A Visit To ABATE.

Today I am in Indianapolis, IN, and later this Saturday I will make an appearance at the Liberty ABATE of Illinois. I am a guest at their 21st anniversary party, and it’s a good pretext to tell you a little bit about this national coalition dedicated to preserving the rights of all motorcyclists and educating about motorcycling and safety. First, for those who don’t know, ABATE means “American Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education” or “American Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments”.  The main objective of ABATE is to "Educate, Not Legislate." They believe in the education of all who are involved with motorcycling, including but not limited to, their own members, legislators, law enforcement officials and the general public. Education topics include motorcycle safety and awareness, current laws that affect riders and pending legislation that could change the way you enjoy your freedoms. ABATE also encourages their members to help with community charity events, and always promote a positive image of motorcyclists. There are ABATE chapters all over the US (Google ABATE & your state) and I encourage you to be a member and participate (This image was published in the early 70’s by Easyriders Magazine. It says ".Maybe now you ‘ll think twice about riding without a helmet")  

7 Responses to “A Visit To ABATE.”


  1. 1 Ryan Feb 16th, 2008 at 8:02 am

    To everyone out there who hasn’t had a chance to meet Cyril, let me tell you he is one of the greats. I had the pleasure yesterday of spending a couple of hours with him and he’s incredible. Being able to talk with someone so intelligent about the motorcycle industry as well as the world in general is a delight, and everyone in our group pulled me aside last nite to tell me how much they enjoyed meeting and talking with him over dinner. I only hope Cyril enjoyed himself half as much as we did.
    Ryan a member of Liberty A.B.A.T.E. of Illinois Inc.

  2. 2 goldiron Feb 16th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    Cyril,
    Have a great time at the Liberty ABATE 21st Anniversary.
    Mike

  3. 3 ROGUE Feb 17th, 2008 at 10:54 am

    I am one of the original founders of ABATE and have been active in it through the years.
    I think most state ABATE organizations do a Very Good Job of helping to protect motorcyclist rights.
    I am sorry to say that I can not say that is the case for every state.
    At this time myself and many others feel that ABATE of Florida due to the actions of their president and paid lobbiest “DOC” are one of those states.
    I will be explaining this more in detail in Media soon to be released.
    It is my recommendation that all motorcyclist use information they get from ABATE, American Motorcycle Association and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation to make decisions on all the things that affect us as riders and contact your legislators personally to let them know how you feel.
    I am hopefull that ABATE of Florida will solve the problems that are going on and once again become a voice of the motorcycle riders of this state.
    I am sure that there will be some in the organization that will disagree with me BUT that is to be expected. It is up to the membership to decide if they wish this organization to continue as it has been or change leadership and make constructive changes in the state that benefit all riders and not special interest groups.
    ROGUE

  4. 4 goldiron Feb 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    Back in the beginning of ABATE when it was A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments, the members were tough and unified. They were not doing charity rides nor were they politically corrected. ABATE didn’t take crap from anybody. Now they serve shit sandwiches with all the condiments.

    Quick straightforward solution. Stop bringing people on your membership roles that do nothing but occupy barstools on poker runs and charity runs. Probate the membership based upon performance. The legislatures and courts are a fight, not a video game where you get to replay it over and over again. The legislatures are not places of back room deals that single out riders because of the style of motorcycle they ride nor where they ride it.

    It is necessary to be committed to what you want and surround yourself with equally committed people in the organization.

    Riding for other causes that lobby against motorcycles and motorcyclists is intolerable. You are fighting yourself if you allow it.

    Whether you ride on the road or off road or both, you have the same united cause.

  5. 5 Big Bend BIkers For Freedom Feb 18th, 2008 at 12:26 am

    We and others have been documenting not just the betrayal of Bikers rights in Florida by the current President of ABATE of FLorida but his oppression of individual rights within his own organization for close to two years now.

    I would not pretend to Judge all ABATES or all ABATE members by the actions of this individual as I know many sincere, committed and hard working members. It’s a shame that in Florida their biggest enemy is themselves.

    We can only hope that Rouge being the long standing respected Rights advocate that he has been can instill some action in those who remain afraid.

    For the good of all of us ABATE must return to that which it once was. Let us pray it is not to late.
    rc

  6. 6 goldiron Feb 18th, 2008 at 1:25 am

    When it comes to national issues with the MRF and with the newcomer AMA (johnny come lately) there has been negligible, perceptible performance on the issues.

    Giant egos have thwarted unity throughout the years. Combine that with funded divisiveness infused into the motorcycling community not only perpetrated by the manufacturers, the governments, medical profession and insurance interests but also by current paid lobbyists within SMROs.

    Separatism started long ago with the exclusion of the riders of non Harley bikes. Funny how these early prejudices have come to bite us in the ass.

    How soon do you propose unity amongst all bikers on how few issues?

    There is the strength in numbers. Simplify the issues and give it an umbrella tagline.

    Do you feel that herding dirt bikers, racers, ricers and cruisers and with Goldwingers and Beemer riders under one banner is tough? The media doesn’t and neither does the government. We all take the punishment everytime it is doled out by them.

    Often times amongst us we are too ready to point the finger at one of our sub groups as being the problem thinking that it is all good and that we personally are golden. We are responsible for each and every rider on the road at this point and we have shirked that responsibility.

    We have let manufacturers dictate this separatism. For example, take a look at any manufacturer sponsored rider group and look at their nonexistent list of accomplishments in the arena of political or legislative action for motorcyclist’s rights. At best, they have churned out thousands of riders that have supported charities that openly and covertly actively and passively lobby against us.

    At this point in time, there are many riders that choose to wear a helmet. Some wear one for weather protection, others for a fashion statement and still others truly believe that they will save their lives. These people will fight neither the device nor the laws incurring a limitation of liberties. Worse yet, the politically correct will compromise most everything because “they just ride”.

    Currently we have absolutely no trigger issue that will unify all of us other than the absconding of awareness funds. Can we blow this up? Probably. Will we? Probably not. It is the hinge point of all our future motorcycling and this needs to be prosecuted. We need to hang these bastards on the local state and national level starting now. This is the only neutral to all motorcyclist issue that we have.

  7. 7 Nicker Feb 28th, 2008 at 2:01 am

    Goldi,
    Sorry about the late response on this.

    RE:
    “…in the beginning of ABATE when it was A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments, the members were tough and unified…”

    Well, I don’t know anything about ABATE, but have some personal experience with the MMA.

    In the beginning the MMA was focused only on the threatened helmet law. The people that fight drew were that portion of the MC riding public who didn’t want to ware helmets. That was a fairly eclectics group who were willing to throw some money in a pot and hire a lobbyist for one reason and one reason only.

    There were no “Toy Runs” or managing motorcycle PR. That was the AMA’s gig. In CA anyway, the 1% didn’t give a Rosy-rat’s-ass what the rest of the public thought. The adverse reactions were accepted as the price of admission to “biker-dome.”

    Somewhere between the B-rated biker flicks, the CA biker wars, the televised biker funerals, and the new National Gang Task Force, Things started to change. Some places wouldn’t let ya fly colors in town, some towns “encouraged” ya not to hang around. That seems to have instigated the need for better PR.

    I guess the PR worked. About that time more and more “non-motorcycle” people started to get involved. I’m thinking that with this explosion of the riding public came:
    -1- The increasing market for already built custom scooter.
    -2- The diversity of the MC demographic.

    So, it would seem reasonable to expect that trying to organize this diverse group would be sort-a like herding cats.

    Moreover, i’ve personally hear more than one “biker” confess they are more comfortable wearing helmets. And they support the law so that “…everyone else has to ware helmets too, that way I don’t feel out of place…” ( a direct quote, to the best of my recollection).

    In going over the contemporary MMA and ABATE web sights there appears to be no end of “agendas.”

    The one that surprised me the most was the effort to combat “biker discrimination:”

    “….It has come to our attention that business establishments in Arizona may still be discriminating against motorcyclists….sign stating “No Colors”…. “No Motorcycle Attire” etc…..”

    Since when is a restaurant not allowed to establish a dress code…?
    Since when is an employer not allowed to establish an employee dress code….?

    If dress codes are what ABATE and the MMA have degenerated into addressing, they’ll become irrelevant.

    Forget about “…unity amongst all bikers …” it ain’t gonna happen.
    IMHO, anyway.
    Sorry…..:-(

    -nicker-

    The general adverse reaction by the public were

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Cyril Huze