Biker Up

by Chubby

Although I have lived for some time following the adage “a biker rides until the salt comes out”, I think I’m just about done unless the weather stays above 40 degrees. Now, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped being a biker, I just think it means I’m becoming an old biker. But, I’m still a biker none the less. Veterans Day is coming up on November 11th. There are a lot of veterans in my life and I like to take a little time on that day to give them a call or stop by and thank them. Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful for the freedoms I have, and I owe it all to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces for protecting and maintaining my freedoms at home and abroad. Although I would never compare the conflicts and struggles of a soldier fighting overseas to ABATE’s struggle for freedom of the road, the similarities exist in that both cases people seem to forget all too quickly what we are fighting for and what it was like before we started to fight. These days some of our battles are not so obvious and in your face as a helmet fight or finding justice for our downed brothers and sisters. But, make no mistake; we are still always prepared and ready for a battle. We all know the perceptions that the non-riding public has of us and sometimes those perceptions need to become reality and we need to “Biker up”.

Most recently bikers, specifically ABATE of WI members, are viewed with respect and professionalism at the Capitol. This wasn’t always the case as we saw in Pan’s display at our 45th Anniversary celebration or in the history shared in this newsletter or on our website. In the past, civil disobedience may have been necessary to get our point across. Lately, we tend to use relationships that have built over years of professional conduct both with the legislature and with the state agencies we work with to accomplish our tasks and get things done. Does this mean we can’t be tough, make some noise, and rattle some cages? Hell no, when it’s time to “Biker Up”, ABATE of WI members and leadership know how to do it and aren’t afraid to live up to our public perception to get things done.

Some issues are easy to get members and other bikers to rally behind. Issues such as helmet laws, irresponsible drivers killing our brothers and sisters, personal privacy, and profiling us based on perception are things that everyone expects us to get loud about, and we have when we’ve seen real problems to get behind. Other issues, such as larger percentages of ethanol in our fuel, autonomous and connected vehicles, and the definition of a motorcycle/ autocycle are more difficult because at a glance it is hard to perceive why these issues may make a difference in our freedoms. It’s hard to “Biker Up” without seeing a loss of freedom or injustice at stake. Make no mistake, almost all the issues we work on are freedom issues, maybe not at face value, but ultimately the combination of many of the things most don’t see as a big deal could ultimately lead to the end of the biker culture as we know it.

In my time as Executive Director I have done things both by working through relationships and at times pushing us to “Biker Up”. In 2012 we had already spent years sitting in meetings while the DOT paid us lip service and wasted some valuable volunteer time because we were fearful of “rocking the boat”. After the DOT canceled a meeting, we were already in route to because of some very accurate facts about wasteful spending the DOT was doing with our funds that we reported to the legislature on our lobby day, we decided enough was enough. We decided to “Biker Up” and went on the offensive calling the DOT out for many more things that we had previously been silent about and basically burning bridges that we hadn’t seen crossed in some time. I received flak from many former leaders and some members for taking such a risk. But ultimately it paid off. Whether by a push from the Governor, or the legislature, or the public that began to see what was going on, the DOT conceded and decided it was better to work with us than perceive us as the enemy. Since that time, we have been able to lead the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council (MoSaC), partner on several awareness and safety programs, get the DOT to more than double their statewide awareness efforts, and save countless lives. Most recently, we were able to meet with the new Secretary and agency leaders to voice our stance on all transportation issues related to motorcycling. The outcome of this meeting is still to be seen but we left with the understanding that the DOT would be continuing to work with us. It would seem the call to “Biker Up” was the right one and it worked.

Right of way violation penalties were a topic on our agenda for over ten years. Initially passing increased penalties in 2006, we spent several years correcting language and attending court hearings before it started to make a difference. Then, we took on adding violations to those enhanced penalties which took several more years. Currently we are seeing the results of our work with reduced motorcycle accidents and fatalities, especially concerning right of way violations. Although it was tough for some to see this as a freedom issue, if the incidents with motorcyclists continued to rise the easy solution for the DOT and the legislature would have surely been helmet and gear mandates. Beyond that, anybody that had lost someone close in a right of way violation where the driver got off scot free or with little consequence because after all “ I didn’t see them” was an excuse, found justice in penalizing violators and requiring awareness education in order to retain their licenses. You would think this would be a simple issue to push through the legislature. We included all roadway users including vulnerable bicyclists and pedestrians so you’d think this would be taken up in one session of the legislature, not five. In the end, with the legislative session winding down and no sight of our bill getting a vote, it took members not being afraid to “Biker Up” as we hosted our “Storm the Capitol” event and went to offices unannounced requesting action while hundreds of motorcycles made laps around the Capitol so that everyone knew we were there. The bill was voted within weeks and passed unanimously. When we showed that we weren’t afraid to “Biker Up” when needed, it paid off.

When Polaris introduced their Slingshot “motorcycle” in the fall of 2014, we were outraged at the way rules seemed to be bent in regards to the definition of a motorcycle in Wisconsin and motorcycle plates were issued to vehicles that had a much closer resemblance to the bat mobile than any motorcycle we’d ever seen. In the past five years we have watched as fifty states came up with fifty different definitions of what these vehicles would be classified as and what requirements would be needed for driver licensing. At the same time several other companies were beginning to make similar vehicles and it became very clear to us that if these continued to be called motorcycles they would negatively impact our crash statistics both in Wisconsin and nationally leading to misappropriated funds for motorcycle safety and ultimately mandates for helmets and gear. As we approached the legislature with pictures of what we considered motorcycles and what these vehicles looked like not one could deny that they were misclassified. So why the wait? Working with stakeholders is important to us and our state legislators. Several times we could have made concessions and let these vehicles be titled as motorcycles although they would have operators not needing an M endorsement to drive. We refused to concede, and with Polaris also not willing to bend and being comfortable with the status quo, our legislation stalled. It was not until we decided to “Biker Up” and demand the issue be taken up with a commonsense approach that benefited both us and manufacturers of these vehicles that something worthwhile got done. This bill should be passed soon and on the Governor’s desk by December. Hopefully our decision to “Biker Up” will have national repercussions and other states will decide to copy what we’ve done.

So now I hope you understand what it means when our ABATE of WI legislative team asks you to “Biker Up”. Issues may not immediately look to you as freedom issues or issues that are important. But when we utilize our collective resources and decide we need to get loud I hope every member will decide to “Biker Up” with us. I strongly encourage everyone to sign up for our legislative alerts and attend regional meetings to stay on top of the current issues that we face. When we put out a call to action that may just include contacting your legislators, we need your assistance to get things done. But when we call out for everyone to “Biker Up” you can be assured that it is essential to our freedoms that you do what you can to stand tall and do what bikers do. Our organization’s success and the survival of our culture are at stake. Until next month…. Ride Free

Chubby