There is an article out of the UK today about their motorcycle lobby day called Riders are Voters. 50 riders comprising members of riding clubs and business went to their parliament with some messages...
As many of you know - there are some rather harsh laws being proposed in the UK and other EU countries that have the potential to adversely affect the riding community - not only in Europe but eventually, here in Canada and the US as well.
Among some of the issues are rider training and the revamp of the system, the new anti tampering laws etc..
Begin Quote: "Riders and industry are concerned about European proposals for a new ‘Type Approval' framework which covers the design and construction of motorcycles. The proposals are complex and could result in significant costs and bureaucracy to business and riders. This could threaten jobs and economic development, particularly in the area of so-called ‘anti tampering' proposals." End Quote
According to the article on the Ultimate Motorcycling web site, motorcycling is a worth a half billion dollars to the economy in the UK.
Here in Canada, we have one lobby group - BCCOM that has an MLA day where riders take politicians for a ride and discuss the politics and laws that affect riders.
One group - that's all we have in a country this size...
The political will of the motorcycle community here in Canada is so fragmented as to be all but non existent.
Little bands of Biker's Rights groups spring up and shut down over and over again. There does not appear to be any kind of sustainable anger or will in the Canadian Rider...neither does there appear to be any kind of cohesive movement or strategy of dealing with the issues that face riders here. Right now all we have is a few people who get pissed off for a short period of time, start Facebook Groups to vent and then .... well, nothing.
Someday perhaps, riders in Canada will understand that at some point we need a political lobby group and a meaningful joint effort to tackle the challenges like the motorcycle ONLY noise bylaws, the left hand turn crashes, the disgusting penalties that car drivers are given when a rider is killed.
What say you?
There is a ton of other news in the feeds from the weekend and yesterday.
Visit www.beltdrivebetty.com to see if anything affects your day, your life as a rider.
Our web site is being moved to a dedicated server but we have hit a few road bumps that Ali is attempting to sort out. It appears that everything has been moved OK but our template keeps disappearing - so hang tight everyone, Ali will get it sorted and then we will be on the march towards bigger and better things for you our members, users of our site and readers of our weekly newspaper.
I leave you with a few giggles, shared with me by friends on Facebook and thorough emails.
Have a fantastic Tuesday everyone!
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
As many of you know - there are some rather harsh laws being proposed in the UK and other EU countries that have the potential to adversely affect the riding community - not only in Europe but eventually, here in Canada and the US as well.
Among some of the issues are rider training and the revamp of the system, the new anti tampering laws etc..
Begin Quote: "Riders and industry are concerned about European proposals for a new ‘Type Approval' framework which covers the design and construction of motorcycles. The proposals are complex and could result in significant costs and bureaucracy to business and riders. This could threaten jobs and economic development, particularly in the area of so-called ‘anti tampering' proposals." End Quote
According to the article on the Ultimate Motorcycling web site, motorcycling is a worth a half billion dollars to the economy in the UK.
Here in Canada, we have one lobby group - BCCOM that has an MLA day where riders take politicians for a ride and discuss the politics and laws that affect riders.
One group - that's all we have in a country this size...
The political will of the motorcycle community here in Canada is so fragmented as to be all but non existent.
Little bands of Biker's Rights groups spring up and shut down over and over again. There does not appear to be any kind of sustainable anger or will in the Canadian Rider...neither does there appear to be any kind of cohesive movement or strategy of dealing with the issues that face riders here. Right now all we have is a few people who get pissed off for a short period of time, start Facebook Groups to vent and then .... well, nothing.
Someday perhaps, riders in Canada will understand that at some point we need a political lobby group and a meaningful joint effort to tackle the challenges like the motorcycle ONLY noise bylaws, the left hand turn crashes, the disgusting penalties that car drivers are given when a rider is killed.
What say you?
There is a ton of other news in the feeds from the weekend and yesterday.
Visit www.beltdrivebetty.com to see if anything affects your day, your life as a rider.
Our web site is being moved to a dedicated server but we have hit a few road bumps that Ali is attempting to sort out. It appears that everything has been moved OK but our template keeps disappearing - so hang tight everyone, Ali will get it sorted and then we will be on the march towards bigger and better things for you our members, users of our site and readers of our weekly newspaper.
I leave you with a few giggles, shared with me by friends on Facebook and thorough emails.
Have a fantastic Tuesday everyone!
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
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