Safe-To-Race Task Force members honored as Motorcyclists of the Year in January ‘American Motorcyclist’

The Safe-to-Race Task Force members are named 2020 AMA Motorcyclists of the Year, seven riders give their impressions of BMW’s 2021 R 18 cruiser and a motorcyclist explains her role as a federal highway safety specialist in the January 2021 issue of American Motorcyclist magazine.

The year 2020 proved to be a challenge as the coronavirus disrupted the lives, and livelihoods, of people worldwide. Mandates, including maintaining special social distancing of at least 6 feet to help keep the virus in check shut down many businesses and canceled many motorcycle races and events.

Enter the 24-member Safe-to-Race Task Force, formed by the motorcycling racing community to come up with ways to get motorcycle racing back on track. The American Motorcyclist article outlines the challenges the task force faced and the success the task force had.

Another major article spells out the impressions of seven riders who took time out to test ride the 2021 BMW R 18, which BMW Motorrad says “borrows from famous models such as the BMW R 5 both technologically and visually, shifting the focus back onto the motorcycle essentials: purist, no-frills technology and the boxer engine as the epicenter of riding pleasure.” The BMW R 5 was introduced in 1936.

The 2021 BMW R 18 is powered by a 1,802cc two-cylinder “Big Boxer” engine that produces a peak 91 horsepower at 4,750 rpm and 116 foot-pounds of torque at 3,000 rpm.

Also in the January issue, lifelong motorcycle advocate LaCheryl Jones explains how she got into motorcycling and how she became a safety specialist for the Motorcycle Safety Program at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Elsewhere in the magazine, you can find out what’s happening around the country on the government front by checking out the Rights section. Plus, find local races and rides in the Events Calendar.

You can read the January 2021 issue online now. Also, remember that you can get hard copies of American Motorcyclist at home if you are a Life Member Plus member. Not a Life Member Plus member? Call AMA Member Services at (800) AMA-JOIN (262-5646) to join for just $29 a year. The membership includes a hard copy of the magazine, AMA roadside assistance that covers all the motorcycles, cars, trucks and RVs in your household, and more benefits.