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THE TRUTH BIKERNET WEEKLY NEWS for February 5th, 2026
Hey,
This is incredible. Are you ready? What a strange week. A kid who was forced to go trans sued and won immediately. Get this. Every trans is fucked for life. They can’t have kids or sexual fun ever. They just look like the other sex.
The jury immediately looked at the grotesque evidence and found for the kid. A week later two major medical associations backed away from child mutualization. So, what the fuck does this have to do with Bikernet, Easyriders, the custom industry, choppers, whatever.
It has everything to do with America and freedom. If it wasn’t for America and free speech, like every freedom fighter knows, we wouldn’t be able to stand up and point out the bullshit these bastards are trying to throw at us.
We’ve been victim to it, forced to curb our complaints about Climate Doom. I never gave up sharing the facts and finally the Prez put an end to the lies.
We almost had our asses kicked, but others, like Greg Wrightstone and Marc Moreno never gave up. We can’t or what we love would be banned in a heartbeat.
You’ll enjoy the news. We stumbled onto some cool, weird shit.
Let’s hit the news.
The News was provided by the Bikernet Team including: Wayfarer, the Redhead, Bob T. Sam Burns, Agent Zebra, Rogue, Laura, Barry Green, El Waggs, J.J. Solari, Amy White, Jenn and the rest of the crew.
The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Easyriders Magazine, Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.
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BIKER BABE WRITES A BOOK–Corporate Coach Approach
A Systematic Guide to Career Development
The newest book of practical strategies by Career Development expert, Nicole Fronek
In the modern corporate environment, career advancement does not typically occur by chance, but rather through intentional action. Corporate Coach Approach – A Systematic Guide to Career Development was created to help individuals shape their career path while navigating the complexities of the workplace. Recent graduates to seasoned professionals can benefit from real-world perspectives paired with relatable narratives that bring each concept to life. Case studies throughout the book illustrate the development of tried-and-tested methods, offering practical insights on topics such as personal branding, stakeholder engagement, and taking action to drive productivity.
Whether preparing for a promotion, pivoting industries, or retooling an established career, this book provides access to the ‘best of the best’ practices on demand, reinforced by concise summaries and key takeaways.
In short, Corporate Coach Approach is an all-purpose manual for a range of industries and skill levels, delivering guidance when it matters most — the moment it’s needed.
Amazon.com: Corporate Coach Approach: A Systematic Guide to Career Development eBook : Fronek
40th BIKER FEST INTERNATIONAL–a historic anniversary from May 14 to 17 for Europe’s largest motorcycle rally
A birthday worth celebrating: the seaside resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro (Udine, Italy) will host the 2026 edition celebrating the first 40 years of the motorcycle rally
Following the extraordinary success of the latest edition, which recorded 265,000 attendees over the course of the weekend, the BIKER FEST INTERATIONAL once again confirms its status as the biggest motorcycle rally in Europe and the third largest event of this kind in the world, after the legendary U.S. rallies of Sturgis and Daytona. In 2026 the event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts and more than 350 international exhibitors, will reach a special milestone with its 40th anniversary.
Founded in 1987 within the biker movement, the event has gradually expanded to embrace the world of two wheels in all its forms, while maintaining a strong connection to its rebellious roots and the kustom culture. The beating heart of the festival is its Custom Bike Show, one of the longest-running in Europe. Since its very first edition, it has anticipated customization trends by showcasing some of the most spectacular special bikes built by leading international customizers. As the only Italian stop of the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, the Lignano round also serves as the final of the national championship for custom builders, the Italian Motorcycle Championship (IMC).
Alongside the well-established rock music program, all the areas that have made BFI unique are confirmed: Europe’s largest and most comprehensive Demo Ride hub, featuring the official participation of leading motorcycle manufacturers; the e-Mobility Village dedicated to new mobility solutions; the Off Road area with its spectacular dirt riding shows; and the Market Area, home to the 50cc Fever Fest and Kustom & Classic, the gathering reserved for original and customized classic and youngtimer cars. This is also where the 31^ US Car Reunion will take place, Italy’s largest meeting of American cars, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025 by bringing together 550 vehicles V-8.
Among the main new features already announced for this special anniversary are the Sisterhood Run, an on-the-road experience dedicated to female riders, and the Customizer’s Parade, in which custom builders themselves will lead the much-anticipated Saturday Night Fever, riding their one-off creations. Finally, alongside the traditional Moto Tours in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, this year will see the debut of the Curvando ‘Rodeo Ride’, a challenge that blends the thrill of competition with the joy of discovery. The playing field? An entire region, with its natural landscapes, historical and artistic heritage, and food-and-wine excellence, all to be explored on two wheels.
Engines and music will come together in a unique and unmissable experience, with many more surprises planned for this 40th Anniversary.
Biker Fest International is ready to write a new, exciting chapter in its story: book your weekend now and follow all updates on the official website and social media channels.
BIKERNET WEEKLY GUN NUT REPORT–Astute Virginia gun owners anticipated terrible gun control legislation from the 2026 General Assembly. Still, some may be shocked to learn that anti-rights zealots in the Virginia Senate have advanced a bill to CONFISCATE standard capacity firearm magazines!
On January 27, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee advanced a substitute version of SB749, banning commonly-owned firearms and their magazines. This substitute version defines a “large capacity ammunition feeding device” to include standard capacity magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The bill then provides,
B. Any person who imports, sells, barters, transfers, purchases, or possesses a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The legislation does not grandfather magazines possessed prior to the ban. The legislation is magazine confiscation, as current owners would be forced to dispossess themselves of their lawfully acquired property or face a Class 1 misdemeanor. A Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in prison and up to a $2,500 fine.
The legislation also implicates magazines “that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition.” There is no definition of “readily restored or converted to accept” provided. This vague language could be used to prohibit common magazines that employ a block to restrict an otherwise normal magazine’s capacity to comply with restrictive state laws. This would severely curtail the availability of magazines to Virginia gun owners.
Magazines that hold more than 10 rounds are the standard and undeniably “in common use”
Many of the most popular firearms in America are designed to use magazines with a capacity greater than 10 rounds. Law enforcement officers routinely carry 15 or 17-round magazines in their duty sidearms. Law enforcement and law-abiding civilians choose these magazines for the same reasons; to best protect themselves and others from criminal violence.
In 2024, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (the firearm industry trade association) released a document titled “Detachable Magazine Report: 1990-2021.”[1] This study analyzed manufacturer and sales data on magazines and magazine capacity over an extended period of time starting in 1991 (“[n]o reliable data exists prior to 1990 to estimate historic detachable magazines that may still be available for sale or in working condition”).
The NSSF study concluded that the “national standard for magazine capacity for America’s gun owners is greater than 10 rounds.” Among the other significant findings were:
Overall, almost a billion (963 million) magazines “were produced and entered the commercial market between 1990 and 2021.” The study “does not claim all the magazines estimated in [it] are owned by Americans; these are both magazines estimated to be in circulation and made available for sale at some point from 1990 to 2021;”
The overwhelming majority of these – approximately 74 percent, or 717 million magazines – have a capacity of eleven or more rounds, and almost half (about 46 percent) “are rifle magazines with 30+ round capacity.” More than half (about 55 percent) of total pistol magazines are detachable 11+ magazines. If the 717 million total was applied exclusively to Americans, it works out to over two “LCMs” per person based on the U.S. population in 2022, 333.3 million;
“The consumer market totals of rifle magazines show 30+ capacity magazines, over 413 million, are over thirty times the amount available than 10 and below capacity rifle magazines, about 13 million.”
Standard capacity magazines are protected by the U.S. and the Virginia Constitutions
In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. Moreover, the Court determined that the U.S. Constitution protects ownership of arms in “in common use” for lawful purposes.
In 2015, Heller decision author Justice Antonin Scalia reiterated that the Second Amendment and Heller preclude so-called “assault weapons” bans when he signed onto a dissent from the denial of certiorari in Friedman v. Highland Park. In the dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas explained,
Roughly five million Americans own AR-style semiautomatic rifles. The overwhelming majority of citizens who own and use such rifles do so for lawful purposes, including self-defense and target shooting. Under our precedents, that is all that is needed for citizens to have a right under the Second Amendment to keep such weapons.
As previously illustrated with industry data, it is undeniable that magazines with a capacity greater than 10 rounds are “in common use” (and the decade-old statistics Thomas cites for AR-15 owners are also now multiple times greater).
In 2022, the Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. In its opinion, the Court held:
When the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. The government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only then may a court conclude that the individual’s conduct falls outside the Second Amendment’s “unqualified command.”
This test would preclude bans on commonly owned semi-automatic firearms and their magazines, as the U.S. has no historical tradition of such firearm prohibitions.
Earlier this year, outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares made clear that legislation such as SB749 violates the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions. Article I Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution provides, in part,
That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed;
Citing the landmark Second Amendment U.S. Supreme Court decision in Heller, Miyares pointed out that the Court made clear that the U.S. Constitution protects arms “in common use” for lawful purposes.
In describing just how common standard capacity firearm magazines are, Miyares cited the U.S. District Court decision in Duncan v. Bonta (2023) – a case which at present is up for cert at the U.S. Supreme Court. The AG pointed out, “so-called ‘large capacity magazines’ are ‘in common use.’ In fact, ‘in the realm of firearms,’ magazines holding more than ten rounds ‘are possibly the most commonly owned thing in America.’”
Referencing the Virginia Constitution, the AG noted, that the “additional clause emphasizing the importance of a population ‘trained to arms’ for the ‘defense of … [the] state’ makes clear that arms sufficient for that purpose fall under the Constitution of Virginia’s protection.” Moreover, “At the founding, citizens called for service in the militia ‘were expected to appear bearing arms supplied by themselves and of the kind in common use at the time’” and that, “Citizens were, in fact, expected to have such weapons or else face a fine.”
Banning standard capacity magazines does not reduce violent crime
BAN MOTORCYCLE INSPECTIONS–Across the European Union, the push to expand mandatory Periodical Technical Inspections (PTI) to all motorcycles is often justified with the claim that ‘testing improves safety’. But FEMA’s Wim Taal says the evidence simply doesn’t support that claim.
Road safety for motorcyclists will not meaningfully improve through mandatory Periodical Technical Inspections (PTI) because the data across the EU shows that technical defects almost never cause motorcycle crashes. Road users’ behaviour and infrastructure are the real issues, and PTI does nothing to address them.
EU‑wide studies consistently find that technical defects are the primary cause in less than 1-2% of motorcycle accidents. The overwhelming majority of crashes are linked to rider behaviour, road design, and infrastructure issues, not mechanical failure. Despite repeated recommendations, no proof of safety gains has been presented by organisations calling for mandatory PTI for all motorcycles.
Lights, brakes, and tires are the most common issues found during inspections. These matter for safety, of course but the presence of a defect during a check does not mean it was a factor in real‑world crashes. Field statistics across EU Member States confirm that mechanical failure is almost never the root cause.
‘Policies should be based on real accident causation data, not on assumptions’
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) wants motorcycles over 50cc included in the PTI regime. As a justification for this, the EESC states: “Roadside inspections carried out in Austria and Sweden have found that more than 20 % of these vehicles had serious defects”. Reality check from SMC Sweden: “Roadside technical checks are extremely rare. When the police do carry out a roadside technical check, it is based on a prior, concrete suspicion of non-compliance – for example, the presence of a non-approved exhaust system. In practice, roadside checks specifically targeting the technical condition of motorcycles are therefore almost non-existent.” Defects found during roadside inspections should not be an excuse to harmonize periodic inspections; the rejection rates during such inspections are logically higher because (for example) the police take targeted action against observed defects.
The European Parliament and safety councils continue to push for expanding PTI to all motorcycles, even though no measurable reduction in motorcycle fatalities has been linked to PTI in countries that already test all bikes. Riders’ organisations across Europe have submitted technical briefs showing that PTI does not address the real causes of crashes. If the EU truly wants to reduce motorcycle fatalities, the focus should shift to areas that actually save lives, such as better rider training (improving hazard perception, braking skills, and defensive riding has a proven impact), safer infrastructure (road surfaces, guardrails, and intersection design play a major role in motorcycle crashes), and awareness campaigns for all road users (most multi‑vehicle motorcycle crashes involve another driver failing to notice the rider). And let’s not forget that policies should be based on real accident causation data, not on assumptions.
PTI may sound like a simple fix, but it doesn’t target the real causes of motorcycle accidents. The EU’s own data shows that mechanical defects are almost never to blame. If Europe wants safer roads for motorcyclists, it needs smarter, evidence‑based measures, not more bureaucracy.
Written by Wim Taal–FEMA
Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Announces 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees
STURGIS, SD – February 2, 2026 – The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum is proud to announce its Hall of Fame Class of 2026, a distinguished group of individuals who represent the diverse activities and storied history of the motorcycling world. This year’s inductees include an award-winning actor, a decorated American hero, a world record holder, a racing champion, long distance riders and pioneers in the powersports world.
“The inductees in our “Class of 2026” represent almost every aspect of our riding community,” said Keith Terry, the Museum’s Hall of Fame Committee Chairman. “It’s an honor to be able to share the stories of these individuals who have contributed so much to our sport and society. Their spirit of innovation, passion and generosity is part of what makes motorcycling so special.”
While all inductees are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, several receive special recognition for their impact on motorcycling culture. This year’s honors include the Freedom Fighter Award, the American Hero Award (a special award offered only this year, in conjunction with the Museum’s 25th Anniversary), the Educational and Historical Preservation Award, and the Kickstands Down Award (for posthumous induction). The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual previously inducted who has continued to demonstrate excellence in the community.
The 2026 Hall of Fame inductees are:
Dave Perewitz (Lifetime Achievement): A legendary custom builder and “Hamsters USA” founder celebrated for four decades of innovation and his signature flame-painted designs
Tim Duffy (American Hero): An FDNY firefighter and 9/11 hero who famously rode his Harley into Ground Zero to rescue others and later founded a nonprofit supporting veterans with service dogs
Dave Dwyr (Freedom Fighter): A dedicated advocate who has spent over thirty years leading legislative efforts and rallies for motorcyclists’ rights through ABATE and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation
Dave McGraw (Educational/Historical Preservation): A renowned preservationist who curates one of the world’s most significant private motorcycle collections and supports education through a dedicated museum and learning center
Hall of Fame Inductees
Paul Langley: An influential executive leader and current CEO of Parts Unlimited who has driven industry focus on performance through leadership at major companies like Vance & Hines, S&S and Dynojet.
Denis Manning: A self-taught designer and land-speed record-holder whose streamliners and innovative engineering at BUB Enterprises repeatedly secured the title of world’s fastest motorcycles
Robert Patrick: A respected actor and philanthropist who owns a Harley-Davidson dealership and remains a dedicated advocate for motorcycle culture and the Boozefighters MC
Paul Smith: An influential graphic artist who designed Harley-Davidson’s iconic 1976 Liberty Edition Eagle logo and continues to produce fine art for the global motorcycling community
Rusty Wallace: A NASCAR champion and enthusiast who founded Southern Country Customs to build high-end touring bikes while organizing major charity rides for organizations like The NASCAR Foundation
Kickstands Down Awards (Posthumous)
John Andrews: A pioneering engineer and founder of Andrews Products whose cam and gear innovations revolutionized motorcycle performance for over half a century
Dave “Huggy Beahr” Hansen: A vintage motorcycle expert and mentor who dedicated over 50 years to preserving Indian and Harley-Davidson history at his shop in Ventura, CA
“Indian Larry” DeSmedt: A legendary chopper builder and TV icon whose mechanical expertise and authentic personality left an enduring mark on custom motorcycle culture
Mary McGee: A boundary-breaking racer who became the first American woman to earn an FIM license and famously solo-finished the 1975 Baja 500
Bessie Stringfield: Known as the “Motorcycle Queen of Miami,” she was a trailblazer who became the first African-American woman to ride solo across the U.S. and served as a WWII courier
The Three Paisanos (Joe Teresi, Lou Kimzey, Mil Blair): This trio of visionaries founded Easyriders magazine in 1970, creating an iconic publication that defined the biker lifestyle and elevated custom motorcycle culture
These honorees join nearly 280 notable motorcyclists already enshrined in the Hall of Fame, who were recognized for their extraordinary contributions to the motorcycle community, the Museum, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The Hall of Fame is located in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum on Main Street in Sturgis, South Dakota.
The 2026 inductees will be officially honored at the Hall of Fame Breakfast, a highlight of the annual Sturgis Rally, which will be held on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame breakfast are available today by calling the Museum’s HOF Ticket Coordinator at 605-580-0794.
RED FOX ACTION– Did you know that Red Fox Enterprises has been making American-made, glass-jeweled fasteners for 52 years? All of our beautiful colored glass fixtures are crafted individually by hand, and each piece comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Check us out at www.redfoxenterprises.net for a unique shopping experience!
Loretta Lynn’s home during the TMMR (Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Festival at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch). Hurricane Mills, TN. Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Photography ©2023 Michael Lichter.
TMMR: Where Motorcycles, Music, and the Road Come Together
For riders who live for the long way around, some gatherings don’t need hype — they speak for themselves.
Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival is one of them.
Every May, riders and music lovers from across the country roll into Loretta Lynn’s Ranch — a legendary 3,500-acre property founded by the iconic country singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn. What began in the 1970s as her family home and creative refuge has become hallowed ground for music lovers and road warriors alike. Rolling hills, wooded trails, wide-open fields, and a creek cutting through the land — it’s terrain that feels made for engines, campfires, and nights that run long.
TMMR isn’t something you rush through. It’s a gathering you settle into, built around motorcycles, music, and the people who show up for the real thing. You wake up to bikes purring and coffee brewing in the campgrounds. Days are spent riding, watching nonstop moto action, kicking back to live music, wandering the ranch, studying hand-built machines, or grabbing a seat and taking it all in. When the sun goes down, the energy rolls on — main stage sets, late-night jams by the bonfire, and conversations with folks you just met but already feel like old friends.
Custom bikes are on display in the BC Moto show at the TMMR (Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Revival.) Saturday, May 18, 2024. Photography ©2024 Michael Lichter.
The motorcycle action is woven into every corner of the weekend. A hill climb that’s equal parts chaos and skill. Track racing, drag races, games, burnouts, competitions, and group rides. Wooded trails that let you stretch a bike’s legs. The BC Moto Invitational is another standout — hand-built machines showcased barn-side, with builders from different generations and styles sharing the same space, swapping stories, answering questions, and letting the bikes speak for themselves. It’s not about trophies or trends. It’s about craftsmanship, originality, and riding what you build.
And the music isn’t background noise — it’s half the heartbeat of the weekend. Country, outlaw, rock, bluegrass, and sounds you might hear here first, long before the rest of the world catches on. Performances at TMMR are raw and up close — no distance, no pretense, just artists playing close enough to feel it. Acts like Red Clay Strays and Grace Bowers played TMMR before breaking wide, while Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Matt Sorum of Guns N’ Roses have taken the stage at TMMR, delivering moments you don’t get at arena shows. Located just outside Nashville, you never know who might show up — or step on stage.
TMMR was built to be different — not another cookie-cutter moto event recycling the same bands and the same DNA from event to the next. TMMR is authentic. You feel it when you arrive, like Loretta Lynn’s spirit and southern hospitality is still opening the gate.
EasyRiders has always been about real riders, real machines, and living outside the lines. Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival lives in that same lane — raw, unpolished, and built for people who ride their own road.
Some places still feel right. This is one of them. — we’ll see you on the Ranch in Tennessee.
May 14–17 | Loretta Lynn’s Ranch
Tickets, camping, and info at motorcycleandmusic.com
LIFE IS NOT A DRILL–Why the Time to Join Is Now
In the last issue, I discussed the value of the Independent Motorcycle Aftermarket in our ongoing fight to protect bikers’ rights and our culture. Before I begin breaking down specific legislation, it’s important to step back and talk about who we are, where we come from, and why now—right now—is the time to get involved.
Since the founding of this country, the preservation of individual rights has been a cornerstone of the United States Constitution. For the past 41 years, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation has stood on the front lines defending those rights. Bikers have always represented something deeper than just a mode of transportation. We exemplify self-reliance, personal responsibility, and the willingness to stand up for ourselves, our communities, and American values.
“Bikers have historically exemplified the values of strong individuals—ready to help the unfortunate, support their communities, and fight for American values.”
Today, those values are under attack. Current social pressures work overtime to devalue the characteristics long represented by cowboys, truckers, bikers and most blue-collar workers. At the most basic level, those characteristics include the belief that if you want something, you have the right to earn it or do it — if you don’t infringe on someone else’s rights. Social position, entitlements, and who you know shouldn’t matter. What matters is your word, your work ethic, and your willingness to stand by your choices.
Being raised by a Marine, I strongly identified with the Biker’s Code Easyriders published years ago. That code laid out a way of life many of us already lived:
“Don’t Take Any Shit. Never Lie, Cheat, or Steal. Don’t Snitch. Don’t Snivel.”
It went on to say: Never Say Die — and never, never, never give up. Help others. Stick to your guns. And remember that life is not a drill. I bring this code up not out of nostalgia, but as a reminder of the strength already built into our culture, and the power we have to push back against ridiculous and unfounded regulations.
There is an undercurrent of socialism running through today’s society that labels rugged individualism as something dangerous or outdated. That mindset directly threatens our way of life and fuels misinformation about bikers and motorcycles in general. We are not asking most Americans — many of whom will never ride — to join us on the highways.
“We simply want the freedom to ride what we want, where we want, and with whom we want.”
What we are asking for is simple: the freedom to work on our own bikes, to choose our own power sources — internal combustion engines — and to buy the fuels those engines require. These are not extreme demands. They are basic freedoms that have defined motorcycling since the beginning.
Now is not the time to sit back and assume someone else will fight this fight for you. Now is the time to stand up, get involved, and support the Independent Motorcycle Aftermarket. Our culture depends on it.
“Life is not a drill. Stick to your guns — and never, never, never give up.”
CALL TO ACTION
The freedom to ride, build, and work on your own motorcycle isn’t guaranteed—it’s defended. The Independent Motorcycle Aftermarket, working with the Motorcycle Riders Foundations, stands between bikers and regulations that threaten our culture, our machines, and our way of life. If you value internal combustion, personal responsibility, and the right to choose your own road, now is the time to get involved. Life is not a drill. Join now… imamembers.org.
–Bob Kay
LOW EMISSION ZONES LOSING TRACTION– More than a decade after they first appeared, Low Emission Zones (LEZs) in France are now the subject of a political turn, and it is undoubtedly a victory for the French motorcyclists’ organization FFMC. It’s not over, but it’s one more step towards their removal.
Established from 2015 in the name of pollution control, LEZs aimed to exclude vehicles considered polluting, because they were too old, from city centres. They have logically provoked a growing protest. Ten years later, their repeal marks a political turning point and revives the debate on possible alternatives to reconcile ecology, mobility and social justice.
In 2015, the first Low Emission Zones were set up in several French cities, starting with Paris. Their objective was to limit the movement of the most polluting vehicles in city centres in order to improve air quality and reduce the health impacts of traffic pollution. On paper, this ambition is commendable. However, from the moment they were put in place, the LEZs revealed many limitations. The scheme would mainly penalize the most modest households, not having the means to change vehicles. This is usually called ‘transport poverty‘.
In May 2025, the National Assembly adopted an amendment to remove the LEZs. This was confirmed on 20 January 2026, when the Commission Mixte Paritaire (CMP), a French parliamentary committee validated the vote of the National Assembly and the Senate. This decision marks a decisive step and symbolizes a profound change in the approach of mobility and urban ecology policies.
The repeal of the LEZs is mainly based on two thoughts. On the one hand, the observed environmental benefits are considered to be low or insufficiently demonstrated in relation to the social costs incurred. On the other hand, the system is widely perceived as punitive rather than incentive, both by many politicians and by a growing part of the population.
‘Motorcycles are part of the solution for improving urban and rural mobility.’
This opposition resulted in protests by citizens, in particular the protest of 27 September 2025, organized by the FFMC and other associations. These actions were aimed at challenging elected officials and weighing on national decisions, as at the hearings of the FFMC before the fact-finding missions of the National Assembly and the Senate.
According to FFMC, the end of the LEZs cannot, however, mean the abandonment of environmental issues. The fight against air pollution remains a necessity. It now calls for the construction of alternative solutions, more socially just and more environmentally efficient. In this context motorcycles and other powered two-wheelers can play a relevant role, in particular because of their reduced consumption, a lower carbon balance than that of the individual automobile and their contribution to the flow of urban traffic. Motorcycles are part of the solution for improving urban and rural mobility.
While this repeal is a major step forward, it does not mean an immediate disappearance of the LEZs. The parliamentary process must continue and debates or appeals remain legally possible. French website www.motomag.com warns us not to shout victory too fast: “The final text of the CMP is yet to be adopted, in the National Assembly on 27 January 2026, and in the Senate on 29 January. Not to mention that the Constitutional Council could retouch the text. Finally, it should be noted that this runs counter to the obligations imposed by Brussels towards the Member States of the European Union on air quality.”
Source: FFMC
JUST A WORD OF TWO FROM THE BIKERNET MONK IN TRAINING–
Hey,
Interesting. I find that Buddhist Monks have all the happiness is the world in their basic teachings.
So, basically happiness is a state of mind. If you are not happy, change your mind.
Again, mental peace is a state of mind. If you are not at peace, change your mind.
So, how do you define happiness vs. peace. I would say happiness is joy, where peace is a deeper tranquility. Happiness is fun, where peace is moral integrity.
I often talk about the base of the mountain, because the true Buddhist monk is searching, questioning and working to change is mind constantly. The answers are found along the way to the top of the mountain. If we are at the base of the mountain, then we are about to take the first step onto the path to enlightenment. But because we are simple humans in the center of life full of chaos, temptations and mental confusion, we rarely climb more than a few steps off the base, but at least we’re constantly trying.
–Monk Ball
IT’S ALL HAPPENING NOW–We’re in the process of rebuilding the Easyriders Website. We need a new home page and to correct some navigational elements. I wrote this intro to the Easyriders magnificent web world:
Welcome back!
There are a handful of us who wouldn’t give up on Easyriders magazine or the notion of Riding Free Forever. Hell, as of this year, we’re 55 years old.
With the help of our esteemed webmaster, Chad, we now have an Easyriders Shop, Blog, plenty of subscription offers, a new Easyriders Newsstand offer, Easyriders Events and soon the Easyriders Theater full of video wildlife.
Hang on! And don’t hesitate to reach out, if you need anything.
–BanditBandit@Easyriders.com
John Covington reached out. He has two beautiful, blonde twins to pose with a bike for Easyriders. Then he sent this Shovelhead. There’s a name for this style, Vicla. Michael Lichter is going to bring us another feature and a story about a Denver collection of these wild lowriders. This one is cool, it’s a Shovelhead, but the color…
I’m working on a cool, old giant county department door for an Easyriders conference table in the dungeon and these would be some of the benches. I need to inspect the basement for room for the table next.
Just received these from John at Hardtail Choppers. He’s the master of frame castings. You can make any frame into your perfect classic chopper frame with his shit.
The chopper king wiring ran mostly through the frame. I’m rewiring it, and used a technique I came up with years ago. I solder the wires to brass rod. The rode is each to push through the frame, then just drag the wires to their destination. Simple.
Almost finished with this puppy. I need to shift focus to the Salt Torpedo and to the 1913 Board Track Racer. Hang on and don’t let the bastards get you down.
Ride fast and free forever!
–Bandit
The post THE TRUTH BIKERNET WEEKLY NEWS for February 5th, 2026 appeared first on Bikernet.com - Online Biker Magazine.
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