ALASKA BIKERS ADVOCATING TRAINING EDUCATION …

ALASKA BIKERS ADVOCATING TRAINING & EDUCATION

October 2008

Volume I ©\ Issue 10

ABATE ADVISOR

From the President¡¯s Desk:

2009 ABATE Elections

For Statewide run

information go to



Inside this Issue:

President¡¯s Desk ¡­.. 1

Safety Message ¡­¡­. 2

Nationwide¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ 3

Local¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­...4

Event Calendar¡­¡­.. 6

Runs ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..7

Forms¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­...8

Has anyone seen our Governor

lately? I keep seeing her twin sister on

national television. Seems she is the

candidate for Vice President for one of

the major parties. That¡¯s about as good

of a lead in to our upcoming ABATE

elections as I could think of. I wonder if

we could get Sara to run for ABATE

president?

With elections in two months and

nominations happening now I figured it

would be a good time to lay our

ground rules for this year¡¯s ABATE

elections. They probably won¡¯t be as

exciting as the National elections but I

hope all members will vote regardless.

As always only ABATE members will be

allowed to vote and only those whose

memberships are current as of October

st

21 2008. Nominations are happening

now and you can find a nomination

form in last month¡¯s ABATE Advisor or

in this month¡¯s as well. Nominations

can be mailed back to ABATE at P.O.

Box 92213, Anchorage, AK. 99509 or

dropped of at Alaska Leather on the

corner of Arctic and Minnesota.

Nominations can also be brought to

the General Membership Meeting on

th

October 16 2008. Regardless of how

you get your nominations in they must

arrive in our hands by the end of the

General Membership Meeting in

October . At close of meeting no more

nominations will be taken and any one

you would like to vote for that has not

been nominated will have to be a

write©\in candidate. All nominated

members will be called to see if they

accept the nomination and if they

refuse then they will not be put on the

ballot.

Elections will be held at the November

General Membership Meeting on

st

November 21 . All candidates will be

compiled from the nominations that

were accepted and will be placed on the

ballot in a random order and

incumbents will have an italic (I)

following their name. All ballots will be

mailed to current members only with

self addressed and stamped return

envelopes so they may be mailed back

immediately. Ballots may also be

dropped off at Alaska Leather or brought

to the November meeting. All ballots

must be in their own sealed envelopes

with member name and membership

number on the envelope and no

discernable markings on the ballot itself.

When the election tally committee

receive the ballots they must be sealed

with one ballot per envelope. Each

envelope will be checked for current

membership then opened and the

envelope discarded. All ballots will then

be counted. Once again there will be NO

proxy voting. Each current member will

be allowed one vote. Don¡¯t forget to

turn the ballot over and vote on both

sides as we usually have too many

candidates for one side only. You can

find out more about meeting locations

and

times

at

our

web site or

. Questions can

be

directed

to

¡°Blue¡±

at

president@ or 230©\

9205. It is my sincere hope that each

and every member places a vote in not

only our ABATE election but in every

election you are permitted to vote in.

Voting is a right. Don¡¯t let your rights fall

by the wayside!

As riding season is winding down I also

wanted to thank all our business

sponsors for the great door prizes they

have provided to our members this

year..

Our Business members help to keep

these Advisors coming to your door

and without them it would be difficult

to publish and mail our newsletter.

Please remember to check our

business members out as they may just

have a service you are looking for and

usually at a reduced rate. I also want to

give a special thanks to the VNV©\MC for

the poker runs they sponsored for

ABATE in 2008. Those poker runs

helped to put funds back into our

Downed Bikers Fund. Anyone who has

had a need to use that fund can tell

you how much help it is. There are so

many more thanks to give out and they

will be done in person at our Annual

Christmas Party

Craig (Blue) Breshears

President, ABATE of Alaska

Need to sell something?

Remember that ABATE

members advertise for free.

ALASKA BIKERS ADVOCATING TRAINING & EDUCATION

Safety Message:

Slippery when Wet

By: Mark-Nathaniel Weisman

OK, so it¡¯s been a while since I rode my

motorcycle every day, maybe even a decade or so.

Prior to my miserable decade of not riding, I rode

all the time, albeit I rode in Arizona where the

highways are very long and straight for the most

part. I also dabbled in the world of motorcycle

superbike racing, attempting to gain fortune and

fame behind the bars of my 1100 ¡°gixer¡±. I

thought I knew everything there was to know

about the way to traverse any type of road surface

or obstacle, while at speed. This last summer (or

was it) I purchased my 1997 Harley Sportster to

use as my commute bike, as well as my bike run

choice.

As I began to ponder this month¡¯s newsletter, I

thought about the information that our

membership would need as the riding season

wound down. I thought about the season, or lack

thereof and considered that I¡¯d be a scientist for a

weekend. OK, OK, so I needed an excuse to ride as

much as possible before the season was truly

over.

Is it just me, or did the road department in Alaska

choose a different way of painting the roads? The

major culprit here would be the arrows painted on

the road, which become incredibly slick when wet.

The traction offered by the stock tires on my

Harley handle the asphalt just fine, but if I happen

to slide over and wind up drifting across the

arrows, I find the stability lost. I decided to test

this theory by attempting to ride the white stripes

around a marked corner during the rain (that was

always plentiful) and attempt to maneuver, lightly

at first then harder later. In all cases, the traction

obtained was more than enough to feel

comfortable. I later decided to test the cross©\walk

striping with a 50/50 chance of identifying certain

stripes that were a lot more slick than the others,

some actually were fine, while most were (in some

cases) very slick.

The paint used for the main lane©\striping is a quick

drying type paint that is simply applied to the

surface of the road, leaving the underlying asphalt

in place. I know that many of the intersection

cross©\walk striping is painted within grooved cuts

in the asphalt, leaving the surface slick and

independent of the underlying materials. Arrows

are painted on©\top of the road surface, yet retain

a very slick surface even during very light rain.

Page 2

When adding the factor of colder weather in the

mornings to the already ¡°standing moisture¡± on

these striping, we need to be vigilant on

maintaining good position and neutral speeds. The

potential for a spill increases four©\fold when

dropping the temperature on a flat surface,

making this already bad position even worse. If

you must ride across one of these stripes,

maintain your speed, and attempt to obtain a

¡°lean©\neutral¡± position with your body.

In all the different paint situations, riders should

exercise extreme caution while motorcycling in

wet conditions, specifically when navigating our

famous ¡°round©\a©\bouts¡± here in south Anchorage.

I¡¯ve been meaning to write this for a while, so I¡¯m

glad I¡¯ve finally got it off my chest.

ALASKA BIKERS ADVOCATING TRAINING & EDUCATION

Christmas in

July Toy Run 2008

ABATE of Alaska enjoyed its annual

Christmas in July Toy Run on July 26,

2008. In a follow up call to the hospitals

visited: Providence Hospital, Alaska Native

Medical Center, Cares for Kids-Salvation

Army, and McKinnell House, the kids were

thrilled and the parents and hospital staff

could not express their gratitude enough

for the joy and happiness the kids

received from their visit with Santa. Not

to be left out was Alaska Regional

Hospital, which we did not visit due to the

fact there were no kids receiving medical

treatment, which was a great thing.

The run started at the Vietnam Vets

Motorcycle Club clubhouse at 9 AM on

Saturday with clouds and rain threatening

to ¡°dampen¡± our spirits. But being that we

have ridden all ¡°summer¡± long in the clouds

and rain all were prepared for anything but

the sun. The Vets hosted the run with a

tent outside and the use of their lounge

area to stay warm and dry. Everyone

decorated their bikes with garland while

fueling up with refreshments in the AM.

The sleigh was loaded up with a ton of

clothes/blankets/books

&

toys/baby

electronic devices.

At approximately 10:15 all riders lined up

with RC from VNVMC leading and his

prospects, acting road guards, followed by

the run truck took off on their quest. The

run took approximately 3.5 hours and all

returned around 2 PM to a BBQ at the

clubhouse.

There were a number of new attendees to

this run and the comments they made were

very heartfelt. A few had known of the

run but never participated in the past and

once they experienced what this event did

for the kids in the hospitals brought out

some genuine appreciation for this affair

and I believe a transformation within

themselves to a degree. During the BBQ

we heard a few stories and had door prize

giveaways where I do believe everyone

ended up with something. Course you had

to pay attention to your ticket number to

know that you did get something even if

you were the last one (Zan)¡­¡­

Appreciate

all the clubs-associationsVNV/Iron

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have to attribute

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great success of BIG ¡°Thank you¡± to all our benefactors:

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to help

sort toys,

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are positions open¡­.Page 3 ¡¯08 TRC

ALASKA BIKERS ADVOCATING TRAINING & EDUCATION

Christmas in July Toy Run 2008 Pictures

Santa Boyd & Taylor

Santa & his sleigh in back & the biker crew at

ANMHC

Some strange dude with some weird

earrings LOL!

My hubby, Mark with Taylor & Erin

Putting garland on the sleigh

Bobbie helping Santa put on his boots

Bobbie in her Santa hat & Dan

Hooking up the trike to the sleigh

Some of the bikers

Santa & some others at the VNV Clubhouse

Some of the bikes

Taylor & Santa Boyd

Face

Santa Boyd & a baby at Providence

Taylor & Santa Boyd at the VNV Clubhouse

Page 4

ALASKA BIKERS ADVOCATING TRAINING & EDUCATION

Headlines:

Advisor goes Digital

In the short time that I¡¯ve

been running the show here

for the monthly newsletter,

it¡¯s probably been the

biggest request. So in an

attempt to give you want

you want, I¡¯ve built the

page that will help us

organize who wants the Advisor digitally, and who still

wants to read the hard copy.

The page to sign up is off my personal website, due

to the necessary information being readily available.

The site:

(

2) provides a link (along the left side) to either

download last month¡¯s copy, or sign up to receive the

Advisor electronically through your email. Hopefully,

as soon as November¡¯s letter will be sent to those who

want it electronically saving ABATE the postage.

109th United States Congress

Passes Highway Bill, Landmark

Victory for Motorcyclists

MRF Press Release, July 29, 2005 --- The US

Congress voted today to enact HR 3, the highway

bill. The final version that was passed out of

conference committee and eventually out of both

bodies of Congress contains all of the motorcycle

provisions the Motorcycle Riders Foundation

(MRF), State Motorcycle Rights Organizations

(SMRO) and many individuals have lobbied for

over the past two years. The MRF thanks every

SMRO, and individual motorcyclist who came to

DC to lobby, made phone calls and sent

comments to advocate for this important

legislation. This milestone would not have been

reached without your support.

The powerful Alaskan Congressional delegation

deserves credit for the inclusion of the motorcycle

language. The MRF thanks Representative Don

Young (R-AK) for his promise to keep the

motorcycle language in the final version of the bill,

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for her dedication

to the motorcycling community and Senator Ted

Stevens (R-AK) for his tireless defense of

motorcyclists. The MRF would also like to thank

ABATE of Alaska for maintaining positive

relationships with their federal elected officials.

Without the first name basis relationships that

ABATE of AK has with their elected officials, this

victory might not have been.

"Motorcyclists are an important part of the

traveling public and it's about time Congress

helped out." stated Senator Lisa Murkowski, "I'm

convinced education is the best way to increase

safety and decrease accidents. I think this turned

out to be a great bill for bikers; we both defeated

universal helmet laws, and did something that will

really be productive. I was glad to be a part of it,

and I want to thank MRF, and especially Boyd

McFail and my friends at ABATE of Alaska, for

the support that made it happen."

The multi-year surface transportation

legislation will infuse much-needed funds into

the nation¡¯s crumbling roads and bridges and

at the same time address traffic congestion,

mass transit systems, and highway safety.

The reauthorization language marks several

highlights for motorcycle safety. Title II,

section 2010 implements a grant program for

motorcycle safety training and awareness

programs making available $25 million dollars

through 2009. The grants, none less than

$100,000 per year, per state, will be available

to individual states.

Another

monumental

victory

for

motorcyclists can be found under Title I of the

bill. Where section 1914 calls for the

formation of an advisory council to advise the

Federal Highway Administrator on how the

small signature of motorcycles must be

considered when designing roads, bridges

and barriers.

The 1,681-page bill makes no mention of

helmet requirements of any kind.

In the 108th Congress, transportation

reauthorization bills passed in both houses of

Congress by overwhelming margins, only to

stall in conference over funding issues. This

year, a similar deadlock caused difficulties in

conference talks that began after the House

passed its version of the bill in March and the

Senate followed suit in May.

A breakthrough came earlier this month

when conference leaders hammered out a

framework for distributing funds to states

while keeping the total cost of the bill down to

a range the White House would accept.

Under the final bill, by fiscal 2008 every state

would receive at least 92 cents for highway

projects from each dollar the state contributes

to the Highway Trust Fund. Under current

law, states receive a minimum of 90.5 cents.

The donor states, which contribute more in

taxes than they get back in highway funds,

originally demanded a minimum of 95 cents

on the dollar.

Speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert

(R-IL), who seldom votes and rarely

addresses the House chamber, came to the

House floor to express his desire to see work

come to an end and to recognize the bipartisan efforts that made this legislation

possible. Hastert: ¡°This bill is a result of

people working together¡±

The Congress also passed the eleventh

extension, funding current programs until

August 14th. The extension is needed to give

the White House time to review the sweeping

measure before signing it into public law.

"Motorcyclists have been contributing to the

federal trust fund that finances the highway

bill as long as motorists have and until now,

have been largely neglected." said Jeff

Hennie MRF Vice President of Government

Relations. "Motorcyclists have once again

proved well organized grassroots activism

works. This bill not only aids the efforts of the

individual states but will ultimately save lives

of motorcyclists across the country."



Business Members

SUPPORT OUR BUSINESS MEMBERS

Alaska Leather

Arctic & Minnesota

562©\2324.

House of Harley

4334 Spenard Rd.

248©\5300

APEX Logic

1343 G St. #2

274©\6696

Alpenglow Consultants

Eagle River

622©\2596

Jewelry Cache

341 E. Benson Blvd. #2

272©\2222

Latte Landing

Mile 52 Sterling Hgwy

250©\6430

Don Jose¡¯s Restaurant 2052 E Northern Lights

279©\5111

Denali Alaskan Fed. CU 440 E. 36th Ave. #230

257©\7245

Girlz Ride Too

1207 B W. 36th

338©\3874

Accurate Hearing Systems 510 W Tudor Rd. #3

644©\6004

Madhatter

545 E. Northern Lights Blvd. #A

349©\3071

5861 Arctic Blvd. #A

AK Cycles

561©\5504

Ron Webb Paving

Anchorage

349©\3724

Alaska Mining & Diving 3222 Commercial Dr.

277©\1741

Motocycos

5001 Eagle St.

562©\3000

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