Legislative Report - October 2026
Right to Repair Surveys
How Important Are They?
Summer is winding down and now we get to enjoy riding when there is a chill in the air, and the trees are changing colors. I enjoy riding this time of year and seeing the trees turning colors, but that also means leaves falling on the roads and wet leaves to deal with. You don’t hear much about that, but it always makes me more cautious.
Speaking of leaves, this has nothing to do with them but how about an update on our Right to Repair campaign. We have been collecting the surveys that were sent to the Regional Reps and was also printed in the newsletter to hand out to businesses to complete. We have been collecting quite a few responses, but we are still way short of the goal of 3,000 responses from businesses. Have you talked to your local car, truck, bus, forklift, power sports shops, or even your local farmer? Did you hand them a survey and help them navigate the QR code, or wait for them to fill the form out? If we are going to ensure that a consumer can take their vehicles or devices to a repair shop of their choice in the future, this is a tool that is going to help us be successful. Please, take the time to distribute these and help us reach our goal.
As long as we are still talking about Right to Repair, earlier this month I was invited to represent the motorcycle community on a panel discussion held by FULU in Fond du Lac. This is a national group that is focused on electronic equipment, but this was an opportunity to bring a different player into their fight. I would like to thank Nathan Schacht, from Northward Strategy Group, for the invite. Like I said, this was organized by people who are concerned about repairing computers and electronics, so to be invited was an honor. The keynote speaker was from Texas, and he has 2.5 million people following his blog and this event was live streamed to the group.
Let’s talk about Right to Repair some more since this is our focus as we prepare for the 2027 Legislative Session. Nathan also invited us to be part of a roundtable discussion hosted by the Van Orden campaign. Now, no matter what political party you support or how you feel about Congressman Van Orden, this again was an honor to be part of. We need to get our message out to all corners of the state. I could not attend this event because ABATE is not my full-time job and my employer needed me in the office, so thank you to Gary Klinker for representing the motorcyclists. As you can see, we are always looking for opportunities to bring the motorcyclists perspective when these discussions are happening, so if you hear of an event, please reach out to your Regional Rep, District Director, or to myself, and we will try to get someone to speak if you are not comfortable doing so. Remember, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu so let’s get up to the table.
Last month, Gary Klinker, John Reblin, and I attended the Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety in Wisconsin Dells. This is a group of safety people discussing how we can reduce fatalities on Wisconsin roads. There was a lot of discussions about E-bikes and ATV/UTV fatalities, but we did get to reunite with the Bureau of Transportation and with the Secretary of Transportation again. We can go into E-bikes for a whole new article but here are the highlights. As a result of us attending this event, I was able to schedule a meeting with the Milwaukee Director of Vision Zero, so we can discuss what they are working on in Milwaukee and how we can partner with them. We are also scheduling a meeting with the Bicycle Federation and hope to have meeting with them and the Motorcycle Safety Director from the Department of Transportation.
As long as we are talking about E-bikes, the state has classifications for E-bikes depending on their manufactured top speed and if they are pedal assist or throttle assist. Municipalities are drafting their own regulations regarding these based off the state’s classifications. The real problem is the ones that you can buy on the internet that do not fall into these categories. If it does not have pedals and it comes from the manufacturer at a top speed of 45 MPH, that should be a motorcycle, but they are being sold without a title, lights, or a means to register them. It is not legal to run on the roads in Wisconsin, but people are, so how do we deal with them? The Bike Fed has been collaborating with the Legislators, and they currently have a bill draft that they are working on. Once the draft is completed and they have an LRB number, we are going to meet with them to see if we can support their efforts. From our discussions with them, we are on the same page, so I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
Keep in mind, we do not want to get involved in drafting legislation for E-bikes. They can do what they want with them, but we need to be at the table when they are talking about it to ensure the lines defining a motorcycle and a moto cycle are clear, and crashes and fatalities are separate. This was a big discussion at the Governor’s Conference, so it will move quickly. We need to be ready and to understand what is being proposed. If it is originally manufactured with a top speed under 30 MPH, it is not a motorcycle, and we do not care what they do. It is when they start talking about the larger, illegal ones operating on the road that concerns us.
Final things…. The Annual Meeting is this month in Eau Claire with details elsewhere in this newsletter. The weekend is about getting together for some great fall riding with friends from across the state and taking time to recognize members for going above and beyond the past year during the banquet. I enjoy this weekend because it’s a relaxing weekend, with no trainings, just time with friends and I like to see who is recognized for all their efforts. But for me, the highlight is Sunday when we hold the Legislative Committee meeting. This is where we are going to set the legislative agenda for 2027. You, as a member, get to offer input on what is important to motorcyclists in the State, and how we need to address it. Please take the time to join us for the weekend or just show up on Sunday and join in the discussion.
That’s it.
Steve
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