Throttle Blog

Last week when the two girls, 13 and 10, in Arizona rode that ATV into the mine shaft where the 13 year old died, it got me to thinking. I’ve recently been tracking ATV accidents, and when I saw this one, even before it started getting national coverage, I wondered what went wrong.

In my study, I count the total number of accidents, and separate them in to categories that tell me things like how many wore a helmet, rode on pavement, rode with passengers, rode a quad that’s too big, etc.

I read about a dozen of these a week, so I try not to let the stories get to me, but this one did. I realize most of the facts point to a fairly safe trip, except riding a passenger, which I believe in this case would not have made a difference.

So what went wrong?

Here’s what went wrong… The father was ahead of them, and went back to look when he realized they were missing. They were riding at night, so he didn’t see the mine shaft. He didn’t have another adult in back of the group either. But even that might not have made a difference, because authorities say the girl that died, died instantly in the fall.

Residents of the area know there are dozens of abandoned, unmarked mines out there in the hills where the two girls were riding. At night.

I think there are several things this family could have done to prevent this, like staying on trails, etc, and they could have saved the younger sister of the trauma of spending the night next to her dead sister by having an adult ride in back.

I also think the state of Arizona needs to step up and do something about the thousands of abandoned mines. At the very least, mark them. Put together a community project to go out and find them, mark them and warn people about it.

Just wanted to pass this along. It’s an article I wrote for ATV Source Magazine that talks about a battle between a motocross track and the home owners in San Diego. To summarize, the race track has been there for over 3 decades, and now people that live next to it, (and I mean RIGHT next to it) are starting to complain.

In the article I took a very un-biased approach in the interest of fair journalism, but it is my strong opinion that a) the homeowners were told about the racetrack when they bought the house, and b) they need to shut the hell up about it already.

Tired of driving for an hour (or 2) to ride your quad? Have you considered how much it costs to get there and back? Interested in riding on a closed track in East San Diego County on Wednesdays for $25.00??

Barona Oaks Raceway has your back! (If you’re using Firefox, you may have to enable your IE extension to get the page to load right, damn that Microsoft and their failure to adhere to WWW standards :sigh: )

They’ve go a big track and a kiddy track for motorcycles, and they also let ATVs on there on Wed for practice. It costs 25 bucks per rider with no membership fees.

If you want to race, you can race on weekends, and they have 10$ unimproved camping with a snack bar.

Thanks for the heads up in that email, Tom.

From twoheeldrive.com referring to me:

Thing is, one sane guy with a blog speaking to his small audience of folks who agree with his point of view is not going to a) cause any miscreants to straighten up; or b) discourage rangers, cops and other authorities from punishing everybody for the crimes of a few.

Actually, my scribes reach hundreds of new readers each day via the blogs and magazines I write for, without including return readers, and without including the forums I post in that reach thousands more. I don’t just write at Throttle Blog, though it is my newest venture.

My reason for doing this is to try to get to those who are doing this sort of thing without really realizing it. Many don’t. Mostly kids. Of those that DO realize they’re doing it, we can only hope they get their rigs taken away from them.

If you’re suggesting that I simply sit down and shut up about it, you can forget it. I will continue to speak out against those who are destroying some things I enjoy: ATVs and the Outdoors. And not for me, it’s for my kids, who love riding ATVs. I don’t care if you’re a life-long ATVer or a fanatical green terrorist, if you’re in any way destroying my right to ride, your actions are not acceptable and I will be here to tell you about it.

I have reached several people so far who have seen the error in their ways. For example, on a certain ATV Forum, there was a kid who said this:

my neigbor is threatening to call the cops on me for riding on my own lawn he is mad bout his rucking trees that are between my lawn and his lawn, is it ilegal if i’m bearly close to it hes just yelling bout dirt spreading a little. i only posted in yamaha because i am riding yamaha for life

ha ha lol i invited my 4 friends over when he was not home for a little drag racing on his yard he got pissed a big deal he wa slike i’m gonna have them take it away Blah blah blah blah i was like it was not me i don’t remeber doing anything today which got him madder but ohh well hes a dick becuz he won’t get over his wife (divorced) P.S i’m gonna do it agian he has no proof of me doing it anyway hes to retarded to work a camera

Then after I had my way with him*, he changed his tune a bit…

ok Rekd about the state patrol thingy i just solved the problem for the noise and the trees, he asked if i don’t ride when hes home and i stay away from his trees. i decided well heck he is not home often and i don’t really need the part where his trees are and i only used it to leave my trail and ride in the ditch back to my house where my trail is if ur starting to think i’m riding on private property. and he said he ain’t mad at me about where i raced on his property so even if the rangers come he won’t wanna charge me with anything he just wants to let it fly. i just hope we can get along and not have any problems

*Note that it doesn’t always have to come down to exposing someone to get them to quit being a turd, but in this case, it was necessary. Here’s what I said to get him to stop being an ass…

Of all the reasons listed, I don’t see any reason for you to be on his land. If “he had a guy drive his tractor on your dad’s land”, YOU driving on HIS land is NOT legal recourse. Reporting him to the police IS. Since he called the police “10 times already”, there must be at least one police report with the LEOs there in Sobieski, Wisconsin. How hard to you think it would be for the LEOs to trace this thread back to you and charge you and your parents with criminal trespass with intent to do property damage?

Not hard at all. Especially if someone from your area reads this post and saw what you’re doing to destroy ALL of our OHV privileges, (or what few we have left, thanks to people like you), and forwarded this thread to the State Patrol, which is just a couple miles up the 41 from you.

You’ve got a lot to learn about respect AND the law. I have a feeling you will be learning quite a bit about both in very short order if you keep being a turd.

So again, if twoheeldrive is hoping I’ll quit voicing my opinion so they can more easily remove ATVs from the face of the earth, they can forget about it. If they’re trying to get nature saved, and remove the menace created by a small percentage of a very big group, I’m fighting for the same thing they are, whether they like it or not, whether they think it’s working or not.

I know it is.

Yoav Kaveh of haaretz.com reports about ATV riders destroying archaeological mounds, but makes the distinction between these few individuals and the majority of ATV riders who are responsible.

Congrats, Yoav! It’s not good to hear about the news, but it’s good to hear that you realize most of us are not like that!

Suzuki has made the leap. The 2008 RM-Z450 is the first motocross bike that is fuel injected. And it’s probably just in time, considering how often some of these guys spend upside down while in the air.

After some testing, they found that there is much better roll on power and delivery. They also tuned the ports, adjusted the cam timing, increased flywheel inertia, redesigned the combustion chamber and a host of other improvements that should create a new standard for motocross.

I pilfered some specs for you:

• Overall length: 2185mm (86.0 in.)
• Overall width: 830mm (32.7 in.)
• Overall height: 1260mm (50.0 in.)
• Wheelbase: 1480mm (58.3 in.)
• Ground clearance: 350mm (13.8 in.)
• Seat height: 955mm (37.6 in.)
• Dry weight: 101.5kg (224 lbs.)
• Engine type: 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC
• Bore: 96.0 mm
• Stroke: 62.1 mm
• Displacement: 449 cm3 (cc)
• Compression ratio: 12.8:1
• Fuel system: KEIHIN FI 43mm
• Lubrication system: Suzuki Advanced Sump System
• Clutch: Wet multi-plate type
• Transmission: 5-speed constant mesh
• Primary reduction ratio: 2.625 (63/24)
• Gear ratio Low: 1.800 (27/15), 2nd: 1.471 (25/17), 3rd:
  1.235 (21/17), 4th: 1.050 (21/20), 5th: 0.909 (20/22)
• Final reduction ratio: 3.846 (50/13)
• Front suspension: SHOWA 47mm telescopic forks,
  pneumatic/coil spring, oil damped.
• Rear suspension: Swingarm, link type, SHOWA
  piggyback-reservoir shock
• Caster: 25｡30′
• Trail: 111 mm (4.4 in.)
• Front brake: Disc
• Rear brake: Disc
• Front tire size: 90/ 100-21
• Rear tire size: 120/ 80-19
• Fuel tank capacity: 6.2 L (1.6 US gal.)
• Body color: Champion Yellow No.2 (YU1)

motocross, motorcycle, off road, suzuki, RM-Z450, fuel injection

I was writing a couple of ATV recall notices for Under My Helmet this morning. One for Kawasaki’s KFX450R, the other for the Polaris Outlaw 525. When I was reading about the second one, it struck me as odd that 2 different manufacturers would have basically the same recall on two different quads. At almost the same time. The recalls involved a “loose valve mounted inside the fuel tank” and a “faulty bracket holding the fuel pump to the inside of the fuel tank”. What a co-inkidink.

Are they getting their parts from the same manufacturer? Or is it chance?

#86 Josh Baldwin, #22 Johnny Greaves and #7 Scott Douglas flying off the wall at the Quarry

CORRacing June 10, 2007 at Chula Vista International Off Road Raceway saw total domination by Carl Renezeder in the Pro 4 class taking the hat trick in front of a capacity crowd of 13,000 people, bringing Renezeder’s total CORR wins to 52.

#7 Scott Douglas and #17 Carl Renezeder battling towards turn 2

Pole sitter Josh Baldwin’s first lap spin somehow warranted a full restart by the officials in which Baldwin happily got back to the front of the pack. At the restart, Scott Douglas and Carl Renezeder got in behind then in front of Baldwin and fought for positions on the podium.

After some great racing and paint swapping by various drivers, Renezeder took the win at Sunday’s Main Event after a Douglas flat tire slowed him enough to move him down to third place, handing second place to Travis Coyne.

Yesterday I went on a small rant at Under My Helmet about a pair of renegade Riverside County Sheriff Deputies who fired shots at un-armed off roaders near Canyon Lake.

According to the Sheriff’s department, the Rhino tried to run over one of two sheriff’s when ordered to stop.

According to eye witnesses, the 2 sheriff’s approached the rhino from behind with guns drawn, the frightened rhino driver fled, a sheriff ran at and lunged onto the rhino getting drug before falling off, then his partner started shooting at the rhino.

So basically what happened is that these undesirable laws were enacted which instantly made criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens (nothing new, I know), and now the gun-slinging sheriffs who thought they were Judge, Jury and Executioner were unleashed on these new “criminals” who shot between 9 and 11 shots at them. (Not only are these sheriff’s irrational, they irresponsible when it comes to keeping track of such things as how many shots were fired.)

Sounds to me like the cops were just pissed because they couldn’t force the people to stop. I can’t blame them, it’s natural when you’re in a position of authority to want to control the situation. What separates the quality cops from the rent-a-cops is how they handle the situation when they CANT control it.

atv, sheriff, shoot, shot, un-armed, rhino, Riverside County, off road, trail

I reported about this over at Under My Helmet and wanted to touch bases here with the news as well. I’ve owned one of these for several years and have known about the issues of no front brake and being able to start it in gear, because I bump start it all the time.

I wonder if I’ll be able to get a refund…

If you haven’t seen Championship Off Road Racing, you’re missing out. These trucks are not the old and busted Micky Thompson type trucks, these trucks are the new hotness. They fly, and land, like nothing you’ve seen.

They can take a hellofa beating, too. Flip ‘em over, roll ‘em off them embankment, flip ‘em head over heels into the fence, so long as you land it on it’s wheels, chances are you can finish the race.

I’ll be at the race taking notes pictures and video. Check back later for results/reviews.

Images courtesy CORRacing

CORRacing, Championship Off Road Racing, Chula Vista, Race, off road, truck, 4×4

Military Avenue reports that ATV riders at Edwards Air Force Base are often leaving the designated trails, mostly in OHV area 2. The Air Force is threatening to close those areas altogether for everyone.

While I’ll be the first person to jump up in protest of closing more OHV areas, I’ll also be the first to jump up and smack upside the head those who are riding unlawfully and for being the reason for getting even more OHV areas closed.

So if you’re riding in closed areas, especially sections of existing OHV areas which are closed, GTFO!

military, air force, atv, road closed, Edwards AFB

Just an FYI, I reported over at Under My Helmet about an article I found today slamming ATV use for youths.

Read my rant and feel free to pass it on.

I wrote about deadbeat dads and their ATV license renewal at Under My Helmet yesterday, and in the post, I brought up cell phone records of deadbeats being made available. A reader mentioned that he felt it ok to have the records made available because deadbeats need to pay what they owe.

While I agree with him that they must pay, I disagree with the means. As off roaders, I’m sure we can all agree that we’ve had places to ride “chipped away” slowly over the last 2 decades.

So I have to ask, what’s next? In an effort to curb unlawful off-road activity, everyone in the United States with a registered ATV or off road vehicle will be subject to have their cell records looked at.

Show some respect for your neighbors and get a pipe on your ATV if you’re going to ride in your yards. Quit being annoying to your neighbors, they aren’t going to take it for much longer.

If you keep being rude, it will soon be outlawed to ride on your own property! Is that what you want?

That’s not just Kentucky either, folks. It’s happening all over. You really need to be considerate and think about what you’re doing or you won’t be allowed to do it any more.