Sorry Doug,
I know you've heard this before....LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES. I hate to see someone go down (I hope everyone is gonna be OK). The fact is that the the first thing in driving school should be is a training class on a bike. It might make people more aware of "OTHER" vehicles on the road. That's the point, cagers don't freakin look. They think that the bike that just turned the corner a second ago is still on their way. Fact is, bikes are better, faster, stronger in power than any cage built for production use, and that bike will get there faster than the cagger ever thought. We ride for a reason, and many are different...as are mine from day to day. Some days I want to do some miles and forget......some days it's about adrenilin......some days it's about spendin good time with Mrs.Beagle....
What ever the reason, we should be able to persue our passion safely. I still support the legislation that all drivers go through a bike safety class.
I travel the world, mainly in Asia. People look before they move over there because anyone driving a car has had a bike of one sort or another (usually a moped or scooter), but that's fine......THEY LOOK.
I know I'm off on a tangent right now, but there are a lot of issues that are coming up that I have some input (good or bad) about.
_Beagle