The Other Side Of The Coin

[dpex]

Although I believe this entire protest has gone well beyond us bitching about the proposed increases in biker ACC levies (as revealed it my other post "In A perfect World) let's for the moment concentrate on just bikers.

To make gains we absolutely need the good cheer of the general motoring public whom, BTW, include media folk who have ageing parents, children, wives, friends, you name it.

Thus; when a biker pisses of or frightens the ageing mother of the news editor of TV3, or the Herald, et al, he she develops a negative feeling, not toward a particular biker, but bikers in general.

A point in case.

I came away from Wellington on Tuesday, variously joining then leaving various returning groups of bikers until there was just me and two others; all the way to Bulls.

Sure, we were clicking on the pace, but nothing too silly until the lead-rider of the two ahead chose to overtake on a double yellow line.

Of course his bike was more than capable of making the sprint in near perfect safety (because the roads are laid out for cages which don't enjoy our acceleration or lack of cubic space requirement).

I watched these two repeat this transgression five times until they pulled into the Bulls gas station.

Now here's the thing. At no time did I believe their actions were in any way dangerous...due to their mobility.

But what I did realise was how their actions must have seriously pissed off those whom they passed.

What do you suppose would have gone through the minds of those whom each of these guys passed?

'There! Ya see Mavis! Bloody bikers. Law unto themselves! Bastards! Tax them off the roads, I say!'

And so, if we wish to move this process forward to the point where we get the public on our side, then maybe a little more consideration for their point of view might be in order.

You know! Like don't do the double-yellow line sprint, even though you know it's safe. Give way when you really don't have to. Make a point of letting a cager see you're letting him in. If you see someone pulled over, obviously not enjoying the breakdown, pull over and offer some help. Give a cager who moves left a wave of thanks. Just little things like that.

Remember that the mirror in the average cage is there, largely, for decoration, and so when you squirt past without making your intentions obvious, you'll scare the shit out of the cager, an account of her never knew you were there.

If a lot of us go hard out to be seen as good guys, as opposed to bearded, patched, fuck-you types, the public might just start to join us.

And them we need if we're going to make this protest stick.

[short-circuit]

Although I believe this entire protest has gone well beyond us bitching about the proposed increases in biker ACC levies (as revealed it my other post "In A perfect World) let's for the moment concentrate on just bikers.

To make gains we absolutely need the good cheer of the general motoring public whom, BTW, include media folk who have ageing parents, children, wives, friends, you name it.

Thus; when a biker pisses of or frightens the ageing mother of the news editor of TV3, or the Herald, et al, he she develops a negative feeling, not toward a particular biker, but bikers in general.

A point in case.

I came away from Wellington on Tuesday, variously joining then leaving various returning groups of bikers until there was just me and two others; all the way to Bulls.

Sure, we were clicking on the pace, but nothing too silly until the lead-rider of the two ahead chose to overtake on a double yellow line.

Of course his bike was more than capable of making the sprint in near perfect safety (because the roads are laid out for cages which don't enjoy our acceleration or lack of cubic space requirement).

I watched these two repeat this transgression five times until they pulled into the Bulls gas station.

Now here's the thing. At no time did I believe their actions were in any way dangerous...due to their mobility.

But what I did realise was how their actions must have seriously pissed off those whom they passed.

What do you suppose would have gone through the minds of those whom each of these guys passed?

'There! Ya see Mavis! Bloody bikers. Law unto themselves! Bastards! Tax them off the roads, I say!'

And so, if we wish to move this process forward to the point where we get the public on our side, then maybe a little more consideration for their point of view might be in order.

You know! Like don't do the double-yellow line sprint, even though you know it's safe. Give way when you really don't have to. Make a point of letting a cager see you're letting him in. If you see someone pulled over, obviously not enjoying the breakdown, pull over and offer some help. Give a cager who moves left a wave of thanks. Just little things like that.

Remember that the mirror in the average cage is there, largely, for decoration, and so when you squirt past without making your intentions obvious, you'll scare the shit out of the cager, an account of her never knew you were there.

If a lot of us go hard out to be seen as good guys, as opposed to bearded, patched, fuck-you types, the public might just start to join us.

And them we need if we're going to make this protest stick.

Bollox.

All that matters is political pressure.

Europeans would be rioting and staving windows in.

[ready4whatever]

If a lot of us go hard out to be seen as good guys, as opposed to bearded, patched, fuck-you types, the public might just start to join us.

yeah, saw this one reporter, he was going to an interview with a biker, he quoted "im abit nervous, i hope hes not your typical 6 foot rough looking biker"

'Typical'

[short-circuit]

Bollox.

All that matters is political pressure.

Europeans would be rioting and staving windows in.

...and the general public would be imploring said government to make it stop

[GOONR]

Bollox.

All that matters is political pressure.

Europeans would be rioting and staving windows in.

Yup, Poll tax riot's in London 1990, them were the days.

[short-circuit]

Where's idleidolidyll...

we should be camping on the Harbour Bridge over the Christmas holidays

[rainman]

You know! Like don't do the double-yellow line sprint, even though you know it's safe. Give way when you really don't have to. Make a point of letting a cager see you're letting him in. If you see someone pulled over, obviously not enjoying the breakdown, pull over and offer some help. Give a cager who moves left a wave of thanks. Just little things like that.

Good post. A little bit of consideration goes a long way.

And +1 for the double yellow thing. That really gets up my nose, and I try to avoid riding with people who do it.

[GOONR]

...and the general public would be imploring said government to make it stop

Same un-rest as as I mentioned before, Poll Tax riots, the Prime Minister resigned the year after that. The general public was very pissed off with the whole idea behind the tax.

I'm not saying that it would work here or even that it would be right to go down that street, but it does show that (mass) public unrest gets noticed.

[bogan]

many new zealanders already have an (unjustified) anti-biker mentality (im pretty fucking sick of it personally), simply because they notice bad (by thier perception) behavior from the minority, and dont notice the normal behavior, basic human psychology.

Remember if us bikers get our levies abolished, car drivers will probably get theirs abolished as well. This is the information we need to get out there, and at the end of the day we tried to do it peacefully without inconveniencing the public, didn't work, what are our other options?

[GOONR]

EDITED QUOTE:......

at the end of the day we tried to do it peacefully without inconveniencing the public, didn't work, what are our other options?

I'm asking myself the same question, I can see that charity runs etc would work in our favour but I think that general Joe Bloggs could even turn that round.. "Look at those bikers doing these runs to stay in the news, I'm sick of it and wish they would just bugger off" I don't know what the answer is but I do know we need to be smart about our next move(s)

[short-circuit]

many new zealanders already have an (unjustified) anti-biker mentality (im pretty fucking sick of it personally), simply because they notice bad (by thier perception) behavior from the minority, and dont notice the normal behavior, basic human psychology.

Remember if us bikers get our levies abolished, car drivers will probably get theirs abolished as well. This is the information we need to get out there, and at the end of the day we tried to do it peacefully without inconveniencing the public, didn't work, what are our other options?

Who gives a fuck about public perceptions...how does any of that translate to the political pressure needed to effect a change in policy direction?

There is another current thread about Bikers and charities - we do heaps in this area but has it changed perceptions? There's StoneY's thread (attempting to remedy the fuck up made by a tit on a Harley at the Bikeoi), which many feared might undermine the exemplary behaviour by 7000 of the rest of us.

Forget public support - We need to make this sitting government uncomfortable. Think teacher and doctor strikes - they are not targeting students/patients...the government has the power to make it all go away

[bogan]

I'm asking myself the same question, I can see that charity runs etc would work in our favour but I think that general Joe Bloggs could even turn that round.. "Look at those bikers doing these runs to stay in the news, I'm sick of it and wish they would just bugger off" I don't know what the answer is but I do know we need to be smart about our next move(s)

I reckon our message is the important bit, we are being unfairly discriminated against, we are fighting for the no fault in the acc, the benifits of our fight will be passed on to ALL New Zealanders. And we must get that message out there by any and all means possible.

[Katman]

Who gives a fuck about public perceptions...how does any of that translate to the political pressure needed to effect a change in policy direction?

There is another current thread about Bikers and charities - we do heaps in this area but has it changed perceptions? There's StoneY's thread (attempting to remedy the fuck up made by a tit on a Harley at the Bikeoi), which many feared might undermine the exemplary behaviour by 7000 of the rest of us.

Forget public support - We need to make this sitting government uncomfortable. Think teacher and doctor strikes - they are not targeting students/patients...the government has the power to make it all go away

You are soooooo far off target.

We need to be seen to be accepting of the fact that our shit does in fact stink and we are prepared to do what it takes to clean up our own back yard.

Then, and only then, will our message be treated with any degree of seriousness.

[hayd3n]

we have to also remember that every post on kb is possibly read by a newsagent or the like

[mashman]

Yup, Poll tax riot's in London 1990, them were the days.

Hah ha ha... the poll tax always makes me laugh. They tested it in Scotland the year before and next to noone paid. But oh how did the Scots laugh when it went South of the border!!!

Governments make plans and when those plans turn to shit, some smart arse always comments on how much cheaper and easier it would be to move forwards than it is to stop whate they're doing, get professionals in, and do the job properly! Knowing full well that they've just lost the next election.