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Letters and Opinions

The opinions expressed in the following letter(s) do not necessarily reflect those of the executive of the Confederation. The Ontario Confederation of Clubs retains the right to edit, in whole or part, any material submitted to this web site and to reject any material without explanation.

Its Time to Use Our Muscle!

Harley Davidson oriented events have started to enforce dress codes.

The dress codes are addressed against those wearing "bad" vests while those wearing "good" vests are welcomed with open arms.

Even some motorcycle shows in Toronto recently refused to rent booth space to those wearing "bad colours".

Also, two recent major Harley oriented events in Toronto barred certain bike club members like Hells Angels if they were wearing their "colours".

The good colours worn by diverse groups such as Hog, Blue Knights etc. were allowed in.

This has become a disturbing trend and it is time that we "bad" guys put an end to it.

So why do we buy our bikes, parts clothing etc. off those that discriminate against us when we possess the most significant purchasing power of any single group involved in riding Harley Davidsons?

Some think they have us over a barrel because we will only ride American made products.

In pre-budget media scare campaigns some police officers warn that there are thousands of bad bikers and sympathizers in Ontario.

Well, what if those many thousands of purchasers decided that they were going to start riding other brand motorcycles from other dealers.

Lets do some math using a conservative figure of 1000 riders for our motorcycle purchasing power.

This extrapolates into about $30,000,000.00 spent on bikes, maintenance, repairs, clothing etc.

We demand respect.

And of course we are only talking Ontario here.

What about the other 9 provinces, never mind the USA and Europe?

We need to ask some hard questions.

Ask those who discriminate against us why?

Perhaps, they want to say sorry and make amends.

Lets ask what they are going to start doing for us?

It is time to shun those that shun us.

Ask your dealer what their position is BEFORE you lay down your money.

Ask what they are going to do for you.

How are they going to change this situation.

Its time to start flexing our muscle and we got lots of it!

The Ontario Confederation of Clubs has graciously volunteered to field, direct and coordinate your queries and ideas for flexing our political muscles for the betterment of our treatment.

:Bryan Dodds :mbdodds@sympatico.ca :15 Karen Drive :Lindsay ON K9V 5V3