If you ride in Oregon, you’ve benefited from ABATE of Oregon whether you know it or not. The rider training program you took, the ape hangers on your bike, the gas you pump yourself, the red light you can legally roll through when it won’t change for you — ABATE had a hand in all of it. The organization turned 50 in 2025, and it’s still in the fight. Here’s the story.
The name
ABATE started nationally in the early 1970s. Easyriders magazine editor Lou Kimzey called on bikers to organize against coming federal restrictions, first as the National Custom Cycle Association. In February 1972 the name changed to A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments — ABATE. The way Oregon’s own papers put it, the name “isn’t nearly as subversive as it sounds.” It means they act as legislative watchdogs, making sure any law affecting motorcyclists is fair and that the people writing those laws actually understand motorcycle issues. (Source: ABATE of Oregon’s own reprinted history, in its newspapers.)
You’ve probably also heard the softer version: American Bikers Aimed Toward Education. That’s real too. Oregon’s official history page lists it as a DBA adopted March 31, 2015 (worded there as “A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education”), while the organization’s newspapers print it as “American Bikers Aimed Towards Education.” Same idea, two wordings. The legal name never changed — the education name is the public-facing side of the same outfit.
Born in 1975
ABATE of Oregon, Inc. was formed on August 22, 1975, as a nonprofit civic organization, with Luke Metcalfe as its first coordinator, according to ABATE’s official history page. The reason for existing was simple: legislators were passing bills that hurt riders without ever talking to a rider. The stated purposes were freedom of the road, rider education, public awareness, and fair legislation. ABATE is quick to say it is not a motorcycle club or a gang. It’s a rights organization, and anybody can join.
The helmet war
This is the fight that defines them.
In 1977, ABATE organized a round-the-clock sit-in and vigil at the state capitol in Salem. Members camped on the capitol steps day and night until the helmet bill got forced out of committee. The repeal passed and Governor Robert Straub signed it. Oregon riders had helmet choice. (Source: ABATE of Oregon’s official history page and its February 2023 newspaper.)
It lasted eleven years. In 1988, rather than vote on it themselves, legislators sent the helmet mandate to the voters as a referendum (HB 2581, Measure 2, May 1988). ABATE remembers it as a low-turnout squeaker. The official count tells a different story — about 68% voted yes (486,401 to 224,655, per the official primary tally). Either way, the mandate came back, and it’s still the law today.
ABATE didn’t quit. In 1995, at BikePAC’s request, the legislature passed HB 3422, which finally defined what a “motorcycle helmet” legally is, signed by Governor Kitzhaber. In 1997, a bill restoring adult helmet choice passed both chambers — and Kitzhaber vetoed it. That same year, after state police ran a heavy helmet-ticket campaign at Fossil in 1996, ABATE and State Coordinator Larry Schalk sued, and a federal court found the state police had been interpreting the law wrong: a helmet couldn’t be used as the reason to pull a rider over. (Sources: ABATE of Oregon’s official history page; the court case is listed in ABATE’s archives as “ABATE vs Howland” — no published opinion was located, so no case citation is given here.)
The helmet fight is still open. Lane filtering is the current version of it — a 2021 bill passed both chambers and was vetoed by Governor Brown, a 2023 bill passed the Senate and died in the House, and a 2025 bill died in committee. Splitting and filtering are still illegal in Oregon. (Sources: BikePAC’s legislative tracking; the 2021 veto is also confirmed by the American Motorcyclist Association and ODOT’s 2021 legislative summary.)
What else they won
The helmet fight gets the attention, but the rest of the record is just as real:
- Team Oregon. ABATE proposed a rider training program in 1979. It became law in 1981 and was on the ground by 1984. Today it’s the state’s official motorcycle safety program, run through ODOT and Oregon State University. ABATE calls it one of its proudest achievements, and they’re right to. (Sources: ABATE of Oregon’s official history page; Team Oregon’s own history.)
- Ape hangers. The handlebar-height regulation was repealed in 1999. No more measuring your bars at a traffic stop.
- Pumping your own gas. In 2001, HB 3885 carved out the right for motorcyclists to fuel their own machines — back when Oregon still banned self-serve gas for everybody else.
- Dead Red. The 2015 “Dead Red” bill (SB 533) lets a rider proceed cautiously through a red light after a full cycle if the bike won’t trigger the green.
- Vulnerable users. The 2019 bill (SB 810) put motorcyclists on the state’s vulnerable-users list, so a careless driver who injures a rider faces driver-safety school and community service.
BikePAC
ABATE does the organizing. BikePAC does the lobbying. Formed in the late 1980s (ABATE’s papers say 1988, its history page says 1989) as a separate political action committee, BikePAC tracks bills, briefs legislators, and runs “Biker Days” at the capitol where they teach regular riders how to lobby face to face. That 1995 helmet-definition win came out of exactly that kind of work. (Source: BikePAC of Oregon’s own site and ABATE’s history page.)
The Fossil Run
Since 1978, ABATE has held its annual campout over Memorial Day weekend in Fossil, out in Wheeler County. It’s their main fundraiser and, by their own description, one of the largest runs in the Northwest. Bands, bike games, a poker run, a show-and-shine downtown, vendors — family-friendly, the way ABATE likes it. For a sense of scale, the 2016 campout counted 380 gate entries, per ABATE’s own campout breakdown. It’s not Sturgis. It’s Oregon bikers taking over a small Eastern Oregon town for a weekend, and it’s kept the organization funded for nearly fifty years.
Chapters today
The chapter map has shrunk some. Still active, according to ABATE’s chapter-history page: River City (The Dalles, the first chapter outside Portland, back in 1976), Douglas County, Southeast Portland, Lincoln County, Washington County, Josephine County, the Valley Chapter in Salem (rechartered December 2025), and Indian Creek, which covers at-large members. Central Oregon ended in January 2026, and a few others — North Coast, Two Rivers, Hub City — have folded or merged in recent years. State board meetings happen the second Saturday of each month in Albany.
Where they stand now
Fifty years in, ABATE of Oregon is still publishing, still meeting, and still pushing lane filtering and helmet choice. But it’s honest to say the organization is thin right now. Several state officer posts are vacant, per ABATE’s own officers page, and BikePAC — the lobbying arm — was down to a couple of people by late 2025, with its own people openly talking about revival or permanent closure in early 2026, per ABATE’s October 2025 and February 2026 newspapers. The first tri-state Pacific Northwest Freedom Run in Madras in 2025 also split the board over money and transparency, and its account was closed at the end of the year, per ABATE’s December 2025 newspaper. None of that is hidden — it’s all in ABATE’s own newspapers. It’s a volunteer organization at a crossroads, and whether it gets its second wind depends on riders showing up.
If you want to find them: abateoforegon.net. Membership runs $30 a year for an individual, $400 for a lifetime, and it comes with a patch, event discounts, and some insurance benefits, per ABATE’s membership page. The mailing address is 2532 Santiam Hwy SE #311, Albany, OR 97322.
Fifty years of fighting for the freedom of the road. That’s worth knowing about, whether you ever join or not.
Where this information came from
Most of this post comes from ABATE of Oregon’s own materials — its official history page, its chapter-history and officers pages, and its monthly newspapers, which publish their own meeting minutes and legislative tracking. Where ABATE’s version and the official record disagree (the 1988 vote), both are given above. Full source list:
- ABATE of Oregon official history: abateoforegon.net/history/
- ABATE of Oregon chapter history: abateoforegon.net/abate-chapter-history/
- ABATE of Oregon officers and membership: abateoforegon.net/abate-officers/, abateoforegon.net/abate-membership/
- ABATE of Oregon newspapers (2023 victories list; 2025–2026 papers): abateoforegon.net
- BikePAC of Oregon: bikepacoforegon.com
- Team Oregon: team-oregon.org/about/
- 1988 referendum: HB 2581 / Measure 2, May 1988 primary — official tally 486,401 Yes (68.41%)
- SB 574 veto (2021): americanmotorcyclist.com, ODOT 2021 legislative summary
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