Thank You Illinois!

by Steve Panten

You don’t hear that from me very often. In fact, I don’t think that I have ever said or typed that before, but I want to thank ABATE of Illinois for a great STEAM conference.

This year’s conference was in Springfield, Illinois which was a shorter drive for me than going to my place up north. It was great hearing what’s happening in other states and how we can share ideas about overcoming similar issues.

Much of the discussion was around autonomous technology, electric vehicles and protecting our fuel. Sound familiar? This isn’t a fight that is happening just in Wisconsin, but we are such a big part of the history of motorcycling, we need to protect it and ensure the lifestyle as we know it, continues.

At the Future of Motorcycling Summit that we had in Brookfield last month we learned why we believe motorcycling is in jeopardy, and how protecting it will take an effort from everyone. The best way that we can protect it is to ride safe. Ride your own ride without outrunning your headlights at night or underestimating the corner ahead of you. Motorcycling is exciting but getting to your destination safely is the goal we should all have before we ever throw our leg over that bike. Motorcycling is a freedom that some will never understand. Some will never know the great story behind how people earn their nicknames, but their brothers and sisters will remember that story forever. You earned it Toad!

It’s springtime and with that comes new issues of noise complaints. Every spring we start hearing about how law enforcement is going to make an effort to address loud exhaust complaints. As we learned from the Washington County Sheriff’s efforts a few years ago, although it is not necessarily the motorcyclists making all the noise, we are the easy target. This year I am hearing that one issue is motorcycles idling too long when they are parked. Not sure how to address that other than just to say let’s try to be respectful in residential areas, as always.

Last month I attended a Public Safety Committee Meeting in Neenah because the City Police Department is asking the City Council to adopt Trans Code 305. To adopt what you say? Yep…me too. Trans Code 305 addresses modifications made to vehicles and some people brought it to our attention because part of the code talks about modifications to exhaust on a motorcycle.

Before the meeting, I spoke with the Assistant Chief of Police for the City of Neenah to get a better understanding of where this is coming from and why this is needed. The code address modifications to all vehicles and the city never adopted it. He said that there is no one issue that is happening that would be fixed by adopting this, but rather it has been state statute on the books for a while and there are a few things like light bars on trucks or vehicles without fenders that can only be enforced by the city if this is adopted. Interesting words there because, as he explained, the Sheriff’s Department and State Patrol can both enforce those laws within the city limits, but the local police cannot because it was never adopted. The discussion with him was as good as can be expected. He learned about how important it is to work with us when issues arise involving motorcycling. While I hope that I never have to meet with him on any issues, we will be watching this to see if motorcycles are unfairly being targeted.

Trans. Code 305 will not affect motorcycles much because, while I said it does address modification to motorcycle exhaust, it references State Statute 347 which can, and is, enforced by the City Police. At the meeting, the members of the committee were less concerned with how it will affect vehicle stops and more on the fact that the local police have their hands tied on some laws, but the Sheriff and State Patrol do not. I am sure that this will pass the City Council when they finally get the language reviewed by the city lawyers and soon it will be law. We will need to be vigilant about listening to the motorcyclists around there to learn how this will affect us.

John Reblin joined a conference with the American Petroleum Institute to address motorcyclist’s concerns in Wisconsin. His report was very interesting, and I look forward to working with them in the future. I am not sure if they are an ally or someone that we will need to go to battle against, but time will tell. I have not had may conversations with this group before, so we have a lot to learn.

This month ABATE of Wisconsin members will travel across the country to represent all motorcyclists in Washington DC during the Motorcycle Riders Foundation’s “Bikers Inside the Beltway” event. I look forward to lobbying in the nation’s capital every year. Just like for our Lobby Day in Madison, it is awesome to see so many motorcyclists roaming the halls of Congress or visiting the Senators in their offices. This year we are bringing the same message to Washington DC that we took to Madison. What are YOU, as our elected representatives, doing to protect motorcycling in Wisconsin? We can bring all the same reasons that motorcycling is important to the state. It is our opportunity to educate them on what we are learning from what the State Department of Transportation is doing. I know that I said it before, but I do not think that autonomous and driverless policy is going to come from the Federal Government, but rather from the state. Because these vehicles are going to cross state lines, the Federal Government does need to get involved in what NHTSA is doing to protect all road users.

One final thought before I finish this rambling. Lately I have been thinking about how a motorcycle rights organization is a lot like riding a bike. Sure, you can shift into neutral and coast but eventually the ride is going to stop. Just like motorcycling, if the motorcycle rights movement ever shifts into neutral and tries to coast, motorcycling as we know it will stop. If we want motorcycling as we know it to survive, we will need to kick it up a gear. It is going to have to be full speed ahead. Get out there and ride. Be seen everywhere. Wear your ABATE clothes and be seen at the Memorial Day parades and community parties. Walk in the parade alongside your elected representatives. Join them at events. There are roughly 500,000 people in Wisconsin with an “M” on their driver’s license and we need to speak up. Motorcycling is a huge part of tourism in Wisconsin so get out and enjoy riding in this great state.

That’s it,

Steve