NCOM BIKER
NEWSBYTES
Compiled & Edited
by Bill Bish,
National Coalition
of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
CONGRESS GIVES TAX
BREAK TO ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE BUYERS
Tax hikes and spending cuts
dominated holiday headlines as the federal government teetered on the edge
of the Fiscal Cliff, but the legislative package passed on New Year’s Day to
resolve the issue, dubbed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, included
several tax credit extensions that didn't generate as much media interest –
including one for electric motorcycles.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D)
sponsored the amendment extending the EV tax credit, which covers 10% of the
cost of a qualified electric vehicle, up to $2,500. Vehicles must be a two-
or three-wheeled plug-in electric designed “primarily for use on public
streets, roads, and highways” and “capable of achieving a speed of 45 miles
per hour or greater.”
Electric-powered two wheelers
have been without a federal purchase incentive since the end of 2011, when
the original tax break expired that was part of the $800 billion stimulus
package passed in 2009.
A coalition of EV motorcycle
companies, through Plug-In America, lobbied Congress to extend the tax
credits, which are also retroactive and apply for electric motorcycles or EV
chargers purchased in 2012 as well.
Wyden argues that extending the
tax credit will help generate jobs in the growing electric motorcycle
industry. “The electric motorcycle industry is poised to create tens of
thousands of U.S. jobs over the next five years, led by companies like
Oregon’s Brammo,” said Wyden. “This amendment helps promote the development
of a promising U.S. industry and support the transition to a low-carbon
American economy.”
E-CYCLES PROJECTED TO OUTSELL
PLUG-IN CARS
According to two new Pike
Research reports, electric scooters and motorcycle sales are going to
eclipse that of plug-in vehicles by the end of this decade.
In one report from Pike Research
which looks at electric motorcycles and scooters, the study predicts that
“annual sales of e-motorcycles and e-scooters will reach 18.6 million by
2018.”
Pike Research points primarily
to industries such as delivery companies, police and security forces, and
even taxi services in some locations as the prime mover for the increase in
sales of electric motorcycles and scooters.
Another recently released Pike
Research report predicted that annual worldwide sales of electric vehicles
will reach 3.8 million by 2020. This includes plug-in electric vehicles and
hybrid electric vehicles selling in the Asia Pacific, North America, and
Western Europe.
“Sales of EVs have not lived up
to automakers’ expectations and politicians’ proclamations, but the market
is expanding steadily as fuel prices remain high and consumers increasingly
seek alternatives to internal combustion engines,” says senior research
analyst Dave Hurst. “Indeed, sales of plug-in EVs will grow at a compound
annual growth rate of nearly 40% over the remainder of the decade, while the
overall auto market will expand by only two percent a year.”
Taken together, the two Pike
Research reports indicate that two-wheel EV sales will outperform electric
four-wheelers by a margin of 5-1 by the end of the decade. Currently, China
is the biggest market for the sale of these electric vehicles, accounting
for 81% of the global electric motorcycle and scooter market.
EPA TO DROP FOUR GALLON MINIMUM
GAS PURCHASES
Ethanol-laden gasoline is known
to cause engine damage, and many manufacturers warn that using the product
will invalidate warranties, so when the EPA approved E15 (fuel blend
containing 15% ethanol) it raised concerns amongst motorcyclists, off-roaders,
snowmobilers, boaters and others who use vehicles and equipment driven by
small gas-powered motors…none of which are approved for its use.
The EPA’s response was to
require a minimum four gallon purchase, the misguided rationale being that
it would dilute any residual E15 remaining in a gas pump’s lines. Again,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came under fire, with powersports
and automotive groups pushing back against the federal agency’s push for the
grain alcohol-blended biofuel.
Apparently realizing that a
viable solution to the problem needs to be conceived, the EPA is abandoning
its four-gallon minimum on blender pumps that dispense both E10 and E15 from
the same pump, and instead the government body says it will likely require
gas stations to label shared pumps, as well as offer a dedicated E10
pump/hose for non-approved vehicles.
In the meantime,
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied a
rehearing on the EPA decision to put E15 on the market. The federal
appellate court decision is a setback for the oil-and-gas industry, which
opposes the use of E15 and a federal biofuel blending mandate that requires
refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels into traditional
transportation fuels by 2022.
NEW YEAR, NEW LAWS
The new year puts new
laws on the books across the country, with state and local governments
ringing in 2013 with a mix of new laws ranging from the innovative to the
odd; one in Kansas City says households can't have more than four cats,
while a town in Massachusetts is banning businesses from selling plastic
bottles. In Florida, drivers can once again flash their headlights to warn
others of upcoming speed traps, which was previously outlawed. Meanwhile,
driverless cars in California got the green light to hit the public roads,
but one of Illinois’ 150 new laws prohibits motorcycle riders from popping
wheelies -- Public Act
97-743 imposes a fine of $1,000 on anyone who pops a wheelie on a motorcycle
while speeding.
WOMAN FIRED OVER HUSBAND BEING
IN A MOTORCYCLE CLUB
Her husband's membership in a
motorcycle club has cost the job of a human resources technician with the
city of Kingman in northwest Arizona, according to a Phoenix lawyer who is
representing the woman in her bid for reinstatement.
The city served 11-year employee
Melissa Summerson a notice of intent the day after Christmas and terminated
her employment Dec. 28, attorney David Kresin told the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. "She was terminated for the stated reason of her husband's
membership in a family motorcycle club - the Desert Roadriders," he said,
adding that the dismissal violates her constitutional right to freedom of
association. "There's no allegation that Ms. Summerson personally did
anything wrong in her job or engaged in any conduct personally that violated
any of the city's rules, and we believe there's no cause for termination as
she's been an outstanding employee with a great record for her entire
employment."
CRIMINALS MORE
PRONE TO CRASH THEIR MOTORCYCLES
Motorcyclists who have
criminal records are twice as likely to get into accidents on the road than
their law-abiding peers, a new Swedish study has found.
The findings come from
an examination of more than 5,000 motorcycle accidents carried out by
Karolinska Institute epidemiologist Michael Fored.
He went through
statistics and looked at motorcycle riders who have a license and then
cross-referenced the names with the criminal register.
"If you've been
convicted of a crime before, we see at least double the risk that you'll get
into a serious accident," Fored told the TT news agency.
Among non-offenders,
there are 4.1 accidents per 1,000 license-holders annually. However, that
figure jumped up to 27.7 when looking at drivers who had at least two
criminal convictions.
Fored shared his
findings at the Transportforum conference in Linköping, Sweden. "Maybe we
should educate people who break the traffic laws," suggests Fored.
EUROPE SET TO MANDATE ABS FOR
MOTORCYCLES
A Europe-wide proposal to
mandate anti-lock braking systems (ABS)
for motorcycles bigger than
125cc manufactured from 2016 onwards was overwhelmingly approved by the
European Parliament by a vote of 643-16. Although the measure is still
working its way through the EU legislative process and must still be adopted
by individual member nations of the European Union, it is expected to be
adopted soon.
A European Union Commission
presented the ABS requirement for new framework regulation for motorcycles,
and calculates that the proposal would reduce the number of fatal motorcycle
accidents by more than 5,000 over a 10-year period.
Although the first anti-lock
braking system was installed on a motorcycle in 1988, only 16% of all newly
manufactured motorcycles in Europe were equipped with ABS, and by comparison
car manufacturers have made ABS standard equipment since 2004 which has
contributed to an estimated 49% overall decline in fatal car accidents in
the EU. Experts regard anti-lock braking as a huge boost to safety, pointing
to a Swedish highway study that showed that 38% of all motorcycle accidents
involve personal injury and 48% of all serious and fatal accidents could
have been prevented with ABS.
In the U.S., the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration has considered requiring ABS on new
motorcycles sold in America, and will likely take up the issue in the near
future.
INDONESIAN WOMEN BANNED FROM
STRADDLING MOTORCYCLES
In an effort to
establish Sharia law, Indonesia's northwestern province Aceh has enacted a
controversial new law banning women from sitting on motorcycles with their
legs apart. Aiming “to
save people’s morals & behaviors,” under the new regulation “women are
allowed to sit ‘side-saddle’ because passengers who sit side-saddle rarely
fell off while when you see a woman straddle a motorcycle she looks like a
man…”
Despite opposition
from human rights activists who are calling for a reversal of the
Sharia-type law; "We're going ahead with the ban. There's no resistance
here," said Dasni Yuzar, secretary of the city administration.
"The government is
only preserving morals. Women must not straddle motorbikes because it
provokes the male drivers," declared Aceh Mayor Suaidi Yahya, who proposed
the law. However, he also added that women were allowed to straddle
motorbikes if they were driving, as long as they were dressed in a "Muslim
way."
Al Yasa' Abubakar, a
professor at the State Islamic Institute Ar-Raniry in Banda Aceh, explained
that no such prohibition exists in Islam. While Yuzar agreed it was "not
explicitly" written in the Koran that women should not straddle bikes, he
said "by sitting astride, women dishonor themselves. They show their body
curves almost transparently. They're riding with men who are not related by
blood or marriage. Their front body part is in contact with the men's back.
This is forbidden in Islam."
According to Tunggal
Prawestri, a women's activist based in Jakarta, "Almost every bylaw that was
based on Sharia law targets the female body as a political battle ground in
Aceh. Women become the easiest target, because as soon as women rights
activists protest we are deemed anti-Muslim or anti-Sharia."
Spread across a chain of
thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has the world’s
largest Muslim population and Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, a huge
market that all motorcycle manufacturers, including Harley-Davidson, dream
to dominate one day.
AUSTRALIAN TOP COP
VOWS TO BAN BIKIES FROM PUBS
Declaring that outlaw
bikies “…are not the type of people who should be running licensed
premises,” Chief Commissioner Ken Lay has vowed to ban bikers from pubs and
clubs across Victoria. "The legislation is designed to ensure that doesn't
occur," he told the Herald Sun newspaper of his plan to move “bikies” out of
venue ownership, operation and security.
Earlier this year,
police swooped on bikies in a series of raids and seized 120 guns after
ruling them not fit people to have the weapons under the Firearms Act.
Meanwhile, police are
telling licensees not to allow patched-up bikies entry, so some Melbourne
strip clubs, bars and nightclubs are refusing entry based on a "dress code
standard," and some have even banned motorcycles from parking outside.
Inspector Paul Ross,
of licensing enforcement, said police "advised" licensees "it's probably
better if they don't allow outlaw motorcycle gang members inside ... wearing
colors."
One operator, who is
enforcing the ban, said police asked him and others to sign an agreement
that the dress code standard relating to bikies was upheld.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “When
two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth
does not necessarily lie exactly halfway between them. It is possible for
one side to be simply wrong.”
~ Richard Dawkins (b. 1941),
English biologist and author
