Overseas News
Biking around the world
Serious sentencing in the USA
Michigan: The Van Buren Township man who struck and killed a popular motorcyclist in July was sentenced on to 13 1/2 to 30 years in prison.
William Floyd Craner, 45, pleaded 'no contest' to the second-degree murder of Tony Quasarano.
Quasarano, 46, of Romulus, was riding alongside three other bikers, including his wife, Cindy, on Michigan Avenue when Craner hit him.
Craner, whose blood-alcohol level was more than double the legal state limit, was attempting to outrun police after he caused a minor accident moments earlier on Michigan Avenue near Beck Road.
After leading police on a two-mile chase in his older-model Camaro, Craner crashed into the married father of three and threw him from his bike. Canton and Van Buren police captured Craner's chase on tape.
'The sentencing was perfectly appropriate given the facts of the case,' said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran.
'The facts are that he was drinking and driving, fleeing from the police and had already hit someone else.'
If a jury had convicted him, Craner could have faced life in prison. Moran said he wasn't shocked by his plea.
'He had horrible facts against him,' he said. 'He didn't have a lot of room to defend his actions.'
More than two dozen members of the Motor City HOG club, of which Quasarano was a member, were at Craner's sentencing.
Cindy Quasarano read a statement about her husband, also known as 'Tony Q.'
'My daughter will never have her father walk her down the aisle,' she said.
Craner apologised to the Quasarano family for his actions.
'His apology is like a day late and a dollar short but it's the one thing I appreciate about the man,' Cindy Quasarano said. 'I really didn't want to sit through a trial.'
Puerto Rico hears bikers' protest - Mandatory clothing law goes back on the peg
A day after being implemented, the toughest motorcycle law in the country was suspended by Puerto Rico's legislature after bikers protested the onerous new rules.
Among the requirements riders on the sun-soaked tropical island would have had to wear gloves, boots and long pants. In addition to the required riding gear, the law would also have forced operators of all two-wheeled motor vehicles, to wear reflective vests from 6 pm - 6 am. The US territory already has a helmet law. The new law also slashes the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) for motorcycle riders to .02, the same as for school bus and commercial truck drivers, down from .08 allowed for car drivers.
No one under 18 is allowed to operate a motorcycle, and no one under 12 is allowed to ride as a passenger. The Caribbean island also enacted a tougher licensing process and increased fees for motorcycle endorsements and registrations. Lane-sharing to filter through heavy traffic is now specifically prohibited.
Motorcycle and scooter registrations in Puerto Rico have more than doubled since 2000, and sponsors of the measure say the tougher regulations are in response to increasing numbers of accidents and fatalities.
Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila signed the bill into law on Wednesday, October 10, amid the roar of hundreds of bikers revving by his San Juan residence in protest, and on Thursday the legislature moved to temporarily suspend the new law. The Senate unanimously backed a moratorium on the law until Feb18, and the House approved plans to delay its implementation for at least three months, as legislators told the Associated Press they need more time to consult scooter and motorcycle enthusiasts who object to the stricter rules.
The lady is the boss
Former bikers rights activist Pepper Massey who for many years was political co-ordinator at the Ntional Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) has now been confirmed as the permanent Director of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The largest motorcycle event in the world which attracts between a quarter and a half million riders from all around the world takes a lot of organising.
'It is a great opportunity for me to make a difference in my community, which I care deeply about, and in the Rally, which I'm passionate about," said Massey. "Of course the focus will be on the Rally's growth, in both attendance and revenue, however equally important is keeping the event vital."
Sports bikes in US spotlight
Riders of supersport motorcycles have a death rate that's three times as high as the overall average for motorcyclists, according to recent studies in the USA.
There were 22.5 deaths per 10,000 registered supersport motorcycles in 2005, compared to 7.5 deaths per 10,000 for all types of motorcycles, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Supersport bike sales in the USA have risen 83 percent in the last 5 years. Overall bike sales rose 51 percent.
EU backs French 100bhp limit
While the MAG UK-led opposition to the 100bhp proposal in the 1990s resulted in the defeat of a Europe-wide limit, the French government have long imposed a limit of their own. Some blame the highly publicised race between the French super train and a magazine journalist on a super bike which the bike just managed to win.
Efforts by French bikers to get the French limit overturned have focussed on the inconsistency in the application of EU law which their government's stance illustrates.
The French Association of Angry Bikers (FFMC -- Federation Francaise des Motards en Colere) who are members of European umbrella group FEMA took the French state to the European courts over the issue. The European Commission has ruled however that France is within its legal rights to limit motorcycle power to 100 horsepower.
'Apparently, having uniform laws in Europe applies to anything except motorcycles,' said the FFMC about the ruling. The EC stated that each country could impose its own restrictions.
The FFMC countered that an extensive study by Dutch TNO showed no correlation between accidents and motorcycles with more than 100bhp. There is no restriction on cars and no restriction of foreigners riding higher power bikes in France. Many French bikers who want very high powered bikes are thought to register them abroad and ride them on foreign plates.
Turkey joins FEMA
FEMA welcomes new Member from Turkey Enduro Motorcycle Club Association - EMOK
The Federation now represents 24 national riders, organisations in 19 countries.
EMOK was created in 2002 in Istanbul to represent and defend the rights of riders, raise awareness on motorcycle issues, and share knowledge and culture among riders from different regions and countries.
The association is actively campaigning against crash barriers - which are too often deadly for motorcyclists - and traffic tolls. It is working on several other central issues such as speed limits, the elimination of black spots on the roads and the need for appropriate road accident statistics. EMOK also strongly emphasises the need for appropriate training and has developed several motorcycle courses.
Road ban blocked
Scores of angry bikers packed into city council chambers to protest at a proposed ban on motorcycles in a fashionable section of downtown Delray Beach in southern Florida.
After hearing testimony from the riders, city officials voted unanimously to amend a noise abatement law already in place that would place stiff fines on noisy motorcycles. They also decided to commission a study to find out how much of the noise on Atlantic Avenue can be blamed on motorcycles.
The proposed ordinance would have prohibited motorcycles from 7 am to 11pm on five blocks of shops and restaurants along Atlantic Avenue, in response to numerous complaints about noisy motorcycles cruising the cafe-lined corridor.
Sound bites
Tokyo, Japan: A Japanese biker failed to notice his leg had been severed below the knee when he hit a safety barrier after losing control on a bend. After the crash, he rode on another mile or so, leaving a friend to pick up the missing limb. He was taken to a hospital but the leg was too damaged to re-attach.
Michigan: A biker was arrested after whizzing through a small town at 137 mph. He told police he was just trying to get to work on time and he was running late. He was stopped at 3:35 AM a few miles north of Detroit. He earned a place on the town's bulletin board called the 'Wall of Fame.' Seems 137 mph is a new record for them. His speed, by the way, made him really late for work, since he wound up in the slammer for awhile.
Fukuok, Japan: A man arrested for riding a motorcycle while naked has told investigators that he was furious after getting into an argument with his girlfriend, police said.
Hirofumi Sato, 27, a truck driver from Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, stands accused of indent exposure. Sato rode a motorcycle in the nude in Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, from about 1 am for several minutes, local police said.
Michigan: Despite a likely veto from Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the state House again passed a bill that would allow some motorcycle riders to go without a helmet.
Legislation with a similar theme passed the Legislature last year, but Granholm rejected it, citing safety concerns. This year's version, which passed the House 69-39, is a little different and more restrictive but probably still won't get Granholm's support. The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it has to pass before it can reach Granholm's desk.
The legislation would allow riders to pay a $100 annual state permit fee to allow them to opt out of wearing a helmet. Bikers also could pay $200 for three years.
Motorcyclists also would have to be at least 21 years old, have two years experience and complete safety training. They would have to carry at least $20,000 in personal injury health insurance to ride without a helmet.
Riding helmet-less without a permit would result in a $500 fine. A group called American Bikers Aiming Toward Education has tried to overturn Michigan's mandatory helmet law for years. The group says that riders should have a choice, and that states that allow riders to go without helmets have an edge over Michigan in drawing tourists.
Australia: A child safety advocate has called for laws banning children under 16 from riding motorcycles after a three-year-old boy was fatally injured in a crash on a western Victorian farm.
Kidsafe Victoria president Mark Stokes said. 'The reality is that children under 12 do not have the developed strength or motor skills to handle motorbikes and riders also need to develop a greater maturity and sense of judgment, road safety and responsibility.'
Great Escape stuntman dies
Bud Ekins, the stuntman who doubled for Steve McQueen in the iconic motorcycle-jump scene in The Great Escape, has died aged 77.
Ekins was a pioneering off-road motorcycle champion when, in 1962, McQueen, a friend and mentor, asked him to come to Germany to do stunt riding for the filming of the World War II prison camp-escape epic.
A competition motorcycle rider and racecar driver himself, McQueen performed some of the motorcycle stunts in the movie. However, it was Ekins, doubling for the star, who performed the daredevil stunt in which a POW fleeing on a motorcycle jumps the bike over a barbed-wire fence. A website about the movie lists among the anachronism that the bike which jumped the barbed wire fence was a Triumph 650cc which had not at that time been manufactured.
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