OK, I forgot to tune in USA Biker Nation last week but I had it on my Palm to remind me this week. Well, I tuned in to KKZN-AM 760 at 10 am, just a few minutes ago, and it was just ending. So apparently they changed the time. Presumably it now starts at 8 am. I went to the web site and all they have is info for the show two weeks ago. This is not an auspicious beginning but we’ll give them time to work it all out. I hope this turns out to be a show worth listening to.
Archive for the ‘Biker Issues’ Category
USA Biker Nation Having Growing Pains, I Guess
Saturday, April 21st, 2007USA Biker Nation Radio Show Starts Out Slow
Saturday, April 7th, 2007Well, I had to listen to the first airing of Peter Boyles’s new radio show, USA Biker Nation. It was this morning at 10 am on KKZN-AM 760, which I didn’t even know existed. It’s local here in Colorado but they’re going national in two weeks, he said. They were broadcasting live from the Easyriders V-Twin Bike Show going on today at the Merchandise Mart.
Tuning in early I caught a bad infomercial–I didn’t even know they had those on radio. Then lots of commercials and the news and finally, to the strains of Arlo Guthrie singing “The Motorsickle Song,” followed by Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider agreeing to ride with Fonda and Hopper, and finally “Get your motor running . . .” the show began.
Boyles started with two guests, Pastor Gary Davis of Church of the Wind, and a guy named Nick who is a former member of Sons of Silence. They talked, there were more guests, and after two hours the show wrapped up.
How did it go? I really didn’t think it was all that interesting. Hey, it’s a first show so it takes time to start rolling and hit your stride, but I hope they do exactly that. It’s also supposed to be a call-in show but apparently they figure to get it started first and then let people start calling in. As it was, they didn’t even mention a phone number.
They did mention a website: www.usabikernation.com. There’s nothing much up there yet but I’m sure that will change.
So we’ll see. I’ll tune in again next week but they’re going to have to fire it up to keep me coming back.
(Comments are welcome, but the blog spammers forced me to turn off that function. Please send any comments to ken at motorcyclecolorado dot com.)
Peter Boyles To Host a Weekly Motorcycling Show
Friday, March 23rd, 2007This just in:
The Rocky Mountain News reported yesterday that long-time local radio personality Peter Boyles, in conjunction with Jones Radio Network, will be launching a two-hour weekly radio program on motorcycling. The show will be called USA Biker Nation, and apparently the intent is to start locally here in Colorado and then expand nationally.
Presumably Boyles rides. I hadn’t heard that he does, but that’s no shocker. I haven’t spoken to him in many years, and haven’t heard him on the air in quite a few years.
So anyway, the show is to debut on KKZN-AM radio at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 7. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a KKZN radio. That’s AM 760 on your dial. So I hope it’s good and he and the network succeed with this. I’ll be tuning in, and I’ll report back about what I hear.
Two Colorado Legislators Fighting to Maintain Our Rights
Monday, March 5th, 2007I keep saying this but it’s important for it to be clear up front: I am not and have never been a Republican. I used to be Democrat, but I’m not any more.
That said, I want to say a couple words on behalf of a couple Republican Colorado legislators, Don Marostica of Loveland and Greg Brophy of Wray.
Last week Marostica wore a helmet to the debate on requiring motorcycle riders under 18 to wear helmets. Asked to remove the helmet, he said, as quoted in the Rocky Mountain News:
That’s why I wore my helmet down here. I didn’t want to trip. I’m going to wear it on the way back to my desk.
His point was that people have a greater risk of dying or suffering a brain injury from tripping and falling than they do from motorcycle accidents.
As for Brophy, he is one of the leaders in the fight against allowing police to stop a driver solely for not wearing a seat belt. Right now, you can only be cited if the police stop you for another reason and you’re not wearing your belt.
Said Brophy, once again as quoted in the Rocky Mountain News:
I don’t believe you should be able to pull over someone in this country basically at will. It is another way government will be able to harass citizens.
Kudos, too, to Ron Tupa, Democratic senator from Boulder, who was the lone Democrat voting against the measure.
Dems Want Helmet Law in Colorado
Sunday, February 18th, 2007OK, I guess I spoke too quickly last time. Turns out there is an attempt in the Colorado Legislature to pass a helmet bill. As usual, it is the nanny-government Democrats at work again.
Let me restate this: I’m not a Republican. I am anti-government-sticking-its-nose-in-where-it-doesn’t-belong. I’m a Libertarian.
The proposed legislation would require all riders under age 18 to wear helmets. Simple enough, and maybe not a bad idea. Lord knows kids don’t have the sense to watch out for themselves. I know what I was like when I was a kid, and even more, I know what our kids were like just a few years ago.
If I could trust that this was all it was and that would be the end of it I might go along with this bill. But history shows me that that is not the case.
About 15-20 years ago the legislature passed a bill requiring seat belts to be worn, but they made the offense such that you could not be stopped for it, they could only cite you if they stopped you for something else. Then recently, guess what? They want to change the law so the police can stop you just for failure to wear a seatbelt. There is no doubt in mind that once they get this helmet law passed for kids they’ll be back later to extend that requirement to adults.
The legislators fighting this bill are Republicans. Now, I have no more use for Republicans than I do for Democrats. One wants to tell you how to think and the other wants to control everything you do. That’s why I changed my party affiliation from Democrat to Libertarian awhile back.
That’s also why I believe in divided government. As long as one party controls the executive branch, the other the legislative, they checkmate each other. They govern down the middle. I guess I’ll be working for the Republicans to take back some power in the next election.
Nanny Officials Have Us In Their Sights Again
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007I’ve mentioned here before the danger inherent in the push to make failure to wear a seat-belt an offense the cops can stop you for. Right now in Colorado they can’t do that, but if they stop you for another reason and you’re not wearing one you can get a ticket. The Legislatue is now working to change that.
What concerns me is that any group of legislators that would make that change is likely to want to mandate wearing motorcycle helmets at all times.
Let’s get this clear right now: I understand that helmets and seat belts frequently save lives. I also know that in less frequent situations they do more hard than good. I just don’t think it’s government’s business to tell me which odds to play. Don’t make that old argument about being a burden on society. I have insurance. Not only that, I often wear a helmet. But sometimes I don’t, and that’s my decision to make. As for seat-belts, I was out one night with a bunch of legislators just after they passed the original seat-belt law and I told them then that they could shove it, that I would continue not to wear one. That was almost 20 years ago. I finally got ticketed for not wearing my seat-belt just two weeks ago. I was speeding, but so was everyone else. And the patrolman only cited me for the belt, not speeding. While I appreciated not getting a speeding ticket I have to suspect he really stopped me for the belt, and speed was just his excuse.
Anyway, none of that matters now because just last week I got a new car and it’s one of these that has a system to totally annoy you if you don’t wear a belt so I’ve finally been beaten. I now wear my seat-belt every time I drive.
But let’s get back to helmets. I hadn’t heard anything about helmets in connection to this proposed seat-belt law, but I know the connection. Well, in this morning’s Rocky Mountain News, Mark Wolf ran five quotes from the forum they run. All five of them said the same thing I”m saying, that it’s no one’s business but mine. One person did say not wearing a belt gives kids the idea of not wearing a belt, but other than that he said it’s nobody’s business. And three of them said the same about helmets.
I was afraid of this when the Democrats took the Legislature and governorship. I firmly believe divided government is best; it provides the best checks and balances. I used to be a Democrat but I changed my affiliation to Libertarian a number of years ago for exactly this sort of reason. I may have to vote Republican two years from now to help break this imbalance.