Is it okay?

Jody · Nov 30, 2001

Is it okay to ride a motocross bike through a neighborhood if I'm on my way to the hills?

crkid · Nov 30, 2001

why not? i do it every day

Jody · Nov 30, 2001

I know

But, my mom says it's not okay but I see other guys doing it.

BSWIFT · Nov 30, 2001

If you OWN a dirtbike, you should know that they are OFF ROAD cycles and are illegal to operate on public roads and streets. Riding an off road machine on the streets gives us a bad reputation. Be more responsible or our sport will be outlawed.

ktmboy · Nov 30, 2001

I ride right out of my garage sometimes, but I make sure I short-shift, and stay off the gas so I don't offend the neighbors! BTW, living in the desert means 1 out of 10 garages around here have at least 1 dirtbike housed inside, so our neighborhood is more dirt-bike friendly than most.:D

ride_red_15 · Nov 30, 2001

BSWIFT, thats a little harsh. some of us here have NO choice but to ride up the road to get to trails, otherwise we CANT ride at all.

crkid · Nov 30, 2001

i agree fully with what ride red has to say, i mean do you suggest i load up the trailer only to take it a 1/2 mile up the road? just don't piss off the neighbors and take it slow and you'll be okay

MikeT · Nov 30, 2001

Originally posted by ride_red_15
BSWIFT, that’s a little harsh. some of us here have NO choice but to ride up the road to get to trails, otherwise we CANT ride at all.

Not True

Listen. If you want to lose your right to ride, then go right ahead and keep riding through neighborhoods. Let me tell you, every time you ride through a neighborhood, people are watching you and will soon be calling the cops on you. The cops will sit and wait until they see you riding and then ticket you or take your bike away. I have seen it done many times before.

Solution

The solution is to keep your bike turned off and walk it to the riding area. When the people in the neighborhood see you walking your bike they will see you as conscientious and cut you some slack in the future if need be. You might say it's too far to walk now, but when the cops take your bike away because you were riding it through a neighborhood, you'll walk 5 miles to be able to ride again.

Don't ride your bike/four wheeler through neighborhoods.

Jake T · Nov 30, 2001

MikeT is exactly right. The cops around my area are just waiting for you to slip
up. Walking your bike is easy and what I do on down hills or a flat grade road
is I sit on the bike and I push off with my feet. It's comfortable and no one can yell
at you because the engine isn't on;)

BSWIFT · Dec 1, 2001

re: harsh

crkid, I think not. My comments are directed at a person(member) that lists his bike in his profile as "not yet". This suggests to me that there is little or no respect for his neigbors or other riders. Everyone has different situations.
I live in the country and I ride on MY property. But I respect my neighbors by not riding early in the morning or late in the evening. If you live in a sparsely inhabited area, you probably CAN ride to the trails without causing in aggrevation to your neighbors. However, this was not stated by Jody. So, I assumed worse case scenario.
Youth does not always let you think beyond your situation. If you are going to ride dirtbikes for years to come, EVERYONE had better look at the big picture or we will ALL loose are places to ride.

justql · Dec 1, 2001

When I was young I would PUSH my bike to the land where I could ride it. While it was only about a half a mile it was better than getting a ticket and making the neighbors mad.

ghunter · Dec 1, 2001

A bit harsh

I DO think your words were a bit harsh. I agree with the point you are trying to make, and the lesson you are trying to teach. However, there are circumstances where riding your bike in your neighborhood is okay, as long as you go slow, keep the noise down, and respect your neighbors.

Want an example? Okay, in my neighborhood about 45% of the garages have multiple motorcycles in them. Our Home Owners Association even changed the community regulations to remove any wording that would disallow us to ride our bikes to the trails - about 1/4 mile from our neighborhood. We have several police officers in our neighborhood, and I'd bet a few of them ride, too. Most of the neighbors wave to us riders as we putt-putt our bikes down the road to the local riding area. We have a very good reputation, which is the key.

Sure, this is a dream come true for us and not everyone can assume that it's okay to ride in your neighborhood. However, your statements assume that in no circumstance should anyone ever ride in their neighborhood. This just isn't true. Besides, you know what they say about the word ASSUME.:D

Jaybird · Dec 1, 2001

I think Mom may have a handle on what's going on in the neighborhood. She just happens to be one of the neighbors so who would know better?
Look, if everyone in your neighborhood rode easy and putted to the riding area I'm betting things would be fine. But since Mom says it's not ok then it is absolutely NOT OK. Even if you are the only one who pushes, you will shine over and above those who continue to roost through the neighborhood in everyones eyes, except for Johnny Badass who never listens to his mom.

dirthappy · Dec 1, 2001

Depends

Most neighbours hate the sound of 2 stroke wringing noise. I ahve a ttr 125 and it is more of a motocycle sound if u stay off the gas then it should not be so bad but if u get caught by the comps boot it to the nearest trail u dont want to get caught like me and my friends did

ride_red_15 · Dec 1, 2001

its almost 3/4 of a mile to our trails...and all it is is uphill road that you jsut cant push a bike up without dogging out by the time you reach the trails. the cops dont care around here as long as you respect everyone else. heck, i fouled a plug on the road one time and they offered to grab a trailer and take me home ( i had another plug with me, so it didnt matter). but the point is...trailering 3/4 of a mile isnt worth the wasted time. as long as you respect everyone else, no one has a problem with it, but if u go tearing up the street with the engine screaming, then u get problems. and as ghunter says, most of my neighboors too run out and wave when we go by

MikeT · Dec 2, 2001

Originally posted by ride_red_15
its almost 3/4 of a mile to our trails...and all it is is uphill road that you jsut cant push a bike up without dogging out by the time you reach the trails. the cops dont care around here as long as you respect everyone else. <snip> as long as you respect everyone else, no one has a problem with it, but if u go tearing up the street with the engine screaming, then u get problems. and as ghunter says, most of my neighboors too run out and wave when we go by

Well guys, I'd say that we can't see your individual circumstances so you might want to give us a break. BSWIFT's comments are not harsh at all, he was stating what it legal, true and obvious in most neighborhoods. It sounds like you guys live in a motocross village over there. If the cops are OK with it and the people wave when you go by then I guess you're OK.

I'd make sure you wave back and keep buying lots of doughnuts because if/when that cop gets another job or someone else moves in you might have some trouble. :D

yz250-effer · Dec 2, 2001

I agree with mikeT and BSwift . . .

Unless you have an extraordinary situation where the trails are so close even the cops ride their dirtbikes the the trail head. And I really doubt any cop would ride an ohv on public roads.

From my experience, most people don't putt them to the trail anyway, they scream them down the street. Call it the Bubba gene? And even if you are riding quietly , for all a pissed off neighbor knows, it was you who was not riding quietly yesterday. Besides, it is against the law unless you have a dual sport, so why break the law? Heck, I don't even like dirtbikes ripping down my street and I own one. Mine has never been past the sidewalk on my driveway. I don't want to taint it with any street bike cooties!:D

yzeater · Dec 2, 2001

I agree with BSWIFT

I've walked two miles with my friends when they were bringing their bikes to my house. It took about 45 minutes, but it's a sacrifice we have to make. I felt bad for them though, they had to push their bikes back home (mostly uphill) after three hours of riding.

Jeff Gilbert · Dec 2, 2001

When I was young I use to ride my 80 through the neighborhood streets to get to the riding area. I kept it quiet and no one ever complained so I thought it was cool. It was a down hill ride for about the 3 miles I had to go which meant it was up hill all the way back. One day after riding for a couple of hours I decided it was time to head toward the house so I jumped the curb and started up the hill, just as I did a motorcycle cop saw me. I ended up pushing the damn thing the whole way home up the hill with the cop riding along beside me. When we got to my house the cop wrote my Dad a ticket while I was outside throwing up blood. From that point on I pushed it with the engine on and it was much easier than the alternative.

JeffK · Dec 3, 2001

That wasn't harsh - Harsh is what the cops will be when a law abiding one comes along and busts you... Think of the fines they could impose.. No license, no registration, no insurance, no lights, maybe even no helmet.. Add all this up and then think about it - If you are on the roads without insurance (in some states) they can take your license away even if you don't have one yet!!! Then when you get it back you have to get SR22 insurance for three years!$!$! Add all that up over the course of the next few years and you could probably buy two new bikes!!! Listen to your mother!

When I was a kid I pushed my bike 3 miles(up hill both ways :) ) to get to the 'clay pits' to go ride for an hour and was damn happy to do it.. I wasn't a big whiner and appreciated the fact that I was not riding a bicycle like the rest of those chumps on the trails.. My father let me have a very expensive toy and with that toy came responsibilty. Just because everyone (including cops with bad judgement) is doing something doesn't mean you should as well... Learn to think for yourself at an early age and things will be alot smoother..

Good luck
Jeff

MikeT · Dec 3, 2001

Good advice Jeff:D

MX265 · Dec 3, 2001

I used to walk my bike 3 miles just to ride. One time I decided to ride it and got a nice ticket for it. The cop was lenient so the bike didn't get taken, but from that point on, I walked it to where I was going to ride. It is well worth the walk and think of the excercise you get from walking a 200lb bike for three miles.

Is it okay?

Jody

crkid

Jody

BSWIFT

Sponsoring Member

ktmboy

ride_red_15

Uhhh...

crkid

MikeT

Jake T

BSWIFT

Sponsoring Member

justql

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator

ghunter

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon

dirthappy

Uhhh...

ride_red_15

Uhhh...

MikeT

yz250-effer

yzeater

Jeff Gilbert

JeffK

MikeT

MX265

Sponsoring Member

Similar Topics

Is it okay?

Sponsoring Member

Uhhh...

Sponsoring Member

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator

Apprentice Goon

Uhhh...

Uhhh...

Sponsoring Member

Similar Topics

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency