Traveling Man

by John Reblin

Wow, what a ride this month has been. I am not sure where to start, but let’s see what I can do. First of all, things are crazy with work, I took a small vacation, and a lot of ABATE of Wisconsin business, but all that is a good thing, I think.

Starting it all was the MRF Meeting of the Minds held in Atlanta. I think this was one of the best conferences to share information that I have attended. I thought the material and presenters were good, well planned, and informative. The hotel and location was great!

I was really busy attending the Executive Director thing by sharing and listening to the successes and failures of the states. It is amazing that so many of the issues are common ones and many states are running into the same headaches when trying to solve them. Profiling, fuel, and autonomous vehicles are obviously the biggest concern, but other states are still trying to work out ROW violation issues. Other issues in States include, larger UTV’s using the motorcycle trails, lowering of grant money for motorcycle awareness items, and the raising of licensing fees to be used to offset some motorcycle training costs.

Another item that I brought back with me and am stressing, is improving communication within membership. That means making sure that we are talking, educating, and training from the top all the way down. Everyone has useful information to share and learn from. I think this is a very important tool in recruiting and maintaining membership. If we give them a good product that educates and motivates, I think we can improve membership numbers. Looking back to the early days of my ABATE of Wisconsin adventure, I remember how Polack and others kept members engaged, informed and welcomed. I left the meeting feeling I learned something and was able to connect with people I enjoy being with to this day.

The breakouts were also interesting. One on social media, for a person like me that is not well versed, was a helpful tool to have. I learned some good things to use on Facebook in order to share information with the groups that I am involved in.

There was also a breakout on the US Constitution, the history and how Jesse McDugald used it over his long riding career, in fighting for motorcyclist rights.

Mark Buckner talked again about using the Strategic Plan to improve many aspects of your organization, from fun runs to the Organization itself. We have talked about it at Officer’s Training, and it is a valuable tool to use to avoid pitfalls and to promote success in many aspects such as events, membership, and finance.

We also set the National Legislative Strategy for the next year. It was the first time I attended this, did so with Steve Panten and Seven, and it was an informative and interesting process on what the focus should be for the upcoming year, legislatively.

Another breakout that was near and dear to me, was trying something in rider education by putting a motor officer with one or two students for the day to discuss riding techniques, and then go for a ride to work on them. It is a class from England starting to make some inroads here. I was just talking to someone interested in trying it here in Wisconsin. I still have more questions and am looking for some more details. Maybe this is something that will work well and will also create some discussion that will be helpful between the riding public and law enforcement.

Of course, like all conferences, some of the informative conversations take place during social time. Meeting and discussing how things are going, and how others are implementing changes in other states to achieve their goals, is helpful. I talked to several states about their State Party and how they handle issues like pets, fundraising, and other issues we run into here.

ABATE of Wisconsin was also honored for having the most members and sustaining members, along with being mentioned for our financial support and for our Senator’s adding information to the highway bill concerning profiling. Also, Jen Dewitz was second in obtaining MRF memberships and Cathy Dial took sixth place in the same contest. GREAT JOB! I think these two both have new goals and are setting the bar for all of us. Whether it is for ABATE of Wisconsin or the MRF membership is important, and they continue to show us that it is possible to sell numerous memberships. Having this passion, they are able to communicate a message about the importance of these two organizations to the survival of the future of motorcycling as we know it.

The next MOTM is in Des Moines, Iowa in September. Make plans to attend and let Steve know to forward information about a scholarship if they become available. I am sure next year’s event will be just as good as this one.

I also just got home from the State Meeting. It was a great event as usual. We were busy from morning ‘till night, but it was great connecting with all the members I usually see at state events. I helped, well not too much, Steve with his Future of Motorcycle Summit and was impressed with the information given out by Steve and Rocky Fox, Legislative Lobbyist from the MRF. The people attending were interested in the information along with contributing to the conversation and asking questions. As we talked about issues involving the future, we reminded them all that it all starts with everyone Riding their own Ride! They all agree to work on it on their side, but we reminded them we need to work on it on our side, too. Hopefully, we will be able to host another larger motorcycle summit for all riders this coming spring.

The highlight was the organized ride from the hotel, circling the Capitol and then heading to the CC Riders Clubhouse. In talking to Steve Panten in the morning about what his thoughts were for the day, he was thinking only four people might show but was hoping for 100. Well, he was wrong on both accounts. Steve, you did well in planning this. What a great ride, with no issues that could have put a black mark on this escorted ride. Thank you to the CC Riders and the Sleep Watchers for your assistance in setting up the route and road guarding this event. Hundreds of bikes on a clear, warm day made a statement in Madison. Thank you to all for making this a memorable, safe event.

The awards portion went well, it is important to recognize those who have worked hard to help us succeed. Congratulations to all that received that recognition and for all of your hard work.

I want to finish off this article with two things. First off, California passed legislation that will ban small off-road engines. This would be starting January 1, 2024, and it involves things like lawn mowers, leaf blowers, generators, and things using off road engines. So, I would suspect minibikes, dirt bikes and such are in the sights and being forced to use electric type technology.

One day I was “running.” It was about 7 am on a Saturday, and I was going passed a small hobby farm. There was a young boy, I guess about 6-7 years old, on a dirt bike chasing around the yard. As I got closer, he stopped, turned off the motor, and as I was near him, he raised his hand, waved, started the bike and continued around the yard. At that point I was glad about being involved in the future of motorcycling in Wisconsin and hoped we were not too late for this boy to be able to enjoy the lifestyle we were able to.

Ride your own ride.

John