Why You Should Join COIR

By Tim Anderson

With the summer winding down, and cold weather certainly on the way, it is time for all of us to take pause and think about what we need to do to protect our option to spend time out prowling back roads on two wheels.

What each of us must do is to carefully consider joining the Coalition Of Independent Motorcyclists.

COIR came to Colorado last spring, a new idea in unifying motorcyclists, giving them one large, unmistakable voice, while maintaining the independence that is at the core of us all.

COIR draws its strength from its membership, which translates into many voices speaking independently, but saying the same thing at the same time. That makes for a very powerful tool when it comes to working with politicians at all levels of government, which is exactly what the motorcyclists of this state need.

COIR is organized via the auspices of the Confederation Of Clubs. This makes sense. The COC has, for the past few years, been at the forefront of protecting the rights and interests of Colorado motorcyclists. The COC has been vigilant and proactive, two things that must be done to protect our interests.

To their credit, the COC leadership realized that they needed to bring you, the independent motorcyclist into the game in order to achieve lasting success. Additionally, what affects one part of our community eventually affects all of us.

“No Me,” you may be saying. To that we say, “You’re wrong.”

It’s on the other side of the world, but Australia currently provides the best example of how things grow to affect us all. The various Australian governments have been waging war against that nation’s one percent clubs for some time now. One of the results has been a series of laws originally targeting those clubs. Laws forbidding the wearing of colors and other types of clothing have grown into an outright ban on any kind of motorcycle patch. Presumably, that includes HOG, H-D, and church club regalia. People are going to jail for wearing these items. There is also a ban on motorcycles even being in some cities, traveling some roads, or being out at certain hours.

Really?

Sad but true. There are many more instances of what is going on there, too much to detail here, but the point is runaway laws originally intended for one purpose have grown to now threaten riding or even owning a motorcycle in Australia.

“That won’t happen here,” you say.

Look only as far as Florida, where the state wanted to make motorcycle forfeiture part of the penalty in some cases for not having a license plate mounted in a prescribed manner. That provision has been toned down, but it’s out there.

Another example is far more common. Clothing. It used to be that “no colors” was a pretty clear directive. As wrong as we believe it is, it used to be clear. Not anymore. “No Colors” now means pretty much any patch or brand or logo management wants it to. And it has always been subjective. Why are some church clubs banned and others not? Why will a HOG patch keep you out of some establishments? Why are cop clubs generally not included? It is an easy way to discriminate is why. Either all motorcycle clothing is welcome, or it’s not. At least that’s the way it should be.

Think this is an extreme perspective? Think again. There is a story in this issue of Scooter News detailing how a Kingman, Arizona, man was kicked out of a drag racing event being held on public property because the promoters, not the city, had a “no colors” policy. His violation? He was wearing a Harley-Davidson vest. No patches of any kind. Yet he was removed.

Closer to home, think about Denver’s nasty noise ordinance a minute. Is a $500 fine appropriate? That’s more than the average DUI fine in Colorado. Do Denverites really value their serene, tranquil city (HA!) that much? Doubtful. It certainly appears that the ordinance is more a move designed to keep bikes out of all, or part of the city. The same is happening in other cities everywhere.

Another problem is ignorance and public perception. Face it, John Q. Public doesn’t know the difference between a big bad group of predatory thugs and you, the average biker who like to go get the wind in you hair whenever possible.

Need Proof? There was a scuffle at the Nut Run September 20. The Windsor Beacon, apparently a beacon of outstanding journalism in that part of the world, reported that a laundry list of “biker Clubs” were involved in the incident. The list included riding associations, church groups, veteran’s groups, and naturally, the 1%ers, just to scare everyone. These were all listed together in one sentence, thereby making them all the same. Never mind that if it were true there certainly would have been more to report, the Beacon didn’t even try to differentiate, or even get it right. The cub reporter, or hausfrau, or just plain bad editor responsible for the story heard biker fight, was fed a little info, and ran with it. Thanks to the internet, Severance is now the capitol of biker violence, and we were all involved. So the next time you ride through rural Weld County, or maybe some other county, you may be considered a “biker gang member.” Thank the Beacon for that, because you’re not going to change the way many people think anytime soon.

You wanted to wear leather and ride a motorcycle. Now you know you like it. Now you need to be aware there are people who don’t want you to like it, and don’t want you to ride. Like it or not, you, and everyone else who rides, is being painted with a brush that colors us all as undesirable, unworthy and less than.

We are not defending any club or organization. Like any other group, they are able to do that on their own when needed. We are saying that all of us, everyone who rides, need to take a slightly more active role in making sure we are still able to enjoy riding a motorcycle when we want to, be it in twenty years or next year.

Joining COIR does not put you in a club. The clubs don’t want that. The clubs want you to be independent, to enjoy riding. The structure of COC with its more than 40 member organizations, and its affiliation with NCOM, lends it to taking a leadership role and facilitating a watchdog role. () That’s what is happening with US Defenders and COIR.

All that’s missing is you. We urge you to at least visit the COC barbeque October 11 at the River Rats VFW at 2190 S. Platte River Drive in Denver and mingle a little. In the interest of disclosure, Scooter News has been and associate member of the COC for some years, but that is not the reason for this endorsement; the potential effectiveness of COIR as a lobbying group is the reason.

Find out a little about COIR, and how important you role could be with what is really very little effort. If you can’t make it to the barbeque, visit the COC website: Colorado-coc.com and check it out. The people who want to keep you off motorcycles are out there, and they are coming. Fortunately, you have the opportunity to stop them.