UNEASY RIDER: Motorcycle enthusiast Dain Gingerelli of Mission Viejo can't sell this kit bike he assembled until a DMV probe clears a hold from his registration.
Posted on 06/23/2007 11:38:41 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
DMV probe keeps bikers off road
Orange County kit bike owners aren't sure when they'll be able to ride or sell hand-built vehicles.
Friday, June 22, 2007
BRIAN JOSEPH
SACRAMENTO -- Dain Gingerelli says he locked up a sure sale of his motorcycle in April – about $10,000 for a kit bike he built himself.
But two months later, the bike is gathering dust in his garage and the cash is in someone else's pocket.
What happened? The state Department of Motor Vehicles, Gingerelli said, blocked the sale.
It turns out Gingerelli used a kit made by Custom Chrome Inc. and the DMV is investigating something related to the company's bikes.
I say "something" because the DMV has refused to give me any details about the investigation, other than acknowledging it affects all California owners of Custom Chrome bikes.
Gingerelli, a Mission Viejo resident who edits the national Harley magazine IronWorks, said an investigator told him the DMV is looking into a motorcycle shop that was improperly building and selling a large number of Custom Chrome kit bikes.
But Gingerelli says he didn't buy his bike from any shop. The only thing he's guilty of, as far as he can tell, is owning a Custom Chrome motorcycle.
"I'm being held guilty by association," he said.
As it happens, the state frequently goes after bike shops that sell large numbers of custom-built motorcycles. State law stipulates that kit bikes assembled by hobbyists for their own enjoyment are not subject to emission standards. No smog tests, no maintenance requirements and no special equipment. (The state could add such requirements in the future.)
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
It looks like private property rights takes yet another hit in California...courtesy of the bureaucracy fascists at the DMV.
UNEASY RIDER: Motorcycle enthusiast Dain Gingerelli of Mission Viejo can't sell this kit bike he assembled until a DMV probe clears a hold from his registration.
I thought CA had a helmet law. Too bad, because helmet laws suck.
I miss Indian Larry! Wish he’d worn a helmet.
Until you need one.
When do you need a helmet law?
Should we criminalize the swallowing of unchewed food, so that we can criminally charge people who almost choked on their food during a meal?
Think of all the lives this would save!
Didnt all this start when they nailed Jesse James?
I’m against helmet laws, too. When people without helmets dash their stupid brains out during an accident it leaves more air and space for me. And less stupid people.
Ping.
Actually this started back in 1989 when a Kit Car Company refused to pay for advertising in a California based Kit Car Buying Guide because of the failure of that buying guide to generate leads.
The Owner of the Kit Car Buying guide told the Kit Car Manufacturer That he would put them out of business if they didn’t pay, and started such a stink with the DMV that has escalated to the point where the DMV is going after anything on wheels that is either home built or a kit.
I am an old (51) biker who never ever rides without a skid lid. However, since I am “old” I am against helmet laws. I love seeing young, healthy guys riding powerful machines in an unsafe manner. As I said I am “old”...as in, might need an organ or two someday.
A sub-text may be that the running gear could be from stolen bikes, but the DMV can't control tracing of either serial numbers or legally-restamped numbers. Recovery of a stolen bike and legal restamping is easy to fake or transfer to another (kit) bike.
The little bloody pieces of skull were still spinning and rockin all over the highway just as I came around the corner to take this sight all in!!!
If you guys would just get down on your hands and knees and quietly put you heads under the driving dualies of one of these eighteen wheelers and just let it squash your friggen brains out slowly in some place where the rest of us would never come upon such a stupid scene...
I mean, I got nothing against your freedom. We are supposed to be free enough to be totally stupid if we want to be, but just keep it to yourselves, will ya? And quit runnin through traffic between the rows of stalled traffic as if begging for some unsuspecting motorist to open their car door just to pour out some stale coffee...
Well, of course, you're free to do that too, but again... we have to see your head floppin all around in 395 degrees because you broke you stupid neck right in front of our family and I have to explain to all the gawkin grandchildren that there are people in this world who are stupid and theres nothing anybody can do about it!!!/rant
So you saw a guy splattered on the grill of a Peterbilt.
I am sure the helmet would have saved him. He had absolutely no bodily injuries I assume. Just head injuries.
I have worked on Rescue Squads and come on many scenes of accidents. I suppose a scene where 3 kids and a mother in a head on collision of their mini-van is much better for people like you who are so squeamish about motorcycle accidents. They are in the car just as dead as the guy on the radiator of the Peterbilt however, you cant see them for the car.
Many people in auto accidents die from head injuries,but I bet you dont wear one in your car. As far as I know only California legally allows going between rows of stopped traffic. I know it is irksome to watch that for a cager who is stuck in traffic,but if it bothers you, buy a motorcycle.
Your post was very venomous, you inferred people who dont wear helmets are brainless. I have to say after reading your post that it certainly didnt impress me as coming from a Mensa. It was filled with Vitriol,but little common sense.
Certainly anyone on todays streets are more likely to see a fatal auto accident than a fatal motorcycle accident, as auto accidents are so much more frequent.
There are some bad motorcycle riders on the street no doubt of that,but if you look into it you will find that most motorcycle accidents are the fault of the vehicle hitting the motorcycle and not Vice Versa. The biggest reason to wear a motorcycle helmet is protection from bad auto drivers.
I take your side -- that bikers shouldn"t be required to wear helmets. But you have a one-sided view about why auto drivers are irked by motorcyclists splitting lanes. In freeway traffic that is heavy, but still moving, an attempt to change lanes could spill a biker onto the concrete; and in the time it takes to look from one side mirror to the other, he can be beside me without my knowing it. I don't want to be the one who hits him.
Again, a one-sided view.
I dont live in California and I dont really know the specifics of the law. I would assume a reasonable speed during this ride down between lanes would be prudent, although not always followed.
Yes: My views may be a little one sided ,but not near the one sidedness nor sheer angst of the post I was answering.
Personally I have ridden motorcycles for over 40 years,and I wear a helmet.
The facts is that 70% of motorcycle accidents are the result of failure of other motorists to recognize motorcyclists in heavy traffic or at night.Inattention and Distraction by auto drivers are most at fault.
In accidents not caused by auto’s, findings from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS, state that high alcohol levels in the blood were often present in motorcycle fatalities. Also, undivided roadways, rural roads, speed, lack of helmet use, and driving at night, remain associated with the increasing number of fatalities.
I may be one sided,but auto drivers do cause the most accidents involving motorcyclists , Thats indisputable.
Also I would say that a motorcyclist without a helmet is much brighter than one who believes he can have a brew or two while riding. Drinking before getting on a motorcycle is plain stupid.
The next most stupid thing is buying a motorcycle that is overpowered and believing that your ability will allow you to ride it like some sort of speed crazed maniac.
You may indeed be a good rider,but you are not under race conditions when you are on the highway. There are other people out there and you cannot read their minds.
Can't argue with you on that one.
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