{"id":12736,"date":"2025-06-08T11:58:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T17:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/?p=12736"},"modified":"2025-06-07T16:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T22:59:14","slug":"mrf-goes-a-little-off-the-deep-end-imo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/mrf-goes-a-little-off-the-deep-end-imo\/","title":{"rendered":"MRF Goes A Little Off The Deep End, IMO"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation<\/a> (MRF) is to the national scene what the state-level ABATEs are to the state scenes. A motorcycle rights organization working to protect our rights and shape legislation in ways beneficial to, or at least not detrimental to, riding motorcycles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

 <\/code>The MRF logo<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>I generally tend to support what the MRF works for but in the most recent case I personally feel the group has gone a bit off the deep end. Specifically, in a letter to Sean Duffy, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, it said:<\/p>\n

The MRF strongly opposes the Biden Administration\u2019s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards finalized in June 2024, which require automakers\u2019 new vehicle fleets to reach an average of 53.5 miles per gallon by model year 2032.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now wait. The CAFE standards relate only to cars. What does this have to do with motorcycles?<\/p>\n

OK, the letter continues and explains the concern:<\/p>\n

The CAFE standards drive automakers to increase production of electric vehicles and phase out
\ninternal combustion (ICE) engines. As these manufacturers pivot resources toward electric
\nvehicle (EV) compliance, we expect reduced investment and innovation in ICE technology, which
\npowers most motorcycles. This shift could lead to:
\n\u2022 Reduced availability of affordable support technologies and fuels for motorcycle riders
\n\u2022 Distorted market dynamics and limited consumer choice
\n\u2022 Decreased relevance and impact of the aftermarket parts industry
\n\u2022 Rural motorcyclists being disproportionately impacted due to insufficient infrastructure<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, OK, so you’re saying let’s nullify technological advancements for cars in order to insure that motorcycles won’t be orphaned. Guys, that’s a really weak argument. First off, there are a gazillion cars pumping out megatons of air pollution while there are–to be generous–significantly fewer motorcycles. Gosh, I don’t know. I kind of like breathing clean air and while theoretically the technological advancement of motorcycles might be negatively impacted, I really don’t believe it will grind to a halt.<\/p>\n

I also don’t understand what they’re saying about rural motorcyclists being disproportionately impacted. I guess the build-out of charging stations in rural areas will be slower than in metro areas but at the same time I suspect the phasing out of the gasoline supply industry will also be slower in rural areas, especially as long as farmers use gas- or diesel-powered farm implements.<\/p>\n

Nope. This is a case where I definitely break with the MRF. You guys do good work but we all screw up some times.<\/p>\n

Biker Quote for Today<\/h3>\n

Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing. — Hunter S. Thompson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is to the national scene what the state-level ABATEs are to the state scenes. A motorcycle rights organization working to protect our rights and shape legislation in ways beneficial to, or at least not detrimental to, riding motorcycles. I generally tend to support what the MRF works for but in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[306,153],"tags":[1126,180,1093],"class_list":["post-12736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-electric-motorcycles","category-motorcycle-riders-foundation","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-mrf","tag-mrf-legislative-agenda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12736"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12742,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12736\/revisions\/12742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclecolorado.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}