Remain Focused and Stay Vigilant

by Steve Panten

June….the official start of summer, but bikers know summer started as soon as it was warm enough to ride without a jacket. The State Legislature is adjourned, and it is official riding season, but yet we still need to remain vigilant. June is a very busy month with a lot of events and opportunities. I know that my month is filled up with going to the Hill Climbs in Kewaskum, sponsored by the Kettle Moraine Sport Riders, grass drags being held by a local motorcycle club in my area, and of course the Summer Hummer!

Along with everything else going on we need to remember to remain focused on protecting our rights. This needs to happen by visiting with current and potential legislators and with making sure that we are all riding safe.

Recently, I have been asked to attend meetings where there are candidates running for both Federal and State offices. It is nice to get them in front of constituents to ask them their position on our agenda items. In these meetings we don’t go very deep into the issues mostly because of the time we have with them, but also because the discussion is more about their philosophy of their position. Not only are we learning how they feel about protecting the sale of internal combustion engines and protecting E10 or less, but the constituents also start to understand what is important to the candidate.

In May, ABATE of Wisconsin sent a group of motorcyclists to Washington DC to meet with our Federal Senators and every Wisconsin member of Congress. This was a great opportunity to discuss what we are working on in the State and also to ask them what they are doing to protect motorcycling in Wisconsin. Some of the things we discussed were drafting a federal definition of a motorcycle to match what we have in our state, autonomous technology, reigning in the EPA and their emissions regulations, and of course making sure that we have the tools and technology to repair our own vehicles.

Regulating the EPA and their emission standards is an interesting one. We understand what their role is, but maybe the question should be, do they have the right to set standards for the nation or should that be decided by our elected officials based on the EPA’s recommendations. The employees of the EPA are not elected and yet they get to draft laws for the entire nation. Maybe that should be left up to the people that we elect? No matter who is making the decision the consumers in Wisconsin should be able to choose the right engine type for our needs based on our own research, budget, and needs.

On June 8th and 9th, the Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council is working with other State and National traffic safety administrations to host a motorcycle training summit. This is going to be a great opportunity to get a day or 2 of training from rider coaches and trainers. The event is going to be held at the Waukesha County Technical College and you can attend one day or come for both to learn how to improve your skills. They will have speakers, workshops and riding activities intended to have value for both new and experienced riders. If we are going to show the Department of Transportation that training is important, we need to lead by example, and this is a great opportunity. There is more information on the mosac.us website and I hope to see many of you there!

Motorcycling in the State of Wisconsin is strong, but fragile. Regulations from unelected bureaucrats could be the end of motorcycling as we know it. We will need to remain vigilant, and we need to show them that we can take care of ourselves by lowering motorcycle fatalities. We can do this, but we need to unite, work together, and take care of each other. Since this is fair and festival season, get out and support the candidates of your choice when you see them at fairs and festivals. Wear your ABATE clothes and be seen by them. There are over 500,000 people in the state of Wisconsin with a motorcycle endorsement on their driver’s license. Imagine if we all got together to push for our issues.

 That’s It,

Steve