I had a stroke while riding my bike in April 05. I lost use
of my right arm and leg. I have had some recovery but I still am unable to work.
I had to sell my bike to pay off the loan on it. If there is anyone out there
that could help a disabled and broke Biker
get back in the wind with a trike or a bike with a side
car, I would be forever grateful. Please
Email Frank I would like to
thank my family, friends, and my Biker brothers
and sisters for all the support. Thank you, and God Bless you all. If you would
like to help, please
Shop for Motorcycle loans,
Leather, Biker
Boots, Tools, Apparel,
Helmets, Parts and Accessories. I would like to thank everyone who shopped here.
If you would like to
post a Biker
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News
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Email Frank
Motorcycle accessory innovator completes
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame roster for 2009
New members to be inducted this December at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las
Vegas
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is
pleased to announce the final member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
Class of 2009: motorcycle accessory innovator and apparel pioneer Robert
Bates. Bates is among nine motorcycling heroes who will be honored at
the 2009 induction ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
this Dec. 5.
"In many ways, motorcycling attracts individuals, and that individualism
often manifests itself in how we customize our motorcycles," said AMA
President and CEO Rob Dingman. "This social phenomenon was not lost on
Robert Bates, who developed a broad range of products that connected
with motorcyclists, from aftermarket pillion seats to leather jackets.
As one of the first businessmen to leverage this affinity for
personalization, Bates helped establish an aftermarket industry that is
thriving today."
Added Don Rosene, chairman of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction
Committee: "After I bought my first real motorcycle, a Triumph
Bonneville, the next thing I needed was a Bates leather jacket. I
thought as much of that jacket as I did my new motorcycle. I know Robert
Bates made many other motorcycle accessories, but I'll never forget my
Bates leather jacket."
Bates started Bates Manufacturing Inc., in Los Angeles in 1939 to
service and overhaul motor scooters and sell accessories. Almost
immediately, he began designing and building scooter windshields. When
the metal for his windshield rims was no longer available during WWII,
he developed a plastic rim that he later patented. In the late 1940s,
the company began publishing a popular catalog that featured motorcycle
accessories and leather apparel.
According to Bob Rudolph, who purchased Bates Manufacturing from Bates
in the late 1950s and renamed the company Bates Industries, Bates' early
innovation and business relationships established the foundation that
helped the firm thrive when it began manufacturing the popular Bates
colored-racing leathers that most people remember it for today.
"Robert Bates founded the company in a 600 square-foot garage, and from
there it grew into a business that had a reputation for quality jackets,
pants, aftermarket seats, a popular headlight, windshield, fairings and
saddlebags," Rudolph remembered. "He also had a strong rapport with the
dealers, and he stayed with the firm to help manage our dealer network
after I purchased the company. Bates was a true pioneer in the
motorcycle accessory industry."
Bates is the ninth and final member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
Class of 2009. He joins off-road racer Randy Hawkins, suspension pioneer
Gilles Vaillancourt, off-highway rights activist Mona Ehnes, industry
entrepreneurs and technological trailblazers Geoff and Bob Fox, longtime
motorcycle safety proponent David Hough, noted race team manager Gary
Mathers, and successful dirt-track racer and tuner Chuck Palmgren.
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame class of 2009 will officially be
inducted this Dec. 5 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.
Impressive even by Las Vegas standards, with an 84-foot guitar marking
the entrance and all the glitz and memorabilia that fans have come to
expect at Hard Rock Café locations around the world, the Hard Rock Hotel
& Casino has been recently renovated with new rooms, a new convention
space and a new concert venue. Ticket information will be announced
shortly on the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum website at
MotorcycleMuseum.org.
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, located on the bucolic campus of
the AMA in Pickerington, Ohio, honors individuals who have made lasting
contributions to protecting and promoting the motorcycle lifestyle. Its
members include those who have excelled in racing, road- and off-road
riding; pushed the envelope in motorcycle design, engineering and
safety; and championed the rights of riders in both the halls of
government and the court of public opinion.
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Committee includes 11 members
in addition to the chairman. There are 10 committees, each representing
a different aspect of motorcycling. Five represent various racing
disciplines, and five represent non-racing interests.
More information about the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame can be found at
MotorcycleMuseum.org .
About the American Motorcyclist Association
Since 1924, the AMA has protected the future of motorcycling and
promoted the motorcycle lifestyle. AMA members come from all walks of
life, and they navigate many different routes on their journey to the
same destination: freedom on two wheels. As the world's largest
motorcycling organization, the AMA advocates for motorcyclists'
interests in the halls of local, state and federal government, the
committees of international governing organizations, and the court of
public opinion. Through member clubs, promoters and partners, the AMA
sanctions more motorsports competition and motorcycle recreational
events than any other organization in the world. AMA members receive
money-saving discounts from dozens of well-known suppliers of motorcycle
services, gear and apparel, bike rental, transport, hotel stays and
more. Through its Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, the AMA preserves the
heritage of motorcycling for future generations.
Rains don't dampen bikers' enthusiasm - Laconia
Citizen - It wouldn't be a Bike Week without some rain and coming
out of the rally's first weekend, organizers say attendance is down as a
result while law enforcement agencies are reporting few major on- or
off-road incidents.
If it were a NASCAR Race, the 86th annual running of Bike Week would be
red flagged as Mother Nature socked The Weirs and most of the nearby
Lakes Region late Sunday into Monday with a one-two punch of rain and
chilly temperatures.
The weather kept the number of bikers on area roads down and at midday
Monday, it was hard to find more than small groups, all of whose members
were bundled up for the conditions, coming into the region at either the
Tilton or New Hampton exits off Interstate 93.
Yet just as there's always rain each Bike Week, so there are Bike Week
visitors, some of whom have already booked up all the rooms at the Naswa
Resort, which this year is hosting the daily Bike Week press conferences
sponsored by the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association.
Monday's event drew the association's Jennifer Anderson and Charlie St.
Clair as well as Naswa manager Cynthia Makris, Laconia Police Capt. Bill
Clary, Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson and State Police Lt. Scott Carr.
To date, Carr began, "there have been no major occurrences" and Bike
Week 2009 has been "pretty uneventful."
There was, however, a serious vehicle accident early Monday morning on
Interstate 93 in Sanbornton in which a vehicle carrying two people
struck a deer. Both passengers had to be airlifted from the scene, one
with critical, the other with serious injuries, said Carr, adding that
the accident was not Bike Week-related.
Several hours earlier, a Stamford, Conn., man had to be airlifted from
Lakes Region General Hospital to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
after crashing his vehicle on Rollercoaster Road and sustaining serious
injuries. Laconia Police have charged the man with driving while
intoxicated.
Erickson and Clary said the accident underscored the dangers of
operating a motorcycle on rain-slickened roads. The absence of other
bikers has meant that those who are riding are doing so in lighter
traffic and are more prone to goose the throttle, said Clary. He added
that his department's biggest problems have been public intoxication and
violations of the city's open container ordinance.
Clary said the LPD has begun "saturation patrols" where large numbers of
officers hit the streets at the same time looking for impaired
motorists, noting that the effort has resulted in several DWI arrests in
the downtown.
Makris said the Naswa was booked solid this past weekend and will be
again for the coming weekend.
She thanked the hundreds of riders who came out for Saturday's third
annual Peter Makris Memorial Run around Lake Winnipesaukee, which raised
more than $25,000 for the LFD's Life Saving Fund.
The run, she said, "was a great tribute to my father," who with his wife
Hope owned and operated the Naswa until his death in 2007. Peter Makris
was a former Belknap County Attorney and a Laconia city councilor as
well as a member of the Leathernecks, a group of motorcycling Marines.
St. Clair said the news from vendors was positive regarding the city's
decision to allow vending to commence on the Friday before the official
start of Bike Week. Earlier this year, the council struggled with but
ultimately okayed a proposal to permit the early vending for an
additional $50. The move generated an additional $2,500 that will go to
offset the city's cost of providing municipal services during the
nine-day rally.
In its 2008-09 budget, the city allocated $226,700 for the current Bike
Week, anticipating that revenues from vendor fees and Bike Week site
plans would balance the various expenses, the largest of which is
salaries for local and out-of-town police officers at a combined
$171,950.
Jesse James Stayin' True - MotorcycleUSA.com - Once
a biker always a biker. This is a mantra Jesse James lives by. Even with
a handful of hit TV shows, larger-than-life personality and movie star
wife, James still shows up at his Long Beach, California, motorcycle
shop, West Coast Choppers, getting his hands dirty every day. How many
other celebrities do you think can say that?
"I feel cheated if I'm not welding something everyday."
“I’m still here every morning ready to work. I think if I ever get to
the point where I don’t work I’ll just get rid of the place. I think TV
and everything else takes me away from what I really should be doing,
and that’s working, and I feel cheated if I’m not welding something
everyday,” says James, looking every bit as sinister as always; tattooed
arms draped over the front of an evil looking chrome, black and red
chopper.
The thing is, James is far from sinister. An extremely smart businessman
and an even nicer guy, he’s always talking your ear off with a host of
incredible stories, most involving death-defying antics.
We’re at his Long Beach shop for the cover shoot and one look around the
massive warehouse reveals exactly where these stories come from.
"It's like WIlly Wonka Land for grownups" is what Jesse says when asked
about his old car collection, off-road trophy trucks and the
nitrogen-powered land-speed car sitting in his Long Beach shop. Yes, you
read correctly, James has a hand-built nitrogen-powered, tube-framed
rocket car in which he is going to attempt to set a land-speed record.
Why, you might ask? Because he’s Jesse James and that’s what Jesse James
does.
Hear what celebrity custom bike builder Jesse James has to say about his
new show in our Jesse James Interview video
It’s for one of the episodes of his new show, Jesse James is a Dead Man.
The show has been a project of his for the past year, in which each
episode James is put into extreme scenarios of all different kinds. One
episode has him riding a BMW GS up to the Arctic Circle the first week
of December in 65-below-zero weather, while another sees him race a
trophy truck in Baja California.
An episode that brings about a host of good stories is when he raced a
US Hare Scrambles for the first time. However, in typical Jesse fashion,
it didn’t go quite as planned. He was training at Supercross star Jeremy
McGrath’s ranch and the day before the event almost put himself totally
out of commission. We recently rode with Jesse at a BMW intro and he was
still hurting from the mishap, though keen to tell us the story.
For one of the episodes James runs from the police in a mock-chase.
You'll have to watch the show to see who wins...
"The show is a different death-defying race or adventure every week..."
“As part of the training I went to McGrath’s place to ride, I trained
for this race for months. He had a 100-foot water crossing set up where
you try to pin it and make it across. Of course, he does it no problem.
And me being a dumbass, I’m like, ‘Yeah I can pin it and do something
Jeremy McGrath can do,’” laughs Jesse. “Well, I did it, but the bike
popped in the middle of the water and sent me sailing. It knocked me out
and hurt my back. I still had to run the race and it was pretty brutal,
but I didn’t embarrass myself too bad.”
“Basically the show is a different death-defying race or adventure every
week,” he adds. “One week it’s a car or motorcycle race and the next
it’s an off-road truck race, or trying to ride where someone never has
before.”
James on sidecar racing: "It was fun, I’ll give them that, and those
guys are all nuts. There’s even one girl up there that does it and she’s
nuts too; it’s their own little secret society."
James even ran an F-1 sidecar race at Willow Springs, finishing second
in his first-ever outing.
“It’s really not that fast. I thought those things were way faster than
they are,” James says of the hand-built sidecar he piloted. “I’m used to
800 horsepower trucks and stuff. It was fun, I’ll give them that, and
those guys are all nuts. There’s even one girl up there that does it and
she’s nuts too; it’s their own little secret society. I would like to do
one again with a Hayabusa motor and run it at the Isle of Man. Now that
would be crazy.” With plenty more madness where that came from, we’ll no
doubt be sure to watch and set our TiVo on SPIKE TV. It should be
extremely entertaining.
But with all this chaos going on outside the motorcycle world, what’s up
with West Coast Choppers these days?
“We’re still building bikes for customers,” says James. “We probably
build 10-15 bikes per year and we still customize stock Harleys and
stuff like that. I’m actually doing a BMW for someone that saw mine –
they wanted it all blacked out. We’re a motorcycle shop and we’re trying
to keep it just that. I still have three or four guys who I personally
build bikes for each year; they are good guys and I like to be creative
and stoke them out.”
Buy a West Coast Chopper and theres no doubt Jesse James took a major
role in building it despite his hectic schedule as a celebrity.
Buy a West Coast Chopper and there’s no doubt Jesse James had a major
role in building the machine despite his hectic schedule as a celebrity.
So, what does the “man with all the toys” keep parked in the garage as
his personal motorcycles? Not what you may think.
“I’ve got my little Harley Dyna Louisiana Police bike and I’ve been
riding one of those K1300 BMWs. The Police bike is a sleeper, though. It
has $10,000 heads on it, among other internal modifications, and though
it looks pretty haggard it puts out 160 horsepower to the rear wheel. No
one expects it, it’s really fast – I love it!”
And when James says he rides, he rides… “I put in probably 20,000 miles
a year still. I have a house in Austin (Texas) too and I have a couple
bikes there, a ’37 Indian Chief and one of those Harley Rockers that I’m
kind of making cool to keep down there and ride. How can you own a
motorcycle shop and not ride? C’mon.”
What’s next for Jesse James and West Coast Choppers? Well, it’s pretty
simple. “I’ve been building bikes since ’91 and I plan to keep on doing
just that,” he says with a smile. And we believe him. Jesse James is a
biker, and always will be.
So You Want a West Coast Chopper?
Like what you see? Want Jesse James himself to build you a West Coast
Chopper? Good luck, right?! One would think with all his fame and
everything he has going, getting him to lay a hand on a customer’s bike
would take an act of Congress. But if you read the story you’d know this
isn’t the case at all. Jesse’s in his Long Beach, or “Strong Beach” as
he calls it, shop every morning welding and getting his hands dirty, a
lot of the time on customer’s bikes. Now you have to remember, getting a
custom bike from West Coast Choppers isn’t cheap. But neither is the
quality.
"We still build 10-15 bikes per year for customers and we still
customize stock Harleys. We’re still a motorcycle shop first."
Is Jesse James a dead man? We'll see...
I’ve seen my fair share of expensive one-off motorcycles and, while some
have been extremely nice and very well done, there are always little
details where you can tell it’s handmade, some minor flaws. After
spending a day with James and a few of his customer-built customs, I
didn’t find a single imperfection. Not one! Perfect welds, no yellowing
chrome - finite detail right down to the last nut and bolt. In fact, his
signature piece is a round clamp or cover with the back of several .44
caliber bullets inset in it. He even takes it one step further, having
“Jesse James .44” engraved in each one, ever so small, to add the
finishing touch. This is what West Coast Choppers are all about.
Cost totally depends on what you are looking for, though I can tell you
they start in the six-figure-territory. Basically, if you have to ask,
you can’t afford one. Surprisingly, though, one isn’t just paying for
the name.
“I have $80,000 in labor alone into making each one of these, sometimes
more,” said James, who quickly points out the details. “Check out that
frame, it had to be perfect before getting nickel-plated and chromed so
as not to get any yellowing. This bike here would go for about $120,000
or so, but I’ve got almost that into it. This is no way to get rich,
this is just what I do, ya know?”
It’s for this reason not many are built each year and they take time to
complete. “We build 10-15 bikes per year,” he adds. That’s one a month,
maybe less. These are no cookie cutter customs. There are months of
blood, sweat and tears in each one. So while it’s not cheap, when it
comes to custom choppers, West Coast Choppers stands head and shoulders
above most others I’ve ever seen. In this case, you really do get what
you pay for.
Fatal crash under investigation - Greenwood
Commonwealth - The Leflore County Sheriff’s Department is
continuing its investigation of a fatal wreck on Money Road Saturday.
“It looks as if the truck went over the center line and hit the
motorcycle head on,” Sheriff Ricky Banks said.
The driver of the motorcycle, William Tingle Jr., 48, 1222 Grenada Blvd.
Extended, died from massive trauma suffered in the wreck.
Joseph Moorman, 29, 204 W. Wilson Ave., the driver of the pickup truck,
said he looked over at his wife, Katie, 26, and when he looked up again
he was across the line, according to the accident report.
Banks said Joseph Moorman was not injured, but his wife was taken to
Greenwood Leflore Hospital with injuries. She was treated and released.
Banks said blood samples drawn from Joseph Moorman and Tingle have been
sent to the state Crime Lab for drug and alcohol analysis. Such tests
are routinely run following fatal accidents.
Banks said that there was no evidence that drugs or alcohol were a
factor in the accident. It usually takes about a month to get the test
results, Banks said.
Moorman was issued a citation for no insurance.
The accident happened on a straightaway about a quarter-mile north of
the WABG radio station at about 4:30 p.m Saturday. The Moormans were
driving north toward Money, and Tingle was going south in the direction
of Greenwood.
The road was not wet. No witnesses saw the collision, and Joseph Moorman
made the initial call to the Sheriff’s Department following the
accident.
Banks said investigators do not have a speed estimate, but he noted that
he had never seen a truck torn up so badly from hitting a motorcycle.
The pickup ended up a considerable distance from the road in a soybean
field.
Biker ID'd after death from Stockbridge crash -
Rutland Herald - State police identified a motorcyclist who died
after a crash in Stockbridge on Saturday as 50-year-old John E. Peters
Jr. of Clarendon.
Peters was riding his motorcycle on Route 100 on Saturday afternoon when
he crashed apparently trying to avoid a moose in the road, police said
after analyzing physical evidence at the crash scene just north of
Blackmer Road.
Peters suffered a head injury in the crash and was airlifted to
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center where he died on Sunday, police said.
Heritage inspires Waverly man's Harley - Elmira
Star-Gazette - Waverly's Chris Terwilliger never took an art
course in his life. It just comes natural to the motorcycle nut who
customized his ride with American Indian paintings.
The ride is a 1984 Low Rider Harley-Davidson FXE he bought about 10
years ago from his step-uncle, Reed Goodman of Pine City. Reed was the
bike's first owner.
"I almost bought a Yamaha, a fake Harley," Chris said, the disdain
evident in his voice.
But a conversation soon triggered the memory of Reed's Harley, which at
the time was stored in a barn.
"I called Reed because I wanted him to make some custom leather for me,"
Chris recalled. "I asked him how much he wanted for his Harley but
didn't think I could afford it."
Reed asked Chris what he planned to spend on the other motorcycle, and
when Chris told him, Reed offered to sell him the Harley for $1,000
less.
"It's the last of the Shovelheads," Chris said of the bike's engine. "It
was the last before (Harley-Davidson) switched to Evolution."
For the uninitiated, the Shovelhead is an air-cooled, 45-degree V-twin
motorcycle engine that was manufactured from 1966 to 1984. The
Evolution, commonly known as Evo or Blockhead, is similar to the
now-obsolete Shovelhead, but it burns less oil and requires less
maintenance.
Chris's bike is equipped with both electric and kick-start mechanisms.
"I refuse to get rid of the kick start," Chris said. "I can't tell you
how many times I had to start it that way."
Chris spent nearly four years tweaking the bike's mechanics and details.
He's proud of the outcome.
"I changed the front and back to bobtail fenders, removed the tachometer
and custom-painted the speedometer," Chris said. "The motor itself is
stock. That's never changed. It still has stock tanks."
He did change the front end from a low rider to a wide glide, put a
bullet headlight on it and installed a windshield.
"That's to keep the bugs out of my teeth," he quipped.
The hand-painted American Indian scenes are from Chris's heritage, he
said. Artwork on the tail fender, point cover, derby cover, front
fender, both sides of the tanks, speedometer, kill switch, lights and
horn all have significant meaning to him, he said.
In the end, his project cost almost as much as if he had bought the
motorcycle off the showroom floor, he said.
"I did it so it would be like a new bike," he said. "Now, it's my bike."
His wife, Liz Terwilliger, encouraged him along the way. She was also
patient and never batted an eyelash at the expense of her husband's
project.
"She's what we call a keeper," Chris said of Liz.
He feels the same way about his bike.
"I'll never sell it. I might improve on it some, but there are no plans
to ever sell it," Chris said. "Someday, it will be an heirloom for my
wife or son."
Woodbridge Man Is Killed in Motorcycle Crash -
Washington Post - A 21-year-old Woodbridge
man was killed Friday in a motorcycle crash, and police say speed was a
factor in his death.
Stephen L. Stone was operating a 2003 Suzuki motorcycle when he lost
control on Beau Ridge Drive, hit a curb, slid across a sidewalk and hit
a tree about 9:15 p.m., Prince William County police said. He was
transported to a hospital and pronounced dead. Police said he was not
wearing a helmet.
Officials ID Blaine man killed in crash - St.
Cloud Times - Stearns County has released the name of the man who
died Saturday in a motorcycle crash.
Advertisement
Johnny R. Sills, 40, was thrown from the motorcycle he was riding. The
crash happened at about 3:30 p.m. near Stearns County roads 18 and 183
southwest of Sauk Centre.
Sills, formerly of Blaine, was driving a 2004 Harley-Davidson when he
lost control, went off the road and was thrown from the cycle, according
to the sheriff’s office. Sills was dead at the scene.
Cedar Rapids man hurt in motorcycle crash near Elgin -
Gazette Online - Joshua Martin, 33, of Cedar
Rapids, remains hospitalized with injuries he suffered when he lost
control of his motorcycle along a Fayette County road Sunday night.
Martin was riding south on Acorn Road a few minutes before 7 p.m. when
he lost control near the 200th Street intersection about three miles
south of Elgin, according to the Iowa State Patrol. His cycle went into
the east ditch, where he was thrown.
Martin was first taken to Palmer Lutheran Health Center in West Union
with what the State Patrol called “incapacitating injuries.” He was
later transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in
Iowa City, where he remained Monday night. Information on his condition
was not released.
Teacher injured in motorcycle crash dies -
El Paso Times - EL PASO -- A schoolteacher
died Sunday from injuries he received in a motorcycle crash a week
earlier, an El Paso police spokesman said.
Raul Rodriguez, 34, of San Elizario, had been hospitalized in critical
condition since the crash, said Javier Sambrano, a police spokesman.
Rodriguez was a special education teacher at Socorro Middle School, said
Vicki Icard, spokeswoman for the Socorro district.
On June 7, Rodriguez was driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle onto Loop
375 South from Edgemere Boulevard when he struck a rock median, which
divides the ramp from the freeway, and was thrown from his motorcycle,
police said. Rodriguez was not wearing a helmet.
Myrtle Beach helmet law gets airing in top court -
Myrtle Beach Sun News - The S.C. Supreme
Court will hear arguments against Myrtle Beach's motorcycle helmet law,
though no date has been set for a court appearance.
Bart Viers, who received a ticket for violating the city's helmet law,
and Business Owners Organized to Support Tourism filed a complaint
against the city calling the local helmet law invalid. The high court
also is allowing the nearly 50 riders first ticketed under the city's
ordinance during a protest ride to consolidate with the Viers case for
the court appearance.
J. Todd Kincannon, an attorney representing BOOST and Bart Viers, said
he anticipates a fall hearing and hopes the court will issue a ruling by
January at the latest - well before next year's May motorcycle rallies.
State Rep. Thad Viers, R-Horry County, the other attorney representing
BOOST and his brother Bart Viers, said it's possible the high court's
ruling could come even before the Harley-Davidson fall rally.
"They just heard the governor's case about taking the federal stimulus
money about three weeks ago, and they issued a decision within two
weeks," he said. "I'm glad they feel this is important enough to hear
now."
Ron Andrews, deputy city manager, said the city does not comment on
pending litigation. The city has 30 days to respond to the complaint
Kincannon and Thad Viers submitted on their clients' behalf.
They contend the city overstepped bounds when it created a local helmet
law last fall as part of more than a dozen ordinances and amendments
geared toward curbing the effects of the Harley-Davidson Spring Cruising
the Coast and Atlantic Beach Bikefest motorcycle rallies.
The city has said the rallies had grown too big and lasted too long -
nearly three consecutive weeks - chasing away a more diverse tourist
base that refused to patronize the Grand Strand as long as the roads and
hotels were packed with bikers, and making life hard for full-time city
residents.
But area businesses geared toward the riders and their gatherings are
furious because, they say, their patrons are being discriminated against
and the city's actions are killing their livelihoods.
Thad Viers said the argument is much bigger than whether people have to
wear motorcycle helmets, though.
"Helmets are a good thing - people should wear them," he said. "But
state law says people 21 and older have a choice, and if the city is
allowed to do this, it paves the way for a hodgepodge of traffic laws
all over the state."
Once the city's response has been filed, both sides will have 15 days to
agree on the boundaries for the issues that will be presented to the
panel of five Supreme Court justices during the oral arguments. After
that agreement has been reached, each side has 30 more days to file its
memorandum of understanding with the court, and then the court will
schedule oral arguments.
Virginia attorney Tom McGrath, who is representing the almost 50 protest
riders ticketed on the day the ordinance took effect in February, said
getting the Supreme Court to hear the arguments saves time and the
process of going through circuit and appeals courts.
He said the justices likely agreed to consolidate his arguments with
BOOST's because both are presenting issues about the constitutionality
of the city's helmet law.
Fatal Motorcycle Crash on Route 100 -
WCAX - A motorcycle accident in Stockbridge resulted in a
fatality Monday afternoon. Police say John Peters, 50, of North
Clarendon was headed south on Route 100 when he crashed. From evidence
at the scene, police suspect Peters swerved to avoid hitting a moose and
lost control of his bike. He was airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock
Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Easley man killed in motorcycle accident -
Daily Journal - A 24-year-old Easley man
died Sunday night on Main Street in Easley when he crashed his
motorcycle.
Willie Adam Owens was pronounced dead at the scene after he crashed on
his back at 10:42 p.m. Owens was not wearing any protective gear or
helmet and died of multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said the accident was most likely
the result of a seizure, as Owens has a medical history of them.
The accident is being investigated by the Easley Police Department.
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or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your
visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We
automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:
-The Internet domain and IP address from which you access our website;
-The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
-The date and time you access our site;
- The pages you visit; and
-If you linked to our Web site from another Web site, the address of that Web
site.
We use the information we collect to count the number and type of visitors to
the different pages on our site, and to help us make our site more useful to
visitors like you. Links to Other Sites
Our Web site has many links to our partners, and related sites. When you link to
another site, you become subject to the privacy policy of the new site.
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