Dear Visitor;

Last night, in response to some discussions lately, I decided to write and post this on the site with the intention of leaving it and everything else on lockdown for 24 hours. At the time, it was done as more of a spiteful screw you to a few people, with a message that was written with some wit and humor for the rest of you. An important message, beyond the sarcasm. Right or wrong, doing things in this manner is not a particularly uncommon trait of mine...

However, I want to shift focus away from nay-sayers for at least a few moments here and focus on this community and the people in it for the regulars and the new people that are just now coming and learning about us. After some reflection, while the sarcastic message above I (and probably a few of you guys too) do find humorous with a level of effectiveness as well, this discussion does warrant some seriousness.
This group of people- us "three-wheeler people", are the greatest group of people on the planet, hands down. That’s a bold statement, but if you've been around a while, you know it’s true. And if you’re new, I'm going to explain and tell you why.

There are people in this group that will send you parts for free to help diagnose your technical issues, there are people that will stay up to the wee hours of the morning troubleshooting everything from your trike, to your car or truck, to your homes AC and heating units, to everything in between just because they are good natured people that like to help. They’ll traipse out into the garage when its 0 degrees out and take pictures of something to make it easier to understand. They’ll tell you tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years the hard way so you don’t have to. They’ll plan get togethers and open their homes up to complete strangers and people they’ve never met before, but have the common interest of trikes. And if your life is totally down in the dumps, there are people that will support you or give you a swift kick in the ass if it’s needed.

There are amazing people on this site that donate their time and effort into helping out the families of members and fellow riders that have passed away in some way or another. Whether that be taking up a collection for their passing, donating parts and supplies to be sold with the proceeds going to that family, beating the bushes for collective community support, or getting a head stone made for a friend and fellow rider that didn’t have one. We take care of one another at an almost unbelievable level.

There are guys that will tell you to show up to Trikefest with nothing more than yourself and the clothes on your back and give you a bike to ride, a place to sleep, and belly full of food for complete strangers that they’ve never met before for a solid week. There are people at Trikefest that will give you parts off of their own running bike to help mend yours so you can ride. There are people at Trikefest that will take their entire day helping you wrench on and repair a catastrophic failure on your bike, when they could be out riding theirs and socializing with other people, but they stay and help. There are people that might be complete strangers, but see you on a trike and wave as you pass by on a trail. There are people that’ll pass by your camp and tell you they’re making a trip to town, is there anything they could grab for ya while they are out. There are DOZENS of people that take countless hours out of THEIR vacation time at Trikefest to help put on and organize events so that other people can have even more fun.

There are friendships that have been forged through this website and community that are just straight up awesome, lifelong friendships. We drive thousands of miles a year to hang out with one another in private get togethers and official events. There are competitions and events of all sorts all over the world, but very few with these people. Sometimes we fly to opposite ends of the country to be with friends. Ask some of these guys that have been around here a while, compare some of their trike riding friends to high-school buddies, and you’d be surprised at the answers. Or if you’ve been here a while, you already know the response. This is an extremely dedicated, resourceful, giving, and GOOD group of people.

For the more seasoned members, we have a un-ignorable history of being jokesters, pranksters, and jovial in nature dating back to the beginning of the website. We like to do “stupid guy ”. Some of it I’m proud of, some of it not so much. Philosophically I do not believe it is my (or anyone elses) place to corral this group into a nice tight politically correct package. It is not. It never has been. I hope it never is. We will make smart assed remarks from time to time (Like my message above, as an example), we will play pranks like putting dye in someone’s riding gloves so it stains their hands, lock them in their own enclosed trailer, throw a snake in the sand at their feet at a camp fire, drink with a friend and cheat by drinking at different rates and then laugh later on at them for not realizing it, have someone burn the hair off of your arm with WD40 and a lighter, find an unsuspecting picture of someone’s genitalia on your camera when you get home, all of which I’ve been the recipient of...It’s stupid guy stuff, it’s what we do, its seldom planned for, and no one ever means any harm by it, it just happens. We’re all basically “outlaws” for liking and riding three-wheelers to begin with, I don’t expect to change that. It’s our main demographic.

In the course of the shenanigans and pranks though, consider that this sport originated as a “family friendly” function and has a somewhat negative vibe and opinion by the general populace already. It should be our primary tenant and mission of educating people about the sport, three-wheelers in general, and having a good time without it being at the expense of making it too raw for others where they might look in and say “What a bunch of weirdos” and wander off. I say this, not from the mindset of changing your act or opinions to satisfy others expectations, but of the mindset that perhaps your best friend you made through the forum would have never registered, stopped by an event, or made the initial parts deal with you if they had gotten the wrong impression about us as a group. And that would be a sad, sad thing. Actions have consequences, just be conscious and mindful of them.

I am pretty Laissez Faire in my beliefs, I don’t particularly believe in hardline moderating in this community type situation. Over the years there have been efforts to self-police and self-moderate in the community, of which I am most proud because I think that is the true testament of the good in our group. But I think we can do better, and we can continue to build on what is already here. When someone is being over the top, CALL THEM on it, but don’t blame or assume it’s a representation of everyone. It isn’t. We need to make sure that people continue to join and come to realize how awesome of a group of people this really is, and not potentially miss out on that by our sometimes brash and rough ways or the acts of a few that just don’t know when to quit. So just take a few moments and consider what an outsider looking in might think, and if they were deterred, what an awesome friend and life experiences you might have missed out on.

Thanks for listening,
-Billy