The fight is on in Myrtle Beach South Carolina.At issue are 2 motorcycle rallies, The 68 year old Harley Rally
( http://www.chdda.com/events/mbrally.html ) and the 25 year old Black Bike Week.
The good citizens of Myrtle Beach are fed up with the noise, the lewd behaviour (reportedly worse during the Black Bike Week) and the tons of trash produced and public resources that are used. NAACP - I am sure that this group has a lot to do with this whole scenario to begin with!
If you haven't been following this fight and you ride a motorcycle I urge you to get yourself up to speed. Myrtle Beach On Line has a lot of information about the battle. More can be found in the special section called Bikers at the Beach
Here is the link to the Proposed new laws in Myrtle Beach that will affect riders 12 months out of the year: http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/PDF%20Forms/Rally%20Options%20--%20DRAFT.pdf
If these people are allowed to have their way in Myrtle Beach there will be NO show 'n' shines allowed at motorcycle businesses!
Horry County is thinking seriously of banning wet tee shirt contests and the like.
Even residents in Sturgis are getting sick of noise and what they deem disrespect - read the comments on Topix.
Canadian riders - it time to take a hint.
When I was hosting the Canadian Championships in Olds AB - the RCMP and the town forced me to prepare for 25,000 people a day (Which meant an $11K port o pottie bill and all of the other additional requirements preparing for that unrealistic crowd number creates), pay out $10K upfront for enhanced policing costs and all because of the potential for the Hell's Angels MC to show up en mass. The Town of Olds was terrified of the bike show because of the statements of the RCMP and took their recommendations more seriously than any evidence that I produced to the contrary. Because of the excessive and unrealistic demands that were placed on me and the low attendance compared to what I was forced to pay for - NO more bike show.
With population densities on the rise in this country noise pollution becomes an ever bigger issue. Noise is only going to add to the financial costs for event hosts and will cause more and more events to be closed - costs will kill them.
It is up to us and no one else to prevent the negative thinking about our community. How? By learning to be respectful with your throttle hand and to not be one of the attention seeking morons that ruins it for everyone else.
Being a show off, revving your engine unnecessarily, cranking on the throttle real hard, doing burn outs at stop signs and lights, riding too fast through town, riding on one wheel - these things reflect negatively on everyone in our community because there are a hell of a lot more NON riders out there than there are riders.
When you ride like a jerk you do so because you think it is your right - well guess what, your thinking is misguided. The constitution of the USA and the Charter of Freedoms and Rights in Canada are written in such a way to express that:
Your rights and freedoms stop when you step on the rights and freedoms of others.
Freedoms & Rights come with HUGE responsibility.
If you want to keep the right to ride a customized bike - then you need to exercise that right with discretion and respect.
It is up to us as we are the ones who ride. The more we encourage or laugh at people who do dumb assed things that hurt our rights the more our rights go down the toilet as laws are enacted to curb the bad behaviour.
So what can you, the respectful enthusiast do to help protect our right to ride? Apply some peer pressure, educate errant riders, don't give them the attention they seek.
You are not a cool person when you show off in public places that are not sanctioned to host and event - so just because you see 30 bikes at Tim Horton's as you go by does not mean you have the right to do a wheelie to entertain us or see how loud you can make your pipes bark so the riders in the parking lot notice you. That behaviour is not only unsafe and unwise - it's disrespectful and makes non riders think all riders are disrespectful and all of the good things we do in our communities get forgotten.
Read, educate yourself and then educate others, The world is changing and if we want to have a motorcycle community in this country we need to change with it. These communities that are becoming anti bike don't care that they will loose the money you spend - they want some order, some respect - and they deserve it. They have some very valid and legitimate beefs.
The ONLY PEOPLE who can change the tidal wave of negative opinions towards the motorcycle community is the members of this community.
And that is my two bits worth on this topic today!
As always, your thoughts and opinion on this subject are welcomed and appreciated.
Ride safe no matter what Toy Run or event you are attending this weekend.
Belt Drive Betty
What is important to you as a voter?
Who catches your interest in this upcoming Canadian election?
What party exemplifies your ideals and desires?
Which leader, which party can you trust?
How are American politics and their election going to affect Canada?
So many questions - no answers.
The leaders will debate, they will glad hand and kiss babies in an attempt to show you they are just like you - but are they? Really?
There is not one politician in this election that makes me feel like they are going to do a decent job in this country, so what to do?
I wish that there was a lobbying group for motorcyclists issues. I wish that we could find a leader that thought like a rider....but the closest thing to a rider we have is the PM's wife...I wonder if she has any influence and how could we get her to bring some our visible minority issues to the table?
I know I will vote, but at this moment there is no one catching my heart or imagination. It will be entertaining at the very least to see what the leaders say in the debates....as this is probably where I will decide who I am voting for.
The future of our country and it's economic situation rest with the election - who inspires you? Why?
I'd love some help in choosing who to vote for!
Stay safe out there....
Belt Drive Betty
OK gang, we are re-working our web sites and want your input - what can we provide for you that will help deliver the news the way you want it?
What do you want to see on the revamped sites?
What kind of forums do you like - any input is greatly appreciated.
I hope you'll get involved and tell us what you want!
Please have a safe day out there and remember to ride like thy are out to get you - because they are!
Belt Drive Betty
I do a lot of reading in this job. I am constantly on the Internet and as a result when I am sifting through news feeds and trying to decide what has relevance to the Canadian Motorcycle Rider I often tag articles/stories to be read at a later time.
One such article is actually a body of research that was conducted in the UK with regards to the differences between automobile drivers: those who hold both automobile and motorcycle licenses and those who only posses an automobile endorsement.
The report is 39 pages long( Road Safety Research Report No. 85 - Car Drivers’ Skills and Attitudes to Motorcycle Safety: A Review) and rather involved reading but is summarized quite nicely:
Schyns and Oliva (1999) found evidence that participants prioritised high spatial frequencies for certain face categorisation tasks, dependent upon the dimension along which the faces had to be judged. This suggests that, even if the prioritisation of low spatial frequencies is the default, those drivers who are more aware of the need to look for motorcycles may adjust the priority bandwidth of spatial frequencies in order to ensure that motorcycles are more easily detected.
Obviously car drivers cannot be forced to undertake several years of motorcycle riding in order to gain the improvements that such experience brings, and neither can we force their loved ones onto a motorcycle, but if we can extract the underlying factors that reduce the accident liability of these dual drivers (who use both cars and motorcycles) then we can apply it to all drivers. This should be the aim for future research in this area.
In a nut shell, if you ride and drive a cage you are less likely to be involved in a collision because your eyes/mind are trained to look for the risk, they are trained to look for motorcycles.
Think of this: Have you purchased a vehicle that you thought was not all that common only to discover after buying it that there are lots of vehicles just like your out there? Suddenly you start seeing your vehicle everywhere? Same idea. Because you ride, your brain knows what to look for.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Then there is a report listing the findings of a survey in the state of Connecticut.
The Survey was done for All State Insurance and focused on the attitudes of cagers towards motorcycles and their riders and vice verse. It can be read here: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS199902+22-Apr-2008+PRN20080422
According to the online survey of licensed Connecticut drivers, conducted by Directive Analytics on behalf of Allstate, if the state's car drivers had their druthers, about one in four would have bikers banned from highways and parkways. And nearly half said bikers should not be allowed on roadways altogether in inclement weather.
Why the animosity? Because Connecticut car drivers consider motorcycles unsafe. Eighty percent of respondents thought motorcycles are more dangerous or much more dangerous than other vehicles. One in five, in fact, said they have come close to hitting a biker. Illustrating just how anti-motorcycle they are, 75 percent of drivers said they would not let their child ride one.
But, the gripes aren't just on the part of motorists. The survey reveals that bikers overwhelmingly (80 percent) thought they were safer on the road than car drivers, stating that car drivers are careless and don't pay attention to what's going on around them. Bikers also found car drivers to be aggressive, trying to cut riders off, as well as impatient, tending to tailgate cyclists.
Well, that's no news to most riders. We know what most cagers think or don't think about us.
So what is the message that these two articles send to you the rider?
Cagers really do not see you and even when they do most of them would rather not see you on the road.
So like I always say....ride like they are out to get you - because they are!
I would like to draw your attention to a new section here in my blog - Great American Blogs and links - I wished I could put them in the right hand menu but I want to keep the Canadian ones in one list, American in another and International in yet another and these blogs aren't set up to allow you much flexibility to change the order of where things appear. As I hook up with other riders who write I want to draw attention to them all..... so look at the bottom of the blog and you will discover a new category with more to follow.
Please ride safe, be smart...
Belt Drive Betty
Did any of you read the news on our web site today?
As a practice I comb the news across Canada and around the world to provide a "Clipping" service for riders. My goal - to bring attention to what's going on with Canadian riders.
Well today there is an article in the Hamilton Spectator about some A-HOLE who stole a motorcycle and left the rider who had just crashed it to die and die he did.
What in the HE Double Hockey Sticks is wrong with this world?
You see a rider and his bike laying on the side of the road, and you steal his bike without looking to see if you can help him? You don't even call 911?
I'm sorry people but this story has my blood boiling.
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/431878
Someone took it "while the man was lying there," said Norfolk OPP spokesperson Constable Jeff Walraven.
Officers say the man was riding north on Indian Line between Villa Nova Road and Concession 2, Townsend, and was seriously injured when the machine went into a ditch and the rider was thrown.
An SUV with several people inside stopped, and one man got out and stole the motorcycle. Anyone with information about the SUV or the man who rode the motorcycle away is asked to call investigators at 1-888-310-1122.
I hope someone comes forward and that the whole SUV of people goes to jail - can you say DISGUSTING?
Please people - ride safe out there.
Belt Drive Betty
