Executive Report - September 2026

John Reblin

It’s Not Too Late to Run for Office

It seems the time is flying by; I leave for Sturgis in a few days to watch Dave Dwyer get the honor of receiving the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame Award. Chubby and I went out there a few years ago when Hardtail was inducted and accepted his award and we discussed earlier about going out again. When I heard Dave was being inducted, it made the decision easy to make. Dave was a long time Board of Directors member, Legislative Chair along with being a supportive member. He also helped push along that Committee Chairs and State Officers create a procedure report of what to do if there was an instance one of us won the lottery and said we be outta here. So here I am a week out making sure the bike is ready, oil is good, enough air in the tires and everything else is ready for an enjoyable trip to South Dakota. It is not only making sure the transportation is ready, but also getting this article in before I leave, work goals are met and spending some time with the “Little Flower.” More on the trip out and back next month.

You should have gotten some information from your District Directors or an email about a survey that Steve Panten created to collect information from independent motorcycle shops or other repair locations. Any place of business or repair that could be restricted in repairing something due to manufacturers not allowing the tools or technology to be made available (remember the McDonald McFlurry issue,) to the independent shops are open to filling this out. It is important we get thousands of these surveys back. A handful made out is not going to open the legislators’ eyes to the problem that exists. So, we are looking for help from you to go out and get these surveys out so we can impress our legislators with the number of people out there having issues in getting repairs done.

Don’t forget ABATE of Wisconsin is hosting Meeting of the Minds in Brookfield, WI. September 24-27th. Hopefully, you have already signed up to attend. Not sure where we are with scholarships at this point, but with it being held locally the cost could be minimal to attend a world class event like this to see how we need to work together to protect and secure our motorcycle rights nationally. The information given will be top notch and networking with other States is invaluable. Also, thank you to Mike Hupy and the Law Firm of Hupy and Abraham for helping by supporting this event.

Also, this month is the Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety. This is one of the conferences we need to be at to see what the future goals of transportation are for reducing crashes and fatalities in Wisconsin and gives us an advance picture of what we are looking at and how to prepare discussions by being at the table. This year the topic might be the issues with electric bicycles and how these crashes may influence what happens with motorcycles. So far, a couple of these bicycles’ fatalities got marked as motorcycle fatalities before getting removed because enhancements in the battery size got them to exceed the maximum speed they are allowed to travel at on Wisconsin roads and consequently got put into the motorcycle fatality numbers until they were manually removed. So, I think we will need to have a discussion on changes in the procedure, so we do not have to keep following up with misplaced numbers. Other States are facing the same issues and at Meeting of the Minds I am sure the conversations will be spirited.

Hopefully, you are paying attention to the elections going on this year at the local, State, and Federal levels. Now is the time those running are getting out and talking about the platform they are running on and interested in what their constituents have to say. Find them at the fairs going on in your area and look for the evening “town hall sessions.” Get their thoughts on issues we are facing. Find someone you like, walk along in the parade if one is planned, or volunteer to help them get elected by taking some fliers to hand out, or putting up a sign in your yard to help them get elected. They remember these things forever.

I congratulate those that ran for and got elected for the District Director positions. Due to some not running again like Tom and Sneaky we have some new voices and thoughts on your Board of Directors. The elections continue with your opportunity to elect the State Officers along with the Board-At-Large people. If you are interested in helping and missed the deadline for inclusion on the executive office ballot form, you can still hold a write-in campaign, or volunteer to help as a committee member. Or you can just attend the Board of Director meetings, participate, and watch what goes on in making the decisions within this organization.

That’s it for now. Get out and enjoy the ride.

John