WERE NOT BENDING OVER ANYMORE

OFF THE WIRE
You, as an individual, can stand on your roof-top shouting to the
world about how unjust, how stupid, and how unconstitutional some of
the recently passed, or pending, bike laws are - but all you will
accomplish is to get yourself arrested for disturbing the peace.

Individual bike clubs can go before city councils, state legislatures,
and congressional committees, but as single clubs, and unprofessional
at the game of politics, their efforts are usually futile.

Scattered, unorganized, individual efforts have little if any effect
against the power structure - it's like hunting big game with a
bolt-action .22 rifle.

It takes numbers to command respect, to be heard over the din created
by the anti-bikers, and worse, the anti-chopper forces.

The major problem is not any particular anti-bike movement or
organization - the problem is that the people who make the laws are
people who know nothing about bikes. The little old lady writes her
congressman and complains. There is no one offering
rebuttal-intelligent, professional rebuttal-to her unfair charges. The
congressman, who doesn't hear any arguments against what the old lady
said, but does want to please everybody and does want to get elected
again, introduces a bill to ban whatever was bugging the old lady. The
bikers in the area don't see the small item, buried in the back of the
newspaper along with the hemorrhoid cures, announcing the proposed law
for all bikes to have roll bars. Since no one sees it, no rebuttal is
offered, and the law is passed. Or if it is seen, and a club or two
protest, it isn't a loud enough protest, or it is a disorganized
protest, or an unprofessional protest, and as a result the law is
passed.
An oversimplification, yes. But that basically is the problem broken
down into its simplest terms.

We need a national organization of bikers. An organization united
together in a common endeavor, and in sufficient numbers to be heard
in Washington, D.C., in the state legislatures, and even down to the
city councils.

We must offer strong, organized rebuttal to all unfair legislation, no
matter what the level. To stop or modify an unfair law in one state is
to stop or impede it in another. If it's wrong, it's wrong, and only
constant, relentless pressure will stop the trend against bikes. Today
it might be Arizona, but tomorrow it might be your state. We must
start now to put a stop to bad laws. We must educate the people who
make the laws. We must present our side of the story, and we must
present it from a position of strength, and in a professional,
dignified manner.

Already the Government has indicated they are going to press for
national custom bike laws ("Safety Standards") for, you guessed it,
our safety. The Department of Transportation has already issued
printed warnings against the "danger" of extended front ends, lack of
front-wheel brakes, "and other hazardous features of customized
motorcycles."

We're not saying they are all wrong-nobody is all wrong. But what we
are saying is that we, us, you and I, bike riders. Chopper builders,
chopper manufacturers, everyone with an interest in the future of
bikes, must present our side, we must see to it that any laws that are
passed are just. We must present our case and defend it vigorously.

What can you do? Join the National Custom Cycle Association (NCCA).
Let's get together in a mass, so that our voice means something, has
the weight and strength of numbers.

The NCCA is a non-profit organization, sponsored by Easyriders
magazine. It's not a scam. If what has been said above doesn't get you
off your ass, if you don't see the pending arbitrary laws, if you
don't see that an organized protest is much more effective than a
shotgun approach, then what else can we say?

When you join the NCCA, you'll receive a decal, membership card, and
NCCA's monthly bulletin bringing you up to date on all bike laws,
pending bike laws, and reports on NCCA's progress and activities.

Do it now, for as Satchel Paige said, "Don't look back, sump'n may be
gaining on you."