An Open Letter to All MC Organizations - We Can Help!

There are 241,440 registered motorcycles in New York State and probably more than a few unregistered. There are 5,625 registered in Oneida Co.-1,996 in Herkimer Co.-1,984 in Madison Co. and 6,816 in Onondaga Co. (Figures are as of 2003) There are approximately 535,000 licensed motorcyclists in New York State.

ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Toward Education) of New York Inc. is a motorcycle rights organization working to insure that the rights of all motorcyclists are not infringed upon by unwarranted legislation, motorcycle discrimination, negative publicity, inordinate mandates and the ubiquitous Helmet Law.

There are countless motorcycle clubs in New York. Most of those clubs are comprised of people just like us. They love to ride. They work and raise families and join clubs to be with people who understand the joy of riding with the wind in their hair. When they take their vacations, more likely than not, they take them in one of the 30 helmet-free states.

Wouldn’t it be great to visit the beautiful Hudson River Valley, the Finger Lakes Region or the Thousand Islands some day without that useless accessory, the helmet, which just might do its job if you maintain a speed of 13 mph? Of course even at that gentle speed your hearing and peripheral vision will be impaired and your neck will be at greater risk because of that mandated and falsely named ‘safety equipment’.

In a perfect world, all the motorcycle clubs would come together to form a super club and call it the “New York State Coalition of Motorcycle Clubs”.

Since we live in an imperfect world, we can only hope that some day these guys will look around and say “Hey, there are over half a million of us and only 212 of them (New York State Legislators); why are we still wearing these things?

On May 16, 2005, hundreds of ABATE members and sympathizers will ride into Albany, right up to the Capitol in a helmet free protest. Join us if you can. We welcome all bikes and bikers and we need you, as much as you need us. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t wear your colors.

Any person whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with may institute and prosecute a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief including the award of compensatory monetary damages The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Cohen V. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971) that individuals have the constitutional right under the First Amendment to wear clothing which displays writings or designs. In addition, the right of an individual to freedom of association has long been recognized and protected by the United States Supreme Court Thus, a person's right to wear the clothing of his choice, as well as his right to belong to any club or organization of his choice is constitutionally protected, and persons or establishments who discriminate on the basis of clothing or club membership are subject to lawsuit.