whats a dirt biker to do? long and opinionated

joe woj

Member
Oct 29, 1999
58
0
i cant seem to get out of the slump im in havent ridden much, my two favorite riding areas have closed down from what i understand if you park their to unload the police will ticket you on the spot, so that kinda sucks, i dont feel because i wanna ride a dirt bike that im a outlaw! then to add insult to injury, my best local parts dealer closed up shop, im bummed because he was very fair priced, and always had your order within a couple of days, and it was always right! , so now my nearest dealer charges about 40% more and you get it whenever, and your lucky if its right, is it just me or does it seem to be harder and harder to ride a dirt bike? no land to ride because of the tree huggers, no more small shops they cant compete with big warehouse dealers, and now it seems that they are trying to get us all used to 4 stroke bikes, so they can slowly phase out 2 strokes!, how much farther can they push us! im to the point that im sick of it, what do they want us to do for fun? play checkers? i know im ramblin on, but if this hasent happend to you yet, dont be suprised if it does!, just speaking the truth, had to get that off my chest, im trying to stay positive but from where i stand the future of dirt biking is looking pretty bleek:(
 

POSyz

Member
Apr 3, 2001
8
0
Riding Areas

I hear ya! In my home town, a small town in southern MN, being a dirt biker WAS being a criminal! I Hated that! They closed down the 2 good places we had to ride, supposedly due to liabilities, and the last place they cut in half. Anyways, where I live now the police are awesome, they bs with ya about dirt bikes if they see ya. I can hardly believe it actually. And hopefully, the motorcycle club at the university I attend is going to get the university to fork over some land for us to build a small track. I can't wait! Regardless, I can relate, and I bet if ya keep pushing new places to ride will be found or created.

Troy
 

coop47

Member
Feb 21, 2000
25
0
I'm with ya Joe. Our riding area just got shut down too.

The sad part is, it was less than 1 mile from my neighborhood. It's a big old rock mine type deal, with lots of trails and small little tracks set up. We've been riding there for the past 2 or 3 years with absolutely no problems. It was one of the best places I could take my two boys since they are only 7 and 10 and are still learning and it was within a 45 second tow (Yes, I even loaded up the bikes and towed them down the hill just so I didn’t make any neighbors mad). We sort of had permission to ride there from the manager of the place. He told us for liability reasons he couldn't give us written permission but gave me a copy of his business card and said if a cop ever stopped us, just show them the card and we would be OK.

But now, one of my neighbors (there are at least 10 guys in my neighborhood that ride down there) has taken it upon herself to call the cops every time a she hears a bike, the cops got on the manager's case and told him that unless he said it was OK to ride there, they had to start prosecuting us due to the fact the place was becoming a nuisance. Two guys I know have got $350 fines for going in when the cops said not to. Three of us talked to the manager, he gave us the lady’s name and told us to get her to quit calling the cops and all would be well. We tried to politely explain our situation and even asked her if we rode only during certain hours, that she could dictate, if that would make her happy. Not surprisingly she wanted nothing to do with it and basically told us to get off her property. What really gets me, is because of ONE LADY who just moved into the neighborhood not too long ago and is just being a pain, myself, my two boys and 20 - 30 other guys that have rode there for years are screwed. Some people are just narrow-minded and will never like dirt bikes.

One thing in life I have learned though, is that as one door closes, another one opens up. Just the other day, my sons one school buddy found out that we all have dirt bikes and he told his parents when he got home from school. Low and behold, this kid's mom calls my wife and says that she heard we lost our riding area, and they had 98 acres of ground that we were welcome to ride on anytime we want. We are taking a ride over to her house tonight, and she is going to give us the lay of the land, show us where to park, etc.
I don’t know how far you are from Plum Borough, but once I see the area and talk to her some more, maybe I can hook you up, and you’ll have a new place to ride also.
 

Mike McGlade

Member
Jan 13, 2000
57
0
Joe, we are all going to have to get together on these issues if there is going to be a future for off-road recreation. I am a member of the Blue Ribbon Coalition and I have been as active as possible in our cause but we must get many more involved. FOX TV is going to air some specials this weekend on extremist environmental groups tactics and I urge you and anyone who views this message to pass the word. I believe that it will convert more than a few "environmentalists" to our side (that is the side who is for recreation and personal freedom) once they see the larger picture that the green groups actually have in store for us! I also believe the magazines need to play a greater role in educating their audience if we are to have any hope in reversing the current trend of affording plants and animals greater rights than taxpaying citizens.
 

KiDX

Sponsoring Member
Mar 30, 2001
406
0
I totally understand where you're coming from. I've seen many riding areas shut down because of tree huggers.:(
 
Top Bottom