Norton Returns to Racing

Click link below for the full story:

Norton Motorcycles return to Isle of Man TT next year

Back in October this year, Norton had been once more, with UK businessman Stuart Garner buying the rights to the Norton brand and setting up a new factory and office complex for Norton near Donington Park.

The company is now supposed to be working on all-new streetbike – probably to be called Commando – which will be launched in 2009. In the meanwhile, Norton have also announced they’re coming back to race at the Isle of Man next year. Robert Dunlop’s son, 20-year-old Michael Dunlop will race a Norton NRV588 rotary-engined bike at the IoM TT in 2009.
Visit the Norton website for their latest news release

Going Back in Motorcycle Time

Going back in motorcycle time, thank you google. Click on this link to see how!

Bikes in the Fast Lane – Daily Motorcycle News

by Mike Werner

Remember Time Life Magazine? They always had fantastic photos.

Now, thanks to good old Google, all their photos are on-line and searchable.

Count on spending hours…

Harley Dealership Closed In Dubuque, IA

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Harley dealership closing

By The Telegraph Herald

A sign posted at Wilwert’s Harley Davidson in Dubuque announces its closure. Wilwert’s Inc. is synonymous with motorcycles in the Dubuque area, but the expanded full-service shop that opened with great fanfare in 2003 at the height of the latest motorcycle and Harley-Davidson boom is apparently going out of business.

A sign on the front window of the dealership at 145 North Crescent Ridge Road thanks Wilwert’s Inc. customers and announces that the store is going out of business. Clay Wilwert, store owner, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but a store official said Wilwert would contact the TH today.

A legal notice in the Telegraph Herald announced a sheriff’s levy and sale of the property, set for 10 a.m. on Jan. 15 at the Dubuque County Law Enforcement Center. A judgment awarded American Trust & Savings Bank $1,654,054.68, plus fees and interest on Nov. 13.

– Andy Piper

Locate Motorcycle Dealers Near You

Motorcycle.Com- Dealer Locater

A quality motorcycle dealer can make all the difference in the world. If you have a specific motorcycle in mind, choose a motorcycle make below to search our database of new and used motorcycle dealerships across the country. Haven’t picked out a motorcycle yet? Not a problem. Click on the tag link below to use their resource:

Fifth Federal Highway Administration Motorcycle Advisory Council Meeting

News Release

Content and Image Copyright 2008, Motorcycle Riders Foundation

MRF E-MAIL NEWS
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 510
P.O. Box 1808
Washington, DC 20013-1808
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
MRF website

For Immediate Release

19 November 2008

Contact: Jeff Hennie,
MRF Vice President of Government Relations
Email: jeff@mrf.org

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation attends Fifth Federal Highway Administration Motorcycle Advisory Council Meeting.

Last week the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) held the fifth meeting of the Motorcycle Advisory Council. The Council convenes twice a year to discuss infrastructure issues of concern to motorcyclists. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation Vice President of Government Relations, Jeff Hennie, is one of the nine seated council members.

“This council meeting was significant because it was the first meeting since the charter was extended past its initial two year trial run” said Jeff Hennie. He added, “The likelihood of keeping this council intact well past the congressionally mandated 2 years is very good and gets better with each accomplishments of the council”.

This meeting began with a review of the results of the online motorcyclist road conditions survey that was opened for comment this summer. The survey was designed to get a national snap shot of what motorcyclists think about the state of the roads they ride. Some areas that the 10,000 respondents overwhelmingly agreed needs improvement are construction zones, slippery pavement markings, stuck at red lights and harsh road edge drop-offs. The areas that received positive marks were ample signage and plenty of lighting of the road. A follow-up survey is in the works for spring 2009. The MRF will let you know when that is available.

The next agenda item was a presentation by the leading expert of intersection design at Federal Highway Association (FHWA). Intersections are notoriously the most dangerous part of any traffic pattern. The standard four way cross intersection may very well be a thing of the past, not in any hurry though. Traffic control experts are working feverishly at making intersections safer. Some designs have been shown to significantly reduce crashes. For instance, adopting traffic circles or roundabouts has been shown to effectively reduce crash occurrences. It doesn’t stop there though; the experts are designing and implementing even more involved intersections that essentially eliminate a left hand turn through the intersection. It’s a complicated system of lanes and stoplights that in theory will be safer. Few exist today, but Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, Virginia, New York and Missouri are experimenting with some of the European concepts. Bigger, more complicated intersections may be safer but they will also need more and more slippery striping that remains a concern to motorcyclists.

The council then had a lengthy discussion on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Essentially a PPP is any venture that involves the leasing of traditionally public services to a private entity to run, build or maintain. Historically PPPs have been found in services such as waste water treatment, garbage removal and disposal, even law enforcement. Now we are seeing an influx of PPP’s in the transportation world. Municipalities are leasing off sections of toll road to private, sometimes foreign, companies. This poses a lot of questions. Take the Chicago Skyway for example, this heavily traveled elevated toll road provides a way in and out of the windy city for millions each day. The 7.8 mile highway was recently leased to a Spanish company for 99 years to the tune of 1.8 billion. The Spaniards are responsible for maintenance of the road but get to keep any and all tolls. Can the new owners invoke a helmet law for their road despite the fact that Illinois doesn’t require a helmet? Can they raise tolls as high as they want? The answers to those questions vary agreement to agreement, but it’s also difficult to overlook the issues involved with putting a foreign company in charge of our infrastructureNot only does it send profits overseas – it reeks of an anti-American ethos. The 1.8 billion that Mayor Daley got his hands on was spent on back debt the City of Chicago was carrying. It also constitutes another 1.8 billion removed from the transportation world. What happens to the next generation of Americans when they need to get out of debt and there is nothing left to lease? PPPs are here to stay but they need to be carefully regulated and observed.

The Council drifted off its charter of focusing on infrastructure for a bit when the topic of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) came up. For years the MRF has been asking for a better VMT and recently the feds started listening. They admit the motorcycle VMT numbers are highly suspect at best. They held a three day meeting in DC last year on the very issue of improving motorcycle VMT accuracy. They had a test day for vendors of traffic counting devices at a Department of Transportation (DOT) research facility this past spring. They know the numbers are extremely inaccurate yet they continue to use them to exacerbate the number of fatal motorcycle crashes. After a slightly heated exchange the Federal government refused to give a timeline for a better VMT number, they did agree that at the very least, a strong footnote indicating the frailty and gross inaccuracies of the number should be present when using the motorcycle VMT number. While that’s not good enough, it’s a good start.

The meeting concluded with a brief presentation on what the State of Texas is doing to reduce pavement slab spreading which leaves a gap between lanes in the pavement large enough to capture a motorcycle’s front tire. The presenter informed the council on how the State of Texas can identify a potential road hazard like this and have it repaired that day or with in the next few days. A lesson that many municipalities should note.

This meeting was the last for the Council’s Designated Federal Official, Mike Halladay of FHWA. Halladay is fully retiring from Federal service. Mike has done a great job keeping the sometimes cantankerous group on time and topic over the past two and half years. We here at the MRF wish him the best and encourage Mr. Halladay to go buy a bike and ride out his retirement.

For those of you who aren’t aware this council was created by the motorcyclists of this country who lobbied Congress along with the MRF to include the authorizing language in the last highway bill, SAFETEA-LU which was passed in 2005. Congress is expected to begin the drafting process for the new highway bill in 2009 and the MRF will need the help of the motorcyclists of America once again to engage their federal elected officials on the importance of motorcycle safety. You’ve been warned.

For more info on the Council visit http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/mac/

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House discuss confiscating 401(k)s, IRAs

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House discuss confiscating 401(k)s, IRAs

by Karen McMahan

RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.

Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly.

The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, in prepared remarks for the hearing on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security,” blamed Wall Street for the financial crisis and said his committee will “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans” and the “Democratic Congress will continue to conduct this much-needed oversight on behalf of the American people.”

Currently, 401(k) plans allow Americans to invest pretax money and their employers match up to a defined percentage, which not only increases workers’ retirement savings but also reduces their annual income tax. The balances are fully inheritable, subject to income tax, meaning workers pass on their wealth to their heirs, unlike Social Security. Even when they leave an employer and go to one that doesn’t offer a 401(k) or pension, workers can transfer their balances to a qualified IRA.

Mandating Equality

Ghilarducci’s plan first appeared in a paper for the Economic Policy Institute: Agenda for Shared Prosperity on Nov. 20, 2007, in which she said GRAs will rescue the flawed American retirement income system (www.sharedprosperity.org/bp204/bp204.pdf).

The current retirement system, Ghilarducci said, “exacerbates income and wealth inequalities” because tax breaks for voluntary retirement accounts are “skewed to the wealthy because it is easier for them to save, and because they receive bigger tax breaks when they do.”

Go to the link below for the full story:

Bikers Protest Police Roadblocks

Bikers Protest Police Roadblocks

WTVH-TV Syracuse, N.Y.
updated 5:52 p.m. ET Oct. 21, 2008

Motorcyclists say they’re being discriminated against with unnecessary road block checks. Leather jackets, helmets and signs, a group of bikers protested what they say is a daily harassment on the road.

“They want to check our helmet, they want to lecture us on gloves and boots, and they want to check our tires,” said Tim Werder, President of New York A.B.A.T.E., American Bikers Aimed Toward Education. While safety is a huge part of its mission, members feel State Police should focus on overall driver education and awareness of motorcycles.

The protest happened here at the Sheraton University Hotel because inside was a State Police presentation on roadblocks. Lieutenant Jim Halvorsen, a motorcyclist himself, shook their hands and invited them to participate in the discussion. “They’re concerned that we’re discriminating against motorcyclists by pulling over just motorcycles, and I do understand their concerns and complaints, but it’s indigenous to the motorcyclists that people wear helmets,” said Halvorsen.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, motorcyclists are 37% more likely to be injured in an accident, and State Police think helmet checks are one way to reduce that number.

***************************************

PERSONAL NOTE: According to AMA’s website, Helmets are required for everyone, so it does look like harassment!

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New York state motorcycle laws

Road
Safety Helmet	Required by Law – Reflectorization Required (4 inch square)

Central IL ABATE Meeting Moved to Sunday

The December General Membership Meeting of Central IL ABATE, INC has been moved to RPM’s on Grand Ave in Galesburg on December 14th, a Sunday, to make it easier to attend the meeting w/Appreciation Party afterwards for those who cannot negotiate the stairs at our normal meeting place, 21 Club, 74 N Chambers in Galesburg. The Meeting will begin at 1 PM and attendees are asked to bring a side dish and dinnerware if you don’t like plastic and foam stuff. The meeting will last approximately one hour or less and then the potluck will begin. We have invited the Charity representatives that we support and hopefully we can get them and members in a group photo. Remember, 1 PM, December 14th, RPM’s, 2035 Grand Avenue, Galesburg.

Central Illinois ABATE’s 28th Annual Toy Run

Members of Central Illinois ABATE — A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education — gathered Saturday afternoon to spend an hour in the toy aisles of the retail store shopping for toys for children who might otherwise not have a Christmas.

“Primarily, we’re a motorcycle rights organization, and we concentrate on safety and education,” said Bert McElroy, ABATE’s president. The group also has a philanthropic bent, donating money to three local children’s charities and giving toys to three other organizations. See the full story below:

Been a Lousy Year!

March 29th, the XS 1100 Yamaha I was trying to start, started leaking fuel out the carbs and caught fire, the air filter canister is plastic and by the time I knew it was flooded, the plastic was burning and I had to get away from the flames and then the fuel lines caught fire. Had to get away. Called the fire dept. Result was the fiberglass skylights in the shop building burned out, the 56 panhead seat, back tire, windshield, wiring, hand grips, and tail light burned. These were stock type items that I was putting back together after putting new rings in. The tanks were not on it yet. The XS 1100 was finished as the fairing burned, the back bag burned, but the hard saddle bags were not on the bike. Carbs were melted. Both tires burned. Also the back tire and and seat on my stock 72 XS650 were burned as well as tail light and signals. The seat on the CB350 chopper, the original seat from the panhead when it was chopped, was burned slightly making it unusable and crispy. What a bad day!

Now for the next rotten thing. On June 28th, my good friend, Kevin Cain, was killed by a teenage driver trying to pass a car. Hit Kevin head-on and Kevin was on his 2000 Softtail Heritage that he loved so much. Died instantly. Sky and I watched him go by the shop where Sky and I had returned from J&P’s Open House earlier that day and Sky took a break before continuing on home to Williamsfield. The wind had been blowing hard all day and we took several breaks to rest up on the way up and back from Anamosa.