I couldn't agree more and have written about this same thing in the past. OHV motorcycles and quads are designed - built and sold for two specific purposes. One is for getting out in the country to sightsee and camp-out, the other is for hill climbs and racing. By their very design the latter is not intended for casual rides in to the backwoods for sightseeing and camp-outs, and almost always are not ridden that way. Because of their power and design, as well as the way their ridden, they have the propensity to tear-up the landscape, oftentimes irreparably. And because of their design and purpose, the riders of these machines often display a far different mindset than those who are out riding to see the country and/or to camp-out in the wilderness, (with a few exceptions of course). I've witnessed this myself on numerous occasions in my trips and right in front of my home in the desert. Dad and the kids riding-by very slowly on their quads following the law, as opposed to the racing motorcycles and/or quads who drive-by as fast as they can go leaving a trail of dust in their wake. So does this mean that racing types of machines should be outlawed, No Of Course Not. But I do feel strongly that they should be viewed by our lawmakers much the way they do race cars and other forms of racing machines by relegating them to areas specifically set aside for that type of riding. By doing so I feel that a great amount of off-trail riding, and certainly a lot of damage to the landscape, will be reduced considerably.There are different kinds of OHV users. Many are into exploring and traveling, seeking out interesting locations from days gone by at old mine sites and camping out far away from the trappings of modern civilization. These users are usually adults and frequently drive 4x4 trucks
Other OHV users are into what is called "play riding". This consists of racing and hill climbing and is done primarily with non street legal motorcycles and quads designed for such activity. In my opinion, the play riders are responsible for most of the route non compliance we see out there in the limited use areas (designated routes only) and bear the responsibility of increasing closures due to their negligence. There are many designated areas for play riding on public lands where open OHV use is permitted but most of these non compliant riders are either too lazy or they just dont give a hoot about anything but their own self gratifying momentary adrenaline thrill.
Sandman wrote:
Again I can't agree more. When you see advertising such as this what type of rider are you going to attract? Certainly not those who are looking for a machine to carry themselves and their camping gear in to the wilderness for a leisurely ride or an overnight camp-out.As long as OHV manufacturers keep advertising mud flying, dirt slinging speeding vehicles churning through creeks and up cliffs, the behavior is bound to continue. After all, this is the image they are selling.
While the following Photos were not in advertising, they depict what you'd see in a typical ad.
Hardly a casual ride in to the country. The next Photo is one of my old Honda beater that I use to get-out for Photography. Hardly a racing machine but it does illustrate the difference I'm referring to in this post. It's been rebuilt and is very reliable and gets me where I'm going.
So what's the solution: Again, I feel that the lawmakers should view the OHV racing machines much the way they do with racing cars and motorcycles on the city streets and relegate them to areas set aside for their design and purpose. It works on the city streets and highways and it can work in our wilderness areas as well.