Clubs

Why are there not more motor bicycling clubs? As this hobby grows in popularity it seems that each state or local areas would do well have organized clubs. The reason being is that right now it seems everybody is kinda on there own out there to fight for there rights to ride. When many people come together to use many voices as one regarding laws and legislation, your are more apt to have things go your way. Clubs can be more effecient petioning law makers to make sensible law and clubs can also make much more noise if a fellow rider has been wrongly prosecuted under state or local law. Some clubs might even have the financial resources to employ there own lawyer or lobbyist. Just seems to me that this hobby needs to find a way to organize in the interest of protecting this hobby and making it better for the future by using a collective voice to promote good change in law and regulations.
Just get tired of reading post where someone is getting harrassed or threatened even if they are within the laws. Stuff like that just drives people away. If those people were apart of a large club or organization with a collective voice out to protect there rights to ride...I think that we would have less of our fellow riders getting harrassed. So I encourage you to think about starting a club in your state or local area. Know the laws and stand up when you are being bullied by a bored cop with too much time on his or her hands and thank those good cops who take the time to know the law a treat you respectfully!

Actually Illinois laws are not that bad in my opinion regarding motorized bicycles aside from the 20 mph restriction. Most of the problems I read about really just amount to some officer that is not really informed on the actual laws and wants to lump a motorized bike in with scooters and mopeds when they actually just fall under the bicycle laws with some added restrictions for bikes that have added electric or gas motors.

I fly model airplanes and purchase a yearly membership through the AMA. The AMA basicly acts as a voice for the membership as a whole and it is their job to make the public, state and local officials aware of the guidlines we follow. It is also there job to try to disway legislation and laws that would hurt that particular hobby. I guess my point is just that it would be nice if the motorbicyling community had something like that on there side. Someone or some recognized body who's job it is to make sure that law enforcement knows and is highly informed when we are operating within the boundries of the law or help to craft new legislation that is more favorable for areas with heavier restrictions on motorized bikes..

Clubs could do this on a local level without a whole lot of effort while a national organazation could tackle the state laws or any federal regulations that might harm this hobby.

Perhaps as the popularity of motor bicycling grows..which I believe it will. Maybe it will become very feasable in the future for such an organization to exist. Be nice to know that if my bike collection were to someday become as large as my RC model airplane fleet...that I would still be protected under the current laws to be able to ride my motorized bikes without getting harrassed from law enforcement.