The book has closed on the December 2013 International Motorcycle Show, and we’re ready for a vacation! Unfortunately, there’s some urgent business we have to get to before we can take a break, which we’ll get to in just a moment.
For all of you we met at the show, THANK YOU! It is always great to speak with the riders, and the show provides a great opportunity to hear what issues are important to you, as well as to test out what issues we are working on, and better practice how we might pitch them to the public. We’ll be talking about our issues of focus in upcoming emails. If you’re not on our mailing list, please sign up now!
No Parking! (Except for Bikes)
As most of you are probably aware, this year we succeeded in securing motorcycle-only parking at the motorcycle show! We could not have done this without your help, as well as help from Advanstar (the company which runs the Moto-show).
Weather was a bit of a mixed bag (as it usually is for the show). On Friday quite a few of you took advantage of the parking. Saturday was snowing, so only the hardiest riders dared go out. Bravo to you!
This was a learning experience for everybody. It is our hope that this will establish a precedence, so that next year it will not be as difficult to provide a way for riders to ride to the show!
Friday Show Riders!
NYC! Only the strong survive.
Now, on to the bit of urgent business we alluded to earlier.
We need your help with this. The AMA sent out an alert a couple days after the motorcycle show which concerns every rider in New York State!
New York State Senator Adriano Espaillat (D-New York City) has prefiled legislation that would amend the administrative code of New York City to prohibit more than 50 motorcyclists to gather as an assembly and ride without paying for and obtaining a permit from the New York City Department of Transportation.
This is, of course, a blatant violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution which protects the right of peaceful assembly. It also will not solve the very real problems Senator Espaillat is trying to solve on behalf of his constituents. It is important that all NY State riders, as well as any rider who might travel through NY State act immediately to express your concern to the Senator:
http://cqrcengage.com/amacycle/app/make-a-call?1&engagementId=35211
Finally, THANKS for all your donations! The fund drive has been very helpful. We more than covered our costs for the motorcycle show, and we have resources which will carry us into the new year. If you have not already donated, please consider helping out!