YZ/250

Member
Dec 17, 2006
128
0
It always has to come to that. I just CANT see what kind of terrible damage that atv's and dirtbikes cause. Its a money/power trip if you ask me.
 

Tony Eeds

Godspeed Tony.
N. Texas SP
Jun 9, 2002
9,535
0
YZ/250 said:
It always has to come to that. I just CANT see what kind of terrible damage that atv's and dirtbikes cause. Its a money/power trip if you ask me.

It is a progressive thing.

Jeeps are first to go
The Snowmobiles
Then ATVs and Dirtbikes
Then Mountain Bikes
Then Horses and finally
Hikers

The Eco Folks only have one agenda, getting all traffic out of any area "they" deem sensitive.

I received an email today from the IMBA asking for assistance in keeping the CDT open to mountain bikes.

Someday all the groups in the target field, but on the edge, are going to get it. When, I don't know, but they will. Instead of aligning with the SC against us, they should be working with us to keep access open and create user specific trail systems.

*shrug*
 
May 10, 2007
957
0
""they simply want to eliminate motor recreation on public lands."

As they should. my tax dollars make a part of it my land, I have a right to expect it to be protected for future generations.

"Coalition members deny they are just out to eliminate motorized vehicle use, but say they want the ORV problem brought under control."

Chickens, the spineless denial is what contributes to the difficulty achieving your goal, you are seen as weak and half-hearted.

If we claim to believe in the Bible, it says that
our original job was to "take care of the garden".

Just because value judgment became the "first sin" that does not mean we are absolved from our responsibilities."

i cant believe people are so stupid/over zealous
 
May 9, 2007
29
0
Pretty simple. Tack $100 onto every new bike or ATV towards PURCHASING new land designated for off road.

And one stream in one part of the country does not worry me. It's called shore up the trail-not take everyone off.
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Chris in Denver said:
Pretty simple. Tack $100 onto every new bike or ATV towards PURCHASING new land designated for off road.
QUOTE]


WOW! Great idea Chris. :whoa:

We could name the program something with an enviro catch to it like maybe, Green Sticker Fund. We could have the DMV collect the money from everyone when they register their bikes and take that money and use it to locate land and build and maintain off road parks.

I don't think it will work though.

Sooner or later the enviromentelists will worm their way into the green sticker fund and start to control where the money is spent. They will take the money that is supposed to go for new ohv parks and buy big fancy pick-up trucks and toy-box trailers and a few quads and start to pay police officers to go out and keep those nasty off roaders from going on public land. They will use the funds to buy land around the offroad parks to create buffer zones and will hire a whole gaggle of people to run the offices. They will hire like-minded people that will vote the way they want them to vote on these issues and force the people that oppose them out.

Soon the green sticker fund will become the red sticker fund and we will only be able to ride in the off road parks during certain parts of the year. Many of these parks will be closed down or will go into a state of dis-repair due to the money being spent on other things than the parks.

Many of us will have to spend even more of our money and license our dirt bikes for the street, just so we can still ride. We will be required to still pay for the green sticker fund when we register our bikes and we will also have to pay for the license plate and now, insurance. This will be called, 'Dual registration'. We will also have to spend even more money to hire attorneys and sue to get the off road money to be used for what it was intended for.

Many riders will simply give up and start riding where ever they want. They will start riding places they are not supposed to because there won't be any legal places to ride. The opposition will then say, look what those horrible off roaders are doing to the enviroment.

Many of the riding areas will be shut down and in many counties it will be illegal to ride on your own private property. A lot of people will go to county and city meetings to fight this but, most of us won't We will sit at our computers and tell jokes to one another and suggest ways to fight against this but won't actually take the time to attend these meetings and speak against the opposition or speak up for our rights. The opposition will show up at the meetings and make us look like fools. One of us will stand up and try to explain how this is a good sport that keeps familys together and helps us keep our kids on the straight and narrow path. Then four or five of the opposition will stand up and show a video of some jerk on a un-muffled quad riding back and forth in front of their house in an effort to simply annoy them. And we will stand there looking like idiots. :think:

Don't ask me how I know this stuff. :|

Sarcastic mode OFF. :ugg:

Tony you are right. We ARE our own worst enemys.
 

Tony Eeds

Godspeed Tony.
N. Texas SP
Jun 9, 2002
9,535
0
Ol'89r said:
Chris in Denver said:
Pretty simple. Tack $100 onto every new bike or ATV towards PURCHASING new land designated for off road.


WOW! Great idea Chris. :whoa:

We could name the program something with an enviro catch to it like maybe, Green Sticker Fund. We could have the DMV collect the money from everyone when they register their bikes and take that money and use it to locate land and build and maintain off road parks.

I don't think it will work though.

Sooner or later the enviromentelists will worm their way into the green sticker fund and start to control where the money is spent. They will take the money that is supposed to go for new ohv parks and buy big fancy pick-up trucks and toy-box trailers and a few quads and start to pay police officers to go out and keep those nasty off roaders from going on public land. They will use the funds to buy land around the offroad parks to create buffer zones and will hire a whole gaggle of people to run the offices. They will hire like-minded people that will vote the way they want them to vote on these issues and force the people that oppose them out.

Soon the green sticker fund will become the red sticker fund and we will only be able to ride in the off road parks during certain parts of the year. Many of these parks will be closed down or will go into a state of dis-repair due to the money being spent on other things than the parks.

Many of us will have to spend even more of our money and license our dirt bikes for the street, just so we can still ride. We will be required to still pay for the green sticker fund when we register our bikes and we will also have to pay for the license plate and now, insurance. This will be called, 'Dual registration'. We will also have to spend even more money to hire attorneys and sue to get the off road money to be used for what it was intended for.

Many riders will simply give up and start riding where ever they want. They will start riding places they are not supposed to because there won't be any legal places to ride. The opposition will then say, look what those horrible off roaders are doing to the enviroment.

Many of the riding areas will be shut down and in many counties it will be illegal to ride on your own private property. A lot of people will go to county and city meetings to fight this but, most of us won't We will sit at our computers and tell jokes to one another and suggest ways to fight against this but won't actually take the time to attend these meetings and speak against the opposition or speak up for our rights. The opposition will show up at the meetings and make us look like fools. One of us will stand up and try to explain how this is a good sport that keeps familys together and helps us keep our kids on the straight and narrow path. Then four or five of the opposition will stand up and show a video of some jerk on a un-muffled quad riding back and forth in front of their house in an effort to simply annoy them. And we will stand there looking like idiots. :think:

Don't ask me how I know this stuff. :|

Sarcastic mode OFF. :ugg:

Tony you are right. We ARE our own worst enemys.

We are in the earliest stages of that issue in Texas. Our sticker program doesn't generate very much money mainly because we don't have a great deal of public land and dealers do not want to push the stickers.

We have one BOD member on TMTC that is pushing for a law that requires the purchase of a sticker with every OHV sold here. This is supposed to "help" us as he sees it. I see it as nothing but a tax. If the pile of money gets big enough to be noticed, it will be raided for other "causes".
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Tony Eeds said:
We have one BOD member on TMTC that is pushing for a law that requires the purchase of a sticker with every OHV sold here. This is supposed to "help" us as he sees it. I see it as nothing but a tax. If the pile of money gets big enough to be noticed, it will be raided for other "causes".


Tony.

If properly run it will help. Unfortunately, every fatazz politician and agency will see it as their personal slush fund. Many years ago we had to sue the governor of California because he stole the green sticker funds and put it in the general fund. We had to hire attorneys and sue to get the money back. We didn't get the money back but we did prevent them from stealing it for the general fund in the future.

A few years ago the local sheriff conficated, (through a grant) $160,000.00 of our green sticker money and purchased a Ford Crewcab Diesel, a big fancy toybox trailer and several expensive quads to patrol the hills and chase the dirtbikers out. They are now paid to ride the trails in the hills where we ride and give us tickets. The trails in those hills were nothing more than rabbit trails. Not any wider than the width of a knobby. You couldn't even see them from my house. Now, since the sheriff has been riding their quads up there, the trails are wide fireroads. They can be plainly seen from the freeway and the hills look scarred. We rode those hills for over 35 years without changing the look of them or the trails. Now that the sheriff has been riding the quads up there, the whole area looks terrible with wide trails all over the place. And guess who gets blamed for that? Now people write into the newspaper and complain about what those nasty dirtbikers did to the hills. :|

When we ask the county supervisors why we don't have a cycle park in riverside county, they say there is no money for that.

If they start a sticker program in Texas, make sure the stop gaps are put in place in the very beginning or they will figure out a way to steal it and make you guys out to be the bad guys.
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Chris in Denver said:
Ol 89, could that happen? Yes, of course. It all depends on the foundation it is set up on. Start out right, stay the course and fight for what is right.

Obviously you're new at this. :|
 
May 9, 2007
29
0
Really? That is a big assumption. Apathy is the name of the game in any "pro" group. It is easier and more gratifying to be against something than for something. In fact is is easier and more gratifying to tell someone that they are wrong vs. actually having a discussion.

Are you saying that user fees are always wrong and never work? Hmmm, let me call Rampart riding range now to tell them the bad news. Really.

If the Sheriff screwed you, highlight it and get it righted. If no one helped you, sorry, you didn't do a good enough job motivating them. Plain and simple. Don't go around trying to shut down an idea because you failed. Sorry about your loss, but it is yours not mine.
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Chris in Denver said:
Really? That is a big assumption. Apathy is the name of the game in any "pro" group. It is easier and more gratifying to be against something than for something. In fact is is easier and more gratifying to tell someone that they are wrong vs. actually having a discussion.
Are you saying that user fees are always wrong and never work?
Don't go around trying to shut down an idea because you failed. Sorry about your loss, but it is yours not mine.

You don't even have a clue Chris. :(

Obviously, you did not get the sarcasm in my post.

I am not trying to shut down your idea, I'm only trying to pass along a little insight from someone that has been involved in land issues since long before you were born. And it's not your idea, it's called the Green Sticker Fund and we have had it in California for over 30 years. Back in the 70's we fought against land closures in the California desert. When you were about three years old Chris, I rode in the Barstow to Vegas Protest ride to protest the closing of this once great race. I have attended more BLM, Forest Service, AMA, County and City meetings than I can count. Don't you dare sit there behind the security of your computer and tell me that I have failed. It is only through the efforts of people like myself that we still have the land that we have and I am only one of many, many people actively involved in this.

For discussion sake, what have you done to insure our riding areas will remain open? Have you joined any organizations that are actively fighting for our rights? Do you send money to these organizations to help them fight for our rights? Do you attend City and County meetings and stand up to speak for our rights? Do you run a quiet silencer on your off road vehicles and obey the laws when on trail? Do you ride only where you are supposed to and not where your not supposed to? Do you write letters and send emails to your political representatives to protest the closing of land and mis-use of funds? Or, do you just sit behind your computer and tell the rest of us how you would do it?

Yes, the user fees do work when properly managed. We have many great off road parks in California sponsored by the Green Sticker fund. Unfortunately, as I already mentioned, many countys are now using this fund for other things than which they were intended. Using it against us.

You hit the nail on the head with 'Apathy'. This is the biggest problem facing the ohv community. Most people wont bother to attend meetings or even send a letter. They are more than willing to tell those of us that do, how they would do it better or how we are doing it wrong but, they won't actually get off of their lazy butts and do it themselves. We tell our riding friends about these meetings and how important they are. We post on the dirtbike sites about how important it is that they show up. But, we can't force people to go. We can't tie them up and drag them there if they don't want to go. If that is being a failure to you then I guess I'm a failure.

Most people don't really care as long as they have their little sand lot to play in. But as soon as someone comes along and closes down their little sand lot, they scream like wounded banshies. :yell: Oh Crap! How could this happen?

If you know of a way of overcoming the Apathy problem, you would be my hero Chris. But until that happens, I will consider you to be just another uninformed voice on the internet. Prove me wrong.


Ol'89r
 

ladieu229

Sponsoring Member
Jun 17, 2007
121
0
OL'89r got a point in a few years there is going to be no where to ride trails or even tracks! we need to do something about it!!
 

trakkerman

Member
Nov 12, 2001
258
0
Ol'89r said:
You don't even have a clue Chris. :(

If you know of a way of overcoming the Apathy problem, you would be my hero Chris. But until that happens, I will consider you to be just another uninformed voice on the internet. Prove me wrong.


Ol'89r

The silence is deafening.

BTW, Thanks for all your hard work Ol'89r!
 

knowiam

~SPONSOR~
Oct 17, 2006
191
0
The Blue Ribbon Coalition www.sharetrails.org

BRC works for the benefit of all of us that ride- I learned of the group from discussions on this website and reading [and thinking about] what people like Ol89r had to say.

I am a Life Member of the BRC since May 2007- I have chosen to be voice along side of others to "preserve our natural resources FOR the public instead of FROM the public."

If anyone can afford to ride, certainly that person can afford to help support the BRC or other OHV advocate groups.

There is a phenomena called: "Sorosis of the Giver" seems those afflicted with this common disease, cannot reach the old wallet when it comes time to give (any amount) to a cause that preserves our sport... Interestingly enough, this disease is mostly temporary as evidenced by the wallet being disengaged at the local restaurant , Starbucks or liquor store. :laugh: :coocoo:

Hope this helps.

Ken---stepping off the soap box and turning his collar back around.
 

DougRoost

~SPONSOR~
May 3, 2001
720
0
I was just about to note the one good aspect of that story, that the BRC was actually able to inject a comment to an otherwise one-sided article that only used the statistics that made their point.

(the old Mark Twain quote comes to mind: there are lies, damned lies, and statistics).
 
May 9, 2007
29
0
Ol'89r said:
You don't even have a clue Chris. :(

Obviously, you did not get the sarcasm in my post.

I am not trying to shut down your idea, I'm only trying to pass along a little insight from someone that has been involved in land issues since long before you were born. And it's not your idea, it's called the Green Sticker Fund and we have had it in California for over 30 years. Back in the 70's we fought against land closures in the California desert. When you were about three years old Chris, I rode in the Barstow to Vegas Protest ride to protest the closing of this once great race. I have attended more BLM, Forest Service, AMA, County and City meetings than I can count. Don't you dare sit there behind the security of your computer and tell me that I have failed. It is only through the efforts of people like myself that we still have the land that we have and I am only one of many, many people actively involved in this.

For discussion sake, what have you done to insure our riding areas will remain open? Have you joined any organizations that are actively fighting for our rights? Do you send money to these organizations to help them fight for our rights? Do you attend City and County meetings and stand up to speak for our rights? Do you run a quiet silencer on your off road vehicles and obey the laws when on trail? Do you ride only where you are supposed to and not where your not supposed to? Do you write letters and send emails to your political representatives to protest the closing of land and mis-use of funds? Or, do you just sit behind your computer and tell the rest of us how you would do it?

Yes, the user fees do work when properly managed. We have many great off road parks in California sponsored by the Green Sticker fund. Unfortunately, as I already mentioned, many countys are now using this fund for other things than which they were intended. Using it against us.

You hit the nail on the head with 'Apathy'. This is the biggest problem facing the ohv community. Most people wont bother to attend meetings or even send a letter. They are more than willing to tell those of us that do, how they would do it better or how we are doing it wrong but, they won't actually get off of their lazy butts and do it themselves. We tell our riding friends about these meetings and how important they are. We post on the dirtbike sites about how important it is that they show up. But, we can't force people to go. We can't tie them up and drag them there if they don't want to go. If that is being a failure to you then I guess I'm a failure.

Most people don't really care as long as they have their little sand lot to play in. But as soon as someone comes along and closes down their little sand lot, they scream like wounded banshies. :yell: Oh Crap! How could this happen?

If you know of a way of overcoming the Apathy problem, you would be my hero Chris. But until that happens, I will consider you to be just another uninformed voice on the internet. Prove me wrong.


Ol'89r

The work you have done is admirable. Still I am a bit confused. You said that you now have great off road parks paid for by the green sticker yet are upset it is being "misused". How did it get this way? Through active participation by us "apathetic" riders? I doubt it. See, the kind of posts are see are quite alarmist in nature. If I don't do "X" than all of America will be shut down to riding.

But how did we get there? No doubt I new to dirt riding-but not new to motorcycles. It is the community that will bring us together against or for whatever is important at the moment-not telling me or someone new to this sport that indeed I suck because I question you.

You are right, there needs to be a change in tactics. The current way is not working. Our lands are decreasing and the enviornmentalists are winning.

There is one group I belong to not because they send alarmist messages but because they tell the truth as it is-and stay involved because I can't show up to every meeting. I put it back in your court, I am not in a position to attend every meeting. Step forward, be a visibible leader and I will be happy to support you.
 

knowiam

~SPONSOR~
Oct 17, 2006
191
0
Chris in Denver said:
Still I am a bit confused. You said that you now have great off road parks paid for by the green sticker yet are upset it is being "misused". How did it get this way?
The "FUNDS" are being "misused" ... Not the Park... Politicians misappropriating funds should not be "news" to you or anyone else.

It is the community that will bring us together against or for whatever is important at the moment-not telling me or someone new to this sport that indeed I suck because I question you.
Nobody said or implied that you suck-Take a deep breath.

You are right, there needs to be a change in tactics. The current way is not working. Our lands are decreasing and the enviornmentalists are winning.
Our sport needs "warm bodies" ...more than hot air...to actively,intelligently and articulately defend our right to ride. This of course takes a sacrifice of time and money. Are you in?

There is one group I belong to
Most excellent, Chris! What is the name of the group?

Keep up the passion for the sport-help out when you can...many voices together garner more attention than just a few.

Ken
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Thanks for clearing that up Ken. :cool: And thanks for belonging to the BRC.

Chris.

First of all, we are both on the same page here. Both striving for the same thing. :nod:

I was only pointing out what can happen to these programs once the politicians and greedy agencys get their hands on it. Yes, we have many good offroad parks in California that are sponsored by the green sticker fund. But, here in Riverside county, a county with probably the biggest population of offroaders in all of California the fund has been raided. We have the most piss-poor excuse for an offroad park in all of California, Wildomar ohv park. Total nine miles of rutted out, off camber, slippery sandstone trails. :|

Many of us have tried to convince the county of the need for a place for everyone to ride. Illegal riding is a big problem in this county and one of the reasons for it is the lack of a good park. A good friend of mine who owns hundreds of acres of land in this area tried to get the county to let him open up a cycle park using his own money and his own land. The county gave him so much crap, he finally gave up.

How did it get that way you ask. It got that way because for every pro-active person there are ten idiots. For every person that stands before the city council and pleads our case, there are ten or more examples of the idiots. It was bad enough with just the young arrogant riders in the past now, we have the tweakers and the party group that have discovered motorcycles and quads. These are the one's that are used against us as examples. When we talk about how good of a sport this is, the other side shows video's of these idiots tearing it up in some parking lot or in front of
somebodys house. This is why a large portion of Glamis is being shut down, because of the party people not because of the bug or plant. The city and county officials really don't care about us. We are more of a pain in their butts than anything else and they would just as soon see us all go away. Now it has gone to the attorneys. We have had to sue the county and when the attorneys get involved, everybody loses.

You say my message is alarming. Good! I hope you took it that way because I have seen more land closed to the public in my lifetime than you could ever imagine. Public land closed to the public. What do you see wrong with that sentence? :(

When I first found DRN about 7 years ago, I was pretty excited because I saw this as a great media for getting the word out. I thought we could finally organize all pro-active riders and fight this thing. I thought that through the internet we could alert everyone as to what is going on and have a better way to organize everyone into one group. That didn't happen. We still only got a few people to become active. Most said they didn't have time or it was too far to drive or they had to work. Well, most of us don't have the time. We all have lives to live and this takes time. We will drive hundreds of miles to go riding but won't drive 30 miles to a meeting. Most all of us work or have businesses. Many of those that work have paid time off but won't use that to attend a meeting. Gotta save that for vacation time.

It's about making sacrifices for the betterment of the sport. If we are not willing to make sacrifices for the sport to survive, I guarantee you, it will not survive.

There are many of us that have been fighting this for a very long time. I am just about done. I'm to the age where there are more important things to worry about. Time for new people to take over and fight the good fight.

I have made concessions so I can still ride my bike. I have dualsported my XR350 and my CRF450 and can ride most anywhere. (Where there's a will, there's a way.) A couple of weeks ago I rode right past the ROVE cops and waved. They kinda waved back. I'm sure they are already trying to figure out a way to outlaw dualsports too.

The bottom line is, we all have to become involved. We have a huge voice to be heard if only we could use it. We spend many dollars on our toys and toy haulers. We are a very large force to be reckoned with if we could only become organized as one group. It is up to us as individuals to become involved either by attending these meetings or by sending as much money as you can afford to the organizatons that are fighting for us. Fighting amongst ourselves is not the way to go. It only detracts from our goal.
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Ol'89r said:
You say my message is alarming. Good! I hope you took it that way because I have seen more land closed to the public in my lifetime than you could ever imagine. Public land closed to the public. What do you see wrong with that sentence? :(


I hope this alarms all of you enough to become involved.

www.takingliberty.us

Go to region by region and click on your region.

By allowing our own kind to act the way they do we are only helping the enviro's and the government in their quest.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

knowiam

~SPONSOR~
Oct 17, 2006
191
0
Terry-

Out of curiosity, where do you find your sources of information regarding upcoming bills that have the intent to harm our sport? (other than BRC)

I have googled and found a site where upon I can identify my local Senators and Congressman. I assume I can type in bill numbers to see how these people vote(d) on bills that curtail our riding.

I've half a mind to run down to my local bike shops, cycle gear and toy hauler dealers with information in hand and ask for their letters of support against legislature and lawmakers that seek to impede on our places to ride...and ultimately the dealer's future market for OHV's. [Am I wrong to assume that players like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki etc. have a strong lobbyist presence in the halls?]

Thanks for the input on the Dualability of my CRF 450...I expected to hear it was a nonstarter.

Ken
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
knowiam said:
Terry-

Out of curiosity, where do you find your sources of information regarding upcoming bills that have the intent to harm our sport? (other than BRC)

I have googled and found a site where upon I can identify my local Senators and Congressman. I assume I can type in bill numbers to see how these people vote(d) on bills that curtail our riding.

I've half a mind to run down to my local bike shops, cycle gear and toy hauler dealers with information in hand and ask for their letters of support against legislature and lawmakers that seek to impede on our places to ride...and ultimately the dealer's future market for OHV's. [Am I wrong to assume that players like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki etc. have a strong lobbyist presence in the halls?]

Ken

Ken.

In regard to up-coming bills, these are posted in your local newspaper in the public notices section. They are very hard to find and understand and take a lot of reading to find them. They make it that way on purpose because they really don't want our input. I'm on the mailing list with the county of Riverside and they send notices of any changes in my immediate area or up-coming meetings on land issues. Most countys or citys offer this. All you have to do is sign up with them.

I also receive notices from different organizations that I am registered with and also the USFS (United States Forest Service) sends notices about once a month in regard to changes in the natl forests and meetings that we can attend to offer our input.

You already know about the BRC and CORVA and there is the ASA, (American Sand Assn.) and the San Diego offroad Assn. down south. An excellent organization working hard to keep the southern deserts open. There are many good groups like this in your area. Most of these groups have monthly news letters. Some of these groups are a little late to the party sometimes and need to get this information out a little sooner,IMO.

Many shops and off road businesses belong to ORBA, (Off Road Business Assn.) ORBA has Roy Denner and he is one of the main guys fighting for our rights. Roy deals directly with the politicians and lobbys for us in Washington. I also receive a newsletter from ORBA. Anything that Roy Denner is involved with deserves our support. ORBA is part of the group that is now involved with suing the county. Unfortunately it has come to this.

The OEM's and the AMA have been a huge disappointment. The OEM's don't want to piss off the greenies and the AMA is more interested in protecting the rights of un-helmeted Harley riders than anything else. Our local AMA District 37 is an exception to that and are very involved with land rights. Same with Dist 38 to the south of us. There is a lot of up-to-date information on the Dist 37 website and that is an excellent source.

Since I own and operate a small aftermarket shop here in So Cal, I hear a lot of what's going on by word of mouth. It's a very tight community and word of mouth is still the best source for the most current info.

Responding to your Political reps by email is a good idea and easy to do but, a hand written letter does much more good and can't be deleted. Talking to your local shop is also a good idea but many of todays shops are not that interested in land issues. For some reason they don't see it as their future and many store owners and managers are BA grad's and don't come from motorcycles anymore. It's all about the bottom line to them. In the old days, most people in the shops grew up with motorcycles and usually grew up in familys that owned the shops. These people had a passion and a love for the sport that many of the new shop owners have never had and never will.

Thanks for your interest Ken. The more of us that become involved the better our chances at success.
 

Tony Eeds

Godspeed Tony.
N. Texas SP
Jun 9, 2002
9,535
0
Everybody that is following this thread should do the research and stand up for our rights.

Become a member of all the organizations that support the areas where you ride. Terry is right about the AMA. The BRC is perhaps the most effective voice we have and everyone should be a member. You should join your state org. You should also WILLINGLY volunteer to attend meetings.

Terry is also right about the bubba factor in our sport. We have got to police our own or we stand the chance of losing everything. Glamis is an excellent example of the problem. These people have the same effect as a forest fire. They generate a great deal of very bad press and keep officials and police up late at night. In that the party crowd eats into donut time, it pisses them off and officials close riding areas because of the nuisance factor of dealing with the bubbas.
 

knowiam

~SPONSOR~
Oct 17, 2006
191
0
An unexpected dividend

Several months ago- I had an experience [a good one] as a result of wearing a "Ride Stealth" t-shirt that seems relevant to share now.

I was in one of my more favorite "man stores" [Home Depot] sporting my brand new "Ride Stealth" t-shirt. One of the workers at HD stopped me to ask if I ride?

After several minutes of sharing experiences riding in So. Cal my new friend [Richard] went out to his truck and returned with a CA OHV map marked with areas to ride-many highlighted as appropriate to take my son.

My point would be that by supporting positive changes to our sport, I made a friend and was given help that already has enhanced the riding experiences I share with family and friends...you can too!

If you've not done it yet, check out the BRC www.sharetrails.org and get yourself one of them "Ridestealth" or "Loud Sucks" t-shirts...you may go in intending to buy some drywall and come out with a new friend and a map to some great riding in your home state-"Works for Me!" :cool:

Ken
 
Top Bottom