Scott O’Sullivan and his team have been helping injured motorcycle riders in Colorado since 1998. If you need assistance after an accident, please call us at 303-865-3934 or visit our website www.riderjustice.com
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Bagger Racing League Premiers At Utah Motorsports Complex
Following the successful King of the Baggers Race last October, a new race series has is set to have their first event in the books: the Bagger Racing League.
On June 25th thru June 27th Utah Motorsports Complex will hear the roar of motorcycle racing and race fans and riders alike can tune in live to the first-ever Bagger Racing League, featuring five unique races, most of which are the first of their kind. BRL is proud to partner with the premier pay-per-view provider FITE to broadcast the first-ever BRL Sunday, June 27th at 1:00 pm MST and 12:00 pm PST.
Each round was a 3-day event with the final this Sunday, June 27th, featuring the world’s largest V-Twin vendor village at a road racetrack, stunt shows, camping, the Arlen Ness Custom Bike Show and much more. Drag Specialties Battle of the Baggers will broadcast live through FITE and will feature a live audience and announcing.
An action-packed highlight video of what to expect from Bagger Racing League can be viewed here: youtu.be/EsNBJW7dk8I.
Drag Specialties Battle of the Baggers Bagger Racing League™ will feature 5 classes of racing, making this accessible to all riders that have put in track time, not just pro- racers:
- Class 1 Hooligan GP presented by Icon: Includes American V-twin inspired platforms.
- Class 2 Big Twin GP presented by NAMZ: Includes any American large-displacement big twin.
- Class 3 Pro-Stock Bagger GP presented by Metzeler Tires: Includes Harley-Davidson or Indian with fairing and saddlebags to qualify
- Class 4 Stunt GP presented by Lucas Oil: Invitational. Invited entrants compete in a judged stunt competition Friday night, then take their bike to the track for qualifying on Saturday and the main event on Sunday.
- Class 5 BRL’s premier Bagger GP presented by Custom Dynamics: Harley-Davidson and Indian touring bikes duke it out in a fight for dominance.
In addition to the excitement around the Harley-Davidson – Indian Motorcycle rivalry, featuring Tyler O’Hara on an Indian and Ben Bostrom on a Harley-Davidson in the Premiere Bagger GP Class, Bagger Racing League history will be made with the first female racer in a Bagger GP, featuring Patricia Fernandez riding for Saddlemen racing.
Bagger Racing League has united Harley-Davidson aftermarket parts companies from across the world, including: 31 State, Beringer Brakes, Bridgestone Tires, Continental Tires Custom Dynamics, CVRD Canopies, Drag Specialities, Dream Rides, Dunlop Tires, Eric Herrmann, Icon, Klock Werks, Kraus Motor Company, LA Choppers, Legends Suspensions, LePera Seats, Lucas Oil, Lucky Speed Shop, Metzeler Tires, Moto United, NAMZ, Optimate, Rider Justice, SMT Wheels, Sturgis Buffalo Chip.
Companies, brands and shops building bikes competing in the premier Bagger Racing League Bagger GP presented by Custom Dynamics include: Alloy Art, Barnett, Bassani, Feuling Parts, Performance Machine, Pistol Pete Custom Cycles, Saddlemen, Slyfox, S&S Cycles, The Speed Merchant and Trask Performance.
Harley-Davidson Dealerships from across the country are fielding teams including from Memphis, Durango, Yuba City, Las Vegas, and more.
Drag Specialities Battle of the Baggers, Bagger Racing League™ Round 1 will take place June 25–27, 2021, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at Utah Motorsports Complex. Get your tickets, hotel packages, camping and VIP experiences and more at www.BaggerRacingLeague.com.
Follow Bagger Racing League online:
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BaggerRacingLeague
Instagram: @BaggerRacingLeague
Watch the mile-long burnout video that broke Instagram | Bagger Racing League Competitor C-Bear: youtu.be/DRhCxYCDy8Q
For just $14.99, viewers can watch all the action live and be a witness to motorcycle history in the making. With five epic classes and over 50 riders from across the globe the Harley-Davidson and Indian fight for racing dominance will be seen at every level live on FITE. Order here. We will publish the complete schedule when the official racing schedule is out!
Insurance Companies are Victim-Blaming
I like to think that I’m rarely surprised by insurance company tactics to avoid paying victims of accidents, but there’s a new twist that is seriously pissing me off. Allow me to tell you about it and then what you can do to protect yourself. As you know all too well, motorcycle riders are often blamed for crashes, so you need to proactively take some steps to protect yourself from these insurance tricks.
Classic example
You’re riding along, minding your own business, going the speed limit and doing all the good things you should be doing. When, from out of nowhere, a car turns left in front of you. You hit the brakes as hard as you can but it’s no use. You plow into the car, go airborne and… well, you’ve likely had friends face this exact tragedy. Most often, the rider is hospitalized with severe injuries, facing years of medical bills, not to mention lost wages, and other hardships.
So, imagine that the other driver’s insurance company swings in, does its own analysis of the accident and blames the victim for part of the crash. This is literally happening. I’ve had insurance companies contact me because I represent motorcycle crash victims and the company says, “Your client was 35% at-fault for the accident so we are reducing the amount we will pay.”
Insurance companies will lie after accidents
Now, because I’m an attorney, I say, “Aw, hell no!” I know the law and I know how to get my clients every dime that they are owed. Nobody is taking 35% away from my clients.
But picture yourself as the victim of the accident, or the victim’s family members. If you get that call from the insurance company and they say, “We were going to pay you $100,000 but our analysis shows that you were 35% responsible, so we’re only going to pay you $65,000.”
Often, victims and families just say “OK” because they are desperate for cash. The bills are racking up and their source of income has collapsed. They cave under pressure.
So here is my first piece of advice: Get a personal injury attorney! Here are several (but not all) of the reasons you need an attorney:
- Once you hire a personal injury attorney, you don’t have to talk to the insurance company any more. This is a huge stress-reduction.
- An experienced motorcycle attorney will see right through these tricks and fight for your rights. They can get you more than what the insurance company is saying they will pay you.
- A personal injury attorney can often find even more money than you think you can get. There are so many “pots” to look into after an accident – insurance resources that are available to car and motorcycle crash victims – but most victims are completely unaware of them.
- An experienced personal injury attorney has connections that can help you get the medical care you need and also postpone your medical bill due dates.
- Personal injury attorneys can even help to reduce the amounts you owe on medical bills.
So, clearly, it is in your best interest to hire a motorcycle accident attorney if you’ve been in a crash.
But there are some other things that you should do at the scene of the accident, if you are physically able, to protect yourself from insurance tricks. If you are riding with a friend who has been hit, be a good friend and do the following. You could likely save your injured buddy from some very bad insurance tactics.
At the scene of a motorcycle crash:
- Do not move your bike from where it landed after the impact.
- Take pictures of the entire scene, including your bike, the car, the intersection and debris.
- Get contact information from any witnesses.
- Take videos of witnesses explaining what they saw.
- Take a picture of the other driver’s insurance card.
- Make sure a police officer comes to the scene and files a report. (Never, ever, ever exchange insurance information with the other driver and leave the scene. You need that police report.)
Riding season is upon us. As I look out my 6th Avenue office window, the blossoms are popping and I can hear motorcycle engines revving as they pass by. I’m thrilled to hear my friends are out, hitting the open roads! Enjoy yourself, and please call me if you or a friend ends up the victim in a motorcycle accident. I won’t put up with any insurance nonsense.
Letter From The Publisher Colorado Motorcycle Fatalities up 33% from 2019 and We are EXPANDING!
May is Motorcycle Awareness month and a time for ALL RIDERS to work to get the awareness out to the driving community. Yesterday I was asked to participate in a CDOT campaign focused on helmet use by riders. Riding will always be about Freedom of the Ride, and individual choice, but it is clear that we riders cannot STOP drivers from driving distracted, we cannot STOP drivers from texting & driving.
While listening to the speakers, I was overwhelmed to hear that motorcycle fatalities were up 33%. That means in real numbers that 137 motorcycle riders died on their bikes in 2020, up from 103 the previous year. This is the largest number of motorcycle fatalities EVER in the state of Colorado.
I began to wonder as I was standing there, what can I do when I get on the bike and go out for a ride to ensure that I get home safe or survive if I get into an accident and the answer that kept coming into my mind was WEAR MY HELMET each time I ride.
This will not be the answer that many will want to hear, but the reality is that I have a family to come home to, I am a wife, mother and grandmother who wants to see my grandchildren grow up. I will make the PLEDGE today to never get on my bike without putting my safety gear on to give me a better chance of surviving in the event of an accident.
I am pleased to announce that Colorado Rider News will be working with BikerDown and Rider Justice to implement a helmet giveaway each month to those that might not be able to afford a new helmet or would like to upgrade to a better helmet. See the ad in this issue of CRN to learn how you sign up for a chance to win a new helmet! Rider Justice will also work with Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson to size and evaluate the type of helmet a rider wants to ride with. We thank all of the sponsors of this program.
4 years ago, Colorado Rider News was launched because our community had lost 2 of our publications in Colorado devoted to motorcycle riding. Publishing this publication isn’t easy and takes tremendous commitment. CRN with the help of many of our advertisers has grown in distribution and our success is because we have focused on biker owned businesses and all things Colorado.
We will premiering Motorcycle Rider News in the Las Vegas community in June of this year to continue that message and giving Vegas motorcycle riders a voice in the community. Wish us Luck!
Laurie Montoya
Publisher
Colorado Rider News
Publisher, Colorado Rider News
TOMORROW: BikerDown’s Motorcycle Awareness Ride: Can YOU SEE Me NOW starts at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
By Laurie Montoya
Tomorrow, May 15th BikerDown will again be hosting their 9th Annual Look Twice Ride and our theme again this year is CAN YOU SEE ME NOW. Motorcycle fatalities are up 33% from 2019 to 137. These are un-imaginable statistic and one that riders hope will not happen to them, however, there is hardly a week that goes by that someone in our network of friends isn’t reported to have gone down or passed from a motorcycle accident.
It is a well-known fact that the public does not watch for motorcycles no matter how many billboards CDOT puts up or lighted signs that are only up a few days in May or in August during Sturgis. It is a well-known fact that most motorcycle accidents involve a car and/or some sort of distracted driving. Distracted Driving comes in many forms including texting/driving, use of handheld mobile devices while driving, putting your makeup on while the vehicle is moving, looking in the back seat at your kids, eating while driving to changing the radio station.
Our riding community continues to be the victim of irresponsible drivers who are out driving with no driver’s license and little to no insurance and driver’s leaving accident victims on the ground and leaving the scene. Driver’s change lanes without looking and run stop signs/lights, hit the biker, and keep on going.
We are asking all riders who have been injured in a motorcycle accident or know of someone who is currently hospitalized from an accident, riders who have lost a loved one on the bike to STAND with us on Saturday, May 15th and show this community of drivers to WATCH FOR US!
Riders will need to pre-register for the ride to guarantee themselves 1 of our motorcycle awareness t shirts. T-shirts will be available the day of the event in limited sizes. Registration is $25.00 per rider. Each rider who pre-registers will get 1 free month of motorcycle roadside assistance sponsored by Motorcycle Towing Services.
Our ride will start and end this year at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden with kickstands up at 10-10:30 am. The Look Twice ride is known for great rides routes and safety is always key for this event. Dirty Dogs will have some great entertainment for our event, and our sponsors and biker community always donate great raffles and 50/50 drawings prizes.
Our sponsor for the ride is again Rider Justice. For over 8 years, Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com has supported this event as well as BikerDown Foundation to ensure that injured motorcycle riders have a resource to go when they go down.
This is BikerDown Colorado’s primary fundraiser that will enable us to continue the mission of helping injured riders until the end of the year!
Rider Justice – Fighting for injured riders since 1998
May is Motorcycle Awareness Month – Safety begins with the rider
By Laurie Montoya, President and Founder of BikerDown Colorado
The Phrase Everyday should be Motorcycle Awareness Day is a statement that signifies the epidemic of motorcycle riders across this country that are injured daily. Everyone knows of a rider who has gone down, been injured or sadly has passed from a motorcycle accident.
Motorcyclists weigh the risk versus the reward for the freedom of the ride and most would say that if they had their choice they would GO doing what they loved. What happens thought when they are injured and their families are left to pick up the pieces of recovery, how does the family survive when you are looking at 6-8 months of recovery and multiple surgeries? What do they do when the driver of the car that hit them has an irresponsible driver with no insurance or at the very least the state minimum required to be on the road.
The answer is actually very simple – Motorcycle Awareness STARTS WITH ME! – Freedom of the ride in no longer free my friends, it requires riders to have the safety gear to keep them safer on the road than ever before, and it requires them to no longer get on the bike without the adequate insurance so in the event of an accident or fatality, the motorcycle law firm of their choice will be able to get them a recovery settlement that they need to survive. THAT IS THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH DOESN’T CHANGE no matter what your ride, how you ride or what group or club you are in!
The National Organization BikerDown Foundation and your local chapter of BikerDown Colorado is mounting a daily campaign “I AM A BIKER” during Motorcycle Awareness Month in the hopes that it will go viral and show drivers/cagers that there are faces behind those helmets, that we are mothers/fathers, husband/wives and that we are more than just a motorcyclist.
We want to give also give our readers and followers tools and tips on how you can make your ride safer on the road, or in the event of an accident have the insurance coverages that you need.
Today, we will start that campaign with a motorcycle insurance checklist provided by Rider Justice.com that is vital to your recovery in the event of an accident. We hope that all riders will take the PLEDGE TODAY, to call their insurance carrier and ask these very basic questions
- In the event I am hit by an un-insured driver, what kind of coverage do i have? Do i have un-insured motorist? Did i waive it when i got the policy?
- In the event I am hit by a driver with limited insurance, what kind of coverage do I have?
- If i have a passenger on the back of my bike and we are hit, is the passenger covered?
- Are my medical bills covered in the event of an accident? How much is it to add Med-Pay?
- I have car and bike insurance – are my policies stackable?
- Underinsured Motorist (UIM) – Purchase a minimum of $250,000
- Medical Payments (MedPay) – Get the maximum offered by your insurance company, usually between $5,000 and $25,000
- Umbrella Policy – If you own your home, you need an underinsured motorists’ umbrella policy for $1 million
- Liability – Purchase a minimum of $250,000
- Collision –
- Comprehensive
- Accessories Coverage – This protects all of the customized accessories on your bike. Be sure to get replacement value coverage
In Colorado or anywhere in the country, if you need an insurance review of what you actually have on your policy and a suggestion of what you should upgrade to, i would suggest that you call Rider Justice and speak to Scott O’Sullivan.
Where Do Most Motorcycle Accidents Occur?
It’s April! Already, warm days have peeked into our tumultuous Colorado weather, bringing 70s in March… then whomping us with a record-setting blizzard. From my law office on 6th Avenue and Ogden, I have already noticed an uptick in motorcycle traffic and, for me, it’s like a harbinger of spring!
Before I get into my spring “get-ready-to-ride-safely” checklist, I want to answer a question that I recently received from a rider buddy. He and I were chatting at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse and I thought I should address it in an article.
Where Do Most Motorcycle Accidents Occur in Colorado?
I often get asked about the most dangerous intersections in Denver however, when analyzing where most motorcycle accidents happen, I have to say that it’s very similar to where most auto accidents occur: intersections. And the number-one cause of motorcycle accidents is left-hand turns in front of oncoming traffic.
All too often, cars underestimate how fast motorcycles are traveling and pull out in front of them when taking a left-hand turn. Or, auto drivers maintain that they never saw the motorcycle coming. Of course, in both of these types of accidents, the auto driver is at fault. But that does little to soothe the victims or the victims’ families, whose lives may have been completely ruined.
You need to ride defensively and behave as if you think no one can see you. When you are approaching an intersection, use caution.
Another place where most motorcycle accidents occur in Colorado is on highways and open roads. This is because of the high speeds. Motorcyclists get a bad rap for being speed demons (and we’ve all seen the riders who give us this reputation), but most of the riders I know are responsible and law-abiding. However, even when a motorcyclist is traveling at the speed limit, highway speeds are very high and crashes at those speeds are generally tragic for bikers.
As Mike Douglass of the Aurora Police Department said in a recent Westword article:
“When you have highways or roadways that allow for higher speeds, a car does a better job of protecting people. You have seat belts, closed passenger compartments and a lot more body and weight to help protect the occupants. And with motorcyclists, you can have the unintended consequence of the rider coming off the bike.”
So, the two places that motorcycle accidents occur the most are intersections and highways. Please be vigilant and ride defensively anywhere you ride, but especially when approaching an intersection or on a highway.
Get Ready to Ride Your Motorcycle This Spring!
OK, now that the tough stuff is out of the way, let’s focus on the fun stuff: getting your bike out for the warm weather! I want to remind you to do one thing that is super important before you even ride around the block: turn your motorcycle insurance back on if you turned it off last fall.
All too often, I meet injured riders who “just took it out for a spin” on the first warm day and didn’t switch their insurance on. They are left with huge medical bills and sometimes can’t even work due to injuries.
What about the other guy’s insurance, you ask? Very often, the “other guy” doesn’t have insurance or is underinsured. You have to protect yourself.
So, before you ride… call your insurance agent and turn that policy on today. We’ve already had beautiful days and you know the itch to ride is growing. Do it now so that you can hop on your bike when those temps start climbing again.
Rider Up! Share This Video on Your Social Media Channels
Finally, let’s make sure the rest of the world is ready to SEE us and PROTECT us this spring! In 2019, Rider Justice launched a campaign that we call Rider Up! It’s a game that challenges car passengers to be the first to spot a motorcyclist and yell its location in relation to the car. The player who spots and yells first is the winner. The goal is to have auto passengers help drivers locate nearby bikers, and to also train future drivers to look for and see motorcyclists on the road.
Check it out at riderjustice.com. Please help us get the word out now that the daffodils are emerging and the motorcycle engines are revving.
Hope to see you soon at a Rider Justice event!
Save the Date – May 1st is International Female Ride Day
Colorado Rider News in conjunction with Audrey Paulas from Cool Biker Lunch & Rides is hosting the May 1st International Female Ride. Please join us at Rocky Mountain Harley Davidson at 9am for a day of empowerment for women!
After a short ride, we will come back to the dealership and have an afternoon of activities including a women’s rodeo games, women biker vendors and music.
You can pre-register for the ride by clicking here. Pre-registration guarantees that you will receive an event tshirt and our welcome package. Huge thank you to our sponsor RiderJustice.com and our host Kathy and Marina from Rocky Mountain Harley. Kathy has been a women biker owned business for over 40 years and an inspiration to women riders all over the Colorado riding community including her annual Children’s Hospital Toy Run.
Proceeds from the event will go directly to the local food banks in Jefferson County and to BikerDown’s #2Wheels4meals program which helps 1st responders and injured riders with meals.
RiderJustice.com