Cyclerides.com Weekly Update
7/5/06
 

Greetings Riders,
 
Well, as I write this I am finishing up the last few hours of my 5th decade in existence. Yes, My 50th birthday is Thursday, July 6th. It's kind of funny how these milestone birthdays affect you. At 30 I thought I was making a big step to getting old. Oh no! I wasn't in my 20's any more, I had to at least act like an adult. It really was kind of a demarcation to prepare me for the thought of getting older.  When I turned 40, I really started to feel like I was crossing over to the "other side" of the age scale. It seemed like a big step to being closer to my parents age than to my 20's. Now, turning 50, It's really pretty cool, I'm over all that getting older stuff, now I'm just happy to have made it this far and still be here with my family and able to ride my motorcycle. For those of you still working your way up, it's not so bad. For those of you that have gotten this far and beyond, you know what I mean.
 
Some of you might have seen these headlines in the Arizona Republic this last week. "Actor in town filming ad, promoting helmet use". But don't let that headline fool you. What he is really here for is to promote the changing of Arizona's helmet law to make it mandatory for everyone riding a motorcycle to wear a helmet. Yes, I said "mandatory", meaning not by your own "choice". I'm sure everyone knows that Arizona does not require motorcycle riders over the age of 18 to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle. But for some reason Busey has singled out Arizona as a place to try and impose his will on the rest of us.
 
This is a very emotional subject for those on both sides of the argument of being "for" or "against" the State or Federal Government telling us what we need to do to protect ourselves. First of all, let me state the obvious. If your head were being slammed into the pavement at 40 mph, would it be better off being covered by a DOT helmet? I would say that in 99% of the cases that would be absolutely yes. Now you know that wearing a helmet is most likely going to reduce the chance of head injury if you were to come in contact with the pavement, it is now YOUR choice if you would like to employ that additional protection while riding. YOUR choice, not someone making that decision for you. That is what we have  in this State now. Freedom of choice.
 
This normally is a subject that I would rather not even venture into, but when we have an actor that has seen his better days roll into town to make a couple of "B" movies and try to change some of our laws along the way, I think we all need to know what is going on. As you can probably tell by now, my stance on the helmet law is "Pro Choice". If you are aware of the risks involved in not wearing a helmet, and you are an adult, you should be able to make that choice. I personally do both. There are times like on last year's 2800 mile ride from Washington to Arizona we wore helmets the entire way. By law, we only had to wear them for 300 miles in Washington. But we had them outfitted with speakers and microphones and they were great. On our ride to Seligman this year, we did not. So I am firmly of the opinion that each person should decide what they are comfortable with doing.
 
My push back to "pro regulation" people is this. Where do we start and where do we stop with the governments telling us how to protect ourselves? Here are just a couple of facts that I came up with that could serve as some food for thought. If the "pro regulation" groups really want to help save lives why don't they spend their time where it will really make a difference and outlaw smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol. I did a quick Google search and found that over 400,000 people per year die from tobacco related diseases suffering from various forms of lung cancer, cardio vascular and respiratory ailments related to smoking. Alcohol is implicated in the deaths of some 85,000 Americans every year, making it the nations third leading cause of preventable death after smoking and obesity. In 2003 there were 3661 motorcycle related deaths. Estimates say that 30% (1098) of those deaths might have been prevented with wearing a helmet. Of those 3661 deaths, 1501 (44 percent) had BAC levels of 0.08 or higher.
 
Ok, I know what you are thinking, now that I am 50 it takes me longer to make my point. What IS my point? Smoking and drinking alcohol are choices as well. The government regulates them by age alone. But if you are of age, the laws say go for it. You know the risks, it says right on the side of the pack of cigarettes, but you can make that choice yourself. These 2 choices alone kill almost 500,000 people by themselves. And most of these people had the choice of weather they were going to light that cigarette or put the bottle to their mouth and drink. Our governments have not banned them.
 
Not wearing a helmet equates to approximately 1098 deaths per year vs. 500,000 with the other two choices I mentioned above. But yet, State legislatures will spend months and years debating a helmet law to save 1098 people, but yet 500,000 die every year without even a debate. I am not trying to say that we should outlaw tobacco and alcohol, that will never happen. What I am saying is that they are all choices. If someone is going to try and save us from ourselves, why not start with activities that take 500,000 lives per year and work their way down to 1908.
 
I find it interesting that Busey crashed his motorcycle in 1988 while reportedly under the influence. From what I have seen from the times I have spent around him, is that he has decided to find a way to crash safer instead of fixing the reason for the crash. In his own words in the Arizona Republic article you will find irony at its' finest. "Sometimes lessons come with a hard edge, and that's what happened to me," said Busey as he lounged in an office, puffing a cigar, "It's time to wake up and breathe, live a life that's safe." (Keep in mind that I reported above that tobacco related diseases account for over 400,000 deaths per year.) It appears that there is some hypocrisy in his words. He obviously believes in the choice that he has to smoke, but wants to dictate to us our choice to wear a helmet or not.
 
Once again, my whole point with this is that I believe in Freedom of Choice, be it with tobacco, alcohol, sky diving or jaywalking. You should be able to make those decisions on your own. I have no problem with Busey reminding us that riding with a helmet is statistically safer, but when he quotes that "The helmet law should be mandatory in every state in the Union", I have a problem with that. Everyone who rides, knows the risks. If he is really the "avid rider" that he pretends to be, I would rather see him spend his time and limited notoriety letting people who drive cars know that they should be more cognizant of sharing the road with and watching out for motorcycles. Make a commercial like this (Click Here) instead of telling us that we need to crash safer.
 
Somehow he got his message onto KTAR with Pat McMahan and the AZ Republic, but was turned away at TV3 with his cause and rebuffed at several Harley Dealers when trying to shoot his commercial. For those of you that have been around the valley for a while, you have heard all of the stories about Busey's borrowing of bikes, laying them down and not taking care of the damages. The following is a letter from Rick Hatch of Hacienda Harley, letting us know that he is not affiliated with Gary Busey or his cause in any way.
 
To whom it may concern,
 
Hacienda Harley-Davidson, Harley-Davidson, or myself, did not  bring Gary Busey into town. He was brought and paid for by Lee Shargel of LSD Film Productions. Yes, Hacienda and myself had previous dealings with Gary Busey that didn't turn out well for  any of us involved. Lee Shargel had wanted to borrow equipment from Hacienda Harley-Davidson, however based on the article in the Arizona Republic, I quickly removed myself, my company, and my assistance from any involvement with Gary Busey and the commercial.
 
I am and have always been a supporter of choice. I personally have ridden to the Capital on more than one occasion to oppose the Helmet Law. I have worked closely with State Representatives to protect our right to choose. I understand and know first hand- my 17 year old son was killed on a motorcycle, with a helmet on five years ago this 24th of July. We are in the motorcycle retail business, we are not film producers, politicians, or lobbyist. Once it was brought to my attention that Gary Busey was involved and was taking a stand against the helmet law, I withdrew my company, myself, my equipment. Chandler Harley-Davidson has since picked up the opportunity and it is my understanding that Gary Busey will be there, not here at Hacienda. We are no longer associated with Gary Busey.

Rick Hatch
President
Hacienda Harley-Davidson, Buell
 
I have talked to representatives from Chandler Harley-Davidson about the filming of the commercial at their dealership and they stated that they have "no position" on the content of the commercial, they only provided a backdrop for the shoot, was not affiliated with it in any way and that was the extent of it.
 

This Week
 
Next Week 

Saturday, July 15th
Superstition Harley-Davidson MotorClothes® Moving Madness Need new gear?  Bring your leather lovin’, Harley® hailin’, deal diggin’ self in to Superstition Harley-Davidson, Saturday, July 15th for our 1-Day only MotorClothes® Moving Madness!  We want to get rid of as much of our MotorClothes® inventory as possible before our big move.  That means you reap the rewards!  30% OFF of all sandals and select T-shirts, 20% OFF select leathers & summer wear, 10% OFF all jewelry, and much, much more!  That’s Saturday July 15th – Don’t miss out at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction! 480-346-0600. Superstition Harley-Davidson is located at 2910 W. Apache Trail in Apache Junction, AZ. 480-346-0600. Click Here for Map.
 
Wednesday, July 19th
15th Annual Ride To Work Day.
This year's fifteenth annual motorcycle and scooter commuting demonstration will increase the number of riders on the road, according to Ride to Work, a non-profit advocacy organization. "Riding to work on this day shows the positive value of motorcycles and scooters for transportation. For many people, riding is an economical, efficient and socially responsible form of mobility that saves energy, helps the environment and provides a broad range of other public benefits," states Andy Goldfine, the event organizer. Motorcycle and scooter enthusiasts and rider organizations worldwide encourage their members to ride to work on this day.
 
Ride to Work Day helps demonstrate how these vehicles make parking easier and help traffic flow better. Studies have shown that across equal distances commuting motorcyclists reach their destinations in less time than those using automobiles, that motorcycles and scooters consume less resources per mile than automobiles, and that they take up less space on roads. Motorcycle and scooter riders seek improved employer recognition and support for this form of transportation, and more public and government awareness of the positive value of riding. 

Extras 

Here is a funny clip from the blue collar comedy show about deciding who has the biggest deck. Click Here.
 
Here is an interesting video entitled: I'm not gonna flinch. Click Here.
 

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