Archive for the ‘Biker Issues’ Category

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Threats To Motorcycling

Thursday, May 21st, 2026


Racing will always involve a certain amount of risk.

American Motorcyclist, the publication of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), has a cover article in the latest issue about the “10 Biggest Threats To Motorcycling.” For those of you who are not AMA members I figured it might be worthwhile to discuss these 10 threats. I’ll spread this out over several posts because otherwise this could get extremely long.

Autonomous Vehicles
The first is autonomous vehicles. If you get the publications of the AMA or the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) you know both organizations have focused a lot on these self-driving cars. Nobody is opposed to them. Come the day when the technology is really well honed and the systems can flawlessly recognize a motorcycle and other smaller objects then they will almost certainly lead to safer roads for everyone.

The point is simply that that is not where the equipment is yet. And the folks who are out there every day defending our rights and safety on the road are adamant that–as we all should be–that before these vehicles are allowed out there they must meet exacting standards. As it is, there have already been fatalities of motorcyclists hit by self-driving cars.

The article sums it up saying, “The AMA has been outspoken about the dangers of AVs for the last decade and has called for sufficient testing and regulation. The technology needs to be proven to detect all road users–including motorcycles–in all situations before being allowed on the road. Once the technology is proven to be reliable, AVs will be beneficial to the safety and well-being of motorcyclists. The AMA will continue to be in favor of regulations that hold the manufacturers of these technologies accountable and protect motorcyclists.”

Insurance Issues
There are very real risks associated with riding motorcycles. We all know this and we accept it. But we also all need insurance for when things go badly. And when the costs of lawsuits outweigh the potential income from insuring motorcycle events, guess what the insurance company is going to do: your event is not going to happen.

That’s where the concept of inherent risk comes in. I wrote about this a little while ago. The idea is that we need state legislatures to pass legislation that protects land and facility owners and event organizers from lawsuits based on injuries that are not caused by deficiencies of the facility. Basically, “it was your fault you crashed so don’t go suing the track for your screw-up.”

Arkansas and Texas have already passed this legislation and momentum is building in other states. Nothing will kill motorcycle racing faster than the inability of tracks to operate. The time for this legislation is now.

OK, that gets the ball rolling. I’ll follow up with the other eight, not necessarily in an unbroken series of posts. Heck, I want to write about riding motorcycles, too, though with the rain and freezing weather we’ve had lately it’s been a while since I’ve been able to get out. Warmer weather is in the forecast.

Biker Quote for Today

Trucks never slow down in the rain. The best time to pass trucks is when you’re going uphill.

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Posted in American Motorcyclist Association, Biker Issues, motorcycle clubs, Motorcycle Riders Foundation, Motorcycle Safety | 1 Comment »

Is This A Bad Idea?

Monday, May 18th, 2026


These are the three helmets I want to get rid of.

There is the ideal world and then there is the real world we actually live in. I’m considering something we’ve all heard for a long time is not good, and I’ll tell you why. Ideal world vs. real world.

We have a bunch of helmets we no longer use. I have an old Bieffe that I never liked and never wore much. Judy has her original AGV helmet, which we have replaced with a new Shoei. And we have an old Shoei that was Charley’s. None of these has been in a crash, they’re just old.

Common wisdom says you should discard helmets once they reach a certain age. I was going to do that but then I got to thinking.

What if I gave them to a thrift store? The thinking being, anyone who buys a helmet from a thrift store is probably not someone who has the money to go buy a new helmet at a motorcycle shop. And while an old helmet may not give the protection a new one will, if it is a difference of them crashing in an old helmet or no helmet, even an old helmet has to be the better option.

This is really not even theoretical. I’m drawing from my own experience.

When I first started riding the only helmet I had was a Bell hang-gliding half helmet, from my days as a hang-glider pilot. And that helmet went through a crash with me, though considering the results, my face may well have taken more of the impact than the helmet did. Not once did any one of my hang-gliding buddies suggest I needed to trash that helmet and get a new one.

I eventually gave up hang-gliding and bought a motorcycle. I had a helmet so that was the one I used–when I wore a helmet at all. Back in those days I rarely did.

When I got my first full-face helmet I did not go to Vickery or Fay Myers, I was passing a yard sale and saw a couple motorcycle helmets offered. I stopped and bought one for $25. Used, of course, who knows how old or if it had been in any misadventures.

The point is, this was what I could afford. Heck, I couldn’t really afford the motorcycle; I had to borrow money to buy that for the grand sum of $800.

I never had a crash wearing either the Bell or Bieffe but if I had I’m sure they would have offered me some protection. And if I had only had the option of buying a new, much more expensive helmet, I would not have.

Am I wrong to think that there are people out there today who are just like me way back when?

I’m just sitting on these three helmets for now. I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts, particularly if you strongly disagree with me. Thanks.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if everyone on your last group ride works at your law firm, or plays golf with you.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle helmets, Motorcycle Safety | 2 Comments »

Future Motorcyclists?

Monday, May 11th, 2026

I was headed to the grocery store yesterday and saw these three kids on their ebikes. They were waiting for a green light and when it came they started across only to have a person in a car make a right turn on red right in front of them. Hey buddy, pay attention.

I went on to the store and was only there for a couple minutes, then headed home. I turned off this main street where I had seen them and proceeded down this cross street and they came into view again, turning onto the street I was now on. I followed them a ways till they turned off at a park. Pulling away from a stop sign you can see one of them doing a wheelie.

What I only thought about later was that all of this was being recorded on my dash camera. That’s the footage you see above. If you can zoom in definitely do so because I couldn’t get my video editing software to do that. And it’s only my second encounter with them that’s in the video.

Anyway, watching these guys I couldn’t help but think about other members of the now defunct OFMC. Our original group was John, Bill, and me. John and Bill have known each other since grade school. When they got into junior high the two of them, plus several other friends, all got scooters, like Cushmans, and they were a gang.

More than once I’ve heard how they would ride their scooters to school on cold days, all bundled up, and stop a block from school, take off hats and gloves, unzip their jackets and pull up at school being totally cool. Of course they had lots of fun on the scooters–who wouldn’t?

They didn’t go right on to motorcycles as they got older but at one point John got the urge. He bought a Yamaha 750 Virago, which prompted me to get my Honda CB750, and then Bill to get his Honda Shadow. And the OFMC was born.

So the gestation period took a while but it finally produced results. How can that not happen with so many of these young guys–and girls!–out there today on these ebikes? Don’t tell me those things are not motorcycles. They are cycles and they have motors. Surely at least some of these kids will get the bug. I hope a whole lot of them do.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you’ve ever stopped at a red light & forgot to put a foot down (sober).

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Posted in Biker Issues, Electric motorcycles, motorcycle video | No Comments »

Motorcycle Fatalities Down In Latest Statistics

Thursday, April 16th, 2026


A particularly sweet motorcycle road in Utah.

Bringing news of 2024 statistics may seem a bit old but that’s the way it is with statistics of this sort. Once a year ends it takes time to pull it all together and make sense of it all, so the norm is that we see today what happened not last year, but the year before.

So the good news is that motorcycle fatalities declines by 2.2 percent in 2024. That is 138 fewer deaths. This data come from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) report, “Overview of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes In 2024.”

On the other hand, injuries to motorcyclists increased from 2023 by 4,320, which is a 5.2 percent rise. Not so good. And I guess I’ll be one of those statistics when the report for 2025 comes out next year. Glad I’m in this group and not the first group.

The actual fatality numbers are not good even if they are lower. There were 6,228 people killed on bikes in 2024. And there were 144,050 injured. That last figure seems high enough that each of us should probably know at least one of those people. I know when the 2025 numbers come out I will have known one of those killed. It was a member of the RMMRC and he had only been part of the club a short time. We were glad to have him and really hate having lost him.

Another positive statistic has to do with alcohol impairment. The report shows that alcohol-impaired motorcyclist involved in fatal crashes declined in 2024 by 3 percent. That’s 1,606 compared to 1,656.

Urban areas have the larger proportions of motorcyclist fatalities vs. rural areas (18 percent vs. 13 percent). Interestingly, urban areas have a higher percentage of fatalities in cars and trucks and buses.

Colorado had 689 motorcyclist deaths in 2024, which is a decrease from 2023 of 4.3 percent.

That about covers the motorcycle-related stats in this report. Let’s all be careful out there. I’m going to be a number in next year’s report. Don’t you be a number in the following year’s report.

Biker Quote for Today

If there’s a there there, there’s a road that’ll take you there.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

Now Let’s Fix This Hand Guard

Monday, March 30th, 2026

So now I needed to do something about this hand guard that broke off when I dropped the bike recently.

A bit of electrical tape and I’ve got a functioning hand guard again.

Naively, I guess, I headed down to Performance Cycle hoping they would have the item in stock. Well, no, not really. I looked around and did find a few hand guards but nothing like the one I have. So I asked for help.

After a good bit of searching and researching, the (now) two guys helping me found a system specifically designed to fit all models of the Suzuki DL650 (V-Strom). Emphasis on “system.” It consisted of brackets that would need to be installed on the handlebars, steel rod running from one bracket to the other, and then an actual shield to attach to the rod. And of course, this being a motorcycle part, I’m sure I was looking at a fairly high cost, though there was no price tag to look at.

While they were doing all this digging and searching, I was standing there thinking. First, a vague memory came back to me that perhaps this was not the first time this hand guard had come off. The end where it is secured to the handlebar has a bolt, and it was the part attached by the bolt that had broken. At the other end it was just a slot that slipped onto the bar. Previously I had just slipped the intact end onto the bar and propped the other end up onto where it broke off. Maybe I could do that again.

I told the guys what I was thinking and that maybe all I really needed was some black duct tape. “Or electrical tape,” one of them helpfully suggested. Good idea; electrical tape is thin while duct tape is quite wide. Thanks guys, I’m going to try this. If it doesn’t work you may see me again.

Going out to the bike I tried just slipping the guard back into place and it stayed pretty firmly. Great. Riding home it stayed in place.

At home I wound some electrical tape around it a couple times and I think it’s going to work fine. I know I had the headlight on my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom held together with electrical tape for many years and it did just fine. I think I’m good to go here.

Biker Quote for Today

In a world full of noise, the sound of my engine is my peace.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Motorcycle Gear, Motorcycle repair, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Motorcycle-Related Legislation

Monday, March 16th, 2026

Kicking back after the day’s ride.

As usual, Stump, the ABATE of Colorado legislative liaison, keeps us informed of what bills the legislature is considering that would have an impact on motorcyclists. He has been tracking a few this session.

HB26-1079 (Concerning a requirement that a minor have written permission to obtain an instruction permit to drive a motorcycle) passed the House on 3rd reading unanimously with an amendment to change the title to the “Cole Bradley Act.”

HB26-1125 (Concerning the assessment of penalties against a parent when a minor violates laws concerning the usage of certain electric vehicles, and, in connection therewith, authorizing the assessment of penalties against a parent for a minor’s improper usage of an electrical assisted bicycle, electric motorcycle, electric scooter, or electric skateboard) was withdrawn by the sponsor and listed as PI.

HB26-1329 (Concerning criminalizing certain motor vehicle activities, and, in connection therewith, criminalizing and creating penalties for motor vehicle racing, street takeovers, and stunt driving) was introduced on Wednesday, 3/11 and has 2 House sponsors but no Senate sponsors at this time. It is only 15 pages long and is quite interesting to read, especially the definitions.

Then there are a few other bills that do not directly address motorcycling issues but would still affect us.

SB26-003 (Concerning expanding the scope of the “Battery Stewardship Act” to cover the end-of-life management of electric vehicle batteries) passed the S-T&E Committee and is awaiting a hearing in the S-APP Committee. As we get more Electric Vehicles (EV) on the road, we should probably start thinking of how to dispose of the used batteries.

SB26-035 (Concerning an increase of traffic violation penalties) only has one Senate sponsor and no House sponsor but it passed the S-T&E Committee and the S-APP Committee. It’s scheduled for 2nd reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

SB26-072 (Concerning increasing criminal penalties related to assaultive conduct with a motor vehicle, and, in connection therewith, adding the conduct of causing the death of another person with a motor vehicle to the crime of criminally negligent homicide) has 2 Senate sponsors, no House sponsors and is awaiting a hearing in the S-JUD Committee.

SB26-132 (Concerning a requirement that a law enforcement officer offer a voluntary preliminary screening test for alcohol to a driver) has 2 Senate sponsors and 2 House Sponsors and was assigned to the S-JUD Committee. It passed through the Senate and has been assigned to the H-JUD Committee.

So far none of these have seemed to me to call for my presence at any hearings so I haven’t been down to the capitol this session. Keep up the good work Stump.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding a motorcycle demands total presence. Focus isn’t optional. — Judith Roberts

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Posted in ABATE, Biker Issues, Electric motorcycles, Motorcycle legislation, motorcycle training | No Comments »

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