Big Win Big Fun

by Steve Panten

I hope everyone enjoyed this year’s Summer Hummer! As always, it was a great time. Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to make sure this was another successful event and thank you to everyone that attended. I enjoy attending this party every year to reconnect with old friends and having refreshments while meeting new people.

The Summer Hummer is a great time to introduce myself to the members. I like to hear what is important to them and how we are doing protecting their passion. And we get to do this while having an awesome time.

Last month we had a successful trip to Washington DC for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation’s Bikers Inside the Beltway event. It was on opportunity to educate our elected officials on what is important to the motorcyclists across the state. We were welcomed into all their offices and met with most of them personally. We had very good conversations with each office, and they listened to our concerns about protecting our gas, motorcyclist profiling concerns, and most importantly, protecting motorcycling as we know it with new technologies rapidly advancing.

Many of our concerns were theirs also. The anti-motorcyclist profiling resolution, H.Res.366, is a good example. Both of Wisconsin’s Senators supported the resolution when it passed in the Senate, and 6 of the 8 House of Representative members from the state are signed on to support their version. We still have 2 Congress members that are not signed on to it. We spoke with both Congress members, Fitzgerald and Moore about the issue and asked them to sign on to the resolution draft to help move it to the floor for a vote. Congressman Fitzgerald said he would sign on (although he has not yet) but Congresswoman Moore still needs more convincing. If you live in either of these Congressional member Districts, please reach out them and ask them to sign on. Wisconsin is the home for motorcycling and protecting motorcyclists from being stopped by law enforcement because of where we choose to stop, what we drive or wear, is important to all of us.

Last month we learned about the Town of Oconomowoc drafting an ordinance that would ban motorcycles from riding on the ice while restricting ATV/UTV and snowmobile use. The ordinance would allow other vehicles to operate on the ice, but it would restrict the time of day, speed around other users, and how they operate, but motorcycles would not be allowed at all. We learned about this ordinance from Mike Schwarzenbacher from the AMA District 16 which includes Wisconsin. We did some research on this issue and supported the movement by drafting a letter to all the Board Members and lawyers expressing out disappointment in this approach.

It is important to learn where the ban is coming from and nail down what supporters truly want to address. Motorcycle ice racing is becoming more popular with people that don’t want to take a break from riding on the roads when mother nature puts the stop to our fun. Clearly, they are opposed to the noise that comes from riding all day on the ice but banning one mode of transportation from operating in an area while allowing other types is troubling. We will continue to watch this along with the AMA and attempt to find a solution.

I am proud to be part of ABATE of Wisconsin and humbled to have your confidence in me having the ability to steer this motorcyclists rights ship through the swamp of politics. And I say ship because let’s face it, things in Madison and Washington DC do not always move quickly. Our success has been because of the passion from our membership. It takes all members with different passions to be a successful organization. Whether it is a passion for the legislative work that we do, or the passion for fundraising, or selling products, and appreciating all the other aspects, the important thing is that we need your passion. Support each other’s passions and appreciate what the other person is doing to help us achieve our goals. On our trifold we list some of our accomplishments over the years but what is missing is all the local successes that we have had as well. Whether it is a noise issue in one community or a ban on group rides in another, we can be successful in finding a solution if we stick together and find the right people to work with. If you know of something that we should get involved in, please let your Regional Rep know about it and ask them to reach out to your District Director to bring this information to the Board of Directors meeting. The earlier that we know about this stuff, the easier it is to work with them.

I can’t tell you how many times I heard someone refer to us as ‘the helmet people.” I like to respond with absolutely, we ARE the people that fought for your right to choose whether you want to wear a helmet or not, but did you know it is because of us that you can park perpendicular to a curb on the street? Or that you can park more than one motorcycle in one parking spot? These are the fights that our early members had, and they had the same passion as us to get it done. Familiarize yourself with all our accomplishments so that you can have those discussions. We are good at what we do, and people need to realize that it is because of ABATE, and our driven members, that we can travel through a red light if it does not recognize us. If it wasn’t for all of us, who would have fought for that? Who is going to fight to ensure that motorcycles, and motorcyclists are part of the new, electronic, traffic system? Who is going to fight to protect the lower ethanol gas so we can legally fill our tanks without violating Federal law and risking voiding our warranties?

Thank you for your passion and let’s keep pushing to protect all motorcyclists, even those that do not see the importance of what we do.

That’s it-

Steve