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THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit us on our website at http://www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
NCOM BIKER NEWS BYTES Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish, National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
MOTORCYCLISTS REAP REWARDS FROM ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE Motorcycling will reap some benefits from the historic two-year, $787 billion economic recovery and stimulus bill recently signed into law by President Barrack Obama. Language in HR 1, the largest spending measure ever enacted by Congress, provides for a tax credit for people buying new passenger cars and light-duty trucks, and now thanks to eleventh hour lobbying efforts by motorcycle groups and manufacturers, federal tax relief will extend to purchasers of new motorcycles as well.
Section 1008 of the legislation includes motorcycles as “qualified vehicles”, and individuals purchasing a new motorcycle will be allowed to deduct the sales and excise taxes on their 2009 tax returns.
Four senators successfully lobbied for including motorcycles in the compromise measure: Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Christopher Bond, R-Mo., Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and Herb Kohl, D-Wis.
"The issues of consumer confidence and tight credit markets have not evaded motorcycle dealers," the four senators wrote to congressional leaders who put the finishing touches on the stimulus bill. "The effect of the downturn not only impacts the dealers - it has hurt manufacturers as well."
Expansion of the tax credit should attract more motorcycle buyers, Feingold said in a joint press release with Kohl. To be eligible for this “above the line” tax deduction, you must make less than $125,000 ($250,000 for those filing jointly) and purchase a new bike in 2009 for up to $49,500.
GET THE LEAD OUT With Congress saying "get the lead out," motorcycle manufacturers and local businesses are wondering if common sense gets chucked along with it. Retailers across the country are yanking shoes, toys and any goods marketed to children from shelves to comply with a strict lead law enacted nearly unanimously by Congress.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which went into effect February 10, 2009 is meant to protect children from lead-laden products, but unintended consequences of the new legislation are decimating the industry as thousands of motorcycle and recreation vehicle retailers across the country scramble to obey the federal law: all of them had to cease selling small off-road motorcycles and ATVs designed for kids, because according to a provision of the Act the machines are dangerous…not because a child might have an accident on the diminutive machines, but because if a child develops an appetite for the vehicle's brakes or battery terminals and decides to nibble on the ATV or motorbike, lead poisoning may result.
The ban encompasses some 19 models from just Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. The economic impact of the CPSC's ruling will be substantial for both dealers and manufacturers in an already weakened economy. The regulation takes an estimated $100 million worth of inventory off the sales floors of some 13,000 dealers immediately. It also impinges on manufacturers, makers of aftermarket equipment and everything from racetracks to distributors.
Honda has already informed dealers that their inventories of new and used youth motorcycles and ATVs will become worthless and legally unsalable effective Feb. 10. “In fact, under the terms of the Act you cannot even display these models on your showroom floor, distribute brochures, or advertise them on your website,” Honda told their dealer network.
According to motorcycle and ATV industry sources, most motorcycle and ATV components are compliant with the CPSIA’s lead limits, but some components unavoidably contain small quantities of lead in excess of the CPSIA’s limits. However, the nature and location of these components suggests a very minimal exposure risk. Industry reps say the lead used in motorcycles and ATVs is embedded in alloys but is not easily transferred to humans through typical use, the way lead in paint or infant toys would be.
Motorcycle riders, activists and enthusiasts are requested to contact their Congressional representatives and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ask them to exclude youth model off-highway vehicles from the final rule governing the law.
SALES OF DUAL PURPOSE MOTORCYCLES AND SCOOTERS OUTPACED CRUISERS AND SPORTBIKES While cruisers and sportbikes were wondering the consumer love went, dual-purpose motorcycles were riding off the showroom floors in 2008 according to tentative numbers from the Motorcycle Industry Council. Dual-purpose bikes as well as scooters were the brightest spots in last year's MIC Retail Sales Report, which reveals percentage growth or decreases among all categories of bikes last year.
Scooter sales through December were up 41.5 percent compared to all of 2007. Dual-purpose bike sales jumped 22.8 percent last year for the major brands tracked. No other categories in the report showed an increase.
"Overall, motorcycle sales were down 7.2 percent, not nearly as sharp a decline as many other consumer products in today's economy," said MIC President Tim Buche. "We'll look at 2008 as a big year for scooters, dual-purpose bikes and small-displacement motorcycles. If it was smart-sized, offered great value and high fuel mileage, then chances are it was a sales success.”
The MIC Retail Sales Report compiles U.S. sales information every month from 12 leading motorcycle distributors: BMW, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson/Buell, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, the Piaggio Group, Victory, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha. It provides an indicator of market trends. Among these 12 Retail Sales Report brands, the on-highway segment slipped by just 5.6 percent last year. This includes cruisers, sport bikes, touring bikes and traditional or standard motorcycles.
The off-highway market dropped 30 percent among six leading brands.
As it seemed to several times in the past, a rise in gas prices may have pumped up sales of smaller, more economical motorcycles. Preliminary findings from the 2008 MIC Owner Survey suggest that Americans are looking at motorcycles more for transportation, not only recreation.
CONSUMER REPORTS TESTS MOTORCYCLES Fueled by painfully high gasoline prices, 2008 saw many consumers looking for new alternatives to big-bucks fill-ups at the pump. With rising consumer interest in lower-priced two-wheelers that sip rather than guzzle gas and thousands of new riders on the road, Consumer Reports has tested small motor scooters and motorcycles for the first time since 1981.
"When fuel prices crossed the $4.00 per gallon mark, some consumers shifted gears and two wheels became a cost-saving alternative," said Rik Paul, automotive editor, Consumer Reports. "And, despite current low gas costs, interest in scooters and motorcycles may continue to increase, especially in urban areas where parking space is at a premium."
Consumer Reports tested a total of eight fuel-sipping, small-displacement motorcycle and scooter models. Like Consumer Reports in-depth auto testing process, scooters and motorcycles were subjected to an extensive sequence of standardized tests to determine their performance in categories such as acceleration, braking, fuel economy, noise/vibration, top speed and comfort.
The full report is available in the March 2009 issue of Consumer Reports and online at www.ConsumerReports.org.
MAKING NOISE ABOUT NOISE As states like New York and New Hampshire wrestle with anti-noise legislation that would prohibit modifications to factory-installed exhaust systems, the Motorcycle Industry Council is seeking to postpone further legislative action pending their development of a new sound test.
In comments to the N.H. House Transportation Committee, the MIC stated that they and the Society of Automotive Engineers are finalizing a new stationary sound test, SAE J2825, which will provide a quick, easy, economical, and science-based tool for accurately identifying motorcycles with excessively noisy exhaust systems.
"Our goal is to provide a consistent tool nationwide for identifying excessively loud exhaust systems without failing those that pass the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency federal sound limit," said Pamela Amette, vice president of the MIC. "This sound test will effectively achieve the sound control goals of New Hampshire, and other states and municipalities, and more so than some of the proposed legislation currently being considered. On a national level, it will eliminate a lot of the confusion and frustration for motorcyclists when they ride through different jurisdictions."
Amette said that California, numerous local jurisdictions, and Canada have expressed interest in the new test that was developed through extensive sound testing during 2007.
ROW BILL FILED IN NEW MEXICO A Failure to Yield the Right of Way bill has been introduced in New Mexico by State Representative Rick Miera, a longtime motorcyclists’ rights advocate and member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists Legislative Task Force (NCOM-LTF).
The bill will increase the penalties imposed for Failing to Yield the Right of Way. The current penalties for Failure to Yield is a fine of $25.00 to $50.00 no matter the severity of the accident. Careless driving which also falls under the Failure to Yield Statutes is only a $125.00 fine! HB 290 would increase the penalties to $200.00 or 30 day suspension of driver’s license causing NO great bodily harm or death. Great Bodily harm would hold a penalty of $500.00 or 30 day suspension of driver’s license. Failing to Yield causing Death would hold a penalty of $1000.00 or 6 months suspension of driver’s license.
HB 290 is now headed to the Transportation and Public Works Committee, and concerned riders are being asked by the New Mexico Motorcyclists Rights Organization, ABATE and the Confederation of Clubs to contact their legislators seeking support for the proposed ROW legislation. Your state rep can be contacted by calling the switchboard at (505) 986-4300.
WEIRD NEWS: MOTORCYCLE SURVEILANCE SYSTEM INSTALLED IN U.K. A new surveillance system installed on eight routes in Derbyshire, England designed to track movements of motorcyclists on the roads will be operational by Easter.
The technology can tell motorcycles apart from other vehicles, measure their speeds and will be able to read number plates under plans. Data such as the routes taken by individual motorcyclists along with time and date will be collected and kept even if they have committed no offense.
The project has prompted civil rights groups to express grave concerns about the potential for invasion of motorcyclists’ privacy.
Speed camera bosses behind the scheme have named it the “motorcycle data project” and the equipment a “motorcycle detection system”. It will scrutinize movements of motorcyclists in particular and be switched on to coincide with the start of the riding season in April, they say.
The Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership said the aim was to “gather intelligence” to “prevent motorcycle casualties” through measures such as speed warning signs, extra police patrols and safer roadside barriers.
But Isabella Sankey, Director of Policy for the civil rights group Liberty, said: “The road to massive-scale real-time surveillance is paved with good intentions. We have no problem with ANPR being used to locate vehicles whose owners the police firmly suspect of having committed an offence but it shouldn't be used as a tool of mass surveillance.”
QUOTABLE QUOTE: "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), American philosopher & statesman, 3rd U.S. President |