NYC DECLARES WAR ON BIKERS!

NYC Declares War on Bikes!
There are crazy drivers in/on all kinds of motorvehicles but in NYC they've declared war on all motorcycles. To suggest that everyone who rides motorcycles is a criminal is not only dead wrong but probably akin to unconstitutional profiling. I was stopped 12 times last summer in what they call motorcycle 5-point checks. You pull up to a light and a cop with a flashlight waves you to the side and checks your paperwork (we've all been through it). I don't have a problem with that. I think everone's paperwork should be up to date as there's nothing worse than getting hit by someone with expired insurance. I don't absolutely love the fact that they have consentrated there efforts in Greenwich Village, 5 blocks from my house and near as I can tell, they've suspended all the drunk driving/paperwork check points for other kinds of vehicles to do it but I deal. That said, recently they have taken things way too far! Four of my friends and many others I've spoken to at the local bike night have received $50 tickets for lifting their visors while feet down at a stop light to get some air (NOT while the bike is moving). If you get pulled over and your inspection sticker is a minute expired they confiscate your bike now, throw it on it's side on a flatbed and you have to go down to the river tow-yard and ID it from a pile of bikes! Same thing happens for lane splitting in STOPPED traffic. Now, I hear that if they are behind you on the highway and they turn on their lights to pull you over and think you MIGHT run (not that you are running but that you might run) they can "bump" you. What this means is that they can run anyone with a bike down with impunity and they only have to say they "thought" you were going to run! This morning they came down the block with markers and wrote "REMOVE" on all the bikes/scooters that were parked on the sidewalk and any bike without a plate (this is gonna be a city wide policy). I understand the reason for having a plate...I'm not stupid but when you get your plate stolen five or six times and have to spend 8 hours on line at the NYC-DMV each of those times, eventually you decide to put velcro on the back so you can take it with you when you go into the deli to get a coke. Maybe the police should put some of the resources they've been spending on these scourched earth policies into catching the guys running around stealing plates. The reason for parking on the sidewalk is to avoid the idiots who don't know how to park, back into your bike and take off. My bike (999) got tipped over by one of those morons (ran into the building for 2 seconds) to the tune of $7800 and he would have just left if I didn't have GREAT neighbors (thanks guys)! Both my parents scrambled in the 60's (yeah, Mom too), my brother has a shop in SF and I've been riding since I was six. I have no intention of stopping...EVER...but moving could be in the cards as NYC is NO LONGER BIKE FRIENDLY!!! Think about it, what happens when they get rid of all the bikers...who's next...sports car owners? Eventually we'll all be wearing gray jumpsuits and shuffling our feet onto public transportation like a scene from 1984...a little over the top? I didn't even mention the new GPS satellite system they are putting in to catch speeders! Anytime, anywhere, five miles over and you're getting tickets in the mail! Let that idea sink in awhile!  

Unfortunately, I think we can thank some of the "squids" for this profiling. It's bad around here, but not that bad, (NE). Too many idiots run from cops here because they DON'T have insurance or plates, so eveybody suffers. Take it to the track if you plan on being that crazy. Don't ruin it for people who have real passions about bikes.  

Things like this are really messed up, but it really all falls on the responsibility of the AMA to prevent new laws.  The AMA should really be fighting any new laws regarding motorcycles in the same manner that the NRA fights the new firearms laws.  Now I realize that the second amendment isn’t about motorcycles, but one of the things I would hate to see happen is the US become more and more restricted.  As an American soldier stationed in Germany for the past 5 years, (minus 28 months in Iraq) I have seen how difficult it is to get a motorcycle license and that is made more difficult if you are actually a German citizen.  They are of course required to take a safety course, which runs hundreds of euros for them, and then assuming their bike meets the ridiculous standards of the German DMV, then they are only allowed to ride smaller bikes such as scooters until you are the age of 25 or more.  NO getting your license and hopping on a GSXR 1000, which might be a good thing but does anyone really need the government telling them that they cant do this?  No you cant ride a bike like that until you have an "unrestricted" license at 25 or you take the approved training.  here is the site where you can check it out http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq/europe.html
I would like to see all motorcycle enthusiasts of all kinds fight any motorcycle restriction laws, no matter how harmless they might seem, so that in the future you don’t have to have a associates degree in bikes to ride one legally.  

That is really bad news.  Talk about liberty and freedom.    Over here in the Philippines riders are used to being flagged down by policemen.  This is due to the increase in crime by motorcycle riding criminals.  There was even a ban to ride pillion in one part of the metropolis.  But hey, it's the 3rd world out here.  NYC should reconsider their poorly conceived law and ease a little on the motorcyclists.  

I think it is part of general harrasment to get people to use public transportation. It would be too much outcry if they hassled car and truck ownders - as the assinine recent car and truck parking restriction they wanted to pass was struck down from too much public protest. So they pick on the one vehicle that adds minimal traffic congestion, minimal parking congestion, it is at least 50% occupied at all times, and gets more mile per gallon than most vehicles in the city.

Excellent work Mayor Bloomberg! Got any more wise ideas?

Oh, guess what? Fares on public transportation are going up, again!  

Well it's no surprise, because it's all about the city making revenue. It's easier to pick on the motorcyclists since it's predominately young riders who dont particpate in anything political. So there's no real voice to answere too. I would suggest some type of national bikers union (like the NRA or AAA ) I would gladly pay...say thirty dollars yearly towards some group that would speak up for Bikers and arrange " RIDE-IN'S " for issues that work against us. iF THE TRUCKERS COULD DO IT TO SPEAK UP AGAINST THE PRICE OF GAS WE CAN DO THE SAME!!! well thats just my thought.  

Start a class action suit. We are all losing your rights in this country start protesting ! Do nothing and they will walk all over u !  

In Montreal, Canada (just north of the border from NY) they're doing the same but taking a different approach. Basically they are raising the prices to plate a bike to ridiculous amounts. A sports bike owner pays triple what a car pays but due to winter we only get 6 months of riding if we are lucky while a car is all year. A 250cc cost 288$ a year and thats 30$ more than a car. All we are to them is revenue. For example why can't i go 100mph at 1:00 am when the road is empty. I'm not going to hurt anyone. It's not that fast but hey that 400$ +  they can "steal" from us.