A Brief History of Bikers' Rights in America
As Seen by BILL BISH,
NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS
ABATE OF CALIFORNIA
Hello! My name is Bill Bish, and I'm Executive Coordinator of the National
Coalition of Motorcyclists and Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M. &
NCOM), and I've been active in bikers rights for over thirteen years, having
served in various state and local positions within ABATE of California,
including two terms as Chairman of the Board and two terms as State Director.
A few years ago, I compiled a ''History of ABATE'' article for our ABATE of
California newsletter, the ''Bailing Wire,'' which people must've
enjoyed reading because it has since been reprinted in several other newsletters
and magazines. Soooo, for you history buffs, I'll try to piece together some of
our early beginnings, with apologies to those who were there from the start.
I wasn't, so this is only from my early conversations with people like
Deacon, Ron Roloff and others who WERE there, as well as my own research
and admittedly spotty memory. Through my involvement with
NCOM and ABATE of California, I have had
the privilege of traveling across the United States to preach unity and
spread important information, and I will always treasure my memories of the
places that bikers' rights has taken me and the friendly faces that have greeted
me. Because our issue is so emotional and deeply personal, I have
developed close relationships with many Freedom Fighters throughout the country
who I am proud to call Brothers and Sisters.
It was this deep sense of ''family'' within the motorcycle rights community that
inspired me to trace our Family Tree. Much has been said of
the coming new Millennium, and of the opportunities and pitfalls our
future holds in store, but one thing is certain...''YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHERE
YOU'VE BEEN TO KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING!''With that thought in mind, I'd like to
take you on a brief trip down memory lane, as we open up our Family Album and
retrace our History as a bikers' rights movement here in the United States:
Easyriders magazine editor Lou Kimzey issued a plea in issue #3, October 1971,
for bikers to come together to fight impending restrictions from the National
Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) by joining a new national
bikers' rights organization called the National Custom Cycle Association, but
because of a conflict with the acronym the name was changed in February 1972 to
A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments (ABATE). I recall Joe Teresi,
publisher of Easyriders, telling me that they had a contest around the office to
come up with a new name, and one of the secretaries came up with ''ABATE''. He
told me they were on deadline and needed a logo real fast, so they took a
stylized German eagle and transformed it into the logo used by many ABATE's to
this day. Easyriders began granting state charters around 1974, and Keith Ball
was the original national coordinator (Keith later became editor of Easyriders until
his recent retirement). ABATE organizations which came into existence around
this same time were chartered in Kansas, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina and New York; and also MMA of California, MMA of Massachusetts, New
Hampshire Motorcycle Rights Organization, Rhode Island Motorcycle Association,
Connecticut Motorcycle Rights Association, and the Wisconsin Better Bikers
Association.
Easyriders published some phone numbers and a loose knit network of bikers' rights activists began to grow. Ron Roloff and others had already founded the Modified Motorcycle Association of California, and it's interesting to note that Easyriders' original name for their rights group was similar to the MMA's because the biggest threat, aside from the original federal helmet mandates, which were instituted in 1966 by Congress and later repealed in 1976, was that the U.S. DOT (Department of Transportation) was investigating ways to restrict modified or customized ''choppers'' which they deemed unsafe, especially extended forks. Deacon, founder of ABATE of California, once related to me that the 60's fad of ridiculously high sissy bars came about because the government started requiring ''grab bars'' for passenger safety, so the riders of the day flaunted the law by building them as long and garish as they could get by with. Almost every state during this time passed handlebar height restrictions, mandatory eye protection, motorcycle licensing requirements, lights-on laws and other equipment regulations, and many other restrictions on our ''Freedom Machines'' were being considered by legislators and bureaucrats to make motorcycle riding ''safer''. In most states, before motorcyclists became politically organized, the clubs were the first to fight helmet laws and other restrictions. As the rights movement grew, Don Pittsley, a member of the Huns M/C in Connecticut convinced his congressman, Rep. Stewart Mckinney, to introduce H.R.3869 to end the Federal authority to withhold highway funds from states without helmet laws (i.e., the ''National Helmet Law''). In July of 1975, Rob Rasor of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), Ron Roloff of the MMA of California and Ed Armstrong of ABATE of Chicago presented the House Sub-Committee on Surface Transportation with convincing testimony to repeal the helmet mandates.
Later that year, with California being sued by the DOT because Governor Ronald Reagan refused to comply with the federal helmet law mandate, Roloff helped convince California Senator Alan Cranston to offer the language of the bill as an amendment to the 1975 Federal Highway Act, which passed with overwhelming support from the California delegation because of the impending lawsuit, and was signed by President Gerald Ford on May 5, 1976. Not bad for a rag tag bunch of bikers with little or no previous political ambitions.Spurred on by many successful protest rallies around the country following the national helmet law repeal, and the eventual repeal of more than 30 state helmet laws, ABATE, MMA and other motorcycle rights organizations sprang up in every state and are now a fixture in Capitols across America. Following several failed attempts to start a national motorcycle rights organization, including Easyriders giving up the reigns of National ABATE, in 1985 the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) hosted their first Meeting of the
Minds conference, and less than a year later, in 1986, the National Coalition of
Motorcyclists (NCOM) held their first
National Convention. Motorcycling leaders nationwide realized the need for a
united voice and the necessity of networking and communicating with each other,
and both the MRF and NCOM grew and have become effective partners with state
MRO's in protecting riders' rights on the federal, state and local fronts. The
concept of unity was put to the test in the early 1990's, when Congress again
attempted to force states into passing helmet laws, and American motorcyclists
came together en masse, and in a coordinated effort between the MRF and
NCOM virtually every state sent
representatives from their MRO (Motorcycle Rights Organization) to walk the
hallowed halls of Washington, D.C., in search of their U.S. Senators and
Representatives.
The grand lobbying experiment WORKED, and in just FOUR YEARS bikers were able to
persuade Congress in 1995 to once again repeal their misdirected and misguided
''nanny'' law and return the decision to the individual states. That same
federal transportation legislation also repealed the national 55 mph maximum
speed limit! Soon afterwards, Arkansas modified their mandatory helmet law to
allow Freedom of Choice for adult riders 21 and older. Texas soon followed,
as well as Kentucky and, most recently, Louisiana.
As a result of our newfound political clout, motorcyclists have successfully
approached Congress twice over the past few years, first to grant federal
protections against insurance discrimination based on mode of transportation
because many companies (most notably Ruger Firearms and the Teamsters Union)
were denying medical benefits to employees injured in motorcycle accidents.
Then, just last session (1998), motorcyclists united to put together
a pro-active agenda for bikers, and succeeded in lobbying it through
Congress; included in this ''wish list'' for bikers was a guarantee that
motorcyclists would be included during the development of the Intelligent
Transportation System (ITS) technology; ensures that motorcycles are guaranteed
access to any and all roads built with the use of federal highway funds (no road
bans); restricts anti-motorcycle lobbying efforts by NHTSA and shifts their
focus from injury prevention to accident prevention; and provides $131 million
for recreational trails development and maintenance!
During this same time, many state rights groups have become proactive within
their states instead of RE-acting to legislative threats. Minnesota passed our
nation's first law to make it illegal to discriminate against someone because
they ride a motorcycle; Arizona, Iowa, Oregon and Washington have successfully
repealed or modified their state's handlebar height laws; Virginia and Illinois
have lobbied their states to reinforce the federally guaranteed access to roads
by passing laws to protect our rights to ride on any roads within their state
boundaries; and several states have fought and defeated so-called ''No Fault''
insurance proposals that are unfair to motorcyclists. Also, now, through the
work of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, patch holders in 33 states have
come together to form Confederations of Clubs to fight discrimination and police
harassment judicially through the Courts...bringing the motorcycle rights
network full circle with the rejuvenated interest of the motorcycle club
community.
While our early bikers' rights leaders paved our way, other dynamic
and concerned riders have stepped forward to take the reigns and lead us into
the 21st Century. But we should never forget the efforts and sacrifices of our
predecessors who faced intimidation from law enforcement, indifference from
legislators and animosity from a public that saw ''The Wild One'' one too many
times.
Yet they got the job done, and were it not for their perseverance and dedication, we would not have become the respected and effective grass roots lobbying group that we are today. So, there you have it. The roots of ABATE and bikers' rights run deep in the hearts of those of us who have accepted and, in turn, passed on the torch of Freedom of the Road. To all those who came before, we salute you! Where will the future take us? That's entirely up to you...But, I'd like to leave you with a quote from Margaret Mead; ''Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that has.''
THE AIM/NCOM E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to
you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists
(A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored
by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call us at
1-(800) ON-A-BIKE. Visit us on our website at
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