Peace and Love

We I have! I have developed a child riding harness called the “BackRider Belt” which attaches the child using a full five point harness, to your waist. This device has successfully passed an independent engineering product evaluation test (from OnSpex, a part of the CSA group of companies).

The product was developed over two years of testing and prototypes based on the feedback of all of our customers over the past few years along with our own input as we use this product to take our two children out for “Family Motorcycle Rides” when ever possible. There are many great features incorporated into the belt and it’s easy to put on and take off too!

To find out more about the BackRider Belt including seeing some of the test results, please go to our website at http://www.riderzragz.com.

By having to modify my behavior i mean that you would have me conform to the lowest common denominator law that would be required to “fix” your problem.

When i was a kid i rode between my parents…… everywhere.
Mainly because we didn’t own a family car (till 1954).

As Mike, i too am sick and tired of allowing a “Nanny State” increasing control over what i do in order to protect me and others from themselves. And yes, i take as much exception to the “Car-seat law” as i do to proposed mandatory ASB systems.

Life is full of danger and unfortunate situations. Your moron x-husband is one of those situations. You have my condolences……… BUT, not my support.

-BTW-
i don’t consider protecting my freedom “bickering.”
The dirty little secret about freedom is that it’s messy.

Sorry about your problem. But you-all need to come up with your won creative solution.
The message is simple….. Don’t make your problem my problem.

-nicker-

Nicker,
Unfortunately I wasn’t aware that my ex was one of those idiots who finds it perfectly acceptable to risk our childs life on a motorcycle when i had a kid with him. I’ll be more discerning in the future!

RE:
“… The father of my stepdaughter …… this fool …”

Unfortunately, idiocy is not illegal.
A “fix” for such problems requires either euthanizing idiots at birth or allowing the government to dictate every aspect of all our lives.

Are you suggesting that the rest of us will have to adjust our behavior to compensate for “This Fool”…???

Le-me suggest that the biological mother of the 6 year old should have been more discriminating in her choice of breeding partners.

It’s very simple really, no breeding, no kids at risk.
So, exactly what are you doing hanging with “This Fool”…… ???

-nicker-

As an electronics engineer for 20 years, I’ve noticed making things idiot proof only creates more idiots. Example: The Automatic Transmission.
Oh, and have a nice day.

RE:
“…Freedom would be nice. However we no longer have that in the U.S….”

Ya, well there are many levels of “non-freedom.”
The average American doesn’t know much history or what’s going on outside the US (even today).
So, any discussions about “freedom” are .

Basically, the average American doesn’t really know how bad “lack of freedom” can get.
Nor do they understand the mechanisms by which those tyrannies come about.

We take out 1st. Amendment Rights for granted.
We still get to flip-off another driver and even yell “A-Hole!” out the window.

Try that in Germany today and your subject to a $500 fine.

RE:
“…Should we give up trying to get some freedom back….”

Try to get some back….?
Hell, most people ya talk to wonder why Mccain-Feingold was such a big deal.
The broadcasting “Fairness Doctrine” is just around the corner.

Justice Kennedy loves the idea of using laws in other countries as a precedent.
How far away could “Hate-Speech” legislation be?

RE:
“…Freedom would be nice…”

Would be nice, Hell!
It’s your birthright!

-nicker-

I suspect the dynamics of Helmet Laws, in the aggregate (nation wide), is/are as central to the above discussion as child safety..etc. So, setting aside the issue of what you should or shouldn’t do with Kids, because that gets into some real stick stuff about, like Roe-v-Wade, I’ll give you my spin on the Helmet issue.

Understanding the Socio-political landscape of The Golden requires that you accept the proposition that for over 50 years various forces have increasingly pushed the political landscape to “the left.” Unfortunately, at this juncture we’re looking more like a Socialist Republic than the 6th largest free-market economy in the world (that we once were).

For various reasons, we’ve a population that continually elects politicians who openly state that they are in agreement with Socialist Principals (Hayden, Brown, Boxer, Delems, etc.….). Today, more than ever before, people here are willing to allow the state to dictate behavior in exchange for a “safe life.”

With its mild climate, CA probably tends to shelters most people from the ”harshness of reality.” And so human nature will want to extend that “comfort” to all aspects of life, like air quality, medical coverage, Social Services….etc. We have a “Governator” who is “very familiar” with European socialism.

In a place where year-around riding is common, how tough does the average “biker” have to be? Moreover when the reason to get involved with motorcycling is more about identity than about motorcycles, then “the quality of the commitment” (for lack of a better term) to sustain any sort of activism beyond “having a good time today,” simply isn’t there.

We were far more successful at holding off the helmet law when there were fewer people riding. As i recall, “The Boys” started the MMA to help finance a DC lobbyist. The MMA was abele to hold off the CA helmet law at a time when a 100 bike event was considered large. But it had enough political clout to get the parks department to allow The-Boys to formally take over a camp ground outside Freson CA . By agreement, no Police went inside. I doubt anyone in the industry could pull that off today.

So, the ability to muster 50,000 riders for an event in CA today doesn’t translate into the political activism” required to flip legislation (even if there is the will to do so….. which there isn’t anymore).

I wish I could find those old MMA news letters. One of them had a report from the lobbyist telling of a conversation he had with Joan Claybrook (Sec. Of Transportation under Nixon) in which he quoted her as saying she was “going to legislate motorcycles off the road.” That should provide a baseline for calibrating “conspiracy theories.”

In the emerging “Green-mania” spawned by global warming. Motor-sports in general an be viewed as the “Miners’ Canary” of freedom. Setting aside motorcycles for now, the question we have to ask is:

“For how long will we be free to transport ourselves and our families to the place of your choosing, at the time we wont to go, and in a convenience we prefer to apply”

And squabbling about how we should or shouldn’t be conducting ourselves is one reason why outside forces will be able to “name the tune to which we’ll be dancing.”
In one of the other threads some one took me to task over “Socialism” as opposed to “The Left.” I’m constantly amaized how acceptable the concept to “Socialism” has become in this country. The freedom and control of their own lives that people are willing to trade for promises of safety is truly scary. And i’m not talking about some “it takes a village” abstraction. I’m talking about real stuff that’s going on in front of our very noses. People in power TODAY are talking about
- “a new world order”
- needing to “do something about talk radio”
- wanting to “change America”
- individualism is out in favor of “we’re all in this together”
- equality in outcome, everything and everyone is equal
- you can’t make value judgments, they are inappropriate
-

Custom Motorcycling in CA has changed into a mainstream activity.
Mainstream Californians aren’t activists.
Most Californians don’t have a negative image of Socialism.
Socilaism rewuires people conform to a specific social order.
Trying to get people to conform to a unified vision of social order has been at the root of most human misery.
Most don’t know or care that…. Hitler was a Socialist.

The long way around the barn, but that about covers it…….:-)

nicker

Balance has many definitions that all require equilibrium.

The definition of balance is not a concept nor is balance a risk.

Motorcyclists need to be afforded the right to live and the right to die.
They wish freedom and fair usage of the highways and byways.
They wish to travel unimpeded with freedom of movement.
They wish to have insurance claims paid without lawsuit.
They wish protection from the bully pulpit of government under the guise of democracy.

The true issue of laws for and against motorcyclists is control of a perceived balance.

Many motorcyclists ride to live out a fantasy double life. For them, they have purchased the costume and accoutrements of a rebel or a tough guy sanitized in their attempts at living life to the fullest. For others, riding is a freedom of transport through the elements. Some others enjoy the use of skill necessary for survival and the challenges that are constantly changing. Still others enjoy the conspicuity of being a risk taker.

Taking risks and meeting the challenges are totally different than risky behavior.

Anti motorcycle and, anti-motorcyclist positions range from practicality of modality, myriads of protectionism of motorcyclists from themselves, to those issues of the environment. It has become fair game to blame the ills of society upon motorcyclists and motorcycles or the lack of them.

Viewpoints have stated that, “one major source of urban noise, that of motorcycles, is optional and totally unnecessary. In a seasonal climate, it is clear that motorcycles are not an integral part of our transportation system for they cannot be operated during our long winter. The owners of motorcycles have alternative means of transportation. The motorcycle is an optional vehicle for pleasure, not utility. It is a toy, albeit an expensive one.

Furthering the anti motorcycle viewpoint, they go on to say, “As pleasure vehicles, motorcycles tend to operate in groups and to concentrate in particular and limited traffic patterns. And, as pleasure vehicles, they are often operated in a manner that brings juvenile emotional satisfaction to their owners but distress to those who live nearby. The effect of all these behaviors is to saturate certain roadways of our city with high and excessive levels of noise.”

Many well-meaning citizens abhor the death of another for their own selfish gain.

They attach their own fears of death to the feelings and wishes of another.

Many Americans view the motorcyclist as “fair game”. They would prefer to not hear us, nor hear our pleas. They have also shown a preference for not seeing us. They have even recommended that we be put in harms way. “Some cities have adopted technical monitoring as a check on such behavior. Others have restricted access to those areas where the uncaring motorcyclists have destroyed the quality of life for local residents, in effect distributing the noise pollution throughout the city at large. Because of the difficulty and cost of monitoring motorcycle noise, I urge that we adopt a policy to limit the use of parkways by motorcyclists — as we have for trucks — and thereby distribute their noise over a larger area.”

The minority of motorcyclists is easy to pick on. The protections afforded by leather and helmets do not help us against prejudicial laws currently in existence or the ones yet to be introduced.

The protective gear additionally fails us within the court system.

The protective gear allows all to profile our “type” and predict our behaviors.

We as motorcyclists try to demand an equal access (balance) to all these things and we are stigmatized by our own public dress and behaviors.

Motorcyclists are portrayed constantly as irresponsible risk takers because of balance.

Motorcyclists constantly fight for balance in laws and in life.

The assumed risk, of wanting balance in life, wastes life and money needlessly when we assume the position of victim.

As motorcyclists, it is the razor’s edge that draws us. The feeling of perfectly managing all those influences that result in what can only be described as the closest feeling to flying that can be experienced upon solid ground. When you’re riding on the razor’s edge, it’s the joy of feeling (and being in control of) personal perfection that is so seductive.

This joy of feeling has now drawn many of us into politics and legislation to defend our sense of control and balance in our personal and societal lives.

An amalgam of people ride powered two and three wheeled vehicles. Many choose to be law abiding and others choose to be lawless in varying degrees.

Unless we choose to balance ourselves and unify within a framework of some common ground, we will always be victims of choice rather than have freedom of choice.