hello all, I must share very quickly, I had a group of 5 in danbury on the 30th. We decided to bring my cousin who had never been trail riding. He is 23 yrs old and was born with a very slight retardation. He has been riding a Honda 125 around his family's property for years, so when he decided to buy a quad, everyone was excited! The more the better! Well, we went through the whole basic tutorial of trail etiquette and safety. He did fairly well; except for getting separated and then continuing to drive about 2 miles without knowing where we were at. I thought we were going to have to call the helicopter in to search. My biggest concern was that he may not be able to handle the posibility of another quad coming around a corner at high speed. If you think about it, it is a big risk and a lot of responsibility. Well, let's just say it was a learning experience, and there will be a decision made next time, depending on the level of riding we plan to do.

 

Oh... and I learned the hard way to watch the puddles closer. I was doing about 30 and hit one, hydroplaned, then instead of barrel rolling, decided to hit the side, and hit a 4" diameter tree powersliding. It struck in the middle of my nerf bar. saved my foot, leg and machine! Thank God for nerf bars! Now it looks like a horseshoe! The tree was taken completely off! Whew!

 

workin hard..... glad to hear everything is alright w/ your cousin. danbury has alot of trails...easy to get confused.
we always look back every few minutes for the person behind us.. if somebody loses sight of the person in front of them we usually have them stop where they are at.. mabey we can hook up sometime.. we will post here for each ride. we do ride alittle faster though, we are all sport machines ,alot of 4th and 5th gear....

 

Good to hear everyone made it out ok, My father & I deer hunt & use raidos to chat back & forth, I have been think about bring them on a ride for some time now to stay in touch w/ @ least 3 others (hav 4) might keep the group a bit more together..or keep someone from getting lost...

Nerfs are 1 of the 1st mods I ever do, I know thay have saved my foot/legs a few X's... Worth every $

hmmm not sure Bio, A while ago I was DaButcher on here & a supporting member but my password got screwed up so I had to start over I had pics up then....

 

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

hmmm not sure Bio, A while ago I was DaButcher on here & a supporting member but my password got screwed up so I had to start over I had pics up then....</end quote></div>



Well you should put some more. I like looking at the green goblin....LOL

 

Back in 2004 we had to life flight a girl to North Memorial hospital in Minneapolis from the Danbury area. She was on a big tired Grizzly and rolled it when the tires hooked in a rut. The quad went over the top of her and broke 4 of her ribs, collerbone and dislocated her knee. She was also knocked out, even wearing a helmet They could not get an ambulance in off the highway thus the reason for the copter. Not a good day of group riding.

In addition, we had one of a group get lost on another trip since he was new to the area and we looked several hours for him, idling and yelling. We did not have enough fuel to go any further back than 20 miles. We were worried that he may have went off the trail and into the trees, possibly laying uncounsious. We scanned the trial for tracks going into the woods in the corners hoping to find him before dark and before we ran out of fuel.
We ended up returning to the trucks to obtain more fuel and were headed back out to look for him but ended up finding him waiting at the Fish Bowl. He had taken a wrong turn and then backtracked, missing us. Somehow he ended up in downtown Danbury and then rode the ditch back to the Fish Bowl.

I've also been in two accidents from individuals going around blind corners (taking the inside line) on the WRONG side of the trail. First was in BRF and I and my quad went cart-wheeling after some drunk hit me head-on. We contacted the sherrif and they ended up ticketing him but were too late to administer any alcohol testing. He left the scene. Second time I was hit around a blind corner in Danbury by some numbskull that had dirt in his eyes and was looking down at this seat, trying to wipe his eyes from the dirt, while he hit me head-on. I wasn't even moving. I was yelling at him and bailed off my quad at the last moment. Fortunately the guys behind me who I had just talked to had a camera to photo everything. He did his best to lie and try to say it wasn't his fault.. but the camera told the story.. had the marks and where the quads where upon impact in the photos.

I really think when group riding these issues should be addressed:

Every one should have a map
Every one should know the planned itinerary
Select an intersection meeting spot every 20 miles to re-group
Each person is responsible for know if the person behind him is OK otherwise stop
Bring cell phones and cameras
Bring basic tools
Have a tow strap
NO ALCOHOL until the quads are back on the trailer
Have the Sherrif and ER numbers available or in your cell phone memory


you guys could probably add a few more..

 

MNRAP has great points. That's probably a good reason I don't go on many large group trail rides anymore. One person in our group a few years ago got life flighted out of Danbury, Wisconsin with a broken femur. Others have shown up to rides without any coolant in their reservoir. Naturally, down the road, this inconveniences everyone on the ride. Thankfully, I have never been on a ride where anyone has been boozing it up. As a result of my experiences, I tend to be really conservative now on where I go and who I go with. The last ride I was on was just my girlfriend at the time, and I, at a leisurely pace, and I think I had more fun with that ride than several before that.

Kind of on the topic of "getting lost", does anyone know of any sites that have GPS Trail maps for Minnesota and Wisconsin where you can download all your waypoints in before the trip? I usually do this manually before leaving for the trip, at great expense of time, but it gives me great piece of mind out on the trail (let alone the ego-trip it gives me being the one that can fake "knowing the trail" ... haha)

It's kind of sad when I feel safer at a motocross track than an ATV trail, but it seems to be the case lately.

 

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





Ok I was sick of working on my quad on the floor...













What do ya guys think of the new quad work table???</end quote></div>


Nice! I like the idea. I just use a trailer, but that would fit in my garage better. I find it easier to work on and much easier to wash under the fenders.

How did the dyno day go at zimmerman?

 

Anyone want to buy my KDX200 dirtbike? dirtbikes just arent for me..

 

Mr. Tapper, pics? I might have a friend looking for something like that. Actually those enduros are pretty good jumpers too...