well if you think pa is bad let me tell you all a story, i have a 200x that i just registered, i live in connecticut, after i had registered my 3 wheeler i found out that the state of ct has NO riding areas established for atv, motorcycle or off road use, so what do i do? do i continue to pay registration fees and yearly taxes or do i just ride and hope i dont get caught on land im not supposed to be on?? and where are my registration fee's going??? CT STINKS !!!!!!

 

I would definitely check and see where the registration fees are beign used because you should not have to be payign for something that is not going to benefit atv users! And start looking for other CT ATV users and form a club and start writing your congress and see what a group can get done!

 

Im still thinking Pa is worse

Sure we have public land to ride, that is funded by registration fees, but we have to pay another fee to ride the land (the fee mentioned in the first post of this thread), yet volunteers and clubs maintain and groom the trails for free? kinda fishy if you ask me.

 

Tre Huggers at work!!!!!! What if they passes a law that said you could not touch any trees public lands. I wonder how the tre huggers would feel then!!!!!!!!!

 

I pretty much think things are worse in the eastern states than out here. Sure, we pay registration for our rides ($21 for 2 years) and some places we have to pay to ride/camp, but, we still have places to ride. See, California is only heavily populated along the coast, so, we have lots of desert to ride in and a lot of mountains. Still, the enviros are trying to shut us down everywhere.
We all need to get organized. That's it. One at a time, they can take us out and we can lose. Even local clubs of 15-20 don't have the facilities/money to fight a good fight. Joining a larger organziation with the money and access to lobbyists, congressmen, etc. is a good way to go.
Think of it; how did the Sierra Club get so powerful? They started as a bunch of radicals that got in the way of things, got some public recognition, got BIGGER. Now they have over 600,000 members contributing money to their cause.
How many off-roaders do you think there are in America? A few million? If we were to get organizied, there would be no stopping us!
At this point, the only national organization I know of is the BlueRibbon Coalition. They're fighting for the rights of watercraft, snowmobiles, off-roaders of all kinds. They're national. I'm a member.
I'm also a member of the ASA (American Sand Association) which is concerned with fighting for access to sand dunes primarily, public access to public land.
I'm also a member of CORVA (California Off-Road Vehicle Association) that is concerned primarily with keeping land here open.
I'm also a member of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association) which is concerned with the rights of motorcycles.
Since we as a group haven't been fighting back long, we're new to this, but we're doing pretty well. We win some battles, keep plugging, confronting the enviros, trying to educate the public that doesn't off-road, etc.
I understand all the anger and frustration. Now channel it effectively and it can be a great tool!

 

Just saw this thread.

Thanks, trapperb1, for explaining how we live and are governed in a society with rules (good or bad).

If they start to get bad; we fight like hell to change them; educate others and give some extra beer money to groups like the ATVA and Blue Ribbon.

The title of this topic is just like giving printed ammo to every wacko who wants to shut us down.

The only way that abuses in our sport will (sadly) be taken control of is when law enforcement in some of these states start getting the power to confiscate rigs and fine the living heck out of those that believe that whatever the law is; it doesn't apply to them because 'the man screwed 'em'.

Again, thanks for standing up for the way we all want to solve our problems.

John
'00 SP500

 

who wants to ride in pa? the last time i was there it was a garbage dump. and to many people.
i`ll hang out west thank you....

 

I had to pay a crap load of $ to have my quads registered in NY and we dont have any riding areas here. We have to go to PA just to ride and We're happy to pay the $35 to go there.

 

Ya'll make me thankful for the area I do most of my riding in. I can ride to and from many small towns on trails and roads and not have any trouble with the law. The DNR did try to close a trail, but that got beat down by the locals. The small towns like the wheelers 'cuz they bring in $$$ for hotels, gas, food, etc.

 

i am happy for all the riding i get to do but the majority of it is on gravel roads. alot of land here is swamp and the tree hugging hippies don't want us to have trails through this crap land that nobody wants to look at because of the mosquito infestation or just because it is miserable and wet. i pay for my registration all the time cause i put on a great amount of miles every year and the last thing i need is to get harassed for no registration so it is just cheap to not get hassled with. my parents on the other hand the only time these atv's are used is on our farmland or on our hunting land both private establishments and neither are registered one is a 200 honda foreman and the other a 2003 honda foreman. and by law if you run it on your own land and only use it on your own land you don't have to register but if that money actually went to making trails for us up here i know that both of them would be registered.