What's up with all the fairweather riders, have we turned into Grandma's?

[2001400exrida]

I know, i know, people get busy and have other things to do, but come on really! I don't know about some of you guys, but i live to ride. I love this sport and any chance i get i'll make an excuse if i have too, just to ride! I see way too many people these days talking about how it's too muddy, too dusty, too hot, too cold. What happened to getting out and shredding some woods/dunes/tracks? Most of this I see coming from the forums, not really this one because most of my friends on here race with me and ride with me. It just seems this sport has become more about sitting behind a computer screen and talking about planning a ride 5 months away instead of actually getting out of the seat and getting some ride time in! I'm all for exchanging information, don't get me wrong i love the plethura of info that forums offer, but it's a shame how many posers there are talking jibberish and spending all there time posting instead of riding! Builds are understandable as well, hell I do builds too and I know money can be short and that can prolong a build, but come on, these things are made to ride, not to talk about! I compare my riding time and riding buddies to the people i see on these forums. Most of my crew do not access or use the forums, they're more into riding and I'm the same way. Sometimes I think people need to step back and ask themselves if they really love the sport or if they love their online forum account more, lol! The people i race with in the EDTMW circuit and on the flat track scene, don't log on, they don't post......They're too busy enjoying the sport. Same goes for lots of my riding buddies, they don't know what an atv forum even is, they're too busy riding! Am I the only person who sees this?

p.s. no harm or offense intended with this thread, i just wanted to express what I've been seeing as of late, lots of talk, not alot of riders. I saw a thread on a different forum the other day where people are wanting to wait until sept. or oct. to go ride, say it's too hot in the summer time, and these folks are not from the south! Come on Grandma! LIke WTF, if you're in the central, midwest, or east it's time to ride people! Otherwise, sell that puppy and let somebody get some use out of it!

/rant off

[RNL]

Totally agree with you. My biggest issue these days is finding people to ride with. Seems everyone has an excuse not to ride, but has plenty if time to sit in front of tv or computer screen.

[powerbomb400]

Well come to East Tenn. and let's ride. We ride in all the season's and all weather conditions. Now mind you we only rode 25 miles a couple of weekends ago. When my boots stsrt getting wet inside with rain gear on and I can pour water out its raining to hard to enjoy riding. Last Sat. we rode 121 miles on our adventure.

[cheater13]

Finding people to ride with and new places to ride is my problem now. All my friends are selling everything. My one buddy and I had a big ol camping out thing every so often at his wife's dad's place. We camped in a cabin, took a canoe out on the pond, and ripped around. Had some wrecks but it was all fun. We had a lot of area to ride too.

Now he sold all his quads and I'm out of places to ride because now that area we camped out at, we can't do that anymore. It was freakin fun. One time we had about 7 people riding and camping out with us. They were all racin fourwheelers too and it was loud. When we left, someone must of called the cops because they were at the end of the road coming toward us. They couldn't do anything anyway since it was private land.

I could tell alot of stories about these riding trips but don't have time to type everything, haha. Now all I do is ride at my grandparent's farm and with friends at their places sometime. I drag race too, but that's about it.

Good times...

[Quinn4]

Agreed! Finding people to ride with is super tough. I usually go riding by myself, which is kinda lame but it's better than nothing. My daughter is 8 and getting pretty good on her LT80, I guess if I can't find anyone to ride with I'll have to make riding partners LOL. Seems like nobody can get away for an afternoon or they just don't like riding as much as me. I literally think about riding everyday!

[400man]

dude, this isn't facebook, post something useful instead of complaing about how no one rides as much as you. I still enjoy riding but I don't do it as often cause I have other things in my life to do (like my girl friend ;) , job, family, etc) people I used to ride with all the time don't have the time now because they work more and go to school also.

[2001400exrida]

dude, this isn't facebook, post something useful instead of complaing about how no one rides as much as you.

Hey man, read the p.s. in my thread. This isn't facebook but it's a DISCUSSION forum. I'm discussing my thoughts. As you can see by reading the thread many people are on my level. I just want to keep this sport alive and I feel too many people are all talk and no ride. I know we have our priorities, it's not a blame game topic. Get out and hit the dirt brother, this is a passion we all share! No reason to get defensive on me, the thread is what it is, a discussion.

On the note of riding buddies getting out of the game. I've seen lots of my buddies get out of the game, in fact only 2 of them still ride, it's a bummer. I'm not bragging about how much I ride, i'm just checking the community and seeing who all still lives to ride the way that I do. I know some of us can't get enough. Others can't get enough posting, lol. Or, in the best case scenario, we can't get enough posting/reading as well as riding!

[Blodg]

With smart phones you can read the forum or even post on it while you are taking a dump at work. But it's a little hard to go out riding over a few minutes of down time.

Personally I enjoy checking out various forums and sometimes posting. But with a wife and four kids all of whom play baseball and softball all summer and with me coaching them I have still gotten 3 trips in and several day rides in. I have another trip planned this weekend for a 2 day overnight visit to Wellsville with my son. For most people with families riding every weekend is not going to happen if you have your priorities in the right place. But that doesn't mean we aren't enjoying the sport as much as a young guy with no responsibilities.

[2001400exrida]

Exactly Blodg! And you sound like you've got a lot going on too, yet you can still make it out a few times, which is a clear sign that you do have a passion for the sport and you love it. What I see all too often is guys who literally don't ride, period. Yet they post non stop. Reminds me of a post i saw where a guy had his shocks rebuilt, then he posted how awesome they were even though he hadn't ridden them yet. I mean come on, lol. It's sometimes hysterical. I know builders that don't ride much but they have awesome tech advice, but you wont' see them talking about how awesome a shock feels or how great a tire hooks up. Then you got guys who haven't ridden all season because it's too hot, lol....now surely we can find a better excuse than that. I just feel sometimes people should heed advice from the poser crowd and just get out and talk to racers and talk to the trail riders, it's a much more effective way to learn about the community.

[HondaRacing83]

I love ridingggg but all but two of my friebds have switched to dirtbikes and ride tracks. Ill prob buy a dirtbike in tge spring but ill always keep my quad

[OZ-T]

I agree, I'd ride 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if I could. I absolutely love the trails here in Montana and the summer weather only lasts a short while and then winter hits and all the trails are covered in several feet of snow and it's all over until spring. I get as much riding done as I can, of course, I still ride in the winter. Around town and on backroads, lots of fun drifting opportunities and trying to make it over packed snowdrifts! But I sure do get to missing my trails during the 8 or 9 months we have winter.

[OZ-T]

Oh, and this song is constantly playing over and over in my head all through the summer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At544UzIgxk

[OZ-T]

Lately, I've only gotten out on weekends unfortunately and sometimes not even that. Monday thru Friday I work an average of 17 hours a day at my two jobs and Saturday I am usually too whipped to get out of bed until noon, so I shoot for Sunday to get some buds together and go ride somewhere! Of course, my quad was down half the summer and I got it back last Wednesday so we'll see how it all plays out I guess. I can't wait to ride this fall, fall and spring are my favorite times of year to ride.

[Mtndew99]

Ever since I got my license and could go anywhere to ride everyone has an excuse my to ride either it's to hot or muddy or there tired or better yet a busy of mine I kept asking him if he wanted to ride and he said I gotta get this car I just bought done and All he had to so was put a windshield in and put new tires on the next day I asked if he got everything done he said no I didn't get time to put the tires on but on the other hand my girlfriend likes riding so she takes the utility quad and I go out to where I have a xc track setup and I have her sit on the quad and take lap times so that's a plus

[2001400exrida]

I wish i lived in Montana and could ride the roads legally OZ-T. that is an awesome perk! Short summer does probably get annoying though. I'll admit i haven't been out that much this year, but by not much i mean twice a month minimum. Tonight I have my 3rd race so far this month. It's a Wednesday night fair race, should be an excellent time, even with the heat. Any racer knows they can't pick their weather and sometimes it makes it interesting and more fun. Especially the woods races!

this is one of the funny posts i saw that made me think, GRANDMA!

"Winter eh? I dont really like the winter b/c its cold lol. Winter is usually fixing time lol.

As for a ride for the NE: If its gonna be hot like this count me out, i almost died of heat stroke yesterday! "

^^^nothing against these types of attitudes, but that there are fairweather rider words...somebody who doesn't really enjoy riding, but more prefers to talk about it. I love talking about riding, but not as much as i love riding!

so it's cold...it's hot.....when do these people ride when it's 65 degrees and party cloudy with 0% humidity and naked girls running around? good luck getting into the sport with such a picky attitude.....i'd love naked girls running around my wheeler while i was riding, but let's be honest, the guys who love the sport don't have time to wait for miracles, lol.

[OZ-T]

I wish i lived in Montana and could ride the roads legally OZ-T. that is an awesome perk! Short summer does probably get annoying though. I'll admit i haven't been out that much this year, but by not much i mean twice a month minimum. Tonight I have my 3rd race so far this month. It's a Wednesday night fair race, should be an excellent time, even with the heat. Any racer knows they can't pick their weather and sometimes it makes it interesting and more fun. Especially the woods races!

this is one of the funny posts i saw that made me think, GRANDMA!

"Winter eh? I dont really like the winter b/c its cold lol. Winter is usually fixing time lol.

As for a ride for the NE: If its gonna be hot like this count me out, i almost died of heat stroke yesterday! "

^^^nothing against these types of attitudes, but that there are fairweather rider words...somebody who doesn't really enjoy riding, but more prefers to talk about it. I love talking about riding, but not as much as i love riding!

so it's cold...it's hot.....when do these people ride when it's 65 degrees and party cloudy with 0% humidity and naked girls running around? good luck getting into the sport with such a picky attitude.....i'd love naked girls running around my wheeler while i was riding, but let's be honest, the guys who love the sport don't have time to wait for miracles, lol.
If only if only! Yeah, to me, weather don't really matter. I got a real nice riding coat that has 3 different liners for varying temps. When I take them all out, the coat is similar to a football jersey with pads, it has all the little airholes in it to keep me cool as I move, even on a 95 degree day it don't really bother me as long as I keep moving. I also carry a pack with a few water bottles, powerade and snacks and frequently stop to indulge on them. In winter, when I put all the liners back in the coat, I am perfectly warm. Even on days when I am feeling really adventurous and go ride when the mercury is 10 below zero.

[quadmanw]

I live and love to ride. My biggest problem with riding now is somebody always has something to say. Not too long ago every trail was rideable and you could ride there legally. Now, its like I ride a trail and I am getting chased by crazy people with guns, or the PA Game Commission.. Now I look for new places to ride, Like Wellville, OH for the first time this weekend.

[Mtndew99]

Not to go off topic but I'll be at wellsville this weekend I'm leaving tomorrow morning

[KKiowaTJ]

I get to ride daily if I choose to, But its a PITA to get out just to go to the store. I ride all year, I ***** and moan, But still ride until my boots have a pool of sweat or im dizzy to where I go a quad length at a time in snow.

The only friend who I 'like' to ride with, Is getting back into it and another friend who has too much going on, Lets said friend use his raptor. He keeps it up, Bought new battery, I did some things here and there, But nice to ride with a person I rode with years ago.

We have enough trails and track to keep us busy lol. I can ride in town at home and up at the shop there is sx/mx track, GNCC track me and said friend are working in, Hill climbs and regular trails. When they get the corn out, Build up the flat track again.

Were riding Saturday and everyone else is racing Millville so we have it all to ourselves. I have a son and a GF to worry about, But when im not happy with daily chit and its been a bad week, Im going to hit a track or riding of some nature with or with out friends. Honestly I have to wait for them anyway, This way I don't have to look back lol.

[quadmanw]

Mtndew99, how did you like Wellsville this weekend? Me and a few buddies are supposed to head there this weekend, but I am just trying to get an idea of the riding style before I haul a trailer full of quads up to Ohio

[2001400exrida]

You fellas still getting out and riding, the heat has mostly gone away and the fall is the best time to get out. No excuse! I've been reading threads about places being too rocky and blah blah blah. Seems anytime somebody posts about a riding spot in PA there's somebody with an excuse weather it be cops or rocks...if you don't want to ride don't ride, but don't tell other people not to just because it's "too rocky".

Here in Illinois we've in full force, i was in the woods on Sunday and the weather was beautiful. Busted a front right a arm, but other than that it was a great day out.

[ben300]

You fellas still getting out and riding, the heat has mostly gone away and the fall is the best time to get out. No excuse! I've been reading threads about places being too rocky and blah blah blah. Seems anytime somebody posts about a riding spot in PA there's somebody with an excuse weather it be cops or rocks...if you don't want to ride don't ride, but don't tell other people not to just because it's "too rocky".

Here in Illinois we've in full force, i was in the woods on Sunday and the weather was beautiful. Busted a front right a arm, but other than that it was a great day out.

got the foxburg gncc here saturday. track runs right along the allegheny river in foxburgh, pa (address actually parker, pa)..................definitely gonna be rocky/hilly one

[HondaRacing83]

Cycled about 3 or 4full tanks through her this past weekend. Went everywhere. Rode a bunch of gnarly hills, rode some sweet trails and rode the gravel pits which is incredibly fun. Did a bunch of road riding which isnt the best but ya do what ya gotta do to get from one set of trails to another. About 9 of us in the group. Differed each day but sunday was the best. Just stayed at my buddys all weekend and met up with a bunch of other people and rode trails to there house abd such. Best riding weekend ive had in awhile. Watched my buddy throw his chain and put a monster hole in the cases on his warrior. Another blew up his 400ex. Anothers tie rod came off and piled into a tree but we fixed it and continued to ride.

[OZ-T]

You fellas still getting out and riding, the heat has mostly gone away and the fall is the best time to get out. No excuse! I've been reading threads about places being too rocky and blah blah blah. Seems anytime somebody posts about a riding spot in PA there's somebody with an excuse weather it be cops or rocks...if you don't want to ride don't ride, but don't tell other people not to just because it's "too rocky".

Here in Illinois we've in full force, i was in the woods on Sunday and the weather was beautiful. Busted a front right a arm, but other than that it was a great day out.
Dipping down into the 30s here tonight, it's definitely fall! Got a bunch of work done to my quad, valves adjusted and clutch too so it is running real nice. Think he may have tuned my carb cuz it runs way better and no longer backfires when I let off so I am psyched about that. Wanted to ride it to work today but it poured rain pretty much all day and I can't show up to work sopping wet.

[2001400exrida]

Wanted to ride it to work today......

jealous!

[OZ-T]

jealous!

It's definitely nice, only costs 10 dollars to top it off and I can run back and forth for about a week or two on 2 gallons.

[ben300]

Hey 2001400exrida, is this grandmaish enough for you?


Me last weekend at the Foxburg GNCC. Was leading my class the entire race till the last three miles of the last lap. Ran into some problems with another competitor and got stuck, lost a bunch of time, and then the quad died coming to the finish. Had to push hwer across....

http://imageshack.com/a/img585/2558/ce02.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/g9ce02j)
http://imageshack.com/a/img571/6481/ks55.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/fvks55j)
http://imageshack.com/a/img94/6776/iu9o.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/2miu9oj)

[2001400exrida]

what class were you running ben? Looks like a fun race, lol! I will never call GNCC guys fairweather riders. I did a season of it and if you're afraid of rain, rocks, sand, dirt, mud, snow, ice....you don't want to do XC. Glad you got it across the line so you could get some points. I stopped doing it because i was tired of fixing crap. I still do 2 races a year at the local spots because i feel i have an advantage there since it's my home trails, but it's tough to pull a whole season when something breaks almost every race.

[Blodg]

Awesome pics Ben! It sounds like you were doing great until the mishap, I hated mud races like that.

For the original topic - I am making another 3 1/3 hour trip to Wayne National Forest this weekend. Yesterday I mapped out a loop through my woods and along my lanes and burned some hot laps to get ready for the all day trip this weekend. This will be my 6th riding trip this summer where I have driven 3 1/2-plus hours to ride (and twice spent the night and rode 2 days). I have to make time with having kids in activities and have not ridden on my own property much outside of these trips.

[Yurshia]

I think I'm a poorweather rider. On the nice weather weekends I go camping in the Allegheny National Forest, PA. When the weather sucks, we fire up the quads. But I have noticed the group shrinking, used to be 7 people now lucky to get 3. Nice pics Ben.

[chronicsmoke]

Me last weekend at the Foxburg GNCC. Was leading my class the entire race till the last three miles of the last lap. Ran into some problems with another competitor and got stuck, lost a bunch of time, and then the quad died coming to the finish. Had to push hwer across....


That last one is epic haha! Whatever it takes :p Did your bike stay cool with all that mud packing inside everywhere? Im building my hundy for XC over the winter :macho

I tried my first one here in Quebec with my 50" wide 450r and I thought it was muddy fun as helI.. the Foxburg race looked ridiculous!
http://imageshack.us/a/img89/3920/3mqs.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img69/9000/0qbt.jpg

[400man]

I don't have any action pics, but heres me after the mammoth gncc earlier this year, it was the muddiest race ive ever done, worse than ironman. bike kept shutting off and running like crap, I finished in the middle


before:
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/100_zpsd8949351.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/100_zpsd8949351.jpg.html)


after:
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/072_zps1d2173d2.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/072_zps1d2173d2.jpg.html)

[2001400exrida]

who needs matching plastics when it's covered in mud! muahaaha!

[ben300]

what class were you running ben? Looks like a fun race, lol! I will never call GNCC guys fairweather riders. I did a season of it and if you're afraid of rain, rocks, sand, dirt, mud, snow, ice....you don't want to do XC. Glad you got it across the line so you could get some points. I stopped doing it because i was tired of fixing crap. I still do 2 races a year at the local spots because i feel i have an advantage there since it's my home trails, but it's tough to pull a whole season when something breaks almost every race.

this is my first year racing quads ever, so i raced two GNCC's this year, the The Gusher, and the "mountaineer run" in mason town, WV, along with most of the PAXC series. So i ran first year racer class in GNCC, in the PAXC series i run quad-c and in AWRCS i run sport. Ive honeslty have gotten a ton faster as the season went on. Next year im running the full AWRCS in sport and 3-4 more GNCC's in the sport class. That class i super competitive, with some really fast dudes, so im gonna have to step my game up big time next year!


anyways, the foxburg race was fun, until my last lap. it was just way to muddy and slick to carry a good pace and really have fun. If the track had been dry, it would have been a ridiculously fast with people turing in some FAST lap times. I really wanted to win my class and my goal was to keep a fast constant pace from the get go and i did that, till the last lap. everyone was slowing by that point, and it was just a grave yard of broken down quads or tired, "given up" racers.

mine died literally as i was coming to the finish. i was determined, and wanted to win, and was at that point, determined to finish....so i pushed her.

some dude on a renegade ended up pushing me through the scoring gate lol


all in all, it was fun. I led pretty much the whole race for my class, got a little muddy, and even did good on the hole shot....(look to the left)

http://imageshack.com/a/img7/2285/lxoz.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/07lxozj)

and the pictures are good. Gotta give all the credit though to Pappy, Kim Pitzer (Pitzer photo), and Amy McConnell (XCountry Photos). They took the time to stand out there in that nasty mess to take picture of all use goofs racing. They're all three amazing photographers.

[chronicsmoke]

I don't have any action pics, but heres me after the mammoth gncc earlier this year, it was the muddiest race ive ever done, worse than ironman. bike kept shutting off and running like crap, I finished in the middle

Lmao your face in the second pic is priceless!

What was wrong with the 400? Did it get too hot and start running ****ty or did something happen to the electrical after it got wet?

I've never had great luck with the electrical system (although I think I've got the bugs worked out now) and it kind of worries me that it will get caked in mud or the cooling system will get caked and I'll run into issues maybe even a dreaded DNF :scary:

Ben: That 400 is a holeshot MACHHIIINE!:macho

[ben300]

[QUOTE=chronicsmoke;4350306]That last one is epic haha! Whatever it takes :p Did your bike stay cool with all that mud packing inside everywhere? Im building my hundy for XC over the winter :macho

I tried my first one here in Quebec with my 50" wide 450r and I thought it was muddy fun as helI.. the Foxburg race looked ridiculous!


Chronic, honestly, no...i almost felt bad for my EX. I think thats the reason it shut down, Just so much mudd packed in it and because i got stuck, i really laid the hammer down to try and get back into the top 5 in my class.

Next season i plan on running a larget oil cooler and possibly spall fan (im bumping up to a 11:1 piston). Id definitely recommend a larger oil cooler if possible. When your running for two hours through conditions like that, the added cooling is a plus.

heres some pics befor i cleaned her yesterday.

http://imageshack.com/a/img689/3024/nrdd.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/j5nrddj)
http://imageshack.com/a/img826/5716/h28k.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/myh28kj)
http://imageshack.com/a/img5/1842/ju5p.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/05ju5pj)
http://imageshack.com/a/img826/2624/3tsu.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/my3tsuj)
http://imageshack.com/a/img853/6606/cevi.jpg (http://imageshack.com/i/npcevij)

[chronicsmoke]

Haha holy shiiit that 3rd pic shows how covered the engine was, eh? No surprise it overheated..

I've already got a CBR1100 oil cooler on order and I'm trying to find a CFM oil tank (with cooling tubes, even if they aren't effective) and probably a Spal fan to keep the air flowing even in the tight sections.

[400man]

Lmao your face in the second pic is priceless!

What was wrong with the 400? Did it get too hot and start running ****ty or did something happen to the electrical after it got wet?

I've never had great luck with the electrical system (although I think I've got the bugs worked out now) and it kind of worries me that it will get caked in mud or the cooling system will get caked and I'll run into issues maybe even a dreaded DNF :scary:

Ben: That 400 is a holeshot MACHHIIINE!:macho


it kept acting like it was flooding out, or running out of gas? like it was back firing a lot and cutting out at WOT. several times it would just choke itself out and id have to set on the side of the trail cranking on the starter for a min or two until it started.

yea there was people way muddier than me. I went through 10 tear-offs and had to take off my goggles by the end of the first lap. I wear contacts and my eyes were killin me at the end, the mud was dried and caked on and I could barely see :p

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp255/ky2stroker/074_zpsdc0a3d61.jpg (http://s417.photobucket.com/user/ky2stroker/media/074_zpsdc0a3d61.jpg.html)

[chronicsmoke]

Haha holy shiiit that 3rd pic shows how covered the engine was, eh? No surprise it overheated..

I've already got a CBR1100 oil cooler on order and I'm trying to find a CFM oil tank (with cooling tubes, even if they aren't effective) and probably a Spal fan to keep the air flowing even in the tight sections.

Mine already has a 426 bore, 10:1 piston, +3 timing key (probably coming out and going to 11:1), stage 2 cam, +2 arms, +1 450r antivibe stem, TCS front shocks and it's getting the LT Elka rear end off my 450r... So all I need is better cooling, a stablizer and beadlocks.

A guy on a mildly built KFX400 actually won our class that day lol, power doesn't mean anything. I found my 471 stroker a handful on the last few laps through the rock gardens

400man: Thats nuts! I tried to stay off the guy in front of me in the 3-4 muddy sections so I wouldn't end up using all of my tear aways.. I ended up finishing with 3 still on lol.. Sounds like your bike was over heating? I'm no expert though.