Welcome to the ABATE of Oregon homepage!
A.B.A.T.E. of Oregon, Inc.
promotes motorcycle awareness,
education, safety, and liberty
through community involvement
and legislative action.
BikePAC of Oregon is in trouble, and with it your rights to ride.
Do you know what BikePAC is? You should. BikePAC of Oregon is a registered Political Action Committee in the State of Oregon. It does what individuals and a not-for-profit like ABATE cannot: directly lobby our state legislature to pass motorcycle friendly legislation, and even more importantly, to block those bills which hurt us. That's why it was formed; to be the political arm of ABATE. We work hand in hand. Read our mission statement above. We can't accomplish it without BikePAC.
But right now BikePAC is in danger of shutting their doors. Why? For the simple fact that no one is willing to step up and help. ABATE isn't about the parties, folks. We are here to band together and protect ourselves from all the well-meaning (giving them the benefit of the doubt here) but misguided people out there who think they know what, where, when, and how we should ride.
Please read BikePAC Executive Director Nic Oliver's message on the BikePAC website at http://www.bikepac.org.
Event Cancelation
We are sorry to report that Lower Columbia Chapter's annual Crab Dinner, previously scheduled for February 11th, has been canceled.
The brand of bike you ride doesn't matter.
We are not a manufacturer-specific organization. All are welcome: bikes, trikes, on-road or off, riders, passengers, or non-riders.
You don't even have to ride a motorcycle to belong to A.B.A.T.E.
Many of our members just enjoy being around motorcyclists. (We're just that wonderful!) And they feel that the social and legislative issues we're working on are important in their community.
Join here!
Many ABATE chapter meetings begin with the pledge of allegiance. All political viewpoints are represented by the men and women who are members of ABATE, but we share a belief in the American system and the solutions to problems can be found working within the system.
While most of our effort is spent supporting issues that are most important to motorcyclists, we believe that there are underlying issues that affect everybody who care about the freedom and liberty that has made our country great.
The motorcycle is both a recreational device and a practical and efficient mode of transportation. Our mission includes sharing our experience as motorcycle riders with our elected officials to assist them in creating the regulation that may be necessary to provide optimum safety and efficiency, for people who ride motorcycles, for those who get around by other means and the for general public.
Not only do we educate and inform our elected officials about issues important to motorcyclists, we are also eager to share our knowledge with others including law enforcement officials and the general public with whom we share the highway.
A Note on Helmet Laws
They suck. OK, that's something most ABATE members (but not all) agree with whether or not they choose to wear one. Some people consider us "those crazy anti-helmet people," but of course ABATE is about much more than that. We're interested in any laws that unfairly restrict the rights and choices of motorcyclists as well as personal freedoms overall, and we seem to be targeted more and more often. Whether it's exclusion from the new bicyclists' "Vulnerable Roadway Users" law, being excluded from health insurance coverage simply for being injured legally riding a motorcycle, being singled out for vehicle seizures (recently made law in Florida), or being prohibited from making any modifications to your bike or adding any after market parts not approved by the factory, ABATE is our way of standing together and having our voices heard. Hopefully that's why you're here reading this.
But still, it did all begin with those helmet laws forced upon us by people who've never even worn one. And now someone has a great idea on how to successfully attack helmet laws nationwide. Hate them? Enough to be willing to commit a single day of your time to fighting them? Then check out Ride2Repeal.com. It's worth your time.
