Safety Report - February 2026

Gary Klinker

Get on the Bus Gus….

I don’t know if Paul Simon had Lobby Day in mind when he wrote that, but you should. February 17th is ABATE Lobby Day. Get on a bus from your area and be delivered right to the Capitol. It couldn’t be any easier. Meetings with your Assembly Rep and State Senator will already be set up. Just show up and support the ABATE legislative agenda for 2026. It’s the best way to meet staff (who do most of the work) and get your name and face familiar to them. Again, this year I will be the bus captain for the West Central route so by the time we get to Madison you will be familiar with the issues.

A couple of weeks before Lobby Day is Officer Training where there will be a lot of information about the 2026 season for Safe Rider. I’m looking forward to seeing officers from around the state in Marshfield. Remember, our members are the best advertising for Safe Rider. I’ll have a lot of our brochures for anyone to take and distribute.

February 10th Safe Rider will attend the Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program Spring Kick-off in Madison. This meeting sets the stage for the coming season. We will look at any changes in policy or procedure for our programs. It is always a good time to meet our counterparts at other training facilities and compare ideas to improve our training delivery.

Following that the Safe Rider annual in-service training and Board of Directors meeting will be held February 21. We are working with several potential Rider Coaches who we would be very happy to have on board.

That is the agenda for February. With the warm days and periodic melting, we have had it is not hard to think about the riding season. I hope everyone has their bike ready to go and is thinking about training or at least practice time at the beginning of your riding season. Some ideas for rides that we are thinking about this year include Arkansas and the UP. We’ve done both several times and the riding is great. Plan now for maximum fun!

Ride Safe,

Gary