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The recent Hells Angels weekend gathering went off without any arrests, without any
violence, without even any significant noise complaints from the neighbours. It's almost as if the Hells Angels are
law-abiding folks who just wanted to have a quiet party. They may not party that hard anymore - plenty of senior Hells
Angels are approaching pensioner status - but as a group, they are not that law-abiding. Several members of the White Rock
chapter, based in Langley, have been charged with violent assaults and gun crimes, and B.C. members have been convicted of
drug dealing. In Quebec, their violent gang wars have cost the lives of innocent bystanders. So clearly, the police
would be letting their guard down if they did not take the gang seriously. On the other hand, did the massive police
presence on 61st Avenue, outside the local clubhouse, do anything to stop the spread of the gang's influence? It let
the gang know they are being watched, certainly. It gave a public demonstration of the strength of the police. But
there were no arrests, no significant charges laid. The police don't seem to have been anticipating any violence - they didn't
warn the neighbours to stay inside or be cautious. Other than keeping track of who attended the party - something that
could have been accomplished by a handful of officers with cameras - what did the thousands of dollars in policing costs do?
It certainly didn't make the neighbours feel safer. The RCMP should explain why such a massive operation was needed.
The neighbours, and the public who paid for it, deserve to hear a reason. http://www.canada.com/surreynow/news/viewpoint/story.html?id=f52c59d8-a0e0-402b-8679-7cfb0322fa22
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Taxpayers pick up tab for ending biker events
 MYRTLE BEACH — Myrtle Beach City Council hit the gas on eradicating motorcycle rallies by passing a three-mill property-tax
increase dedicated to an anti-bike-rally campaign and beginning to enact ordinances that will end motorcycle-related vending
inside the city. All seven council members at Tuesday's meeting voted in favor of the tax increase, which will raise
about $1 million a year. One mill equals an additional $4 in property taxes for every $100,000 of assessed value for all owner-occupied
homes, and $6 for every $100,000 assessed value of commercial property and second homes. City staff members are tasked
with coming up with a list of strategies for ending the rallies, and city leaders will choose which ones they want to try
and which ones the city can afford. It's news that will please the hundreds of anti-rally residents who showed up at
last week's council meeting; but for others, it's not glad tidings. "What I do in May and October is 40 percent of
my business," said Ben Brown, owner of B&M Custom Cycles in downtown Myrtle Beach. "Without bike rallies, I don't have
a business. What about all these other businesses - the drug stores, the movie theaters, the restaurants — that make
money from the rallies? The money filters through the local economy." City leaders say they want to actively market
May as a family vacation month, replacing bike rally attendees. But Brown said many of the people who come for the
Harley-Davidson-related rallies in May and October also come down for family vacations at other times of the year, and they
will not come back if they are not welcome in the spring and fall. "When times get tough, you cannot go back and say
'we welcome your business,'" said Mike Shank, a partner in Festival Promotions, one of the Grand Strand's largest promoters
of bike rally events. The millage increase is a part of final passage of the 2008-09 budget that equals, with the capital
improvement plan that pays for the boardwalk and other downtown improvements, about $151 million. At Tuesday's meeting,
council members also voted to change the city's OZ-50 zoning so vending permits cannot be issued in May. OZ-50 covers the
Myrtle Beach Convention Center and Broadway at the Beach, two spots that in years past have drawn motorcycle-related vending. That
proposed ordinance must go before the city's Planning Commission for review before it gets its second and final reading. Council
members voted to cancel all motorcycle-related facilities permits for the month of May, as well. That ordinance also needs
a second reading before it is considered official. And they passed a resolution to send Mayor John Rhodes to Horry
County Council to ask for the county's help in ending the bike rallies. Rhodes takes part in the Coastal Alliance,
a group of Grand Strand governments that meets monthly to work together on regional issues, and he said that group supported
the city's efforts. Council members who had previously been hesitant to enact a millage increase to dedicate a mill's
worth of money to fund public transportation through The Coast Regional Transit Authority and additional police and recreation
staff said residents clearly want an anti-rally campaign. At last week's meeting, people said they were willing to
pay for it. But as part of the budget's passage, council members also agreed to fund two additional workers to assist
at the city's three recreation centers, at a cost of $86,000. That money will come from the general fund. The new budget
is balanced with $252,000 going to The Coast RTA — not as much as some council members wanted, because a mill is worth
about $335,000 a year. But Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means said she would push for that increase next year. She said
the anti-rally campaign takes precedence this year. Shank said he thinks it's interesting that the city wouldn't pass
an increase to fund transit or services "that actually benefit the residents, but they will pass an increase that they don't
even know how they're going to spend yet." — The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/437287.html
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Michigan Governor Again Vetoes Motorcycle Helmet Bill
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, as expected, has vetoed a bill that would have let motorcyclists
ride without helmets in Michigan.
She announced the veto Friday.
Granholm vetoed a similar bill in 2006.
The latest legislation had some differences from the previous version. But Granholm said
her concerns about safety and insurance costs remain the same.
It would take a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the state Legislature to override
Granholm's veto and change Michigan's mandatory helmet law.
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THE BIKER*
I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.
But, you didn't see me, put an extra
$10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.
I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.
But,
you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local mall.
I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But,
you didn't see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.
I saw you, roll up your window
and shake your head when I rode by.
But, you didn't see me, riding behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out
the car window.
I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn't see me, when I took time
off from work to run toys to the homeless.
I saw you, stare at my long hair.
But, you didn't see me, and my friends
cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.
I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather jackets and gloves.
But, you didn't
see me, and my brothers donate our old ones to those that had none.
I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
But,
you didn't see me, cry as my children were born and have their name written over and in my heart.
I saw you, change
lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn't see me, going home to be with my family.
I saw you, complain
about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn't see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.
I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn't see me, pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe
behind me.
I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.
But, you didn't see me, squeeze
my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.
I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn't
see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.
I saw you, run the yellow light just
to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.
I saw you, cut me off because you
needed to be in the lane I was in.
But, you didn't see me, leave the road.
I saw you, waiting impatiently for
my friends to pass.
But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.
I saw you, go home to your family.
But, you didn't
see me. Because, I died that day you cut me off.
I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family.
But, you
didn't see me.
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Real "Outlaw" bikes
CARSON CITY, Nev. - If you’re looking for an “outlaw”
motorcycle, Nevada prison officials have a deal for you: a custom, high-powered chopper that costs $40,000 or more and is
built by real outlaws.
The prison system’s “Big House Choppers” venture
is expanding from a small wooden shed involving a few motorcycle-savvy convicts to a larger prison shop in southern Nevada
that will employ as many as 30 inmates.
“We are producing the only true outlaw motorcycles being
produced by outlaws in the United States,” Howard Skolnik, head of the state’s prison industries program, said
Monday.
Skolnik boasts that buyers also will receive a certificate that
confirms pieces of scrapped prison cell bars went into their bikes — in the form of 5-inch-long fender supports.
“Little things like that make these bikes look desirable,”
he said.
Skolnik told a legislative oversight panel that payment of a $15,000
licensing fee to the state Department of Motor Vehicles will clear the way for sale of the custom choppers.
“You know, there’s no accounting for bad taste, senator,”
Skolnik said to state Sen. Bob Beers, who asked for details on the program and its market appeal. “People want these
bikes. They really do.”
© 2007 The Associated Press.
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In Denmark, they've been experimenting with a new way to slow down speeders... (you gotta see these new speed control
devices)
http://speedbandits.dk/
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Motorcycle Cancer Seat Shield
Thursday, November 15, 2007
 A man named Randall Dale Chipkar is selling an EMF shield designed to be fitted inside a motorcycle
seat.
"EMF" stands for electromagnetic field. He claims that EMFs can cause cancer, and that motorcycles are emitting
enough of these EMFs to put riders in danger. His EMF shield can be fitted inside a motorcycle seat to provide riders with
"peace of mind".
In fact, Chipkar authored a book entitled, "MOTORCYCLE CANCER? Are motorcycles KILLING US with
cancers of the prostate, colon, kidney, bone, etc?", where he documents cases of riders whom he met diagnosed with cancer,
and which he claims were victims of their own motorcycles.
"All of these riders had extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic
field (EMF) radiation shooting up from their motorcycle seats into their lower torso", Chipkar says. "Some readings were 100
times higher than what can be considered as acceptable exposure."
Chipkar goes on to say that governments and industry
leaders are in denial over motorcycle-based EMFs so as to not create panic.
To learn more about Chipkar's EMF motorcycle
seat shield, visit his website...
http://www.motorcyclecancer.com/
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Biker's Penis Struck by Lightning
In Croatia, a motorcyclist had stopped to take a leak on the side of the road, when a bolt of lightning decided to light
it up...
Ante Djindjic, 29, from Zagreb, said: "I don't remember what happened. One minute I was taking a leak and the
next thing I knew I was in hospital.
"Doctors said the lightning went through my body and because I was wearing rubber
boots it earthed itself through my penis." According to his doctors, his penis should recover fully, eventually. Source:
Ananova
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A nice site with cool stuff, also related with A.B.A.T.E. of Iowa. And
a really nice site for all of you "chic's who ride their own". (gotta luv em')
Posted on July 11th, 2006 by BikerChick
Sometimes, shit happens that just leaves you shaking your head. An Iowa
Appeals court declined to overturn an OWI conviction this week for an individual in Black Hawk County who, in 2003, crashed
his motorcycle into a semi-truck causing injuries to his passenger. He was found to have a blood alcohol level of .14 at the
scene of the accident, but he pled not-guilty on the grounds that he had only begun to drink after the accident, while sitting
on the curb apparently waiting for help to arrive. He noted in his testimony that he kept a bottle of vodka strapped with
bungee cords to his fender for just such an emergency.
Thinking that this story qualified for “news of the weird,”
I mentioned it to my boss whose husband is a county attorney. She assured me this strategy was nothing new. “Marty had
a case where a guy was found drunk at the scene with his bike in a ditch, but insisted he’d only started drinking while
waiting for a ride home,” she reported, noting that cops actually found him first. Ultimately the charges were dropped
because there was no evidence to suggest he’d been drunk while on the bike. All the beer cans were there at the scene
with him, and the officer had not thought to check the bike’s engine to see if it was warm. Without concrete evidence,
he was released.
Of course, the lesson we can all learn from this is that if you’re
going to drink on a bike, it’s best to take the containers with you in case you need to stage an alibi later. But there’s
an additional, more important lesson here, and that is that bungee cords are an effective way to secure a bottle of vodka
to a motorcycle fender. (I mean, just how long did that guy ride around like that, waiting for an accident to happen so he
could take a nip?)
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