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Anybody else leaving the AMA?

davidji said:
Anybody else leaving the AMA after reading the Revzilla article?
https://www.revzilla.com/common-tre...nation-the-amas-dc-office-is-nearly-unstaffed

I switched my membership from auto renewal, and it will lapse after my 11th year of membership.
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Very interesting and sad. I could go off on a rant, but it would generate more heat than light. I will say that anyone who was surprised by Boehm's verbiage wasn't paying much attention to his tenure at Motorcyclist. I let my subscription to that mag lapse during his time there.
 
The tough question is, is it better to have no voice in motorcycle matters than one with which you may not agree with on personal politics (which the AMA doesn’t lobby on.)

I get that some folks my not have liked his words, and his personal politics…. But what is ultimately better for motorcyclists?

Just my opinion.
 
Funny, obviously I don't read Mitch as closely as others, but his hiring on at the magazine, to me, has been a boon. I like the magazine much better, and it's definitely because of his impact.

I've never seen any real political slant one way or the other. Dingman has been controversial for a long time for all sorts of reasons.

But I'm a 25 year life member, and not planning on leaving anytime soon.

The organization is more than just a couple of people, even folks like Dingman.
 
berth said:
Funny, obviously I don't read Mitch as closely as others, but his hiring on at the magazine, to me, has been a boon. I like the magazine much better, and it's definitely because of his impact.

I've never seen any real political slant one way or the other. Dingman has been controversial for a long time for all sorts of reasons.

But I'm a 25 year life member, and not planning on leaving anytime soon.

The organization is more than just a couple of people, even folks like Dingman.
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I am of the same mind. Mitch is solid and has done a good job with the Magazine. I like Mike too. Really sad to see this for me.

The
pushing adult subject matter on elementary school kids without parental knowledge,
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is really the only thing that was stated in the article that could be taken as something some might be objecting too.

The rest is just factual reality that has no political slant to me. There is no way I am leaving the AMA as it has proven to be a benefit to the sometimes rag tag mix of motorcyclist in this country. We so often cannot get out of our own way and don't band together well on very many issues.

The AV thing hit me a few years ago and I pushed it forward with the AMA's help in our Motorcycle Challenge Area only to be told that this was a legislature issue and not one a motorcycle safety committee would address. :(

Heck as a silicon valley homer where so much of the AV development is I thought it was. : |

The Unification Rally in Sac is coming in a few weeks May 21st and the issues shared are varied. We did unify for AB51 (lanesharing lanesplitting bill) and certainly AV's is worthy of that effort as well.


EDIT: Not sure why this would make you leave the AMA David. Care to expand on that decision?
 
Trying to divide your own member base seems unbelievably stupid for the AMA.
 
GAJ said:
Trying to divide your own member base seems unbelievably stupid for the AMA.
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I cannot believe that was the goal. :laughing

An editor threw out some words that may not have been smart. It was not an effort to align with a political ideology. I see it as an attempt to get the AV issue into a more significant amount of peoples mind. As it should be.
 
budman said:
I cannot believe that was the goal. :laughing

An editor threw out some words that may not have been smart. It was not an effort to align with a political ideology. I see it as an attempt to get the AV issue into a more significant amount of peoples mind. As it should be.
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Then an apology should be in order.

We'll see.
 
Whoa. Nick Haris and Damador have done some awesome stuff.
 
GAJ said:
Then an apology should be in order.

We'll see.
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I think he apologized in a later column. I haven't read either one.

Combine the fact that he spewed that nonsense in the first place, and the guy who called him on it got fired, and it looks pretty bad from.my perspective.

Budman can educate me here, but I never felt like they put much energy into making lane-splitting legal. I saw that as mostly driven by other local efforts.

When I felt good about the organization, it was easy to contribute.

I guess it's possible they could change my mind before my membership expires...
 
Nick Haris was one of the big three from our side of the table when talking with Assembly Member Quirk. Surj Gish being the other one. The Coalition of Clubs was an integral part as well. They were the voters that got Quirk to the table to meet us. They continually support the effort in other States now as well.

Nick also is on the CMSP Advisory Committee and engaged in the CHP guidelines with me as well.

Nick has always been my go to for info I need to do my thing sitting on the Motorcycle Challenge area as well. His knowledge base has allowed me to tap into lots of important things for us. Sometimes his position means he has to be tactical where mine allows me to blather Moto passion because nobody is paying me to be there and I don't mind looking a little stupid as a citizen member. :laughing

The ability to bounce some blather stuff off him helps a bunch and has for more than a decade. While the AMA is not perfect (no organization is) it has been really solid on motorcyclist rights and is nationally recognized by people in power as the go to group.

ABATE is also strong for such, but they don't get into offroad access stuff and their constituency is different than the AMA in general. They have a lobbyist in CA who does a great job.

I don't think you will find many Aerostich riders in the mix. However some great people there too that do alot for us. I am happy to support their effort wherever I can. They have sponsored some Bills in CA that are important to a lot of riders not just their own members.

I have much respect for both organizations.
 
What did MB say that wasn’t true? Lol. You rage quitters are probably the same people that made fun of people for quitting butt light… same coin different side. You’ve all gone mad.
Need to check my status, pretty sure I’m a life member haven’t checked because I haven’t raced in years.
 
Since the representation in DC has been cut so deeply, especially experienced representation at that, I don’t feel confident that the AMA will continue to have the ability to adequately represent the general motorcycling public. Unless things change I doubt I’ll renew my membership when it expires in a few years.
 
Sports and motorcycles are two areas of my life where I hope to find an escape from politics, so I fully endorse just not even bringing it up.

I do find it curious that folks around here pick and choose narrow spectrums of categories to rail on. We want to shoot motorcycles thieves on site and Covid-19 deaths required an unprecedented response, but other categories of property crime that are skyrocketing and fentanyl deaths rivaling Covid are "right wing talking points"?
 
… other categories of property crime that are skyrocketing and fentanyl deaths rivaling Covid are "right wing talking points"?
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the “sky is falling” is sorta a tough-on-crime talking point, maybe …

I’ve lived through heroin, crack, just-say-no, AIDS/dirty needles, meth and big pharma oxy. fentanyl now seems to be our omg drug of the moment. something will be along next, I predict—just have to wait a minute.

violent crime is basically non existent in my ‘hood, these days, and can’t say I’ve noticed any change in property crimes for better/worse the last 30 years.

in our club we have a venerable cheer we’ve been giving the upstart AMA from time immemorial, every time their name is mentioned. it’s a vulgar (and insulting) cheer. :laughing

god bless the AMA, anyway. I rejoin any time I need an AMA number, and we’re getting the magazine in my house, recently. latest issue we have isn’t the one with Mr Boehm’s apology, more’s the pity. :facepalm
 
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bigpoppa said:
Since the representation in DC has been cut so deeply, especially experienced representation at that, I don’t feel confident that the AMA will continue to have the ability to adequately represent the general motorcycling public. Unless things change I doubt I’ll renew my membership when it expires in a few years.
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There will be a rebound I am sure and positions will be filled and the AMA will carry on with the good work we need done.

Since I have friends there... the back story is several were already heading out the door to more profitable positions that a non-profit cannot afford to pay. So it was a good for you we will truly miss you kind of thing.

All companies face adversity as times change. I would hope that just because a hiccup occured a lot of people will not write them off.

I have a very strong allegience to the Motorcycling life style that crossed over many branches of it. Mini Bike rider, Hooligan, Dirt and RoadRacer, Biker, older track dude and now sports tourer. All the flavors have left an inprint worth supporting the sport.

moto :nerd
 
I have grown to believe in the value of the "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" school of thought. Whether it's regarding driving, riding, gun ownership, health, reproduction, drug use, et al the result always seems to be more effective, efficient, and longer lasting if it's covered on the front end vs the back end via punishment. Based on the studies and programs I've seen, every one of the items listed above has seen massive improvements if funds are directed education, training, and ongoing support efforts instead of punishment via police/law enforcement.

Look at (Northern) Europe or Japan; longer, more rigorous training (and better maintained roads) helps to keep them among the safest drivers in the world. In the US, most people get licensed without any clue how to properly pilot the majority of daily situations; further, they barely get any training on etiquette (things not necessarily addressed by law but are part of the common understanding, eg relative traffic speed should decrease among each lane right of lane 1; the left lane shouldn't be the "park my ass here until I exit" lane")

The other areas I mentioned are less relevant to the thread, but follow the same idea; access is too easy, missteps aren't corrected, retrained, or supported... only punished.

I wish the US put more emphasis on preparation for the freedoms we have. Our social contract REQUIRES that people not only have their various freedoms, but (more importantly) know how to responsibly exercise them. Circling back to topic, I really would like to see more pushes from organizations like AMA to totally re-tool licensing requirements. THAT is the failure I'm most frustrated with. I have multiple friends that just recently passed MSF/CMSP but didn't get basic (or thorough enough) training to comfortably and confidently hit the roads at large. They were scared to get on the freeway because they'd never gotten training on one or at that speed. They didn't know why certain lights weren't triggering for them or about the concept of "dead red" (though CA doesn't have an actual exception for, but 2-3 cycles is etiquette AFAIK). They didn't know to back into parking spots instead of nosing in. They didn't understand what are the pros/cons of leaning or counter leaning in certain situations. They didn't know the proper etiquette for splitting/filtering. And on and on... I'm not knocking the trainers/programs - they did the job they were tasked with doing and some of these ignorances weren't uncovered, simply under-instilled.
 
jbawden said:
Sports and motorcycles are two areas of my life where I hope to find an escape from politics, so I fully endorse just not even bringing it up.

I do find it curious that folks around here pick and choose narrow spectrums of categories to rail on. We want to shoot motorcycles thieves on site and Covid-19 deaths required an unprecedented response, but other categories of property crime that are skyrocketing and fentanyl deaths rivaling Covid are "right wing talking points"?
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Fentanyl deaths rival Flu.

Not Covid.
 
cg_ops said:
I wish the US put more emphasis on preparation for the freedoms we have. Our social contract REQUIRES that people not only have their various freedoms, but (more importantly) know how to responsibly exercise them. Circling back to topic, I really would like to see more pushes from organizations like AMA to totally re-tool licensing requirements. THAT is the failure I'm most frustrated with. I have multiple friends that just recently passed MSF/CMSP but didn't get basic (or thorough enough) training to comfortably and confidently hit the roads at large. They were scared to get on the freeway because they'd never gotten training on one or at that speed. They didn't know why certain lights weren't triggering for them or about the concept of "dead red" (though CA doesn't have an actual exception for, but 2-3 cycles is etiquette AFAIK). They didn't know to back into parking spots instead of nosing in. They didn't understand what are the pros/cons of leaning or counter leaning in certain situations. They didn't know the proper etiquette for splitting/filtering. And on and on... I'm not knocking the trainers/programs - they did the job they were tasked with doing and some of these ignorances weren't uncovered, simply under-instilled.
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I can speak a bit to the CMSP thing since I am involved.

I think we all know (CHP, DMV. OTS and the stakeholders on the committee) that the basic training is NOT enough to get to any sort of proficiency riding.

The push to allow the intermediate one day class was a fairly big effort and something that stepped over the status quo. The Government seems to like the if it is not broke don't fix it standard. ABATE, AMA and BARF really sort of pushed that forward and it was BARF members who attended the public meetings that reinforced the concept of returning riders would get licensed more often if they did not have to start with the Basic Training.

They also know that statistically riders are less likely to be killed if licensed so the push has always been get people licensed.

They do recognize that is does not make for a well qualified rider, but I believe from my interactions that is not part of the Governments role to move that forward. They recommend additional training but I really doubt that you would see anything but that in my lifetime. We know that the British model is far more effective as an example but... you know :flag

If a Legistlator could be convinced to provide a Bill to mandate that then it would happen. I think ABATE would be in the best position to lead that charge with the help of AMA and others. Total Control and MSF probably could not add anything but factual back up as they are contracted entities with the State and would stand to make $$ if it happened.

The cost of additional training based on the $$ collected from DMV fees would play into it as well. Not sure that more training could be covered without a fee bump.

Happy to answer questions.
 
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