Where Next With ABATE?
The ABATE booth at the 2010 Show And Swap
I was asked by a contact with the Colorado Sportbike Club about my thoughts regarding ABATE of Colorado going forward.
Do you think ABATE should continue/survive? If so, do you think the changes that need to happen could be executed? Where do we go from here?
I didn’t answer right away because I had to do some serious thinking. When I did reply, this is what I said.
Tough questions, which is why I didn’t reply immediately.
I do think we need some sort of lobbying group down at the capitol. And at this moment, ABATE is it. I heard from Terry that the legislators have made it clear that if ABATE ever got too chummy with the Confederation of Clubs that ABATE’s credibility would plummet and our voice would not be heard as welcome. So it’s not as if we could expect the COC to pick up the slack. An organization such as the Sportbike Club might be able to build a favorable presence down there but that would take time and I’m not aware of any such effort as of yet. So ABATE is what we have.
I just renewed my membership with ABATE. I joined years ago at the Last Brass Monkey Run so I’m always up for renewal at this time of year. I wondered about it because there are so many questions I, as a member, want answers to and haven’t gotten yet. But for only $30 I figured I’d go ahead. If dues were $100 I’m not sure I would have made the same decision.
I believe that Bruce Downs, as the new state coordinator, is sincerely interested in resolving a lot of the issues that lead to the group being where it is today. Bruce strikes me as a competent, intelligent person and I agree with him that looking forward is more important than looking back, though we definitely need to do some looking back.
I really don’t know the other people on the board and some of the negative things I’ve heard leave me less than totally confident about what we’ll see from there. I absolutely think ABATE needs to broaden its outreach beyond just the Harley crowd and I always applauded Terry’s work with the Sportbike Club and the MRA. From what I hear, some of the board members have a very different opinion in that regard. If that’s true I think those people need to ask themselves the question, do we represent all motorcyclists or just a certain group? And what are they, themselves, doing to bring in more members?
At the very least, it is my intention to get more involved either until I conclude it’s hopeless or–preferably–on an ongoing basis. I’ve always been moderately active and involved. That is, I at least come to meetings regularly and to some events. This coming Saturday (Jan. 17) I intend to go to the state board meeting, which will be at 11 a.m. at Mickey’s Steakhouse up at 72nd and Broadway. My impressions from that may have a significant influence on my hopes and expectations.
So we’ll see.
And so we will see. I’ll have more to say after the meeting, obviously.
Biker Quote for Today
If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It is deadly.
January 19th, 2015 at 1:56 pm
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