Are we ruining our own sport?

[VenomRS4]

I’m sure this is a repost of many thoughts and ideas that have already been discussed here. And a lot of you will probably disagree with some stuff I am about to say…But this topic has been driving me crazy so I just need to get it off my chest. Venting if you will. Just an FYI, this is kind of long….

Are we ruining our own sport with irresponsibility? I’m not talking just three wheelers; I’m talking everything…Trikes, dirtbikes, ATVs, snowmobiles, etc…pretty much all recreational ORVs. I’m not really sure where to start here. So I guess I’ll begin with how my day has gone so far…

I just got home from a fun morning of riding at my buddies camp. I ate lunch then unloaded my Z out of the truck and got out the hose to start washing it off. I start my usual cleaning routine and a cruiser shows up in my driveway. The officer got out and asked me if I had been riding on the street. I said no and explained I had just got home and was just washing my machine off. He said that there were numerous complaints of loud dirtbikes and ATVs riding in the road recently. I guess he saw me in the driveway with my Z so he stopped to see if I knew anything about it. He also explained that if you are caught, your machine can be confiscated…which is kind of scary. We talked a little bit more. He was a very nice and courteous officer and complimented me on my Tri-Z. He then went on his way.

I continued what I was doing thinking about what had just happened……That is when it all hit home and what sparked me to post this. I’ve known about this issue for a while along with everyone else. But it just seems like everywhere I look now, I see something else that is going to kill this sport.

I see videos like this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sAA28sfKmiY and I just get really pissed off. I’m sure it’s been explained to them that doing this makes our sport look bad. But it seems like they just don’t care. They aren’t even wearing helmets and doing wheelies in traffic. And then there’s that little kid on the CR250…are you kidding me.!?!? The dad didn’t even put a helmet on the kid! Let alone the bike may be a little too big… That is such irresponsibility.:mad:

How hard is it to just keep it off the road? You are not cool because you rode down Main Street and ran from the cops on your Banshee. That just makes people stereotype us as people who don’t care about the law and have no respect. Don’t even get me started on trespassing and riding on land that isn’t yours.

Another topic that I have read about elsewhere has to do with insanely loud exhausts. Have you been to a mx race event lately? Holy crap. When its time to race….the ground literally shakes when all the big thumpers fire up. I’m not saying the sound is bad. It’s music to my ears. But the fact of the matter is most of these performance exhausts are very loud. People used to argue that their bike is no louder than a lawn mower…..but that’s not the case anymore. They are more like cars with an open exhaust. It’s no wonder some people get pissed about the excessive noise.

Next is snowmobiles. I love snowmobiling. IMO, I think out of all the powersports, this is the least problematic. But lately, it seems like there’s been a slew of negative publicity toward it because of all the retards that seem to own them. I just read an article the other day on the FRONT PAGE of the Boston Globe that talked about all the snowmobiling related deaths this season because of all the drinking and riding, speeding, and just plain irresponsible riding. That must do wonders for the sport :rolleyes: ..... They want to impose a bunch of stupid laws and stupidly low speed limits which will make riding less fun. There’s all the complaining about it but, for example, there is only like 10 officers to patrol all of Maine’s Riding trails. Why not just step up enforcement?

I don’t feel like going on about this anymore so I will just leave with this:


Tracks are getting closed left and right. Riding parks are getting shut down. Hell, in many places, you can’t even ride on your own property anymore because new zoning laws and noise ordinances (kinda goes with the loud exhaust topic). But yet no one has hit the panic button and taken drastic measures to change things. My buddy isn’t even allowed to use his own private track on his own property anymore because the neighbors complained about him to the town. They forced him to stop by threatening to take legal action if he continued.

Environmentalists hate us. 2 strokes are getting phased out and I consider that a win for them. Everything I mentioned is working against our sport and helping the tree huggers’ war against us. And you know what; I’m starting to get scared. If things don’t change, the end is going to come sooner than some of us think. Our kids will only be able to look back and remember how it used to be :(

Ok, I’m done ranting…anyone care to comment or add anything? I'd like to start doing something about this...but i just dont know where to start. Any ideas?

[starky1234]

Yea i see where your coming from but i live back in the woods you see and we ride the back dirt roads and i used to drive my truck when i was 15 all over the place its not that big a deal for us cuz people around here people dont care about us riding and if they do they will take out the rife and shoot at us. I live by noxen and they do not care about it, its the only place when you lave the bar they tell you to do a wheely down the rode. its aother way to get from point a to point b.
Now i can see if your in the city and doing it cuz theres alot more people and soemone can get hurt!!!

[Dammit!]

This isn't anything new. There's always been idiots making us all look bad and there always will be. If anything it was worse in the 80's. Watch the news specials that helped get trikes taken off the market if you want a prime example of how morons have been screwing things up for everybody for years.

The loud pipe thing is becoming a bigger problem recently. A new thumper with an aftermarket pipe is so loud that it's just ridiculous. Even at the dunes. I freakin hate those things. Guaranteed there's going to be more legislation coming because of those pipes.

[200x newby]

I don't mean to be a racist BUT look who's riding in that video. When have they ever been conciderate or takin responsibilty for THEIR own actions?

[starky1234]

i hate loud pipes

[starky1234]

oooo we got some johnny rebs on here:beer :lol:

[VenomRS4]

I just used that video as an example. Theres tons of videos like that one with a wider variety of ethnic groups doing the riding. And i do agree that in the past, it has been a bigger problem. But within the last coupe of years, it just seems like it has started to get worse. There are more and more complaints in the police logs than I remember.

[brapp]

hey starkey i totaly agree with you but even to a point its gettin bad in some areas back here because people have been using atv;s to break into cabins and around here where 5 out of 10 peopel have atv;s atv thieft has become a issue also. i mean as many bikes that ar ein the paper shop i look st you woudl be suprised how many dont have serial numbers and how many are just have the bald tire sint he center from ridign on the paved roads. it sone thign to rid ein the winter time ont he roads back wher ei live but in the summer its a whole diffrent storry. thats why i bought a small dualsport tirtbike to run the roads with and keep the rippin thing sup for my own property.

[longbedGTs]

The few bad apples spoil the whole bunch. People wont notice the good as much as they notice and remember the bad, and there are alot of stupid people out there doing things they shouldnt. What to do about it? Get rid of stupid people. :) Ill help.

[starky1234]

ooo yea thieft is real big i mean all the time you here of a other atv beening takin and people going in homes and takin thing

[Ryan.]

those guys on bikes in that video are just trying to free us from not being able to ride on the road, but i agree that they should be wearing appropriate gear. i may be wrong but thats just my opinion

[3Wheelers4Life]

IMO "we're" (as in everyone) not ruining the sport, its people like in that video that are irresponsible, dont care, think its cool to ride on streets and run from the cops.
its also loud exhausts, and where im around their are not a lot of places to ride, let alone legal places, so people ride on the streets because they basically have no other choice. in philly, you see them riding the streets all the time. also we already have a bad name.
paranoid people hear that the bikes have engines, and they think there automatically dangerous. but they dont think you can get hurt in foot ball or any other sport. its also the environmentalist, sure i care about the environment and think we should help to preserve it, but i dont think that should mean going as far as taking away 2-strokes and making it harder to ride. its also everyone’s sue happy, one of the reasons 3-wheelers were banned, honda took most of the lawsuits. people need to stop suing everyone for every little cut and bruise. us riders need to band together and fight for what we believe in. i think the way our sports going, it will no longer be in the future, or will be very hard and limited to do sadly.:(

IMO if you dont want to wear you gear, sure thats fine. its your choice. but if you get hurt, or killed its your own fault, not anyone elses. so dont go suing everyone for it.:mad:

people need to grow up, stop suing everyone, take responsibility for themselves, and just stop worrying about us and let us ride.

basically what it all boils down to:
-need more riding areas
-we already have a bad name
-paranoid parents think because it has an engine its unsafe
-loud exhaust
-ignorant people that dont care
-paranoid environmentalist
-stupid people that do stupid things
-parents that put kids on to big of a bike
-people that sue everyone :mad:
-cpsc
etc. etc. etc. you guys get the point :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[deathman53]

a low key riding area by me got the rangers(middlesex county park) attention simply by the loud pipes and people who drag raced on a clear strip, it was the loud pipes that brought the attention. I ride there, but back in the woods, away from houses, rangers are always out in the gas line(the clear open areas), if you are quiet- they just wave to you, loud- the sirens turn on. In the same area a few years ago, people wheelied down a 1/5 mile road into a dirt road. I always turned off the atv and pushed it down the road. One day, I lost my kicker and couldn't turn the bike off.

I put it in neutral and pushed it down the road. Sure enough, there was a cop. He asked me to turn the bike off, I told him I normally do, but my kicker flew off somewhere in the woods. He looked and didn't see a kicker. He told me about the complaints, he then told me that the people said not to harass the guy on the 3 wheeler(me) as he always shuts the bike off and pushes it down the street. The only reason he had to stop me was because the bike was running. He let me go(I wasn't one of the people whom he was looking for), he could have given me something like $1000 of fines for having the bike running on a public street. I got stopped another time on my street legal dirtbike, same thing, checked my credidials, everything legit and told me, go head and have a good time ridng, and please tell others you see to stay off this road with a running bike, I don't like being here and giving you guys tickets, I ride myself back there. People ruin their own stuff.

[brapp]

3 wheelers 4 life i use dto ride down youe way allthe time on my cr500btu i went to the extent to get it streetlegal in another state and then transfer it back to pa i have been thinkin abotu doign it with my 350x but i cant seem to get a title to make it streetlegal. and death man thats one of the main reasons i move dup here to ne pa caus ei have the land the money just isnt up here to live. but i got a 1400dollars in fines for riding in a buddies property and it was allbecaus ewe drove our little minis acrost the road and not pushshed them and ther wernt loud or anythign .

[bp739]

I just have a few points to bring up..I totally agree with the loud pipes....they just piss people off...BUT what makes the loud pipe on a quad or trike any different than the A-HOLE on the HARLEY with straight pipes ridin up and down the street?

What makes 4 or 5 quads ridin up the street to the trail any different than the 4 or 5 fat-ass clowns on there straight pipe Harleys cruisin the neighborhood tryin to look tough?

I have to admit that I like some of the aftermarket exhausts...they sound great...but within reason.. and that goes for everything

Theres a 20+ year old punk kid that live down the street from me he just bought a 2 stroke rm 125 and rides up and down the street in front and alley behind my house over and over...it's really anoying...especially since wh have a nice riding area not more that 200 yards from here ..where you can ride for hours not bother anyone...I've already stopped him and asked him not to because he's going to ruin it for everyone else...he just looked at me like i had a third eye or something...the first time i see a cop here I'm sendin him straight to his house...but by that time it will be to late.

It all comes down to stupid people....and we all know you can't fix stupid...I've been riding across the street from my house for 15 years and never once pissed anyone off...I respect the people who live around me and they do the same...thankfully most of them own quads too....

The state I live in doesnt help matters...they make no sense...you can ride a motorcycle with NO HELMET the loudest pipes you want...but you cant ride up the road on your quad to access a trail.

We have hundreds of miles of snowmoblie trails that barely get used because of the sparce snowfall...why could'nt you open those up in the summer for atv use?All you'd have to do is run a grader down them at the end of the summer riding season...and close the gates till the snowmobile season...the tree-huggers say no...so its back to the "sort-a-legal" riding on some slate dump somewhere.

[1985200m]

I just have a few points to bring up..I totally agree with the loud pipes....they just piss people off...BUT what makes the loud pipe on a quad or trike any different than the A-HOLE on the HARLEY with straight pipes ridin up and down the street?

What makes 4 or 5 quads ridin up the street to the trail any different than the 4 or 5 fat-ass clowns on there straight pipe Harleys cruisin the neighborhood tryin to look tough?

I have to admit that I like some of the aftermarket exhausts...they sound great...but within reason.. and that goes for everything

Theres a 20+ year old punk kid that live down the street from me he just bought a 2 stroke rm 125 and rides up and down the street in front and alley behind my house over and over...it's really anoying...especially since wh have a nice riding area not more that 200 yards from here ..where you can ride for hours not bother anyone...I've already stopped him and asked him not to because he's going to ruin it for everyone else...he just looked at me like i had a third eye or something...the first time i see a cop here I'm sendin him straight to his house...but by that time it will be to late.

It all comes down to stupid people....and we all know you can't fix stupid...I've been riding across the street from my house for 15 years and never once pissed anyone off...I respect the people who live around me and they do the same...thankfully most of them own quads too....

The state I live in doesnt help matters...they make no sense...you can ride a motorcycle with NO HELMET the loudest pipes you want...but you cant ride up the road on your quad to access a trail.

We have hundreds of miles of snowmoblie trails that barely get used because of the sparce snowfall...why could'nt you open those up in the summer for atv use?All you'd have to do is run a grader down them at the end of the summer riding season...and close the gates till the snowmobile season...the tree-huggers say no...so its back to the "sort-a-legal" riding on some slate dump somewhere.

They wouldn't even have to run a grader. All the trails in New Brunswick are open to ATVs as well as snowmobiles and as soon as the groomer runs over the trails in the winter they're as smooth as can be.

What is ruining it for me is idiots on their racing bikes who fly up and down the trails (our trails are old rail road tracks... without the tracks) that are also used for walking. They're not even considerate enough to just slow down while passing the rare person walking so they're cracking down on policing the trails moreso. And in the process stopping people who should not be stopped and impounding their fourwheelers/dirtbikes.

Like two years ago I was at an ice cream shop and two kids who I know came to get ice cream. They're in their early teens and one was on a threewheeler (125) and the other on a 90CC dirtbike. I know that these kids are respectable and not the idiots ruining it for us. All they did was cross the road and parked behind the ice cream stand. On their way back across the road to get to the trails a cop pulls them over and impounds both of their bikes.

[Mosh]

I see videos like this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sAA28sfKmiY and I just get really pissed off. I’m sure it’s been explained to them that doing this makes our sport look bad. But it seems like they just don’t care.

I suddenly got the urge for.....:postwhore :postwhore :postwhore :postwhore

Looks like Jungle fever.

Idiots!

[300rman]

I don't mean to be a racist BUT look who's riding in that video. When have they ever been conciderate or takin responsibilty for THEIR own actions?

LMAO thats what im sayin.....

but jesus, look at how many bikes in the roads....thats rediculous. i say, let them be road-legal, and then you can pull over them for speeding and stuff.

its more money for the DMV, more money for the cops pullin over idiots, and less people fighting over stupid crap.

loud pipes do suck, but on a 2 stroke, its almost un-helpable. most of the noise out of my R comes straight through the pipe, not out of it.

[Dammit!]

250 2-strokes aren't even loud at all compared to a 700R with dual aftermarket pipes. Those things are out of control. A water cooled 250R with a stock pipe and fresh silencer packing is actually pretty damn quiet.

[icp4life162005]

the thing with 4 strokers verses 2 is SOUND TRAVEL! Out of a smoker the sound goes ten feet and stops dead but with a four stroke it will echo and radiate for many many miles.

[The Goat]

I don't mean to be a racist BUT look who's riding in that video. When have they ever been considerate or taking responsibility for THEIR own actions?


I take issue with that for all sorts of reasons, but...

The other day I head into albertson's and there is a guy driving through the parking lot with two kids behind him on two little 50s, he parks his quad and goes in the store leaving his kids outside to watch them. now he's right off of the busiest streets in baton rouge, and cops down here arent as progressive as I am.

how they didnt get arrested is beyond me, but thats the type of *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* ruining the image of the sport, that and drunken rednecks.

[Oldrodder]

The loud pipe thing is becoming a bigger problem recently. A new thumper with an aftermarket pipe is so loud that it's just ridiculous. Even at the dunes. I freakin hate those things. Guaranteed there's going to be more legislation coming because of those pipes.[/QUOTE]

I have trikes and I also race vintage motorcross out here in Australia and even at the track they are making us conform to 96 decibels.
I have had trouble getting my '78 CR down to that but I am getting close now.

[edog]

Mix alcohol into this and you get most of the problems.I can't stand it when people drink and drive atv's.Doesn't mean your bad person.Just means you make bad decisions.

[edog]

i hate loud pipes

Loud pipes save lives.lol:mad:

[69HemiGTX]

the thing with 4 strokers verses 2 is SOUND TRAVEL! Out of a smoker the sound goes ten feet and stops dead but with a four stroke it will echo and radiate for many many miles.

I completely agree. When I'm home in Waynoka, you can hear the thumpers on the dunes. Even without a southern breeze, they sound like they are much closer than they really are. Every once in a while you'll hear a Banshee or 250R, but they're so much quieter than a piped four stroke you almost don't notice unless you have an ear for them. The straight-line distance between the town and the dunes is no less than 2 1/2 miles. That's 13,200 feet through dead air. You can barely hear a passenger jet take off at that distance. Thumpers are way too loud because there are too many idiots that think loud = fast, including the companies that make the pipes.

[Dirtcrasher]

Harley pipes are outrageous, along with many of the larger trucks and diesels and homies little Honda Civic.

I have legal vehicles driving past my house set back 100' and I can hear them with the windows closed. Why is that AOK??

Can they shut down the gun club behind my land because it's loud as hell too??

If you must ride the road it should be done on the shoulder and slowly with all your protective gear on.

Most people go down the road 6th gear pinned because there chance of getting caught is lessened.

[The Goat]

i particularly love that it's the southern boys shouting about someone being a racist...that should show that the idiots don't just reside down here.

[scooterroo]

the video does state a point, by watching it, i can see way to many things wrong. no helmets, no gear, ridding in traffic on public roads, in and out of traffic, ridding in a construction zone, letting a little kid that cant even touch the ground ride a bike way way way to big for him with no helmet, and of course the *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**E dited* mumbling some kind of ghetto talk to the camera that you cant even understand. im not racist, i have many colors in my family. white, hispanic, and yes even black. one day a car will come off a side street not even seeing the *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**E dited* on the dirtbike or quad, and BAM. or a kid walks out and the biker doesnt see him, and BAM. could be small injuries, could be fatal injuries. but then that person riding the bike, if not dead, or one of his relatives, if dead, would try and turn around and sue someone for it. wether it be the car that hit them, or the kid they ran into. there are alot of idiots in this world, and liek the old saying goes. one bad apple ruins the bunch. this video does nothing but give power and more kindling to the fire for the debate of bad or good, and its nothing but bad!!! the morons think they are cool. but in reality they are just that, morons. i didnt see one helmet, and i know for a fact concrete and asphalt are alot harder then dirt.

[OldSchoolin86]

I have no problem seeing that video and saying what 200x newby said but I'm not saying it because they're black, I'm talking about all ghetto trash! The same ghetto trash that you could find in the north, south, east and west. You should have seen the Taylor Homes in Chicago before they tore them down, it was a regular ATV park.

I don't think we're ruining our own sport but I do think there are a lot of idiots making it harder for us to make it look good.

[Erics350x]

those guys on bikes in that video are just trying to free us from not being able to ride on the road, but i agree that they should be wearing appropriate gear. i may be wrong but thats just my opinion

^:mad: That makes you just as stupid as they are!!!!!!!! Like endangering the live's of others, breaking a whole mess of laws, and total disregard for everyone around will "free us"? Your a FREAKIN IDIOT.

I usually don't post unless it's positive or helpful, but, we don't need any Crackheads in our sport!:crazy: :banned: :banned:

[Tecate250]

Well I think we all are to blame. I can say I drove down the road. I can say I owned a loud bike, or five.:naughty: Hell I even had a drink or 2 out in the trail. I know lots of people who get hammered but can drive. Not to say its bad or good. I have seen completly sober people to be complete jerks. The cops are doing there job by maintaining the law. And people get hurt. Weather its a 5 year old on a cr 250 or an old man rolling his atv over on top of himself at my old work. While trying to load it in his trailer. :crazy:
Or me and my buddy clearing out the old rail bed after a huricane messed it right up. Groomed it and almost got fined because of vandalesium (spelling) And after we got the trail fixed up STUPID *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* drivers stay in the same ruts, like there on the highway. I swear if I was the first one out in the snow I could run them right into the ditch because for the life of them, they wont leave. 200 feet from my house is the Marine Riders atv club which I dispise. Raising reg fees for nothing. Trail development yeah right. I have never had a regestered bike/sled and never had papers and probably never will. I live in the country with a trail right in front of my house that Im breaking the law to drive on.:crazy: With the club right beside it also.So I guess this is all over the world.
Im the guy who keeps trails clean and making more. And the state this industry is in.:lol: :lol: :lol:
So Im not changing for no one. I see a car I see it as a cop. I stay as much off the road as I can.