Executive Report - November 2026
My, My, My, What a Ride
My, my, my—what a ride this past month has been. Between Sturgis, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation Meeting of the Minds, our Annual State meeting and elections, and several other events, the month flew by.
Let’s start with the Meeting of the Minds, hosted by ABATE of Wisconsin. Welcoming hundreds of people to Wisconsin required many volunteers to give up several days of their personal time, and I want to thank everyone who helped make the event run so smoothly. Making sure from the food being prepared to the beverages being cold, along with some fun and games takes the help of many. Thank you!
From the outside, everything appeared seamless. Behind the scenes, however, volunteers were cooking and serving food, cleaning up, monitoring the parking lot, tending bar, presenting sessions, and selling products. I was amazed by how well everyone worked together. As soon as people finished one task, they asked where else they could help. Thank you all for making ABATE of Wisconsin shine.
In addition to helping wherever I was needed, I attended several breakout sessions. Legislation was a major focus. One session, Club Interaction, was not simply about working with motorcycle clubs as I had expected; it was designed to involve clubs in shaping the 2027 legislative agenda.
It was encouraging to see that we are largely on the same page. When Steve and I joined the discussion about next year’s legislative agenda, we had solid input from both state motorcycle rights organizations and the clubs.
Because I have been involved with highway safety during my time on the Board of Directors, I attended several related breakouts to learn what other states are seeing and doing. Most are facing the same challenge we are: encouraging riders to continue attending education classes and workshops.
Some states are also experiencing issues with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation entering their programs and not allowing non-MSF curricula. I am sure we will hear more as the situation develops, but it is something we need to watch. In Wisconsin, there has been discussion about exploring other programs and bringing new ideas into rider-training procedures.
Jason Abraham gave an insurance presentation like the one offered at Officer Training. Once again, it was informative. After hearing it the first time, I reviewed my policies with my agent and made the recommended corrections. If we are unfortunate enough to be involved in a crash, we should make sure we are adequately protected and have sufficient financial support in place.
Another important breakout was the Executive Town Hall, which focused on running an organization and protecting it from risks that could weaken it financially or operationally. The presenters shared several good ideas that I will ask the Board of Directors to investigate so we can determine what steps ABATE of Wisconsin should take.
I also attended a session where representatives from other states discussed motorcycle-crash trends. Wisconsin is not alone in facing crashes involving rider error, impaired riding, and unlicensed operators.
It is important that we work together to reduce motorcycle crashes. Doing so can save lives and help keep government interference to a minimum.
Conversations with members of other state motorcycle rights organizations were equally valuable. I have known many of these people since joining the Board of Directors, and we always share good ideas—and have a great time—when we meet in person.
One of those conversations led Steve Panten and me to join others from across the country in addressing the e-bike situation. States are encountering similar issues, and we need a commonsense solution. If the situation gets too far out of hand, government involvement could result in e-bike crashes and fatalities being counted as motorcycle crashes rather than bicycle crashes.
By the time you read this, a new Board of Directors will be in place. I would like to thank the following outgoing board members for their service:
· Stash
· Laurie Thompson
· Tom Barton
· Sneaky
Stash, Tom, and I served together on the Board of Directors for many years. Sneaky stepped in to help in 2024, while Laurie, besides being State Treasurer, took on additional responsibilities. Laurie will continue serving ABATE of Wisconsin as State Treasurer.
I look forward to the new faces, fresh ideas, and added support on the board. We have a great deal of work ahead of us, both legislatively and behind the scenes, including reducing motorcycle crashes and increasing membership.
One other thing that we all need to do is to make this organization successful. We need to make sure we all help by getting calls to actions done. We need to all work together to make our voice heard to achieve these goals. If we have an issue our legislators need to know that all the motorcyclists are concerned. Hopefully, this will make them listen. If they only hear 2 or 3 people reacting to an issue it is not very high on their radar.
That’s it for this month. Get out and enjoy those cool-weather miles—but keep an eye out for deer.
John
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