Safety Report - July 2026

Gary Klinker

Washington D.C. and Beyond

Here we are in the middle of the summer. I hope you are taking advantage of the riding season. Safe Rider classes are filling very rapidly. We are about to bring on a new Rider Coach who has moved into the area from Florida with great experience and impressive credentials. We will do an introduction in the future. I have been told that a couple of the Tech School sites are not continuing with the motorcycle program. In the future this may push our enrollments to higher levels. We will have to see what happens.

At the end of May, I took part in the MRF Bikers in the Beltway lobby trip to DC. This year was very successful. Since congress is working on the new Highway bill for the next five years our timing could not have been better. We contacted all Senate and House offices in a single day. As always, it was good to see friends from all over the country, but the time is so busy and short that we will have to wait for Meeting of the Minds in Milwaukee to spend a lot of time together.

As for the meeting with my congressman Derrick Van Orden, we were there to thank him for his sponsorship of the Definition of a Motorcycle bill and to urge his support on the other issues we were covering. We had a large group from Wisconsin and the MRF at the meeting because Congressman Van Orden was presented with this year’s Legislative Champion leather vest. Since he is co-chair of the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus we all felt right at home. His motorcycle was parked five stories down right out his window. I’m sure he will wear the vest proudly. His staff does a great job, and we got to meet all of them. He is up for re-election this year and can use all the support we can give to someone who supports us wholeheartedly. If you would like to talk to him, he will be at many events and parades this summer.

As for the ride to DC and back, it was uneventful-the way I like it. Going out with our group it was hot, mid 90’s. Coming home it never got into the 60’s with a couple hundred miles of rain. We left Kenosha at 8 am Sunday morning and arrived in DC Monday at around noon with an overnight in North Lima, Ohio. After Tuesday on Capitol Hill, we left the hotel in Alexandria, Virginia at 5:30 Wednesday morning to beat traffic. It worked out to our advantage. Danny, Bryan, and I stayed in Howe, Indiana that night and I was home by 1 pm on Thursday. It’s always good to go for a long ride, but also good to be home. Especially after a good ride with good people.

One last thing is to congratulate Dave Dwyer on his induction into the Sturgis Hall of Fame in August. When I was Executive Director for ABATE Dave started as our Legislative Director. Over the many years he did that job he took our Legislative work to new levels that have put ABATE of Wisconsin into the ranks of one of the top SMRO’s in the country. He and I rode a lot of miles together through the years and I am very proud of this recognition for him. He also went on from here to do great work for the MRF for a long time. Congratulations Dave!!

Ride Safe,

Gary