End of the road for America's biker culture?
As the women at the SBB biker bar here greet the six o'clock hour by jiggling to a blaring version of Kid Rock's take on "Sweet Home Alabama," Bob Johnston leans back, flips his flip-flops off, and ponders the state of America's biker culture.
The party inside the saloon notwithstanding, the news ain't good, he says.
Just up the road, Myrtle Beach, S.C. – the site for 68 years of the world's largest Harley-Davidson rally, drawing nearly half a million riders annually – has effectively tried to shut down the event this year. Inside the city limits, a local helmet law and a ban on noisy tailpipes is likely to keep most riders at bay.
As a scaled-down Bike Week begins this weekend outside the city limits, the question is whether Myrtle Beach has gone too far in cordoning itself off from the dinosaur growl of a straight pipe, an unshaven chin, and free-blowing hair.
American Motorcyclists Association Puts 50 Years of American Motorcyclist Online
The American Motorcyclist Association has put a 50+ year archive of its official publication, American Motorcyclist, up online. The archive spans from 1955 to 2007 (over 630 issues!) and is available through a partnership with Google Books.
The easy way is to go to http://books.google.com and search for American Motorcyclist. If you want a direct URL, though, try this giant link, which will start you at January 1955.
All issues are available for free and are available in full format, including ads and covers. The digitizing is excellent quality though you will have to zoom in to read many of the articles (unless you have spectacular eyes.) How great to read about the upcoming 1955 Daytona Beach Classic, and the ads!
Witnesses sought on ladder that caused Largo crash
If there were any witnesses to a ladder falling off a vehicle in the middle of U.S. 19 on Wednesday morning, none have come forward so far, Largo police Sgt. George Edmiston said today.
The family of a Holiday man whose motorcycle crashed when it struck the ladder is offering a reward for anyone who can provide a description of the vehicle that dropped it.
Andrew Guastella, 61, was seriously injured in the crash Wednesday. He is in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. He hasn't regained consciousness and has bleeding in his brain, said Kelly Conard, a companion of one of Guastella's children.
Edmiston said the person who dropped the ladder could be charged with a misdemeanor.
A red plastic flag tied to the ladder is being processed for fingerprints, he said. It also appears another vehicle struck the ladder prior to Guastella's motorcycle, Edmiston said.
Bikers want tougher penalties for at-fault drivers
Hundreds of motorcyclists made the trip to Tallahassee Monday to push for tougher laws for drivers who cause crashes with motorcycles.
Johnny James, who made the ride all the way from Lake County, is pressing for tough, mandatory penalties, such as $1,000 fines and community service.
"We've had several of our riders get killed, and the person will get an $80 ticket, nothing against their license, nothing, and the person is still dead," James said.
For the bikers, it's an issue of equality.
The slow economy and high gas prices have lead to more motorcycles than ever on the road. The increase in motorcycle riders could mean a higher potential for accidents to happen.
Zephyrhills biker James Sewell thinks car drivers are usually to blame.
Harley, You’re Not Getting Any Younger
After riding high for two decades, the company that makes the hulky bikes that devoted riders affectionately call Hogs is sputtering. Harley’s core customers are graying baby boomers, whose savings, in many cases, have gone up in smoke in the market downturn. Few are in the mood to shell out up to $20,000 or more for something that is basically a big toy, and the company, in turn, has not captured much of the younger market.
And though Harley’s woes pale in comparison to what the automakers face — Harley’s revenue dipped 2 percent last year while Detroit was crashing — overproduction and loose lending practices have burdened the company’s finances.
In a pattern similar to that of the housing bust, Harley goosed sales by luring many buyers with no-money-down loans. A subsidiary created about 15 years ago, Harley-Davidson Financial Services, made those loans and packaged them into securities to sell to investors. As the credit market skidded, so did this subsidiary.
Injured Florida motorcyclist calls friends, family but not 911 — a deadly error
A New Smyrna Beach-area man crashed his motorcycle into a culvert Monday night and over the course of the next four hours placed calls to friends and relatives.
But 46-year-old Ronald Courtney did not make the one call that might have saved his life: 911.
He was unable to tell his relatives, and those of his girlfriend, where he had crashed.
He placed his last call about 2:30 a.m., Sgt. Kim Miller of the Florida Highway Patrol said. It was almost 6 a.m. before Volusia County deputies found his body, using information from his cell phone carrier.
Had Courtney dialed 911, his location could have been determined quickly, Volusia County sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.
Relatives told deputies Courtney sounded as though he had been drinking.
Lane Splitting
Like so many things in traffic, it’s complex. In theory, I like the idea — why shouldn’t we use as much road space as possible? (the extra lane space put in for safety at high speeds is essentially wasted during congestion). A motorcycle between streams of cars shortens the length of the queue for cars, after all (and unlike HOV or hybrid lanes, doesn’t reduce existing highway space). On the other hand, there have been times when I’ve been absolutely startled by a motorcyclist unexpectedly passing me. This raises the question of the “attentional set”: If we don’t usually expect motorcycles to be there, will we not see them as we change lanes, or if we unintentionally “drift” a bit? (for the biker, the added problem is the people who don’t signal before changing).
‘Motorcycle detection system’ on roads by Easter
A new surveillance system designed to track movements of motorcyclists on the roads will be operational by Easter, MCN can reveal.
The technology can tell motorcycles apart from other vehicles, measure their speeds and will be able to read number plates under plans. Data such as the routes taken by individual motorcyclists along with time and date will be collected and kept even if they have committed no offence.
The £100,000 project has prompted civil rights groups to express grave concerns about the potential for invasion of motorcyclists’ privacy.
Speed camera bossed behind the scheme have named it the ‘motorcycle data project’ and the equipment a ‘motorcycle detection system’.
It will scrutinise movements of motorcyclists in particular and be switched on to coincide with the start of the riding season in April, they say.
