I think the dirt roads around my neighbor make very good ATV 'trails". Well maintained, safe, and good scenery. Less rocks and stumps too. I would love to take my Outlander to the convenience store in town, but no.

I took a nice sneak ride yesterday between rain showers. It was fun, for me that is. I stopped at the side of the road to admire this awesome drop off and long distance view. I have to get used to riding close to a precipice here in Colorado. Some of the trails have pretty steep drop offs. I saw a guy older than me believe it or not at the mailboxes picking up his mail on his ATV. I gave a wave and thumbs up sign. Then a fella in a Jeep Renegade setup for off highway operation pulling out of his driveway. He had to wait for me to pass by, and gave me a thumbs up. The other day I saw a young woman riding a Honda ATV down the blacktop. That was neat too. We local ATV owners are 'encroaching" on the public roads, maybe to the point where the authorities will "give up" on enforcement and legalize ATVs. Think alcohol prohibition or pot, or loud straight pipes on motorcycles.

I'm nothing but a troublemaker.

David

 

Here in Ohio using atv/utv's on roads is also a no-no, however the law does say that you may ride along the edge of a road to reach an area you have permission to ride on. I do live outside of town in the country and do a lot of back road riding and the police have been very cordial about it. I do not fly down the road, and I do not drive crazy so they tend to look the other way when we pass them, heck some even wave! We also allow them on back roads for agricultural use as long as you have the orange triangle on back.
I also have mirrors on mine to watch for traffic coming up behind me and always wave them around or pull over to the edge of the road to make it easy for others to pass. Been doing this for years without issues and so have a number of my neighbors. Does anyone ever get arrested by the police? Yes they do, the crazy guys doing wheelies, or running at high speed or those cutting across peoples yards etc....so I guess you might need to push the boundaries safely and see what happens. If you operating in a safe manor in an area without a lot of traffic and running along the side of the road making it easy for people to pass and not causing any disturbance I find it hard that a cop would actually arrest someone for that. Then again I suppose there are those that just hate ATV/UTV's and would use any excuse to get back at them!!

 

Hi Kymco: I always enjoy reading about other's ATV street riding experiences. Your rural Ohio reminds me of my Iowa. I "sneak" out on my Colorado dirt roads just because I have a high desire to ride my ATV on nice days. It is safe, enjoyable, and I pick up litter as I go just to make my neighborhood a bit nicer looking. That's my reason for being out there.

I do have a slow moving triangle strapped to the rear rack on my ATV. I have a copy of the Colorado ordinances on slow moving vehicles in the storage box. And most importantly, and like you said, I ride to the right, I pull over for any cars behind me, I stay under 25 mph, I have street legal equipment on my ATV, and I obey all traffic laws (except I don't have a licensed vehicle.)

Thanks for your comments.

David

 

If you behave yourself chances are no one will bother you because you don't cause attention, same around here. However those that do cause attention normally get in trouble with the law. Last fall I went past a police officer writing a ticket to a young showoff on his atv, I was in my SxS, he just waved and nodded and I kept on going.

 

I take 1 of my ATV's on the week end, put a big Walmart plastic bin on the rear, take a rake with me and clean up the roadsides! Get lots of thumbs up from the neighbors. I'm guessing, should the cops stop me and give me a ticket, they will look pretty stupid, if they give me a summons. I'd love to call the newspapers and local TV: Local good Samaritan, disabled Vietnam Vet, busted for cleaning trash up from the roadsides.

 

Hi hydrex: I do the same thing. I have a plastic trash bag on the back of the ATV and I stop and pick up litter if I see it. It makes the neighborhood one little tick better. I too think it might help a bit if I was stopped. "Gee, just out with my farm machine picking up litter in the neighborhood." I hope to be warned to take my machine home and not be seen on public roads again.

Boy Kymco: I sure don't draw attention. I'm as ordinary as they get. I just happen to enjoy riding around on my ATV. I should take up gardening instead. However, I'd be happy too if a careless, reckless idiot on an ATV was pulled over and ticketed accordingly. Just like I would if it was the same idiot on a motorcycle or sports car. Public roads are not the place to perform stunts. Watch out when someone says "Here, hold my beer and watch this!"

David

 

Good job you guys picking up trash. If people see you picking up all that trash they may think twice about adding to the problem and you may even inspire someone else to join in. With the arthritis in my back getting worse I can barely pick up the trash that blows into my yard from my neighbors.

 

Arthritis is such a pain! So far I don't have that, but I have a bunch of other stuff. Like an old ATV, I'm starting to have issues! I gotta get one of those grabber things so I don't have to clammer off and on the ATV.

David

 

I've had arthritis for 35 years but most of the time it's not too bad. I take generic Aleve twice a day but still have some bad days. I have to pick up all the trash one day and mow the grass after resting a day.

I hate seeing trash on the trails but due to limited space on my ATV only picked up an occasional beer can or bottle and put them in my front cargo box. At the end of the ride I would give them to my friend to cash in for the 10 cent deposit when he takes the rest of his empties in. After having my box full of ants I quit doing that.

 

Cops in my small town(1200 people) of very little traffic are just rigid even putting around in town. I took a little ride recently in the country and as soon as i got back to town, i saw our local cop out. I only rode about a block or 2 in town(only crossing one main road) to get back home. He followed me home and calmly talked about how atvs are not allowed on city streets in our town. I knew that but played dumb and basically said sorry. No ticket but I was really doing nothing wrong, he just had nothing better to do. If it had been the other cop, I probably would have gotten one, the other cop is worse. He was polite but its silly our local police worries about nonsense like that. Its one of those little towns if you go 5 mph over the speed limit, you'll get pulled over. So little goes on they have way too much time to harass people doing no harm. Picking up trash would make no difference, the result would be the same. Its not a bad town to live in but I literally hate the local police. When I move in a few years, I will go outside of town so I'll never be bothered by them again. All the other local towns don't care, just mine.