So, along these lines, I made a decision. I chose to make it my goal in life to follow the mandate handed me as a founding member of Sons of Liberty Riders as it pertains to the helmet law in California, and help those in other States to do the same. Our mandate, as active members of SoLR, is to teach, educate, and lead like minded people. This does not mean lots of talk about what we should do, or what we want to do. This mean deliberate actions to make a change, while leading others in the same direction. It means having people follow your lead and they learn and help others make changes. That is how it has to work, in my world.

Forget making changes through the political system, thru your “friendly” legislators. They are not your friends, they have careers to protect. They may claim to support you, but when it comes to those campaign dollars, we lose to the big pockets out there. This has been proven over and over, is many States with helmet mandates. I, for one, am sick and tired of it.

Today, I left Arizona and had about 3 hours of thought time, to ponder our helmet fight and what we can do. We had a helmet protest in Sad Diego this summer, where 200 riders showed up and 16 of them actually made a point and got a ticket. Less than 10%, not a good showing at all. At that rate, no one will take us serious. A different plan needs to happen.

So, as of today, my beanie will spend most of the rest of its life in a saddlebag. I will be wearing my “soft helmet” anytime I ride in California, if anything is on my head. I came up on the California border today and kept going, lidless, and waited for my ticket. My goal was to see how far I got with nothing on my head, and what reaction I got from the Sheriff, Highway Patrol, or Border Patrol. I rode the whole way to La Mesa without being stopped, although I saw 3 police and was waved through the border checkpoint. When the Sheriffs Deputy saw me and did a double-take, I pulled over and waited for him to come get me. I waited long enough to drink a bottle of water and said to hell with it and left.

I enjoyed the spectators, those passing me on the highway. Truckers blew their horns as I passed them, and cars and trucks passing me gave me thumbs-ups. I was definitely noticed and considered this a learning experience for them all. There were not many bikes out, but the few that I saw gave a small wave as they passed.

The average ticket in California for an improper helmet or no helmet is $100, give or take. I have made my own personal fund to cover many tickets, assuming I lost in court. I do not plan to lose, but need to cover it just in case. Either way, I am now guaranteed months if not years of riding free in California, until a judge finally agrees that this motorcycle helmet law is unconstitutionally vague. The police have no idea what a “proper helmet” is, and there is no list anywhere that we can find of proper helmets, so no matter what I wear I will stand a chance of getting a ticket. I choose to define my own helmet and make them prove it is not “proper”, by law.

Quigley has been doing this for years in Northern California, so this is hardly some new idea from me. He made a decision and led me and educated me by doing it. Now it is my turn to help in Southern California. That is how it should work, in my world.

So, those of you in helmet mandate States … go ahead and keep on doing what hasn’t worked for years. Keep droning on with the mantra “We were close, maybe next year” while an army of civilly disobedient riders enjoy the hell out of making our choice in spite of unconstitutional laws mandated to us, the owners of this United States.

Animal
Sons of Liberty Riders

forward this anywhere, we need people willing to push the limits.