Recent Entries

• Graves Retains Key Chair

  by RevBigJohn Dec 13
  This week, House Republicans selected Congressman Sam Graves of Missouri to lead the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Representative Graves is not new to the committee, he previously served 3 terms and 6 years as both the Chairman and Ranking Member of the committee. However, Rep. Grave...

• New Faces In New Places

  by RevBigJohn Dec 6
  It has been four and a half weeks since election day and the last race for Congress has been called. The final breakdown of the U.S. Senate will be 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. The U.S. House of Representatives will also have a slim margin, with 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats. Complicating th...

• Road To Zero Grants

  by RevBigJohn Nov 23
  The Road to Zero Coalition recently announced it will accept grant applications for its traffic safety program. The deadline to apply is January 17th, 2025. The funds, totaling $750,000, are geared toward finding solutions to lower the number of deaths on our nation’s r...

• New PA.Bill Allowing Year-round Motorcycle Inspections Now Law

  by RevBigJohn Nov 22
  Legislation giving people who are trying to take safety precautions more convenience is now law after receiving unanimous Senate and House support. It allows year-round motorcycle safety inspections in Pennsylvania. Even though motorcycles can be purchased and driven on Pennsylvania roadways thro...

• Former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy

  by RevBigJohn Nov 19
  Former Wisconsin Congressman Sean DuffyNominated Transportation Secretary November 19, 2024 - Washington DC Monday evening President-elect Donald Trump named former Congress...

• MRF Election Scorecard

  by RevBigJohn Nov 15
  As the dust begins to settle after last week’s election, here is a look at how some Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) Legislative Champions and allies fared on election day.  MRF Legislative Champions: Senator Joni Ernst (Iowa) – Not up for reelection in 2024Senator Ron Johnson (...

• Past MRF Champion Recipient

  by RevBigJohn Nov 13
  Past MRF Champion Recipient Senator John ThuneElected Senate Majority Leader November 13, 2024 - Washington DC This afternoon Senate Republicans elected Senator John Thune o...

• What Happens Next?

  by RevBigJohn Nov 8
  It has famously been said that "elections have consequences." The results from Tuesday's election will certainly impact what happens in Washington, D.C., starting in January 2025. Donald Trump’s election, coupled with Republican control of the U.S. Senate, is a dramatic...

• CARB Postpones AGAIN

  by RevBigJohn Nov 7
  This afternoon, less than 90 minutes before a scheduled hearing, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced the postponement of that hearing. The public hearing was focused on an electric motorcycle initiative that would require half of new motorcycles sold in the state be electric ...

• Tuesday Is Election Day Update To Last Friday

  by RevBigJohn Nov 1
    Next Tuesday is Election Day. With the election on the horizon, legislators nationwide are in full last-minute campaign mode. Congress may have its eyes already turned toward election results, but we will follow up on ou...

• It's Not Just Bikers...

  by RevBigJohn Oct 25
  Two recent news stories demonstrate that the issues motorcyclists care about also impact all Americans. Concerns about a pair of items, both parts of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) legislative agenda, are making news… and not in a good way. First, fears are increasing that guardrails...

• Pa. Senate Passes Bill to Extend Lemon Law Protections to Motor

  by RevBigJohn Oct 19
  Pa. Senate Passes Bill to Extend Lemon Law Protections to Motorcycles The Senate unanimously approved legislation that would extend Pennsylvania’s Lemon Law protections to cover motorcycles. Senate Bill 155 now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration. Pennsylvania...

• 50 Years Of Motorcyclist Rights

  by RevBigJohn Oct 18
  Easyriders magazine editor Lou Kimsey made a plea in issue #3, October 1971, for bikers to unite to fight impending restrictions by joining a new national organization called the National Custom Cycle Organization. However, because of a conflict with the acronym, the name was changed in February 197...

• Freedom Of Choice

  by RevBigJohn Oct 16
  Wear A Helmet If You Want To Wear One Earlier today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a study claiming that since the mid-1970s more than 20,000 motorcyclists would have survived crashes had they been ...

• It's CARB ...It's Always CARB

  by RevBigJohn Oct 11
  This week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced the rescheduled date for a hearing regarding “On-Road Motorcycle Emission Standards and Test Procedures and Adoption of New On-Board Diagnostics and Zero-Emission Motorcycle Requirements.” As you may r...

• 40th Anniversary Recap

  by RevBigJohn Oct 4
  The last weekend in September, Freedom of Road Riders hosted the 40th Annual Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) Meeting of the Minds, in St. Louis, Missouri. This annual event allows motorcyclists’ rights advocates the chance to share the legislative accomplishments of ...

• Automated Taxi Mayhem

  by RevBigJohn Oct 2
  To Err Is Human - To Really Muck Up Requires A Computer Two self-driving taxi companies embarrassingly made news this week. First, while Vice-President Kamala Harris was in San Francisco, her travel was interrupted when a Waymo...

• IIHS Studies Distracted Driving

  by RevBigJohn Sep 27
  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released details of a recent study on driver behavior when using vehicles with levels of automation. The study, done in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, should raise the eyebrows of those char...

• 40th Annual Meeting of the Minds September 26 - 29, 2024

  by RevBigJohn Sep 24
  When To Be Where: Event Registration will be open on Thursday (9/26) from 3pm to 7pm in the HUB. At 7pm on Thursday we will have Meet The States in the Concourse Ballroom and socializing everywhere. Event Registration will re-...

• Internal Combustion - A Hot Topic

  by RevBigJohn Sep 23
  Recently, at both the state and federal levels, lawmakers have been fighting against the effort to kill the internal combustion engine (ICE). This past Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J. Res 136. The vote was 215 in favor and 191 opposed. The resolution blo...

• The MPP Survey Continues To Produce Valuable Data

  by RevBigJohn Sep 18
  One of the tools the MRF used to get the Anti-Motorcyclist-Profiling Resolutions passed in Congress was the Profiling Survey at the Motorcycle Profiling Project (MPP). This quick and easy survey is renewed yearly with no personal information collected and only about four to f...

• It's Late, But... Not Too Late To Register

  by RevBigJohn Sep 16
  The “early bird” deadline has passed.  However, it’s not too late to register for Meeting of the Minds 2024. The MRF celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Meeting of the Minds and opens the book on motorcyclists’ rights activism for the next 40 years!  Sixteen inf...

• Musical Chair (people)

  by RevBigJohn Sep 13
   6-year term limit Republicans place on committee heads. Chairman Graves is considering seeking a waiver to remain the top Republican on the committee, but it is unclear if he will receive that extension. If he is unsuccessful, several other committee Republicans have announced their plans to j...

• MRF Says Protect Right To Repair

  by RevBigJohn Sep 6
  MRF Says Protect Right To Repair.'   Congress has been on vacation for seven (7) weeks, but the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) never takes a vacation; we will not stop fighting for the rights of bikers. This week, Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, President of the MRF, sent a let...

• Contributions Of The MRF PAC

  by RevBigJohn Aug 30
  With election season in full swing, it is a prime opportunity to talk a little about the Motorcycle Riders Foundation Political Action Committee (MRF PAC). The MRF PAC is an entity that raises money and then disburses those funds to candidates for federal office. The MRF PAC...

• 40th Annual Meeting of the Minds September 26 - 29, 2024

  by RevBigJohn Aug 28
  Registration DeadlineFast Approaching The September 4 deadline for Meeting of the Minds early registration, is fast approaching. If you have not registered, now is the time to do so. MRF and ABATE of Kansas member, Tammy Rails...

• Dave Cazel 1947-2024

  by RevBigJohn Aug 26
  The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) recently lost a great champion. Dave Cazel passed away on July 28, 2024. Dave was unassuming and did most of his work “behind the scenes." He was not particularly flamboyant or outspoken. That was evident by his self-introduction as simply, “Cazel."...

• California Updates Of Interest

  by RevBigJohn Aug 23
  In the last week, two legislative items from California caught our eye. Both issues could impact not only those who live, work or visit the Golden State, but could have lasting impacts across the nation. First, as the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) reported earlier this ...

• Support The REPAIR Act!

  by RevBigJohn Aug 20
  Renew Call To ActionH. R. 906(Update - Link Fixed) The REPAIR Act, H. R. 906 remains in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. This 52 Representative committee has someone from most US States and they need to move this leg...

• MRF Responds To NHTSA Survey

  by RevBigJohn Aug 16
  Last week, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) submitted comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a proposed survey of biker’s thoughts on motorcycle avoidance technology. The MRF submitted comments highlighting two areas of a propose...