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Ripon Traffic Cop (Tax Man) Hits Up Grieving Grandfather– Bikers Of Lesser Tolerance (B.O.L.T.) was contacted by a motorcycle rider that got a motorcycle helmet ticket. You won’t believe the bastardization of the justice system in Ripon, CA.
On September 16th John Keller, a Veteran of our Armed Forces was leaving the Cemetery after burying his grandson and his daughter-in-law, on the way to the Memorial Service.
At 11:52 AM Officer Meese of the Ripon Police Department pulled this Veteran over and issued a citation for wearing ?a non DOT Approved helmet.? If that isn?t disgusting enough in itself, there is a mountain of proof that there are no such helmets. The DOT/NHTSA does not approve helmets, and therefore there is no list of “Approved” helmets John could have used to make sure he was wearing a helmet that is legal, as interpreted by every police officer.
The helmet law makes wearing a motorcycle helmet mandatory, and John was complying with that law. Does Ripon have an unwritten code; a secret handshake John must learn to avoid being ticketed and fined $160.00? If the helmet law is enforced differently in Ripon than the rest of the state, how do we abide by the law when riding through that city?
“Can a person have a little more concern and consideration from a cop, just minutes after leaving your dead grandson in the cemetery?” John asks.
So, this is how Ripon treats the Veterans of this country just weeks before Marine Corps Day and Veterans Day? Seems collecting a Traffic Tax is more important to the Ripon Police Officer than honoring the law, and honoring our Veteran Servicemen.
The cop just finished saying to John that it is “only” as serious as a seatbelt ticket, when the cop pulled over John’s Cousin for a seatbelt violation. The Cousin, also, was just leaving the Cemetery on the way to the Memorial Service. The cop did not write a ticket to John’s Cousin for a seatbelt violation.
John says one of the disturbing results of this was how the cop changed the focus of the Memorial Service away from the memory of his daughter-in-law and grandson. Everyone there who had seen the embarrassing traffic stop was talking about it.
Oddly, the ticket was written as ?non-correctable? which violates John?s 14th Amendment Right to Due Process. Vehicle Code 40303.5 clearly establishes an alleged violation of the helmet law as eligible for correctable status.
BOLT of California initiated a lawsuit which proved to Law Enforcement and the Courts that helmet tickets are “fix-it” tickets. It culminated in a change to the Bail and Penalty Schedule, the Judge’s bench book detailing all fines allowable in California. This change to the Bail and Penalty Schedule took effect 10 months ago.
John will turn 58 years old before the trial in Tracy Superior Court on E. 10th Street in Tracy. Arraignment is scheduled for October 30 at 12:30 PM.
–Mark Temple
email nolistnolaw@sbcglobal.net
www.boltofca.com
OFFICIAL BIKERNET BUCKSHOT VIRUS WARNING– Okay, y?all? I rarely pass along ?virus warnings?, because most are either crap, or out of date, but this one is REAL and comes directly from me: Last night, I was watching American Chopper on TIVO and decided to log on to Paul Jr.?s new website, so I went to Google Search, and when the site came up, I clicked on it.
Immediately, a huge pop-up came on the screen that said I had 137 Trojan viruses, the situation was extremely critical, and I needed to click on ?remove all? to keep from being infected. It looked official, and scared hell out of me.
Before I did anything, I called my boy, Kev, (the computer systems engineer) and asked him what to do. He told me to reach down and shut the computer off with the power button, and not to try to log off the normal way. I did, then powered up again and the alert was gone.
Fortunately, I didn?t click on anything, so my computer?s okay, but he said these programs are really popular with scammers, and can do severe damage. He also said that once you log on, it will usually demand a credit card number to install the program ?necessary? to get rid of the Trojan viruses that don?t really exist.
You can imagine where the card number will go. Sometimes the ?log off? function will install the virus automatically, so use the power button instead!
–Buckshot
NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT– Protecting Pocketknife Classification– Back in June, we reported on a proposed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rule change that would have expanded the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 to include spring-assisted or one-handed-opening knives, and would have directly targeted the importation of “assisted opening” folding knives. (Read the proposed rule here.) The proposed regulations would have designated all such knives as “switchblades” — despite the fact they do not fall under the federal definition of “switchblades” — and would have made them illegal for import into the United States. Fortunately, in July, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the Federal Switchblade Act as part of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010. This NRA-supported amendment then headed to a House-Senate conference committee. Last week, the U.S. House passed the amendment. We are happy to report that this week, the U. S. Senate passed the measure as well. Lawmakers Question NIH Study On Teens And Firearms: Some Congressional lawmakers are questioning a National Institutes of Health (NIH) “study” designed to determine why inner city teenagers who illegally drink and carry firearms — and consort with others who do the same — run a different risk of getting shot. If your “Duh!” meter just went off, don’t panic — you’re not alone.
REBEL’S BUELL SOFTAIL ON BIKERNET– Been riding it for a couple years 🙂 A bit rough though so I bought a DNA springer to lift the suspension up some. Didn’t help. I pulled it apart again and it’s sitting in the garage right now being put back to just like when I finished it. I’ve got the shovel now for long trips so I can live with nearly a rigid in town. I’ve never liked it since it got changed. Put 5 gallon flat sides on too. I hated it. So, going back to the bike I loved to look at.
I’ll send your contact information to Mike and tell him to get hold of you. He’s got great pictures of the manufacturing of the heads too. I think you can get a few stories out of his shop. Drop by www.spchoppers.com –Rebel
American Motorcycle Specialties Introduces New Comfort Max; Ortho-Deluxe Gel Seat Pad– American Motorcycle Specialties, USA (www.amspecialtiesusa.com) announces a new addition its innovative line of Comfort Max Gel Pads. The new Ortho-Deluxe gel pad is designed to offer today?s riders unparalleled comfort on any bike, or any style of riding. Joe McNeil, President of American Motorcycle Specialties stated, ?We narrowed the pad in front so that will deliver uncompromised riding comfort on big bikes of all makes. The gel pad?s unique cut-out section eliminates painful pressure on the tailbone and helps your spine relax.? Designed for large cruiser and touring riders, the Ortho-Deluxe gel pad measures 18? wide x 17? long.
At the core of the Comfort Max Ortho-Deluxe Gel Pad is an advanced Viscoelastic molded gel used in medical and sports applications. Its unique properties include the elimination of pressure points or ?Hot Spots? which can cause rider discomfort. In addition to absorbing vibration, small bumps and road irregularities, it helps relieve back ache, fatigue, discomfort, soreness and numbness.
Comfort Max Gel Pads feature a unique, maximum grip bottom. This rubberized surface prevents the pad from sliding off the seat and does not require the use of permanent straps. You just put the pad on the seat and ride away. When you make a stop, just take the pad with you or toss it in your saddlebag.
The new Ortho-Deluxe gel pad comes in a Neoprene or Genuine Sheepskin cover. The sheepskin cover provides increased comfort and allows air to circulate, virtually eliminating perspiration. Four other sizes are also offered: Buddy Pad 11? x 7? wide, Medium Pad 12? x 12? x 5?, Large Pad 14? x 11? x 8? wide front and the Jumbo 16.5? x 12? x 9? wide front. MSRP $69.95-$129.95
For complete details and all available options call (800) 710-7237, go to the online secure shopping site? American Motorcycle Specialties, 3418 Birdsong Ave, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 www.amspecialtiesusa.com
MAGNIFICENT LIGHT COLLECTION FROM JOKER MACHINE– Astro Marker Lights: Has 9 intensely bright L.E.D.’S in a cluster module for light out-put, amazing for it’s size! (roughly 3/4″ (19MM) dia. at the light source) May be rotated into virtually any upward-and-downward setting. Dimensions: A little over 1″ in diameter, 2-3/8″ long, and stand off the bike 1-1/2″. IMPORTANT: If being used as a turn signal a load equalizer is required.
CENTER MOUNT LIGHTS:
Astro LED turn signal/marker lights can be mounted in almost any 5/16 or 8mm hole. Wires feed thru a pre-drilled hole in the mounting bolt.
SOFTAIL & SPORTSTER SIDE RAIL MOUNT LIGHTS:
Astro LED turn signal/marker lights for Softail & Sportster models mount using our side rail adapter plate. This allows you to remove your stock rear turn signals and replace them with Astros.
FORK MOUNT LIGHTS:
Fork mount Astro LED turn signal/marker lights are available for 39mm or 41mm fork tubes. Fork mount versions are only available with amber LED’s.
–Bryan Warren
Joker Machine
1931 Yeager Ave.
La Verne, CA 91750
(P) 909-596-9690
(F) 909-596-9693
www.jokermachine.com
HARLEY-DAVIDSON ART OF REBELLION NEW YORK ART SHOW FEATURING: ART CHANTRY, BRIAN EWING, DEREK HESS, DIRTY DONNY, FRANK KOZIK. HARPOON, JOHN VAN HAMERSVELD, LINDSEY KUHN, TARA MCPHERSON AND THE PIZZ CELEBRATES SUCCESSFUL NEW YORK CITY LAUNCH — the art show which brings together 10 iconic rock poster artists including Art Chantry, Brian Ewing, Derek Hess, Dirty Donny, Frank Kozik, Harpoon, John Van Hamersveld, Lindsey Kuhn, Tara McPherson and The Pizz– enjoyed a successful launch this past weekend in New York City at la.venue in Chelsea.
Frank Kozik, John Van Hamersveld, Dirty Donny, The Pizz, Harpoon, Tara McPherson, Brian Ewing and Lindsey Kuhn were on hand greeting fans and discussing their artwork. Attendees were able to purchase signed poster artwork from the artists while enjoying music from DJs DJ &mall Change (Friday) and DJ Ody Roc (Saturday).
?What a night! I had just arrived back in the country, and if there is a better way to get back into the swing of NYC than to go to the Art of Rebellion opening, I don’t know what it is,? said Tara McPherson. ?Surrounded by great art and artists as well as amazing fans, it was such a fun event all based around the rock and roll vibe of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.”
?Art of Rebellion NYC was well-attended with lots of good stuff to look at–it offered something a little different,? said Frank Kozik.
?We?re thrilled people are coming out to see these artists who embody the rebellious spirit we connect with,? said Susanne Dawursk, Harley-Davidson director of Outreach Marketing. ?The Art Of Rebellion will be an on-going event supporting artists and the art community at large.?
For the ART OF REBELLION show, each artist painted one Harley-Davidson Iron 883TM fuel tank and sold signature rock art posters. The Iron 883–part of the Harley-Davidson?s Dark Custom family which fuses minimalist design with a vintage feel–evokes the adventurous spirit of the dawn of the 60?s motorcycle rebellion.
A portion of the proceeds raised from all tank sales will be donated to the CUE Art Foundation. CUE Art Foundation is a 501(c) (3) non-profit forum for contemporary art that gives artists, students, scholars and art professionals resources at many stages of their careers and creative lives (http://www.cueartfoundation.org/).
Meet the ART OF REBELLION artists and see their work: http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/Dark_Custom/dark_custom_art_rebellion.jsp
For more information, go to: www.h-d.com/darkcustom
Why Motorcyclists Everywhere Should Be Watching Myrtle Beach– Lately it seems that wherever I go people want to know what is happening in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Some are concerned, others are curious, and many are angry. It seems that motorcyclists everywhere have been watching what is going on there. However, I have also met those who don?t really care. They don?t go to Myrtle Beach and therefore could not care less about what happens there.
They often ask, ?Since I can go elsewhere, why should I care what Myrtle Beach does?? That is a valid question which deserves an answer. However, before I do that let?s have a brief re-cap of what has gone on in Myrtle Beach to date.
Last year the city fathers and mothers decided that they no longer wanted the yearly bike rallies in their city. Not only that, they did not want them in other cities either. So what did they do? Did they contact the chief of police and ask him to strictly enforce all state and city statutes and ordinances? No they did not. They decided to pass new ordinances aimed at motorcyclists. They passed a new noise ordinance which allows for confiscation of the operators motorcycle until the offending exhaust is repaired or replaced. They instituted a city wide helmet law even though the state legislature has already decided that motorcyclists age 21 and over can decide for themselves whether or not to wear a helmet.
They have even mandated the type of helmet to be worn and it is different than the type the State has mandated for riders under the age of 21. On top of that, they created their own court system to hear many of these violations. Keep in mind that the creation of courts is a state not local responsibility and power.
Upon seeing what was going on, our firm immediately challenged the new ordinances. We challenged them as being in violation of South Carolina State law and as being unconstitutional. Before we had a chance to argue these matters the South Carolina State Supreme Court spoke on the creation of special courts. In a memo to localities the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court stated that the creation of such courts was repugnant to state law and that such courts were unconstitutional. That took part of our argument away.
As for the helmet and other ordinances, the fate of those is yet to be determined. In February of this year, numerous motorcyclists and freedom lovers converged at Murrells Inlet South Carolina to stage a protest ride. They willingly rode helmet free into the City of Myrtle Beach. Forty-nine received tickets. We are representing those who were ticketed and the Supreme Court has agreed to take original jurisdiction over them to determine whether or not the ordinances are legal. That means that we do not have to argue these cases in lower court. The Supreme Court of South Carolina will take these cases without the need for an appeal. We are currently awaiting a hearing date.
That brings us back to the original question. Why should motorcyclists everywhere be concerned about what is going on in Myrtle Beach South Carolina? The answer is that if it can happen there it can happen here, wherever here may be. It can happen in Raleigh North Carolina or Richmond Virginia. It can happen in Kitty Hawk North Carolina, Sumter South Carolina, Hillsville Virginia or any other place where an elected few have problems with motorcycles and/or motorcyclists.
?So what? you may say, ?I wear a helmet?, or ?my state requires helmets so this does not pertain to me?. Wrong! What?s going on in Myrtle Beach does not have a thing to do with helmets or exhausts. It has to do with due process and the rule of law. It has to do with elected officials exceeding their authority in order to impose their own personal values on others. It also has to do with right and wrong. If we as motorcyclists stand by and allow this to happen what will happen when the parking garage that we park in decides that motorcycles are no longer allowed there?
What will happen when your homeowners association decides that motorcycles are loud so no one may park a motorcycle in the neighborhood anymore? What will happen when three different localities in your area pass individual noise ordinances which are each different from the other? Which are you going to comply with? If we as motorcyclists allow our rights to be infringed upon anywhere we allow our rights to be infringed upon everywhere.
I know that to many this seems to be overly dramatic. Some may say ?Danielson, aren?t you getting a little carried away?? I can promise you that I am not. Elected officials are not particularly original. When they perceive a problem they look to see what is happening in other localities and states. If something works in one state another state will borrow it. If it works in one city another city will borrow it. There are localities around the country watching what is happening in Myrtle Beach South Carolina with an eye towards bringing it to their hometown. That should concern all of us.
In the end I am confident that we will prevail in Myrtle Beach. I am just as confident that this problem will arise in other places. Likewise I am just as confident that as there were motorcyclists to stand up against it in Myrtle Beach there will be dedicated motorcyclists to stand up against it when it happens elsewhere. I would urge all to keep a close watch over those whom you elect to make sure that they are representing you and your views. At the same time watch out for what other peoples elected officials are doing because your elected officials are doing just that.
If you have any further questions or comments concerning this article or any other matters concerning your rights as a motorcyclist please contact me at 1-800-321-8968 or at matt@tommcgrathlaw.com
–Matt Danielson
Tom McGrath?s Motorcycle Law Group
JUDGE REJECTED BILLY LANE’S BID TO REDUCE SIX-YEAR SENTENCE–
BY KEYONNA SUMMERS ? FLORIDA TODAY ? October 23, 2009
Attorneys for Lane, 39, filed a motion last week asking Brevard Circuit Judge Robert Burger to give his fatal crash victim’s family another chance to say what kind of punishment he should receive and to reduce Lane’s sentence if he saw fit. Lane was sentenced in August to six years in prison after pleading no contest to one count of vehicular homicide for crashing his pickup truck head-on into 56-year-old Gerald Morelock’s motorcycle while speeding past slow traffic in a no-pass zone on Sept. 4, 2006. The motion claimed intense media and public scrutiny caused Morelock?s brother and nephew to be ?vague? at Lane?s sentencing about their belief that Lane would better be able to benefit society if he were not incarcerated.
Burger denied the motion without a hearing. Contacted by phone Friday, Byron Morelock said he and his son continue to push through with plans for their foundation.
“We regret this whole thing happened and both of our families got hurt in this situation and have to go on. Nothing really good came out of it for anybody,” he said. “I’m sure my brother would hope that people learn something from this and all drive carefully.”
–from Rogue
BANDIT BEING TUTORED AT BIKERNET UNIVERSITY, FINAL WORD OF THE DAY– innocuous ih-NOK-yoo-uhs, adjective:
1. Harmless; producing no ill effect.
2. Not likely to offend or provoke; as, “an innocuous remark.”
Furthermore, the public, not knowing how to interpret certain facts and figures, may end up unfairly vilifying a company that uses only innocuous traces of a certain toxic chemical that will only poison small dogs.
— “Can Selfishness Save the Environment?”, The Atlantic, September 13, 2000
Maybe Grandpop misunderstood that perfectly innocuous remark and thought the man said “smell.” He shot him anyway.
— John McCabe, Cagney
Anything that reeks beyond a city block is an invisible snarling dog with unknown intentions, even if, in the right context, the smell itself would be innocuous. Therefore, people complain.
— Luca Turin, What You Can’t Smell Will Kill You, New York Times, January 21, 2007
Innocuous is from Latin innocuus, from in-, “not” + nocuus, “harmful,” from nocere, “to harm.” It is related to innocent, formed from in- + nocens, nocent-, “harming, injurious, hence criminal, guilty,” from the present participle of nocere. Less common is the opposite of innocuous, nocuous.
WAS THAT NEWS INNOCUOUS?–A brother just wrote and mentioned our expanded vocabulary, “Good god, milieu?” He said. Ah, what the hell. We’ve got to shake up the conversation once in a while. So many studies call for making alterations to the norm to stimulate the brain and keep us thinking.
Here’s what I can discuss regarding our Bikernet plans for 2010. I’m going to press in the next two weeks with our first Chance Book: Harbor Town Seduction. Then I’m going to start working on a screenplay and a treatment for a televison series regarding the making of this movie. It’s all about freedom and motorcycles. Did you read the above report about Myrtle Beach? This is one area we will cover, including Hollister, California, and spots all across the country trying to put freedom and motorcycles out of business. If you have such an experience, don’t hesitate to let me know.
I’ll have more on this to report next week. In the meantime, It’s Margarita time. I rode the 5-Ball factory Racer for the first time yesterday and changed the oil. Not bad. I need to re-jet the carb. It’s running too rich. I rode into Beverly Hills last night to Urban’s castle, packed with antique motorcycles for a Hamster party. He’s planning and prepping two bikes for the pre-1916 Cannonball cross-country. I’ll bring you a report.
Let’s Ride
–Bandit
