BIKERS MAKE HISTORY AT 2004 NATIONAL COALITION
OF MOTORCYCLISTS CONVENTION
The air of the Oklahoma City Metro Area
reverberated May 6-8, 2004 with the thunder of
motorcycles and trikes of all types as riders
converged on the Biltmore Hotel, I-40 and
Meridian Ave. in western Oklahoma City for the
19th Annual National Coalition Of
Motorcyclists Convention. The NCOM Convention,
which was co-hosted this year by ABATE of
Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Confederation of
Clubs, represented an opportunity for
motorcyclists of every background to get
together in an atmosphere of unity and
cooperation, and focus on issues common to and
threats facing all motorcyclists worldwide. As
a member of the NCOM Board of Directors
representing Region 2, which comprises Oklahoma,
Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, I
was very proud for us riders in the Sooner State
to be able to put our best foot forward and show
Convention attendees what a great environment
and Quality of Life Oklahoma’s motorcyclists
enjoy. We were truly blessed with beautiful
weather in the mid-80s all week, and no Severe
Weather in sight, thank Goodness! Over 1,300
motorcyclists and trikers attended the
Convention, one of the largest totals in the
Convention’s history, and conventioneers
represented almost all major patch holding
motorcycle clubs, as well as a wide array of
motorcycling-oriented organizations and
associations, including a majority of State
Motorcyclists’ Rights Organizations across the
country.
The Convention’s Opening Session featured
a welcome from State Representative James Covey,
an avid motorcyclist and one of our ABATE of
Oklahoma members who is a principle author of
our still-pending Failure To Yield legislation
designed to increase penalties for irresponsible
drivers that kill motorcyclists, and Holly
Swinford, ABATE’s Lobbyist, presented the
Keynote Address at Saturday’s General Session.
An enthusiastic vote of thanks needs to go to
you both! The NCOM Convention featured
educational seminars covering such diverse
topics as Biker Civil Liberties post-9/11 and
the USA PATRIOT ACT threat, combating Anti-Biker
Discrimination, Christian Motorcycle Club unity,
Women in Motorcycling, and a host of other
legislative, judicial, and lifestyle issues. A
highlight of the Convention’s agenda included a
Mock Legislative Session demonstrating political
maneuvers leading up to a floor vote addressing
important motorcycling-related issues on the
Congressional level. The Worldwide
Confederation of Clubs meeting Friday Night was
packed with over 900 club members expressing
solidarity and a renewed commitment to work
together and defend Riding Freedom. The meeting
also provided an occasion to honor the memory of
longtime participants in past NCOM Conventions
and in the fight for Motorcycling Liberty that
have passed from the scene in the past year:
Bandido J.W. Rock, J.R. of the Sons Of Silence,
and Preacher Mike of the Christian Crusaders.
The Saturday Night events were festive,
featuring the Silver Spoke Awards Banquet,
attended by almost 700, where recognition was
given to notables in the fields of education,
publishing and media, legislation and
government, legal/judicial achievement, and
special recognition for service for the benefit
of Free Motorcycling on the state level. In
addition, the Ron Roloff Lifetime Achievement
Award was given to Bill Carlton of Texas, who
has given more than half his long life to
campaigning for Motorcycling Freedom in his home
state and across the nation. With the
Convention taking time out to honor this years’
Freedom of Choice victory in Pennsylvania, it
was fitting that the Saturday Night banquet
concluded with the announcement, to a chorus of
cheers, that the State Senate of Louisiana, in
special weekend session, defeated the attempt to
reinstate a Mandatory Helmet Law!
Of course, no successful Convention is
strictly involved in conducting business, and we
certainly don’t believe in “all work and no
play” here in the Sooner State. The NCOM
Convention provided an opportunity for folks of
every background to meet, make new friends,
share ideas, and just flat-out have fun! The
Thursday Night Board of Directors Social at the
hotel was crowded with attendees enjoying each
other’s company, and everyone throughout the
weekend at the Oklahoma Confederation of Clubs’
Lovett or Leave It Rally had a good time. The
event is named after one of the original
founders of the Oklahoma Confederation, the late
Lee Lovett, and is held in his honor. The
Rally, located at Ernie’s Palace off I-40 twelve
miles west of the Convention Site, was a great
place for conventioneers to let off steam, and
featured live and recorded rock and blues music,
numerous vendors selling all kinds of
interesting items, and lots of delicious food
and beverages. Riders attending the Convention
were invited to head out to the Rally and enjoy
complimentary hamburgers on Friday night, and
many returned on Saturday and Sunday to enjoy
the other festivities. Several hundred
motorcyclists and trikers ended up staying at
the rally, which featured overnight camping, and
the event turned out to be an enjoyable time for
everybody. Even area law enforcement agencies,
which were at first apprehensive, relaxed, and
were relieved upon seeing that bikers from every
background were intent upon making the event a
smooth-running success. Many thanks to the
participating groups of the Oklahoma
Confederation of Clubs for working so hard to
support both the Convention and the Rally-those
efforts did much to ensure a well-rounded,
beneficial experience for all, where everyone
could come away with both information to help
continue the Freedom Fight in their home states,
and with a positive impression of Motorcycling
Liberty in Oklahoma.
An event of this magnitude does not occur
spontaneously, and certainly isn’t spontaneously
successful, or the exclusive responsibility of
one individual. I’m very grateful to all those
in NCOM, ABATE, and the Oklahoma Confederation
that worked together to make this Convention
happen as well as it did. ABATE of Oklahoma
started coordinating with NCOM two years ago on
event logistics when the decision was made to
hold the 2004 Convention in Oklahoma City. As
State Coordinator of ABATE of Oklahoma, Liaison
for the Oklahoma Confederation of Clubs, and a
member of NCOM’s Board, I knew my work was cut
out for me, but I had some special folks backing
my play, including Carmaletta Lara, our State
Treasurer and Merchandise Chair, who was in
charge of the ABATE Booth, and Jimmie Bingham,
our State Sergeant-at-Arms who was responsible
for in-house security. It even turned out to be
a family affair, with Manuel, Chris and
Tina working the merchandise table with
Carmaletta all weekend, and Jimmie’s brother
Jeff Bingham riding down from Claremore to help
with security. The Biltmore Hotel was an easy
location to decide upon, given that it’s the
largest hotel in the state, and one of the few
with banquet accommodations for 700 guests. It
consists of over five acres of buildings on
twelve acres of property, featuring four pools
(one indoor), and four different clubs on the
premises. We maintained secure bike parking at
the hotel the entire time, thanks to Bikers
Against Child Abuse, a number of whom are ABATE
of Oklahoma members, who provided 24-hour
security for the Convention’s duration. Many
thanks, my B.A.C.A. Brothers and Sisters!
I received a lot of positive feedback from
attendees on how spread out and not crowded the
hotel was, the excellent quality of the food and
service, and the wide variety of restaurants,
clubs, and points of interest in the immediate
area. The hotel even provided shuttle service
for those that didn’t have transportation to the
Oklahoma City National Memorial, where bikers
could reflect on the sacrifice of innocents in
1995 resulting from terrorist attacks on our
Freedom. Part of the Convention planning
involved easing the fears of those uncomfortable
at the idea of bikers from so many different
backgrounds congregating together in close
quarters. NCOM was able to provide glowing
recommendations to the hotel from venues of
previous years, and we made the point that,
given the current challenges to Free
Motorcycling in our country, it was in the best
interest of all bikers attending, more than
anyone else, that the Convention go off without
a hitch. This point was also emphatically made
to several law enforcement agencies who, once
they saw our dedication to defending our
lifestyle principles and our sense of commitment
to making the Convention a success, conducted
their affairs with a much more low-key, relaxed
approach. In fact, in one of the hotel clubs,
an altercation was started between non-bikers
that was quickly broken up by motorcyclists that
were present, who then ejected the participants
to the profuse thanks of the bar management and
staff. Ultimately, after the Convention had
ended, I met with the Biltmore’s General
Manager, who informed me that in the over twenty
years that he’s been hosting conventions at his
hotel, the NCOM Convention was THE BEST that
he’s been involved with, and that we were very
welcome to come back again! For me, this
compliment served as ample payment for all the
hours of effort expended, as well as for the
extra gray hairs in my beard! The dire warnings
circulated by the fearful and ignorant proved
unfounded, and those Oklahoma businesses that
opened their arms to the motorcycling community
were rewarded economically as Convention
attendees spent a lot of time and money where
they felt comfortable. For example, one club
near the hotel decided to emphasize a “No
Patches” policy, whereupon a similar club down
the street put out “All Bikers Welcome” signs,
and stayed packed the entire weekend!
The 2004 Convention was concluded Sunday
Morning with a Blessing Of The Bikes by Matthew,
Secretary of the Oklahoma Confederation of
Clubs, representing the Covenant Motorcycle
Ministries. Those that didn’t have to catch a
plane or head out right away were invited to
stop again out at the Lovett or Leave It Rally,
which continued a full slate of events
throughout the day. Everyone I talked to came
away from the 2004 NCOM Convention with a great
deal of enthusiasm and motivation to continue
the fight for Motorcycling Freedom in their
areas, and some solid ideas for defending that
Freedom more effectively in their respective
legislative, judicial, and social arenas. Our
joy and relief at the Convention’s end was
unfortunately tempered by the news that there
were several motorcycle wrecks Saturday night
and Sunday morning involving attendees that
resulted in death or injury, and that the
majority of them were the fault of four-wheeled
vehicles. My heart goes out to the victims, and
to the families of Probationary Bandido Robert,
and the members of the Outlaws M/C, the Tribe of
Judah, and others that are suffering as the
result of these incidents caused by inattentive
or drunk drivers. These tragedies, especially
when reflecting on Bill Janklow just getting out
of jail after a 100-day slap on the wrist for
killing a biker, underscore the need to enforce
Failure To Yield legislation with teeth against
the reckless and negligent that are causing
carnage among our motorcycling family. They
also reinforce the importance of keeping a
Level-1 Trauma Center open in Oklahoma City,
which we almost lost due to lack of funding.
I’m very thankful that those victims were able
to receive top-quality medical care in a timely
manner, and I’m sure an even greater tragedy was
averted as a result. Well, that’s a recap of
how the Convention went, and I sure hope all of
you that attended came away with something good
to take with you from Oklahoma as a souvenir--at
the very least, a sense of how hard Oklahoma’s
Motorcyclists work together as a community to
support and defend the values we hold dear.
That certainly makes me glad I staked my claim
in the Sooner State! I wish for all of you a
celebration of the Liberties we enjoy here and
sometimes take for granted in Oklahoma, many
miles of Free and Safe Riding as we travel
together on life’s road, and I look forward to
seeing a large number of you, my old friends and
new, at the 2005 NCOM Convention in Kentucky,
our sister Free State!
Keep It On The Black Strip Between The Trees,
Tiger Mike