Biker advocacy group rumbles to D.C.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is an advocacy group that works to protect the rights of motorcyclists across the country. And while its agenda is twofold — one that’s  motorcycle-specific covering items like riding apparel safety standards, profiling specific to motorcyclists  and helmet laws, Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, President of MRF, said the work the group does isn’t just to help motorcyclists, it’s to help all motorists.

“When we get into protection of internal combustion engines and preservation of the fuel type we need to run our motorcycles, the right to repair  and modify vehicles and autonomous vehicles,  those are huge fights for us right now,” Willard said, that impact all motorists.  As an example Willard asks, “if internal combustion engines go away, what happens to farm trucks and  farm vehicles?”

MRF board member Todd Riba wonders how rallies like Sturgis survive if the internal combustion engine were to disappear. 

“How do we do Sturgis if everybody has to plug in?” he said.

 He worries that electric vehicle manufacturers are not considering motorcycles.

“It kind of looks like they don’t want motorcycles to be  a part of the mix in the future ... killing the internal combustion engine,” Riba said. “There’s gotta be a reason these autonomous guys are fighting the fact that we just want them to  be required to demonstrate that they see us.”

Riba said one of the biggest issues MRF is currently tackling is a law that requires autonomous vehicle manufacturers to demonstrate that their vehicles detect motorcycles. 

“It’s just not tested and vetted enough,” Riba said. “All we’re asking for is to have the manufacturers prove that their vehicles detect a motorcycle, at  an intersection, at high speed, at low speed on windy mountain roads, in  Keystone, in Minneapolis wherever these vehicles will be used. We just want some proof that they will see us and for some reason  there’s a whole lot of resistance to it,” Riba said.

It’s currently not a requirement nor a law. Companies like Tesla do not need to prove their vehicles being driven in auto-pilot mode detect motorcycles.

“They don’t have that information and it’s not required. We want it to be required,” Riba said.

Riba calls the requirement a “simple ask” but said nothing about the work MRF does is actually simple.

“We’re looking to get a law passed through Congress,” he said, but said the process is “incredibly hard.” 

He said getting a stand alone bill is next to impossible, that most bills MRF does get passed are found deep within a larger  bill.

“They will have thick bills where they jam all kinds of little bills in there. We  know how to play that game, that’s why we get things done,” Riba said. “But you still have to get committee members, sponsors. You have to work the whole process.”

Willard said MRF is on Capitol Hill almost daily working with all sorts of entities, including the Federal Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board. 

He cites a motorcyclist  in Seattle who was killed in July by a car in self-driving mode.  

“They’re not just hitting bikes, they’re hitting cars and pedestrians, they’re hitting houses. We don’t believe that technology, especially Tesla’s technology, is ready to be on the road,” Willard said.

Another issue MRF is tackling that affects all motorists is the right to repair and modify vehicles. 

Willard said the right to repair and modify a vehicle is starting to hit the average person, not just the motorcyclist. 

“I can’t get the parts, I can’t get the codes,” Willard said. “I don’t have access to those things. How am I gonna keep them on the road?”

Wilard says motorcycle manufacturers like Harley Davidson won’t work on their own bikes that are over a decade old. And now car manufacturers are beginning to do the same thing.

“It’s  now coming to roost in the auto parts,” Willard said. “Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly’s, Pep Boys ... all those places have the same problems. Car  manufacturers, OEMs (original equipment manufacturer), won’t sell these parts so that a fairly decent mechanic or independent repair shop down the road can fix their own vehicles.”

Willard said those stores are now “waking up and coming to us because we’ve got a 15-year head start in this.”

Willard sadi MRF has been fighting this particular issue since the mid-1990s. Willard estimates that when MRF began working closely with independent repair shops there were 12,000 around the country. 

“Today there’s only around 3,000. In 20 years they’ve gone from over 10,000 to just above 3,000,” Willard said. “We’re fairly confident in our numbers saying the motorcycle aftermarket industry has shrunk by about 75 percent in the last  two decades. And they could go away. It’s right on the verge of not existing at all,  because they can’t survive on just doing oil changes and changing tires. They have to do some engine work and maintenance work.”

Willard  wonders what happens to the worth of older vehicles, like motorcycles from the ’50s or ’60s that the average person would no longer be able to repair or restore. 

“What are they worth? What happens to them?” he asked. He points around to the parking lot and says, “There’s a whole bunch of motorcycles in this  parking lot that we can’t take to Harley Davidson to get fixed.”

Willard adds, “even people who couldn’t care less about motorcycles, if they can’t fix their 1995 Suburban that’s in perfect shape they’re not gonna be very happy. So now they’re waking up and seeing that  they’re about ready to become restricted as well.”

MRF is also working to make standard labeling for ethanol gas products. 

Any motorcyclist who has been to a pump in a state like Iowa or Minnesota knows it’s a struggle to decipher what gasoline is ethanol free.

“Right now all we’re asking for is a law requiring standardized labeling on the pumps. So if my owners manual says if you put E15 in the motorcycle it could void the warranty. If somebody inadvertently puts that in or they just unknowingly do it and all of a sudden they have an issue, we want clear labeling and we want access to E-10 and E-0,” says Riba. He makes it clear that it’s not an anti-ethanol policy they want enacted, just “access to what our motorcycles run the best at.” 

MRF has an event called Bikers Inside the Beltway where bikers from around the county are invited  to Washington D.C. to educate members of Congress about issues facing motorcyclists.

“You get a couple hundred bikers walking the halls of Congress with their little folders looking around trying to figure out where they should be and they draw  a lot of attention,” Riba explains.

Every state has its own small state motorcycle rights organization which ultimately decides the MRF agenda. In South Dakota it is ABATE of South Dakota.

The MRF holds a Meeting of the Minds conference where each state organization gets a vote.

MRF doesn’t have the funds to set up booths at nationwide rallies like Sturgis. Its members get the word out by hanging flags, wearing T-shirts, having a strong presence at significant events like the motorcycle hall of fame breakfast and through limited advertisements in motorcycle magazines.

For those interested in learning more about MRF visit its website at mrf.org.