What About Us?

Executive Report by John Reblin

Hello Summer, warm days and cool nights makes for perfect weather to enjoy the outside activities. Take advantage while you can because in a few months we will be longing for this weather. The Hummer will be over by the time this is article has been submitted, but I anticipate with all the hard work put in by the entire Hummer committee the event was successful, memories were made, and the weather was perfect.

It is the 4th of July and the corn should be knee high, pushing up from the soil toward the sun to feed us in a few more weeks. With all the activities of this holiday take a few minutes and think about that day when true Freedom Fighters signed a document to forge ahead the start of a new Nation, and with failure, a death sentence for those that were brave enough to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Because I don’t have enough things going on in my life with work, family and ABATE of Wisconsin, I picked up another little project to fill those empty moments that I sit back and think of something to do. I am getting kind of close to finishing my garden tractor restoration and am planning the next steps to finishing my 1977 motorcycle, so I found another older bike to play around with. My plan is to have it at the Hummer for the bike show, but time will tell depending on the progress of work.

As I was playing around with the bike, getting it running since it was stored for the last 10-15 years, I decided to replace the spark plug, along with the points since I was not getting any spark. I was looking for some other odds and ends and stopped at the local dealer, since it was convenient. I knew I was in trouble when I went to the parts counter and asked if they had a set of points for the bike, and the younger guy just stared at me. He had no clue what I was asking for. After spending a few minutes explaining what I was trying to do, he politely explained he didn’t even have a book that old to look them up to see if they were available. I thanked him for his time and left, was able to get what I needed off of eBay and moved forward from there.

This got me thinking of the work we have in front of us in making sure motorcycling remains as we now know it. Sure, my 52-year-old bike is a bit of an odd ball but there are a lot of different brands around that are just as old. Mine also has a two-stroke motor. I can imagine that the blue exhaust will raise eyebrows. Go to some bike nights or shows and look around. I sometimes look on some of the Facebook pages for different vintage bikes and those pages are full of people like me finding, rescuing, and getting some of these vintage bikes back on the road. I talked to a somewhat local dealer that specializes in older bikes about getting some work done and he is booked out for months to get bikes in for simple maintenance. It seems this is a growing hobby for many of us older people, trying to bring back something from our past.

But the larger concern is making sure that you can find the parts needed to keep these older bikes on the road. My experience so far is probably normal when it comes to older bikes. The parts are available, but there is a need to be “creative” in locating and repurposing what you can find to keep the older iron running.

But what about something a little newer, more popular. As you get into the V-twin brands that we enjoy, the dealer I usually go to has great knowledge of the older motors, but some of the parts rely on aftermarket sources to keep them on the road. Who knows what the future holds? I think the popularity of the classic vehicle market will help keep parts available. Using social media to find groups to give advice, support and to share extra parts will also help. But will it be enough to be able to relive what we had at one time of our lives? What happens when the government steps in? When they decide for whatever reason that they feel it is time to put your project away permanently.?

In my news feed I received an article about Ford testing new technology to help slow down vehicles from speeding on the roads. It seems Germany has a problem with vehicle speeding and pedestrian bicycle fatalities, which accounts for 29 percent. Germany feels that the road signs may be hard to see. They use a large number of different types of signs, over 1000 different signs, adding confusion. So, in two cities Ford is introducing Geofencing Speed Limit Control as a test to see if this system is effective in reducing speeding. In effect, if your system is engaged as you drive through this Geofencing system, connecting the vehicle to the geofencing system for GPS tracking and data exchange, the vehicle will then follow the required speed limit. Speed limits could also be set dynamically, to take into account local hazards, temporary road work, and the time of day. If desired, you can opt out of the system by disengaging from the limit control. Ford is excited to test this there, and I would imagine they would love to expand the system to other areas.

As I read about these things, I always fall back to What about us? How will this technology work and how will it ultimately affect motorcycling as we know it and enjoy?

Remember, Ride Your Own Ride!

John