Bikers in the Beltway, a Day of Lobbing

Every year May 1st kicks off Motorcycle Awareness Month. Then after that there is “Bikers in The Beltway”. There we Motorcyclists from around the country meet with representatives from the House and the Senate and express our likes and dislikes concerning upcoming Legislation. This year Nick LeMorte and I were able to be your representatives in DC where we reviewed the national legislation that concerns us as motorcyclist put together by the MRF “Motorcycle Riders Foundation” After Meeting with our representatives and much discussion we believe they understand our position on the legislation presented and hope they will support us as well. As it stands all four of the representative currently support the Anti profiling bill H.Res.366. One of our other concerns the newly introduced H.R.7731 which involves proper identifying and labeling E-15 Gasoline to educate the consumer to prevent misuse and vehicle or machine damage. In addition to that we express the need to redefine the word Motorcycle after 40 year the definition should be updated especially with all the new vehicles that currently fall under the term “Motorcycle” including the Slingshot and the Vanderhall. Both of which you sit in and not on and steered with a “wheel “not handlebars. Next up is S.2736 the RPM Act which is a Bill that will protect the right to modify a car, truck or motorcycle for racing purposes. We also expressed our concern about Motorcycle recognition from Autonomous Vehicles. In addition to that we expressed the importance of their involvement in the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus. The caucus aims to improve public knowledge of motorcycle issues and promote safety on the roadways. Finally we asked that any new tax laws written would not be a one size fits all and would be relative to weight, wear and tear of the road way as well as emissions produced by the different vehicles. As Always we thank you for your continued support and the opportunity to represent you. I also want to thank everyone at the MRF for all the organizing efforts to make this Happen as well as the AMA and Rocky Fox our lobbyist. It is a Great pleasure to be involved with so many great likeminded individuals.

Ride Safe and Have Fun

Chris Beckhans, President