To the point of being depressing [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] living in NY and riding ATV's can be a pain to begin with, being in NY we can only ride private land by law..So to have good train networks and such to ride most of the people around me are forced to travel up to 200 miles away just for a fun day of riding, this is not cheap in it's self..

Plus also being in New York riding a sport quad limits you to about a six month riding season..I know you could ride a Raptor in the winter, but not without putting unwanted wear on your machine and plus really pissing off the sled riders (BTW who are embraced in my erea wile ATV riders are scum of the earth [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

So last year I bought what I thought was my dream machine..A 08 Raptor with about 2 grand in mods..This is a great machine..All I can hope for in a ATV, but the sad part is this past summer I have had a 10 grand toy out for a total of three day trips this summer..This really got me down, I have tried to sell it but without taking a 5 grand loss, this is impossible..My wife will not let me take this kind of loss on it..So now until things improve in the economy and I do not have to work 60 hours a week to keep my house..My 10 grand dust collecting pride and joy..Looks at me every day as I leave to work my *** off and laughs at me..Am I alone in this horrible situation??

 

Well as a fellow New Yorker I can agree that the economy has been hit hard, no doubt about it........ fact is I was let got from my job last month and have been interviewing since.

But it has not had much of an impact on my riding. I do have my own private land so I don't have to go anywhere but my backyard so that makes a difference........ In fact I've probably ridden more this past month of summer since I've had more time to do it......but I'm usually smart with my money too, so I had enough in the bank to bridge the gap to my next job......time are tough no doubt but I will usually cut back in other places in order to keep riding.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: ss97

Well as a fellow New Yorker I can agree that the economy has been hit hard, no doubt about it........ fact is I was let got from my job last month and have been interviewing since.



But it has not had much of an impact on my riding. I do have my own private land so I don't have to go anywhere but my backyard so that makes a difference........ In fact I've probably ridden more this past month of summer since I've had more time to do it......but I'm usually smart with my money too, so I had enough in the bank to bridge the gap to my next job......time are tough no doubt but I will usually cut back in other places in order to keep riding.</end quote></div>

+1 Nothing will keep me from the sport I love!

 

It hasnt effected the amount of riding I get to do yet since I own 80 achres I can ride on anytime I want. Plus Missouri is pretty ATV friendly in the rural areas. I can ride in town, down any gravel road, anything but highways.

But it has limited the amount of trips to other trails I normally take. We used to make trips once or twice every 3 months to trail systems. But with the economy and price of gas it has been streatched, it has been 6 months since our last trip to the trails but I think we are a go for heading out this weekend to one.

 

More weather than anything has affected our riding time here in New England. It seems like almost every free weekend it's raining or I've had to go get firewood for the 09-10 winter. I'm glad to have the quads even if they only get used in the wood gathering process.

 

The situation is about the same here in Northern Virginia. You have to travel to ride. The closest is about 3 hours away for me. I just suck it up and go ride with the Wife and kids. The great thing is that we actually ride as a family more, and plan our trips together. Next year we hope to make the Hatfield McCoy. It is like a little vacaiton for us on weekends.

Cost of fuel is high.. no doubt about that. I drive 106 miles every day round trip to work... in a Diesel truck, that gets expensive real fast.. but we are surviving.

 

In Minnesota here, we also have a certain time of year ATV's are legal to ride ditches. it's fall through winter. fortionately there are some legal trails about 100 miles from any locations. I can't afford gas to go to many of these trails, so I just bundle up durring the winter and ride. I ride where mostly snomobile ride and say to them, " hey, when they allow ATV riding in the summer, then I won't ride on the snomobile trails. These are not snomobile tail only trails though. I'm to affraid to ride on those for fear of getting my $7000 machine taken from me. Riding land is far and few and only durring certain times of the year, but I still ride every week when I can.

 

pretty bad when it costs 8 bucks to fill my quad and it takes 2.2 gal of fuel

 

Yeah the situation is pretty grim... I do think that we as a group need to forge alliances with the other groups.. Specifically the Snomobile crowd. Let's face it, for those that live in the great white northern tier, you probably own both anyway. I know I did when I was younger... but not at the same time. I got rid of the Snomobiles because I could ride the ATV almost all year round. I can find a lot more uses for my quad too. Something I could not do with the Snomobile. I have to admit that they are real expensive toys, and I consider my quad to be a tool that I can recreate on. Of course, I am not all that in to speed, and that is what snowmobiles are all about. I have seen a lot of the Rhinos with snow tracks on them and I have to admit, I am really intrigued.... but after driving a Rhino at a local Yamaha test, I have lost a lot of my enthusiasm. Besides, Mrs DB is not impressed. She thought it was too much like driving a jeep.. and given that it took 12 years to get her on an ATV of her own, I am not going to screw that up now...
I think that is why I am drwn to the Kubota because of the diesel engine, and the ability to WORK. I'll let the young guns zip around on their hopped up rhinos while I get some work out of mine. I have found that a small 4x4 tractor to be much more useful though in that regard.

 

the most thing that effects my riding here in virginia is the cops and the neighbors.





cant belive the two strokes are out the window. i hate all those people that belive that is what is causing this, but if you think about it its all a cycle in the enviroment. all the ice caps melt and it freezes over to be an ice age. We might be making it happen quicker though.