Letter Of The Month: Defending Freedoms

I have the deepest respect and admiration for [AMA Off-Highway Government Affairs Manager] Steve Salisbury and the AMA staff who support efforts defending riders’ rights and access to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and the issuance of an AMA Action Alert for public comments on this issue. You are my heroes!

I am a Life Member of AMA with a lot of years on a bike, and 21 years of specific experience riding on and off road in southern Utah. These lands are incredibly beautiful and fun to visit on two wheels, but they are complicated and treacherous. The associated public land management politics are equally complicated and treacherous.

The recent “redesignation” of the public lands contained within the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument affords an opportunity to address both on-road and off-road access inequities that exist.

When I asked for Steve Salisbury’s help in getting more public comments representing motorcyclists for a new management plan, he delivered!

A few days following my interactions with Steve, I received my April 2018 American Motorcyclist and found the article with Steve and Rob Dingman meeting with Rick May, senior adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The article listed the points they discussed, and I felt that they had read my mind from my years of personal experience here in Utah. It only reinforces that our organization has an understanding of reality and is actively pursuing solutions.

I hope all our actions lead to more opportunities for responsible riding on public land. Thank you AMA for your leadership and effort!

Bill Weppner | Escalante, Utah

Bill, we could not agree more. While the AMA acknowledges that no single recreation type is appropriate for every setting, there are certainly many places where responsible OHV use can exist in harmony with other uses, while preserving important natural and cultural resources.

Supporting Dealers

I read and agreed with Rob Dingman’s “Support Your Local Dealer” in the April issue. I have three different brands, and my favorite dealership is an Indian dealer. I didn’t even buy my bike from them, and they treat me and everyone who walks through their doors like VIPs.

I’d like to give kudos to CCM of Northern Kentucky in Walton for keeping the great dealership experience alive.

Bill Bellan
AMA Life Member
Union, Ky.

The Fastest!

I am a member of only three organizations. The AMA, of course, is the fastest. I’m wearing my new AMA gear that I just received today. Proud to show my support, on and off my 2016 Yamaha FZ-07. Ride safe, always!

Tim Marsh Mojave Desert, Calif.

Remembering Curtiss

Thank you for the piece in the April issue honoring motorcycle and aviation pioneer and innovator, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Glenn Curtiss. Too often we modern era cyclists fail to give credit to the perseverance, bravery and risks taken by those early century “daredevils.”

As a huge fan of aircraft my entire life, I owe doubly due to G.C. His company’s P-40 “Warhawk” was my favorite WWII fighter even as a mere child, and now, every time I twist the grip on one of my performance cycles, I have to think of Curtiss as well because he is touted as the inventor of said throttle style.

A few years back, I honored Glenn Curtiss and the P-40 “Flying Tigers” squadron in a custom motorcycle created from a ZX-10 Kawasaki and parts off an R1 Yamaha. Yes, I get the irony of Japanese bikes memorializing an American aircraft designed to shoot down, among others, the Kawasaki Ki -61 Swallow…such is the folly of history.

Ben Getz | Moses Lake, Wash.

Enjoy Riding

I always enjoy reading my American Motorcyclist, but I really enjoyed the “Ride to Good Hope” article by Rick Wheaton and the “Go Ride! Have Fun!” article in the April issue.

Thanks for the good work.

Steve Larrabee
AMA No. 88247

Political Drivers

I am writing in response to a letter in the March issue from Mr. Forst about ethanol stating, “The fuels that Americans are using today, and will be using in the future, are changing for many reasons—environmental, economical, practical and even logical. It is time to get these machines running well with whatever the Environmental Protection Agency or Exxon or anybody else provides.”

Mr. Forst left out the primary reason we have ethanol in our fuel, and that is political. Iowa, for example, can trace $5 billion in the state’s economy and 47,000 jobs directly to corn-based ethanol.

I sincerely hope the AMA or anybody, for that matter, never simply lays down to take whatever the EPA decides is good for us. The EPA is supposed to be working for us, not dictating foolish fuel requirements to prop up corn interests/prices.

Bob Leseberg | Walnutport, Pa.

Thank you, Bob. While we believe the EPA can—and should—do more with respect to informing the public of higher ethanol fuel-blend risks, ultimately the agency is enforcing Congress’s 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard. That’s why the AMA is focused on passing RFS reform in Congress, limiting ethanol in fuel to 10 percent or less.