The Best Riding Cities

Gridlock Traffic

With breweries (84 in Portland area), donuts and great bookstores, Portland is a dream to ride around and visit — until you get stuck in traffic.

Allstate Insurance has Portland as home to some of the worst drivers in the U.S., ranked at 181 out of 200 on their list of “Best Driving Cities.”

Not long ago, Portland also landed on a list of the top cities for drunk driving (compiled by QuoteWizard).

Now there is a study, published by Apartment Guide, that showcases Portland in the top-10 list of “The Worst Cities for Commuters.”  The city takes the No. 7 spot as one of the worst cities for commuters.  Number one is Los Angeles and number two is Seattle.  Studies for Portland indicate that in large part the congestion comes from roads and highways that haven’t been expanded to accommodate the large influx of millennial newcomers who have moved into the city/area.

For any of you who have experienced the brutal gridlock traffic and tried to ride around with traffic in Portland, it’s no surprise.

There is good news if you like higher taxes.  In November, the Oregon Transportation Commission sent the Legislature a report (PDF) outlining how ODOT and local governments have met specific requirements in order to trigger gas tax increases.  It’s called The Conditional Motor Fuels Tax Increase Accountability Report.  The report ensures a funding package and that all of the statutory conditions required to trigger the first two-cent motor fuels tax increase will become effective January 01, 2020.

Yea, more gas tax!

If you are interested in the grading of major roads in and through communities (good, fair, or poor) or so riders can see what they’re getting for their increased taxes, check out this website that was developed by ODOT.

But wait, there’s more…

Governor Kate Brown (who theoretically is responsible to set an example for state employees!), flies on a private jet to the Sunriver airport to meet with the Oregon Forest & Industries Council. When the backlash became louder and the media noted that the “green” optics looked rather poor, the governor’s office went on a charm-offensive and provided a ‘PR message’ stating that “the decision to travel by (private) plane was made to accommodate a busy schedule.”

Flying Private Jet

Don’t we all have “busy” schedules?  What does that say about the Brown administrations environmental credentials?

Any reasonable person would view a private jet as being something for the “privileged” few, but it now seems to include state employees.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m on-board the “Keep Oregon Moving” legislation, but rubbing the voters faces in the my time is more “valuable” and I have the power to fly over traffic congestion seems very tone deaf. Once this became public, Governor Brown’s office stated she would report the private flight as a gift, as required by law.

But, it’s not the only example.  Consider that on October 31st, the State of Oregon Aviation Board (the OAB is appointed by the Governor) members flew by private planes to a meeting in Sunriver for a hearing on the Aurora State Airport runway expansion while citizens who will have to live with the consequences of a decision needed to drive 3 hours each way to give 2 minutes of testimony!  I’m guessing, but if they were confronted I would anticipate their decision to travel by private plane was to accommodate their very “busy” schedule.

Does anything seem wrong about this?

The “do as I say, not as I do” optics are extremely poor given the Governors push for a cap on carbon emissions and her administrations advocacy that citizens need to pay more taxes and make more sacrifices for climate change.

I love planes!  But, private jets are the worst form of transportation if you are concerned about carbon emissions so, please stop lecturing me about climate change and demanding more sacrifices.

#hypocrites #mimicking #celebrities #privileged #elites

Photos courtesy of ODOT, TomTom and Instagram (Jet)

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The Changing Landscape

Out Of Busines

Harley-Davidson has undergone a grueling restructuring over the last year to better compete amid less demand.

The economy and housing bubble depleted consumers’ wealth and left a lot of folks unwilling to spend on Harley’s high-end bikes.  I anticipate that Harley will remain at least three quarters away from achieving positive retail sales trends in the U.S., especially given the companies lapse of a successful promotion in the first quarter.

I’m genuinely concerned.   More so about the decay of prosperity in the local motorcycle shops, parts suppliers, and dealers.  Be it routine service or customization, the local shops most often operate on their ability to make sure YOU are happy. They know if you leave satisfied, you will tell your friends about your experience with the shop.  Word of mouth is an integral part of a shops reputation in the local area and carries a lot of weight in generating new business.  “Giving” local shops rebuild, repair, or service work on your bike, while appreciated, is not going to keep a shop in business.   The industry at large will need sales to rebound or the local motorcycle businesses will lay-off their skilled workers or worse – close down operations.

Unless you own or work in a local shop, you have no idea of what it takes to stay in business.  Facility overhead, staff salaries, phones, heat/electricity and advertising are things everybody thinks of.  But what about insurance, hazmat costs, licensing fees and money paid to local city and state governments for all the TAXES they require?

And speaking of taxes, I’m very skeptical of government spending our way to prosperity.  Increasing the tax liability on small business owners does nothing to encourage businesses to take care of their employees.  In fact, in Oregon there is a special ballot measure on personal and corporate tax increases.  In my opinion this one-size-fits-all legislation may well force motorcycle shops to shut down.  You’ve heard of Measures 66 and 67 and read more about net profits and corporate structures to last a life time so I’ll avoid explaining the details.  Instead, let me ask a simple question.  Did you get a raise last year?  I know I didn’t.  And if you’re lucky enough to still have a job, I’m willing to bet that you didn’t either.  Most likely you took a pay cut.  Or had your hours reduced.  Or were required to pay a larger share of your health insurance coverage.

At the same time you and I were taking cuts the Oregon Legislature voted to increase the tax burden on higher incomes and businesses by $750 million dollars, it also authorized $248 million in pay raises for state employees.  Yep, that’s right.  State workers got raises during the worst economy we’ve been through since the Great Depression.

Still don’t care?  Then how about this.  The legislature approved a budget that increased state spending by 9%.  If I was operating a motorcycle shop I can assure you that if my business increased 9% over the past two years I’d be most happy.  The legislature increase is about $4.7 billion more than the previous two years.  Time for another question.  Do you think state services have improved as spending has increased?  Are the schools better? Is our infrastructure better?  At a time when Oregon has lost over 120,000 private-sector jobs in the past 18 months the state has added 10,000.  It would seem that in Oregon, government has become the ONLY growth industry!

I’m not sure about where you live, but in Oregon during the winter many think about what customization you can do to your bike in the off-season.  Before long you’ll be sitting at your MacBook, surfing the web looking to make some modification dreams come true.  You’ll likely have questions and find yourself on the phone calling the local motorcycle shop trying to get all those questions answered.  Before long you’ll have spent most of an hour discussing scenarios, getting advice and prices from the local shop expert.

What if they don’t answer your call because the parts expert is no longer employed?  What if they’ve gone out of business?

We’re told by the “spinsters” in Salem that the state is making “budget cuts.” Huh?  In fact it means simply they can’t have as much of an increase as legislators would like.  A 9% increase is NOT a cut!  It’s my opinion that the private sector creates wealth.  Government does not.  I hope you’ll join me in voting NO on Measures 66 and 67 to send a clear message to the Oregon legislators that a CUT means CUT.   

Increasing taxes on motorcycle shop owners means more will go out of business.

Source: Statistics from The Oregonian

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

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