Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126031
hat the Feds don'tknow ••• Stalking the corridors of power, hallways of influence, & broomclosets of persuasion in search of enlightenment By John Huetter Washington D.C. is a place wh ere your powe r level - within th e many-l ayered political p roc ess - is read and weighed like a Beverl y Hills Rolls Royce deale r evalu ates your bank balance. And th e results are often the same. If you've got it, you're in. If yOll don' t ... well, there 's this kind o f at titu de of "Wh at are yo u doing her e?" In effec t. an institutional sneer. My a ppo in t me nt to the Tra n sp o rtat io n Adv iso ry Committee of the Federal En ergy Ad mi nis t rat io n garn er ed m e a pl an e ticket two months back and a nice letter from e nerg y czar Frank Zarb inviting me to co me "advise " . What my quic k and tentat ive ven t ure into t he policy -making arena revealed to m e is th at peopl e wh o relate to motorcy cle s don ' t have any po wer, m inim al in flue nce o n Ad m inistratio n policy- making, and persuas io n at th e nuisan ce level -'- largely after th e fac t in attempts to lessen t he negative impact of th e n ew law or policy. Dam n lit tl e of that, even. Ther e are tw o reasons fo r the ineffec tiveness of motorc ycle int erests, and a third , more su btle o ne w hich is the reason I sat d o wn to wri te st ill o ne more of these long, word y articl es without an y snappy pictures that y o u usu all y skip over on the Op -Ed p ages of "Cycle News." You know , the o nes with the gen eral theme: "We 've go tta ge t organized" or " Sto p th e govern ment rip-off'!" First, motorcycli st s have h ist orically been unorgani zed (it's not a team sport) , kept a low profile , an d had little visibility or interest to th e general public. In only five years motorcycling's profile h as become h ighl y and sharply etched on the public co nscious ne ss, o ne way o r ano ther, bu t is st ill un organi zed . o f te n wi th ve ry n arro w and con flic ting jobs": o ne o f th e m o st sacro sanct o f definitions of self-in terest within the disor gan ization. It 's still not a te am spor t. Second, the American motor cycling industry is lar gely n on-Am eri can. It is therefore an easy target for re gul at ion and prohibition eith er b y Exec u tive Order or by th e Congress becau se it's not te rribly o bvio us th at such restrict ion s "are takin g away Am erican co ngre ssio nal sac red cows. On top of th at, the major importers from J ap an hav e a national tradition of industry acquiesci ng to governme n t. What must confus e th e J apanese manufacturer s is th at the y hav e not been invited to help in formulating the de cisions on either a formal or informal basis sin ce t hat, very cru dely . is how (Con t inu ed on page 23 ) Multi-front Action Manual You riders in Idaho and Oregon, see inside for your state's legislative guide: names and addresses of your local representatives keyed to district maps of yonr state . Save them, as sure as death and taxes you'll need them sometime soon. When it comes down to a political row, you 've got nothing but a list of addresses in your hand if you 're not dialed in to the one or more organizations in your state that try to stay ahead of the legislative/administrative steamroller in your behalf. In Idaho, one such organization is the Idaho Trail Machine Assoc., Inc., P.O. Box 1023, Twin Falls, Idaho 8330 I. With upwards of 500 members, their main effort has been directed toward speaking for off-road riders before the various land-management agencies. Tbey are also our source (thanks, gu y s) for Idaho's legislat ive guide. In Oregon, it appears that the state dealer's association has been at least semi-active in times of crisis. So one of the nrst places to become aware is your favorite dealer's shop. At least you'll lear n how aware that particular dealer is and how interested be/she is in your right to ride. Further info o n Oregon's government structure can be had by sending 52 to the Office of the Secretary of State, Rm. 122, State Capitol Bldg., Salem, OR. 97310, and asking for a copy of the Oregon Blue Book. 19