Repo Boats, Rv’s, Buses, Motorcycles & more! – from the UndercoverDetective.com team! Our Affiliates Get Dedicated Support! Car-Auction.com – #1 Selling Repo Site! –
VENT-Send Us Those LettersVENT Send Us A Letter Win Free ATV Swag!VENT Send Us A Letter Win Free ATV Swag!Next Month s Prize!Like always, keep those letters coming! We love to get feedback from our readers. If it s good, we know we re doing what you want; if not, then let us know what you want to see that s different. This is your magazine and we re only here to give you what you want. Send your letter to atvrider@sourceinterlink.com along with a picture. If your letter is selected as the best for next month, you ll win a brand new set set of GBC Gator tires. To check them out, visit www.gbcmotorsports.com.Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
Eli Madero
Eli MaderoThe last few weeks for me have been overwhelmingly exhilarating in many ways.Attack of the Ambulance Chasers! The last few weeks for me have been overwhelmingly exhilarating in many ways. It all started with my adventure to the 2008 High Lifter Mud Nationals, then off to the East Coast to race my first ever GNCC and rounding it all off with a long journey to Washington State for the most recent WORCS race. But even with all of these great experiences, I could not seem to escape something that was truly bothering me. It actually irritated me to the point that I asked Thad to let me have this column for the August issue. In my time here at ATV Rider, I ve become the resident side-by-side guru by many in our office. By no means do I think I am the side-by-side authority, but I do have more seat time than most and have a true passion for driving them. With that said, I am greatly affected when I see commercials and ads by random legal offices seeking out those who have been injured due to rolling a Rhino. Have you seen these, they are everywhere? Every time one of these devious commercials roll on TV, it painfully shifts my thoughts back to those horrifying days of the mid 1980 s when shows like 60 Minutes and 20/20 would attack the infamous 3 wheeler. What grieves me most are those irresponsible riders who respond to these advertisements. I m not saying that people don t get hurt at times while riding in vehicles like the Rhino, but probably more times than not, the injuries are due to a lack of skill, not wearing proper safety gear and even carelessness. I have been in situations myself when I have felt over confident because of the cage that surrounded me. Now, if I crashed and injured myself because I was over confident of my ability, does that give me honest reason to hunt down the manufacturer and say they ve built an unsafe product? Absolutely not! That s like buying a brand new car, driving it irresponsibly, crashing it and getting hurt. Was it the fault of the cars manufacturer or was it your lack of common sense telling you Hey, you re going a little too fast and driving recklessly. People must learn to accept the consequences for their own actions. An even larger concern is people that allow their kids to drive these machines around. I ve heard numerous stories whether true or false of small children being seriously or even fatally injured in rollover incidents. These machines are nothing more than scaled down sport vehicles. A 10 year old child has no business hauling all of his or her friends around either in the passenger seat or piled in the bed for that matter. Would you allow them to take off in your car or truck while you sit around chatting with friends? Do you really think they have the experience and even a developed sense of responsibility at this age? I don t think so and unleashing them in a vehicle like this should be no different. Most states do not allow people to drive an automobile until they are at least 16 years of age. Even then, there are limits as to how old their passengers can be until they have so many years of driving experience. Side-by-sides have a warning label that encourages parents not to allow anyone under the age of 16 to operate these vehicles. Do you think they spend the time and energy to put these labels on just because they feel like it? It s scary to think of kids getting hurt or killed because of driving accidents. Why don t people comprehend these warnings? I ve heard rumors of families suing the manufacturers for the harm or death of loved ones. My deepest sympathy goes out to these families for their loss, but whose fault is it really? My intentions of writing this are not to upset our readers (even though I know some will be), but rather to shed light on an increasingly horrible situation. Companies like Yamaha, Kawasaki and Polaris have spent many years of research and design to bring us the greatest machines ever. If enough of these bloodthirsty ambulance-chasing lawyers lure in clients through these commercials, the side-by-side world could come quickly crashing down. How do I know that this could happen, well, look to the 3-wheeler market that was completely wiped from existence in the 80 s. It s happened before, and you can bet that it could happen again. So what will we be left with if that happens? The good news is that the solution is actually simple and easy if we all band together. We all should learn to drive within our means. Take time to figure out the handling of your machine and even make upgrades that can make it safer at higher performing levels. Second of all is to keep the kids out of the drivers seat. I know many kids out there are not going to like me for this one, but it sure beats more injured kids and loosing side-x-sides forever. Lastly is to take responsibility for your actions. It s too easy now days to put the blame on someone else for our own lack of good judgment. To those who are fuming from my words, I apologize if I come across as the side-by-side police. But I do want to bring a sense of awareness to all enthusiasts and try to stop this snowballing affect before it s too late. The more widespread these commercials become and the more people respond to them trying to make a quick buck, the worse things will get for the sport we love and are so passionate about. After manufacturers did away with 3 wheelers, they also agreed to stop making high performance ATV s for over 10 years. Luckily, those of us who loved this sport spent 10 exhausting years nurturing it back to health. Do we want this same kind of agreement to happen again? I know for a fact that I don t. And if you want to continue enjoying your weekends on side-by-sides, you should join me in fighting for our right to continue. I think there are already enough Rhinos on the endangered species list. Until I get cranky about something else and need to rant again, keep the rubber side down! And do it with responsibility please. EliAssociate EditorATV Rider MagazineRead More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
Thad Josey
Thad JoseyLast weekend I did something that I ve not done in a very long time.Hey guys,Last weekend I did something that I ve not done in a very long time. Mike, Johnny, Austin and myself put down the cameras and headed out to just ride. Usually when we go out, we are doing some sort of testing, photos or whatever for the magazine. I love my job; so don t take that the wrong way. But sometimes, you just have to leave the work behind and ride for fun. And that s what we did.We packed up the trailer with the Can-Am DS450, Mikes woods built Suzuki LTR-450 (which is sweet by the way), Polaris Outlaw 525S and a Yamaha YFZ-450 and headed to Durhamtown Plantation in East Georgia. It probably cost us $200 in fuel with travel and filling up the quads. Oh well! We really didn t care what we were riding, so long as we were riding. It was really dusty and dry, but we had such a blast just riding for the fun of it. Did I mention it was like 100 degrees out? We switched quads about every hour so that we could experience something a little different. If you ever get a chance, this is a great way to spend your day riding with your buddies. Switch machines about every hour.We got to put in some laps on the MX track, hit a ton of ATV trails and even explored a new area (a new off-road jeep park) that DP is in the progress of opening up. And to top it all off, we got a ton of laughs as Austin kept smacking into trees. To be honest, spending this day out riding was just what I needed to clear my head. I just wanted to share a positive experience that was great for me. Just get out and ride for fun when you can. It s my free form of therapy.Thad JoseyEditor-ATV Rider MagazineRead More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
Carp Fishing Secrets.
The carp angler’s bible! Over 270 pages of carp fishing advice from the home of carp fishing. Carp Fishing Secrets. – Heading back to Central Oregon Today. Vegas has been fun, but its time to return home and re group. Remember to use www.rvtravelbuddy.com to find your favorite rv prks and related businesses. Also [...]
Grab Your Copy of the Dec ATV Rider Magazine!
Grab Your Copy of the Dec ATV Rider Magazine! Can you feel the inten sity? Yeah, that’ s the Decem ber issue of ATV Rider Magaz ine just waiti ng to bust out. So here’ s a littl e taste of what you can expec t in this issue ! On Newst ands Now! If you can’t seem to get enoug h mud in your syste m, were doing it again ! We’ve trans forme d our Honda Forem an 500 PS into a lifte d, snork eled and fun enabl ed weeke nd bobbe r. Speak ing of mud, we just can’t seem to keep away from it ourse lves. We took anoth er long trek to Texas for round 4 of the CMR Serie s. We’ ve captu red what you want to see. We’ve final ly gotte n aroun d to perfe cting our KTM 450XC . Be sure to pick up the Decem ber issue of ATV Rider to see how we did it. You won’ t be dissa point ed. Did you go to QuadF est? Well, it was more like DustF est, but we had an aweso me time regar dless . Catch the weeke nd of fun captu red here in our pages . You didn’ t think we forgo t did ya, yes the Holid ays are just aroun d the corne r. Once again , Santa ‘s hot littl e helpe r will be unvei ling every thing that’ s hot for this Holid ay seaso n in the Decem ber issue . So pick it up now from your local retai ler. And even bette r, you can sign up for a subsc ripti on at www. atvri deron line. com.Thank s, ATV Rider Magaz ine Staff www. atvri deron line. comRead More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
Suzuki employees celebrate the winning of 5 championships this year
Suzuki employees celebrate the winning of 5 championships this year With 5 championships in different disciplines, the powers-that-be at Suzuki felt the need to show their appreciation to the riders and all the employees that made it happen with a luncheon at their corporate headquarters.The racing world is a very competitive one and when a manufacture can win 5 championships in one year all in different disciplines, it is definitely something to be celebrated. This is exactly why American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) celebrated by holding Championship Day at their corporate headquarters in Brea, Ca. To represent ATV Rider Magazine, I attended the event where all of the companies employees were given a break from work and had a chance to show their appreciation to the professional riders that helped put their company at the top. The riders in attendance were 2008 and 2009 ATV Motocross Champion Dustin Wimmer, 7 time AMA Superbike Champion Matt Mladin who earlier in the year announced his retirement from racing, ’09 450 Motocross Champion Chad Reed, ’09 SX Lites and 250 Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey and finally the ’09 WERA Endurance Championship team of Vesrah Suzuki Endurance Racing who had riders Trey Batey and Mark Junge on hand.For the ATV race program this year, the #1 plate was well deserved by Dustin Wimmer as Rod Lopusnak explained to everyone in attendance how Wimmer broke his shoulder earlier in the year and was expected to sit out the remainder of the season and watch his early point lead disappear. In Rod’s words, “Dustin went to doctor after doctor that told him his race season was finished until he found one that said we could screw your shoulder back together.” This determination is what won Dustin his second consecutive MX championship and the second for Suzuki. Each rider was given a special plaque in recognition for their hard work over the season by the President of ASMC. Superbike Champion Matt Mladin was also given a special framed picture that was surrounded by signatures and well wishes by many Suzuki employees in appreciation of his many years and hard work over the years racing out of their semis. After the presentation was over, a lunch provided by Chronic Tacos courtesy of team sponsor Rockstar Energy Drinks was served and followed by an autograph session for all to have memorabilia signed as well as posters and special pennants made just for this occasion. Seeing a company like Suzuki put on an event like this accomplished two things that I thought were great. The first was to let the employees of the company meet the riders that help keep the company at the top of their respected sports, and secondly the riders get a chance to interact with the people that handle the day-to-day tasks of the company that lets them do what they love. Everything was appreciated on both sides and i’m sure that they’re ready to do it all over again next year, or at least they’re hoping for it.*note: At this time Chris Borich, who also rides a Suzuki LT 450R is currently leading the points in the GNCC ATV series and could potentially add a sixth championship to their list for the year. Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
The Finishing Touches To Make This Quad Fit A Big Guy
The Finishing Touches To Make This Quad Fit A Big GuyWith my limited performance mods already done, it was time for the mods that allow a full size rider to feel more comfortable. My bars and risers finally came in and I spent my time in the office just going over the bike to see if there was anything i missed that I might want to upgrade. Once this project is finished, I’ll be moving on to another. I can’t really think of anything. The ROX anti-vibe risers are really good looking pieces and went on with no problems as did the FLEXX bars. For the grips I opted to run the Pro Taper Pillow Top grips because I have used these in the past and found that they are the most comfortable grips ever and give me minimal if any blisters after a hard afternoon of riding. Since I was adding so much height with the new risers and bars, I was a little concerned with the cables and brake lines being too short, but again had no problems. They are at their limits, but not to the point of causing any problems in the future. One thing I did discover in doing this was that the Pro Armor kill switch that was installed by Yamaha originally has a large housing that allows it to fit perfectly on the oversized crosstube of the handlebars and comes with an insert if you choose to run them on standard sizes as well. Talk about a much welcome feature on such a basic item.Also to clean up the appearance of the controls, I chose to remove the emergency brake lever and cable. This was very simple to do as it only takes less than 5 minutes and makes the machine look much sportier once it’s finished. Finally one of the things I thought about the other day was how tacky the machine looked with my beadlock rear wheels and the stock black rims and tires up front. If I’m riding this at the motocross track, I want it to have the right setup as well. I went through my shed of old tires and wheels and came out with a set of slightly used ITP MXR fronts and a set of their T-9 Pro series wheels. Sure they had some scratches in them, but they weren’t bent and would hold up great for anything I could put this machine through. With everything installed, I stepped back and took in the sight of my completed project. No, it’s not a National Championship winning machine, but it is a fun bike that I will enjoy for months and months to come. All of these parts only take a few hours to install as long as you dont have any interruptions and are well worth the time. Price wise, the most expensive items I had to order in were the bars and like I said are well worth the money. The wheels and tires came off of my old Banshee which sits tucked away in my garage ready for a rebuild itself. Take a look at the pics and tell me what you think. If there is anything you think it could be missing or have done to your own personal machine to taylor it to your needs, let us know. I’m always excited to see new pics of our readers rides on our website and you never know if we might contact you about doign a story on your ride if it’s got that just right look.Thanks for reading.-EliRead More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
9 Championships In A Row? Wow!
9 Championships In A Row? Wow!I’m in awe with the talent and composure that now 9-time GNCC Champion Bill Ballance has brought to ATV racing!I’m in awe with the talent and professionalism that now 9-time GNCC Champion Bill Ballance has brought to ATV racing! To be honest, it’s absolutely amazing and extremely difficult to win one Pro Championship in GNCC racing, and Bill Ballance has done this 9 times consecutively. With all of the talented riders that have come on the scene in the last several years such as Adam McGill, Chris Bithell, and so many others, Ballance is still able to pull off that win before the season even ends. We don’t know how he does it. All we can say is that he must be superhuman. From those of us on the ATV Rider Magazine Staff, we want to congratulate Bill Ballance and Yamaha for another Championship. Our questions is, can he do it again????????Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
This entry was posted
on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
and is filed under ATV News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
