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Fellow Riders and Freedom Fighters:

James "Doc" Reichenbach II serves in the conflicting roles of elected president and paid lobbyist for ABATE of Florida, Inc., an SMRO whose membership has flatlined at around 7,500, which I am told is less than 25% of the AMA Florida member base, and less than 1% of the 900,000+ motorcycle riders statewide:

http://www.bikernet.com/news/
PageViewer.asp?PageID=2034

The June 2008 edition of Reichenbach's "President's Letter" provides some valuable insight as to the source of this stagnation:

http://www.abateflorida.com/
president_letter.php

In it, he claims:

"The legislative session end[ed] in May with only one bill passed that will affect law breakers; HB 137 was signed into law by the Governor. It pertains to high rates of speed and doing tricks on motorcycles however it also has provisions for cars and trucks that do high rates of speed. I believe the Governor may have vetoed this legislation if some internet cowboy wouldn't have threatened the bill sponsors life."

The "threat" against HB-137 sponsor Carlos Lopez-Cantera he refers to is documented by the Miami Herald here...

http://www.miamiherald.com/
458/story/510304.html

...as follows:

"'Clearly I now must kill and eat Carlos Lopez-Cantera,' wrote a blogger known as thebullfrog on a car enthusiast website... The posting may have gotten a laugh out of some, but it was serious enough for Capitol Police detectives to open an investigation, said Kristen Perezluha, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement."

I agree that "thebullfrog's" comment was comic, and find more reason for concern in this same article's quote from Reichenbach conveying his personal assessment of sportbikers:

"'I don't consider those people bikers,' said James 'Doc' Reichenbach, president of ABATE of Florida."

In these six words, Reichenbach may be telling the truth for a change...

http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/
bikers_rights_motorcycle/rightsriders0034.php

...and that truth does not bode well for the future of ABATE of Florida, Inc. Here is why:

Regardless of whether you think "A-B-A-T-E" is an acronym for "A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments", "American Bikers Aiming Towards Education", or "Always Bring Alcohol To Events"...

http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/
bikers_rights_motorcycle/rightsriders0075.php

...ABATE was founded to be an SMRO, ie. a state motorcyclists' rights organization. "Motorcyclists" is a term that must include ALL motorcycle riders: sportbike and cruiser, young and old, geezer and geek, male and female, black and white, left and right. Reichenbach's comments here and elsewhere alienate a significant portion of that political base, and thereby sabotage the mission, limit the potential, and bring into question the future of ABATE of Florida, Inc.

That is why 99 out of 100 Florida riders are NOT members of ABATE of Florida. Our state legislators know that, and that is one of the reasons why Reichenbach failed to deliver on ABATE's legislative agenda this year. And that is why long-time ABATE members and chapter presidents like Papa John Brennan are resigning from their posts...

http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/
bikers_rights_motorcycle/rightsriders0060.php

...and openly expressing their disappointment and disillusion:

http://tinyurl.com/6ltmak

That is also why out of 7,500+ members statewide, Reichenbach's ABATE of Florida had less than 300 show up in Tallahassee for this year's "Freedom Rally":

http://tinyurl.com/5fphth

I could go on, but my point is made. The cure for Florida's ailing MRO is simple: 'M'ake 'R'oom for 'O'thers ... in membership ... and in leadership. Robert 'RC' Conroy, respected bikers' rights advocate and member of Bikers Of Lesser Tolerance (BOLT), says it much more colorfully here:

http://www.bigbendbikersforfreedom.com/
2008/06/latest-crap-from-abate-of-florida.html

Ride Long, Ride Free!

Bruce ;-)

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"The battle for bikers' rights is not about patches, parties or poker runs. We fight to protect the freedom and promote the interests of American motorcyclists ... to defend our right to choose our own modes of transportation, attire and lifestyle ... to deter and defy discrimination against us ... and to vanquish those who violate our rights or right-of-way. And in the end, it will not matter to us whether we won or lost. But it will matter to us greatly that we fought."--Bruce Arnold

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