Run starts at 9:30am at the American Restaurant & Bar, 55 Old Route 22, Armonk, NY. Pack pulls out at 11:00am. Run will end at New Roc Harley Davidson, 8 Industrial Ave., New Rochelle, NY, where Sonny will be doing his book signing. Price is $10.00 per bike and will include commemorative run patch, with food and drinks at the book signing. Check around Armonk ,NY for hotels on travel sites.
Some people are already booked 10 miles from run start at:
Super 8
Stanford ,CT
2 dbl beds $74 per night
Last Updated (Monday, 19 July 2010 04:56)
ARUNDEL — After enduring years of motorcycle noise complaints, members of the Kennebunkport and Kennebunk police departments and the York County Sheriff's Office came together Sunday, July 25, to get the message out that the state law governing noisy bikes has changed.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the new law, which went into effect July 12, prohibits any modification designed to increase exhaust noise, mandates that headlights be left on, and restricts handlebar height on motorcycles.
To both help educate riders on the law and make sure motorcycle owners and those driving other vehicles are complying with state inspection rules, the agencies conducted a joint vehicle inspection stop on Route 1 in Arundel.
"I thought it went fairly well," said Kennebunkport Police Chief Joe Bruni of the four-hour check, which took place in front of Weirs Motor Sales. "What we saw reflected what we're seeing statewide: that there is a significant number of motorcycle operators not getting their vehicles inspected."
State estimates are that up to 40 percent of motorcycles currently in use in Maine are not inspected.
One of those bikes belongs to Tim Madore of Lyman, who was cited with a violation when he dropped by Weirs on Sunday.
"I had heard they were doing this, but I didn't think they'd be here this early," he said. "I came here to look at the trucks."
Madore said he believes inspection stops like the one that nabbed him are just "harassment" and that he feels the inspections are just another way for the state to take money from people.
"It's safe, I know it would pass," he said of his bike. "It's just another $25 down the tube."
For not having his bike inspected, Madore is facing a $133 fine.
Some motorcycle owners, though, have made changes to their bikes that would prevent them from passing inspection.
Those changes include extended handlebars known as "ape hangers," Bruni said, and putting straight pipes on their exhaust systems, which makes a bike much louder.
It's because of that increased noise that the state law was changed. The law now allows local police officers to stop riders who have bikes that are louder than other vehicles in the area.
While those people with uninspected vehicles were ticketed Sunday — cars, trucks and motorcycles alike — King said most officers simply advised motorcycle riders of the new law governing noise.
This educational effort will continue throughout the summer, with two more inspection stops planned, King said.
Bruni said Sunday's location was not chosen for its proximity to Bentley's Saloon, just up the road, but rather because of the width of the road at that point.
"It's an extremely wide portion of road," he said. "We needed to have a certain distance on both sides to accommodate the vehicles that pulled in."
Bruni said officers pulled over 21 automobiles and wrote out six citations for drivers, all of them inspection violations.
Since Maine law doesn't require motorcycle operators to display an inspection sticker, Bruni said officers had to ask riders to pull over and show their information.
Of the 116 motorcycles pulled over, 21 riders were cited for no inspection sticker and one for an unregistered motorcycle.
A Sheriff's Department press release said eight motorcycle riders who tried to avoid the stop were found and three were issued citations for inspection violations.
Kennebunk Sgt. Tony Clukey said most of the riders seemed OK with the stop.
"The majority were great," he said. "They understood what we were doing, and understood we were doing vehicles as well."
Clukey said it was important to get the message out on the new noise law.
"Obviously, the citizens are demanding it," he said.
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The son of a Chosen Few motorcycle club leader was found guilty Thursday of threatening a witness in the racketeering case against his father.
Chad Koschuk, 23, of Alden, was accused of threatening to forcibly sodomize a witness who provided information to the FBI and testified before a grand jury about his father, according to U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr.
His father, Alex Koschtschuk, 58, of Alden, is the jailed former president of the Chosen Few.
About 20 members of the gang, the subject of a federal crackdown that began in May 2009, face charges ranging from racketeering and weapons possession to arson and assault.
Koschuk, who was prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys Anthony M. Bruce and Russell T. Ippolito, faces about 4 1/2 years in jail.
Hochul said Koschuk's threat against the government's witness took place during a chance meeting in September 2009 at an Alden convenience store.
During the trial this week, defense lawyers argued that threats were made by the witness against Koschuk and other members of his family.
The conviction was the result of an FBI investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James H. Robertson.
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Bikers Against Discrimination is hosting a Benefit to support the defense of Biker's Rights. Put it on your calendar... come support the cause... and enjoy some biker brotherhood along the way!
B.A.D. - Biker Rights Fundraiser/Benefit
Saturday, August 21,2010
1518 4th Ave, Mont Pleasant(Schenectady),NY
Entertainment, Food, Refreshments, Cool Raffles & Biker Rights News
$10 Donation helps defray costs to assist in defense and recognition of biker rights.
For more info call:
Bruce (518) 860-3792 or Tish (518)312-1856
By CHRIS KITCHING, Winnipeg Sun
Taking away the clubhouse of the Hells Angels’ Manitoba chapter — at least temporarily — isn’t going to eliminate the outlaw motorcycle gang’s presence, a street source says.
Hells Angels members won’t have an official hangout if they lose the clubhouse but it won’t put an end to the chapter, the source said.
“It’s good PR for the police but the band will still march on even without a place to chill,” the source said.
A Hells Angels clubhouse in Oshawa, Ont., was seized by that province’s government and demolished in March. Similar seizures have occurred in other Canadian cities.
The Manitoba government’s move to take control of the biker club’s lair is the latest chapter in the back-and-forth saga between organized crime and law enforcement in Manitoba.
Lately, law enforcement seems to be coming out on top against Hells Angels members and associates.
Police have had tremendous success in finding trusted people to flip and become paid informants to infiltrate the Hells Angels or Zig Zag Crew, its so-called street crew.
Many Hells Angels members and associates are serving lengthy prison sentences or are in custody awaiting the resolution of charges.
The number of Manitoba Hells Angels members on the street is unclear.
Three long-term undercover projects — Defence, Drill and Divide — by the Manitoba integrated organized crime task force resulted in charges against more than 60 people between 2006 and 2010. The clubhouse was raided each time.
Manitoba Justice officials and Winnipeg Police Service officers moved in and temporarily seized the clubhouse at 2679 Scotia St. on Thursday under the provincial Criminal Property Forfeiture Act, a civil law that allows property used in unlawful acts to be seized by the government.
In court documents the government alleges the clubhouse was being used “as a place to plan and carry out criminal activity.”
The province has started legal proceedings to take over the secluded property. The property’s legal owner, Leonard Beauchemin, has 40 days to file a statement of defence.
original article
by Carrie Johnson
Last month, federal agents spanned out over seven states to arrest more than two dozen members of the Outlaws motorcycle club and charged them with weapons and racketeering offenses.
The case lifted a curtain on the violent lifestyle of one of the nation's largest outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The gangs don't usually get much attention, aside from a cable television show called the Sons of Anarchy.
But far away from TV screens, investigators are working to infiltrate the closed societies of biker gangs and bring criminal cases against their leaders.
"The investigation shows this group was a calculated criminal enterprise that was involved in trying to take over territory, narcotics routes, gambling establishments, and to utilize the brand of the Outlaws to facilitate criminal acts of not only themselves but other clubs," said Rich Marianos, who supervised the Outlaws case for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Sex, Parties And Celebrity
Gang members follow a few simple rules: They have to be men ages 21 and older. They need to ride American-made motorcycles. They meet regularly in sessions they call "church," and they pay dues, usually $100 a month, to cover legal bills and funeral expenses.
Terry Katz investigates biker gangs and says guys who follow biker culture often pay with their blood. One biker in Maine, for instance, died in a hail of gunfire during the Outlaw arrests in June.
"It's a very, very violent existence," Katz said. "You're either going to die from a motorcycle wreck or from a rival gang. You're going to go to jail, usually for substantial periods of time. For them, they live for the moment. They would rather live a life of sex, parties, being treated like a celebrity, for moments ... rather than have a long-term plan of retirement."
New members work their way into the club by serving a kind of probationary period, running errands and sometimes breaking the law.
Neil MacBride, the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, said in court papers that Outlaws recognize each other through tattoos and patches they wear on their leather vests.
We're not a gang; we're a club.
- Mark Lester, Outlaw member
"One example is a patch with the letters G-F-O-D, which signifies God Forgives, Outlaws Don't," MacBride said. "Another patch they use reads, 'Snitches Are a Dying Breed,' which signifies the gang's commitment to identify, expel and, if necessary, murder individuals associated with the club who cooperate with law enforcement."
Earlier this year, Outlaw member Mark Lester told a television station in Knoxville, Tenn., that he has a right to meet and ride bikes with his friends.
"None of us are doing anything illegal," Lester said. "We're not a gang; we're a club. We ride and have fun together and that's what the organization is put together to do ... to have charitable events, help the community, and that's what we've been doing."
Lester is one of several former Outlaw leaders arrested this summer. He's now living in a Virginia jail while he and the others await trial in Richmond.
Along For The Ride
Defense lawyers for some of the Outlaws say the government is overreaching in its criminal case. They have signaled in court papers that they will challenge the portrait of the gang as a dangerous, criminal group. And they may argue that investigators entrapped the Outlaws into dealing and using drugs and violence to get their way.
In all, the Outlaws boast more than 1,500 members across the U.S. and a dozen different countries. Investigators say it's usually too dangerous or legally risky to rely on gang members to build a case. Instead, they try to plant undercover agents to go along for the ride.
That's what happened in the Virginia case against the Outlaws. Several undercover operatives became full-fledged members of the gang. They recorded conversations and tipped off police about violent confrontations in the works.
Edgar Domenich leads the ATF's Washington office. He said undercover operatives who sacrifice their own personal lives are essential to the ATF's operation.
"It only works when you have law enforcement undercover agents involved from the very inception," Domenich said.
The strategy poses some risks. Katz, the longtime gang investigator, says biker gangs have gotten sophisticated. Some use polygraphs and private investigators to check out new members. Others scour court records for evidence that applicants to the gang may have testified in a criminal case against bikers.
"More and more, they come to rely almost the way industry does on background investigations. And certainly with the Internet, it's easier to get a lot of information about an individual more quickly than it was when I did it," Katz said.
Prosecutor MacBride said that the Justice Department will continue to devote resources to biker cases because the gangs pose a threat to public safety.
"The press recently reported in New Hampshire the shooting of a teenage boy at a pizza joint who was caught in the crossfire between the Outlaws and other motorcycle gang members," MacBride said.
Investigators are still combing through assault weapons, bomb-making manuals, and Nazi flags they uncovered in searches of Outlaw property.
Law enforcement sources say more charges are likely before the Outlaws' trial in October.
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