membership fluctuated but ultimately gained slightly while many organizations both in our State and nationwide struggled or declined in membership. Added exposure at events will help gain membership from some bikers that we haven’t been able to reach previously, but the best way to help us add to our membership numbers is by asking a friend to join.

Our 45th Anniversary celebration went well even though the weather didn’t cooperate. Congratulations to all members that were recognized for their accomplishments and a big thank-you to Tony “Pan” Sanfilippo and Bob “Hogman” Thompson for your help with our historical displays and information. If your region is interested in hosting next year’s Annual meeting let your District Director know soon. We’d like to stay centrally located as 2020 is an election year for ABATE of WI.

We continued to work with many motorcycle clubs and organizations in our state and found support, both hands on with their presence and help at our Biker Lobby Day, and with monetary assistance through substantial donations and membership. This to me is proof that we are all united in our support of motorcyclists’ rights in Wisconsin.

And last but not least, our definition of a motorcycle/ Autocycle bill passed both the Senate and Assembly unanimously and is now awaiting Governor Evers signature. It took quite a bit of time and effort for what seemed like some commonsense legislation but ultimately, we got the bill that we wanted and have hopes that our language will be used on a federal bill in the near future. It may seem like a small success, but in regard to the future of motorcycling, it was a big one.

So, while it seems like the year flew by, you can see that there was no lounging around for the bikers of Wisconsin that make up this great organization. There are still things that we are working to make more efficient, more fun, and more enjoyable. But I believe that in 2019 ABATE of WI members found value in their membership. Seven cents a day went a long way this year. If you want to find out how you can do more to support and guide our organization in the future, attend a meeting, continue to read your newsletter, follow us on Facebook, and sign up for our alerts. Our future will be what we make it. ABATE is You. It’s been great working with everyone this year; I look forward to seeing you in 2020.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Until next month….Ride Free.

 Chubby