Anger over Sikh Helmet Exemption in Alberta

I have heard nothing but anger and in some cases outright ignorance over the helmet exemption in Alberta. (http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/sikh-motorcyclists-get-helmet-exemption-in-alberta)

The problem with the riding community here in Canada is we are comprised largely off people who are too busy to do anything meaningful to affect change so we whine instead and let our resentment and anger grow.

No one is passionate about the rights of motorcyclists it seems, at least not in Alberta, BC or Manitoba.

OH, People bitch and make stupid racist statements like "them damned Muslims"...only problem Sikhs are not Muslims. Let's face it, if you like riding lidless, if you are not Sikh, you are jealous and pissed off right now. BE HONEST.

But you aren't looking at this situation in a thoughtful way, you are looking at it through the lens of emotion; hurt, frustrated, feeling discriminated against emotions.

Right?

So here are some things to consider:

1) If we had any real riders rights groups in Manitoba, BC & Alberta, any group that had some teeth and drive, this would open the door for helmet exemptions for all, since no requirements for additional medical insurance exist, it would be a fairly straight forward argument.

2) Riders in BC, Alberta and Manitoba need someone in each province to stand up a credible rights organizations and lobby the government hard.

Are you willing to stand up to do the work that needs to happen? Do you have the money to fund this push? If not are you willing to help raise the money?

3) Battles like what needs to happen to repeal a law are expensive and time consuming, the wheels move slowly, but it can be done.

What are you willing to do? Provide money or put in some grunt time?

4) If having choice is really important to you and going through the legal fight isn't worth it to you, then form a religion. It's expensive to do, it's time consuming, but it can be done.

Either way it's time riders start learning to work together.
If we don't learn how to protect our rights, we won't have any.

We are after all citizens and taxpayers, we have a right to a vote, to a voice and to lobby...we can also do what we have done for years, sit back, bitch, whine and snivel and get on with the new normal.

The choice is yours.

In other news, Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest has begun it's hunt to find the most rifer friendly community from last riding season.

Over 140 communities to vote for...

Who will win?  We find out May 31st...

www.riderfriendlycontest.ca

And visit our sponsors pages please - they make this contest happen!!!!

#RiderFriendlyContest

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

Some tips to make 2018 a less dangerous driving/riding experience

Driving a vehicle?

1. Motorcycles are entitled to the full width of their lane. Motorcycles don’t take up as much lane space as car or 4 x 4 truck, but they need to use the entire lane, often adjusting lane positions to avoid road debris and to respond to wind direction changes & gusts, avoid pot holes or simply to see what’s up ahead as they prepare to pass a vehicle.
2. Blind spots: If you are thinking about any lane change; use your turn signal and ensure that you look in your mirror, over your shoulder and do that a second time – LOOK TWICE to SAVE a LIFE!
3. As Yosemite Sam would say; “Back off” and leave some room: Leaving some distance between your car /pick up truck/SUV and other vehicles is very important for the safety of you and your passengers. Motorcycles are small in profile and therefore it is harder to gauge their distance. There is always potential to be rear ended at a red light and while most likely the result would be a fender bender between passenger vehicles, the situation can become a whole lot more dire when a motorcycle is involved.
4. Look TWICE: Because of their smaller stature, motorcycles can appear farther away than they actually are. They can also be hidden from your view behind other larger vehicles. Left hand turns by automobiles are one of the most frequent crashes that take place between passenger vehicles and motorcycles.
5. Hazardous road conditions:Dangerous road conditions; slippery roads, rain, hail or unexpected snow/sleet, uneven payment, debris on the road, potholes and road snakes are common causes of motorcycle crashes. Motorcycles are smaller than cars and trucks; they have less stability on the highway and are often greatly affected by less-than-ideal road conditions. Give that motorcyclist some space.

Riding a motorcycle?

1. Avoid riding in the centre of your lane when traffic slows: You need to have a quick exit strategy when traffic suddenly comes to a halt. Stay to either the left or right hand side of your lane. This allows you to have an escape route should you have a driver who does not appear to be able to stop.
2. Being seen and protected is YOUR JOB: Wearing reflective clothing and/or bright colours can help other drivers see you. Wearing a good helmet, gloves, footwear and riding jacket and pants/chaps can often play a big role in whether or not you walk away from a crash.
3. Create as much space around yourself as possible: If you are on a highway with three lanes of traffic all flowing the same direction, don’t ride in the middle lane, ride in either the left or the right lane, thereby eliminating one potential for danger and allowing you a bit of a buffer zone.
4. Cancel your signals. Just finished turning? If your motorcycle is not equipped with self-cancelling signals, you’ll need to remember to cancel them or run the risk of sending out false messages to the other drivers around you.
5. Make sure your motorcycle is in good repair: Tires are one of the most important safety features of a motorcycle as you only have two of them keeping contact with the road. Over inflated tires can overheat quickly reducing traction, and the contact point with the pavement becomes very small. With underinflated tires your steering becomes very sluggish, and the potential of damaging the rim or tearing up the tire becomes a threat. Check your signals, headlight, fluids, brakes, cables, belts and chains as well.

Learning to work in new ways, with a renewed purpose.

Darby Allen

The learning curve never ends, not unless you choose for it to.

Last week I attended the Growing the North Conference and I learned about something called Indiginomics from a gal named Carol Ann Hilton, and I learned about what millenials are looking for in life and working experiences from a gal named Erin Bury and I finally got to meet Darby Allen who spoke about Grace under Fire (literally).

 I learned so much at that conference that I am still in the process of digesting it all.

I have also been working on some new projects for Belt Drive Betty Media.  The first is an online Talk Show called "Rider Friendly Report".  It's on Facebook Live @RiderFriendlyReport

We are hosting it on the WebinarJam platform so it has some unique abilities that you just don't get in a normal TV environment unless you have a huge technical crew.

We can inject videos and slides into the talk show experience, we can use a whiteboard feature, screen sharing and live chat! We host the show every Tuesday morning from now until the end of May, then pick it back up in October when our short riding season is over. We are going to have all kinds of people on the show, talking about topics you riders care about.

AND you are going to be invited to participate in different contests to win event tickets, hotel rooms and more.

It's proving to be a valuable marketing and information dissemination tool already with good watch times and a good number of people tuning in to the live show and later to watch the replay.

We are also learning a new CRM and business management platform, wow who knew one could learn at this pace on a daily basis at my age, but you sure can!

I am excited because although this platform is still in beta, it has the power and functionality my little company has always lacked.  Again, this lifelong learning curve has me standing on my head somedays but, you die if you quit learning, growing, evolving.

Canada's Most Rider Friendly Community Contest sponsored by Community Futures and the Rider Friendly Business Association already has over 90 communities entered into it, that's as many as there were in the first two years! We will begin the voting process soon so watch for announcements on that.

We will be coming out with our new Rider Survey soon.
We'll be making the announcement about when that will be ready - your answers will help us make everything we do better, at least that's the plan!

I have a business coach working with me and the difference that is starting to show in my business is huge.  My coach has me looking at my business in ways I never considered and she has me doing things I never thought I was capable of.

I have been slowly purging my home of crap I no longer need or that no longer serves me or my family. It's been the most amazing thing getting into a really solid routine and learning to take me time.  Yes I still struggle with temper flares, and yes I still have dark days where the PTSD is so demanding, mobilizing that I can't think straight, but every layer of the onion that gets peeled, means that while the pain is intense and shocking in how fast it comes on, in many cases, it's over almost as fast as its started and that has renewed my whole outlook on things.

Learning to reframe trauma into a useful tool is a tough job, but it can be done and while I am far from perfect, I am WAY better than I used to be and the odd slip into temper does not define me. It keeps me humble, but it does not define me.

I am looking forward to riding season. I MISS MY MOTORCYCLE. The relief that machine gives my brain becomes more evident with each winter that passes for this cranky old gal.
He's right here in my office beside me, but I can't ride him, and that is a form of separation that only we riders understand.

It's going to be a busy, busy year. We already have close to 2000 events in our calendars for 2018 and that's just here in Canada. Our new American calendars have already got events being added and we haven't marketed them at all, we just installed it!

We have improved tools to offer at www.riderfriendly.com and all sorts of amazing things in the hopper - I can't wait to reveal them, one at a time...all year long....I feel hopeful, excited and all kinds of other really good feelings that I haven't felt in a long, long time.

Have a fantastic week, dreaming of spring and riding season and dodging potholes!

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider








SaveSave

A New Service Trying to Disrupt Motorcycle Rentals

I read recently about a service that is called Twisted Road.
Their idea is to disrupt the motorcycle rental business by having people like you and I be willing to rent our motorcycles out to others.

I decided I had to check them out and spent some time reading all of their rental FAQ's.

I am unsure of how you would feel about renting out your motorcycle to someone you don't know.
There are lots of people that I know that ride, very few that I will throw my keys to, and I am sure you are probably equally as protective.

There are a lot of things on and not on their website that concern me.

If you read their FAQ's, they constantly say "we intend to".

Begin Quote" If someone rents out my bike and drops it, will I be paid for the damages
Yes. Twisted Road intends to cover the damages up to the value of the motorcycle, or $15,000, whichever is lower. For example, if your bike’s value is $4,500, and the bike is totaled, we intend to pay you for the value of the bike, or $4,500." End Quote

Those words, intend to, mean that I would be out. Promises that are vague like this do not instil any confidence in me.

Let's look at some of the other challenges that this concept has from the owner's side:

#1 - Many people don't treat their own bikes with the care and concern I treat mine with. Do you really want someone with a different riding style from yours riding your motorcycle? That's an emotional decision only you can make, but remember, unlike a rental bike that never gets used to one rider (by that I mean the wearing patterns on the drive train that are caused by how you get on the throttle etc.) your motorcycle probably is conditioned to your riding style and an alternate riding style can affect the way your bike runs long term.

#2 - Yes you are gaining some money, but does the rental money you would gain actually cover the real costs of riding like wear and tear on tires, brakes etc. They have no limit on mileage and don't mention a mileage fee that I can see anywhere.

#3 - Breakdowns, what happens when a stator goes, or some other part while it's being rented? Who pays for the repairs and what guarantee about quality of parts is there?

#4 - Services. So your bike is rented for two weeks and buddy puts on 5K, is he responsible for the oil change, brakes if they need replacing etc?

#5 - You make 70% of the rental fee and don't get paid for a week AFTER the rider is done. I don't like that, do you?

#6 - I know when I rented a bike in Ireland, my insurance did not cover me on the rental bike when I crashed, so I'd have a real concern with this company relying so heavily on rider's individual insurance.

#7 - I doubt that if YOUR insurance company found out you were making money by renting out your bike, that your insurance wouldn't be cancelled. I will almost guarantee that it will be cancelled or you will be forced to get commercial insurance. No where on their website do they suggest that you talk to your insurance company before you join.

#8 - What if I decide to cancel the rental because I don't like the rider?
Will I be sued? That's not addressed on their site.

# 9 - What if they crash and sue me for providing a bike that is not up to par?
That's not addressed on their site.

# 10 - They allow you to take someone's motorcycle out of country (US - Canada) - REALLY? Have they checked with the border?  I doubt that would fly...

Let's look at some of the challenges from the renter's point of view:

#1 - How well maintained is the bike I am going to rent? Am I going to get stuck renting something that needs neck bearings or other repairs? Am I on the hook?

#2 - If the owner can cancel up to 24 hours before hand, who protects me and my vacation?

I am not a fan of this idea. There are just too many issues that can arise.

I like the idea of renting from companies like EagleRider Calgary.
They maintain their fleet. I only have to deal with their company, they can protect my vacation because if something happened to their ride, they have resources that Twisted Road would not have.

EagleRider Rentals are available world wide and I don't have to worry about insurance issues.

Those are my thoughts, what say you?

Have a fantastic day,
Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider

PS - Remember to nominate your favourite community at www.riderfreindlycontest.ca

Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest - Supporting our Community!

We are awful excited that in its third year, Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest has seen an explosion in nominations.

Thanks to our relationship with Community Futures, this contest is beginning to really gain traction and we are so grateful to them for their support and love of small towns, small business and entrepreneurs!

Riders it seems are catching on!
So are communities and community leaders.

Helping smaller communities that don't usually get a whole lot of fanfare for what they do right in the game of tourism is a really gratifying thing for our whole team.

In all we and our media partners giveaway over $60K in marketing to the winning communities and provide a way for all communities that consider themselves Rider Friendly to get some attention and notice!

Belt Drive Betty Media is made up of contractors who live a motorcycle life.

We are so thrilled to support our sport on so many levels, helping to promote the CMDRA, helping to promote every charity and non profit ride that we can, every small business event, riding club event...for free in most cases - it's part of our mandate, our mission if you will!  We give back into the community we make our living from.

We promote adventure riding, motocross and anything else that our readers submit to us, and that they find interesting and engaging.  Through our events calendars, our newspaper, our contest and the Rider Friendly Business Association Community & Directory ....the community news and information we disseminate really is "Rider Powered News!"

We have some wonderful new media partners that we are now working with as well and this will only help raise Canada's visibility as a motorcycling destination of note!

Our New Media Partners:
Man Wants in the UK, the brand new Colorado Rider News and World of Motorcycling Pod Cast!
AND, our stalwart partners:
Northern Horizon Newspaper and Kick Stands Up on Reality Radio 101 with Lou DeVouono

We are working hard to spread the news and word about our great country and the amazing, unique and inspiring riding we have to offer, not just to international visitors, but to those in Canada too!

Visit our websites and see what we offer:
www.beltdrivebetty.com - International News

www.bustedknucklenews.com - Canadian News

www.canadianmotorcycleevents.com - EVENTS

www.riderfriendly.com  - A directory of businesses who are a part of the Rider Friendly Business Association, that want to serve riders and a community to connect with them.

www.riderfriendlycontest.ca - A contest to celebrate the communities that love riders.

www.motorcycletourism.ca - an Alberta registered non profit on its way to charitable status in Alberta and then looking forward to the two - three year journey to CRA status.
"We promote motorcycle tourism in Canada, the preservation/promotion of our rich military history & great customer service."

Our TV Show:
Ride Like a Local on EastLink TV and YouTube

Hope you'll check out Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest and our current champion - Port Alberni - Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community from the 2016 riding season.

#RiderFriendlyContest

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

Fundraising, Accountability & Becoming a Registered Charity

There has been a lot of talk going around regarding a man named Myles MacDonald and his fundraising endeavours. Myles has a private foundation called ourwoundedwarriors.org he funds it from items he sells that he creates from art he has created. He also accepts donations from the general public.

Because his is a private foundation, there is no real accountability.
It's not illegal what he's doing, but it is questionable. The Legion is looking into his use of the poppy and there are many who are going after the man viscously because they believe him to be a user.
I spoke with the man, I was curious and wary because of the whole ourwoundedwarriors.org thing.

I'm not so sure the man is a con, or that he's doing anything wrong, but there's no way to prove that he's doing the good things he states unless you want to spend hours on the phone. It's easy to surmise he's doing something wrong just based on the name he chose to use. His way of doing things makes accountability tough and in the non profit and charity world, accountability is everything.

I've experienced people complaining about me and where do the funds I/we raise go, our non profit has never made a ton of money but when it has raised anything, the donations were given very publicly to ensure people knew we were helping out in our community.  Like the over $4K we raised for Kate MacEachern, we donated it to her at the Royal Canadian Legion in Leduc - in cash the day after our event at a public presentation and had pictures to prove it.  Some of the people we helped, like a man in southern Alberta 18 months ago or so, whose wife just recently passed - we were donated an electric scooter, she had need of it, we did the driving from Kamloops to Calgary to deliver it. We never made anything out of it, because he and his wife are private people, it just felt good to make a difference.

Right now we have a donation that just came in, the Jouse 2 controller one of those tools that allows people to use their breath to do many things for them when they are paralyzed and we have a lift for a handi-van that can be used for converting a van into a wheel chair accessible van to donate.
The veteran we had intended to support with it did not want it. We were $25,000 short in our fundraising efforts to build him a wheelchair accessible scooter and instead acquired this lift that is in amazing shape. Sadly, the veteran felt so deflated that he's all but quit talking to us.  It's a hard bitter pill to swallow when you can't make something a reality. That doesn't happen to me often, especially when I am working to help someone else.

We have made one huge project a reality and because of our hard work, the Canadian Motorcycle Tourism Association has just taken over the Afghanistan War Monument & Veterans Memorial Gardens Project here in Grande Prairie officially.

Our Peace Arch, memorials, monument and concrete pad and solar street lights are ALL 100% PAID FOR!  As project lead that is something I am very proud of.  Phase 1 of this enormous project is in the ground and paid for, on time and on budget!

Now that Veterans Affairs has accepted the Canadian Motorcycle Tourism Association as keeper of the project, we have registered and are waiting on approvals to become an Alberta Registered Charity. It does not give us CRA status, but what it does do is: ensure our board goes through a criminal record checks and helps the public feel better about supporting us because they will be able to find us on the Service Alberta Website as a Charity.  It means that our fundraising materials have been vetted and that we are "cleared" essentially to ask for people to donate.

It also helps us learn about governance and charitable reporting and helps us grow as we work towards CRA status.

It's not hard to register, but many organizations don't know that if they plan on hitting $25,000+ in donations that they need to be a registered charity business in Alberta.

It's $60 for the fee, some paperwork and you mail in the application. It takes about 3 weeks for the process.

We hope that our registered charitable status in Alberta is finalized around the end of the first week in February.

Raising money for charitable causes/projects is a big responsibility.

You need to make sure you do the reporting the way people want you to - like the donations we got from the Legion's Poppy Fund (several Legions contributed).  We were given $16,500 towards our monument project that needed to be paid to the monument maker in one lump sum to ensure that the Legion's knew their money went to the right place.

It is very important that one takes care of those things the way the donors ask and so...

This photo proves that we made one payment of $16,500 to Sunset Monument & Stone in Calgary.

Our donor, the Royal Canadian Legion's of northern Alberta (District 1) are happy, and so is our monument maker!

Our project has grown to involve more than gardens and points of interest, it will involve a small museum, a gift shop etc...

It will hopefully be completed by 2020-2021 and then we intend to enter the Communities in Bloom Contest for Memorial Gardens.  We are going to put our gardens and monument on the map and ensure that every veteran who rides WANTS to come to Grande Prairie to experience our little piece of sacred ground.

www.motorcycletourism.ca is our new website.
You can watch there for all kinds of things our organization has decided to become part of!

In the meantime, Community Futures, the Rider friendly Business Association and the  Canadian Motorcycle Tourism Association are proud to present Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Contest - we are looking to find the community that treated the riding community the best last year. (2017)

Nominate your favourite community to ride to, to live in as a rider...

Have a great day everyone...
Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider


Here is the Powerpoint for our Project - Veteran's Memorial Gardens

The 2018 Calgary Motorcycle Show

The 2018 version of the Calgary Motorcycle Show is now in the history books.

In all it was a well-attended show but the ravages of the economy over the last few years in our industry sure showed.

Harley-Davidson

Businesses that one expected to see there like Torch Motorcycles, no longer exist and businesses that have been present in the past just can’t afford them at the moment.

Attending a tradeshow is a VERY expensive proposition and while it is vital that the business community market itself, many just can’t afford it thanks to the economy.

Harley-Davidson

The Motorcycle Show really doesn’t have many choices as to potential locations they could move to in an attempt to bring down pricing.  There simply are no buildings in the Calgary region that are large enough or provide the equipment that is needed to host it.

Its disappointing really because the community has so many businesses and groups that really need and deserve the exposure that being out in front of 25,000+ eyeballs can offer.

The show itself was well run as always. Laurie and Brittany do a fantastic job and had lots of media of all kinds, which brought the consumers out, but there were a number of members of the Calgary Stampede show staff that let them down.

Honda

There is a new policy the BMO Centre has in place regarding entrance at doorways.  Only one doorway is open in the back hallways where vendors come in and every vendor, regardless of where their booth is located must enter through door 6 – in the dead centre of the hallway/building. Talk about inconvenient if your booth is in a far corner of the building.

The same policy is in effect for the public.

Everyone must come in through the main doors – ONLY.

The policy is not very friendly to either consumer or vendor. Bottle necks & plugged aisle ways means it takes vendors a long time to get back to their booth if they use the vendors lounge for a meal. It’s really a silly policy and as I said before, it’s one more reason why vendors are not returning to the shows. I provided the show staff with the feedback and I hope others have as well.

The show itself had a lot of variety of marques on hand with lots of new products and new models.

A new motorcycle shop in Calgary, Ill Fated Kustoms had a great display on hand and Kenny, the engineer/builder reminded me a lot of Chika. The same unassuming, humble personality that comes to life the minute he starts talking motorcycles.

As always the Ground ‘N’ Gravity Show enthralled all show goers who attended. While watching these athletes perform you will find yourself holding your breath.

Ground 'N' Gravity Show

SHE Rides Night on Friday had 451 women who took provided by Canadian Kawasaki. Betty Jo of Edmonton was the lucky winner.  There were over 1000 entries to the new Kawasaki Double Take draw and a very large excited crowd gathered at 4:00pm on Saturday to hear if their names were called.  Andy from Crowsnest Pass and Chad from Calgary were the 2 lucky winners of the Kawasaki Z125 motorcycles.

The Motorcycle Shows are a much-needed break from winter and the manufacturers and major parts and clothing wholesalers did a really good job of making their booths inviting and having lots on hand to see.

Oh and MINI DONUTS arrived to the Motorcycle Show in Calgary and for some, that is reason enough to get off the couch and come out!