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VENT-Send Us Those LettersThis is your opportunity to be heard, and even win 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. If your letter is selected as the best for next month, you ll win a brand new set of FastWay hand guards. To check them out, visit www.promotobillet.com.Send your letter to atvrider@sourceinterlink.comThanks,ATV Rider Magazine StaffRead 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
A Night At The Races
A Night At The Races What more could anyone ask for? Good friends, good racing and a reason to get out of the house. Dan Guetter of Quadfreestyle.com called to let me know that he had a couple of extra tickets for the opening round of Supercross in Anaheim, CA (A1) and wanted to know if my best friend and I wanted to join him and his friends. Opening round of SX? I’m all over it!After meeting up with Dan and his wife at the gates to the stadium we were given our tickets and made the trek to the top of the stadium. Dan apologized because of the location of our seats and hoped his “hook-up” might have been a bit closer to the track. In the words of my friend Jim, “our seats are two rows above the Goodyear blimp.” After years of attending the SX races at Anaheim, i’ve come to the conclusion that the only undesirable seats are at the field level, and for free i’m not going to complain at all. Once we were all settled in and the races kicked off, we were witness to some great bar banging action. The Lites class leaders seemed to pull away pretty quick but the action taking place mid-pack was the best of both heat races. I even spotted some awesome looking gear on some of the riders that I really want to get now. The Troy Lee Designs Steve McQueen Edition gear and helmet are very sharp as are most of the items that come from that company. The 450 qualifiers had good action as all eyes were on Ryan Dungey who is a rookie in the class this year, and he definitely did not disappoint. In years past after the qualifiers were done, KTM used to have the KTM 65 Challenge, where local kids would enter a drawing and be selected to ride identical bikes on the same track as their heroes for 3 laps in front of a packed stadium. For whatever reason, i’m assuming financial costs, they no longer do this and it leaves a great amount of dead time after the LCQ’s have been run. While there was a 5 minute freestyle show (wooooo….. scarcastic enthusiasm) and a very cheezy publicity game for Toyota, many of the fans looked uninterested including me. This made for plenty of time to catch up with Dan and what is going on in his life. He informed me of the freestyle tour that his brother has been performing in called Nuclear Cowboyz. Not long after he mentioned it to me, there was a video on the bigscreen announcing upcoming tour dates. All of the biggest names in Freestyle MX seem to be a part of the show and picking Derek Guetter to represent the ATV fanatics on his Can-Am DS 450 is a nice addition. It wasn’t long ago that I caught Dan landing his first backflip to dirt on YouTube and seeing how excited he was. Derek is doing them on a regular basis in this show, and according to Dan the fans are loving it. There are going to be 3 stops in the Southern California are and i’m going to make it to at least one of those so we can get some great pictures for our website.In the SX Lites class the racing was good as Monster Energy Kawasaki team rider Jake Weimer led the race from start to finish followed by Trey Canard and Ryan Morais. The elite SX class was definitely a bigger story with even more fierce action than the qualifiers and Lites classes put together. The rookie Ryan Dungey grabbed the holeshot followed by last years champion James Stewart while Chad Reed, Stewarts biggest competition from last year, settled for a mid-front pack start. After crossing the finish line jump on the first lap, Reed pulled into the pits and handed his bike to his mechanic as he started to make his way to the pits. He fell victim to a crowded corner where his front wheel spokes met the foot peg of a fellow rider ending his night. Out in front Dungey continued to lead Stewart up until the last 4 laps of the race when Stewart made his move for the lead resulting in the entire stadium rising to their feet in excitement. As everyone assumed that the race was done, Dungey came back with a valiant effort to take the lead back unsuccessfully and settling for a 2nd place finish. Surprisingly Kevin Windham, a veteran on the track, worked his way up for the final podium spot. This was some of the best racing i’ve seen in SX for quite some time and i’m looking forward to more in the future. I’m also looking forward to the Nuclear Cowboyz tour to come into town so I can see what all of the hype is about.Thanks Dan!!Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
FEB ISSUE ATVR
FEB ISSUE ATVRYo ATV Riders, you know you want it, Hot ATV action that is. You won t believe what we ve got in store for you in our February issue of ATV Rider Magazine, which is hitting newsstands now. Here s what you can expect! NEW YAMAHA YFZ450R FIRST RIDE: That s right, we got a taste of what the hot new machine is all about. Trust us, you ll want to check it out. ARCTIC CAT MUDPRO 700: We sink it deep with the industries very first sinkable quad. BUDGET KAWASAKI KFX450R: In light of the current economic situation, we dial in our KFX450R. INTERVIEW WITH CHASE MCCAULEY: Mud racings 2008 Champion unleashes what his life is all about and what it s like to be THE mud champion. FST KAWASAKI TERYX MONSTER: If you want ferocious power in you SxS, you ll want to read up on this one. GONE FACTORY: Orange hired us for a day. What s it like racing for the Factory on KTM s updated XC450? All I can say is, WOW! This is just a taste of what you can expect, so grab your copy now.SUBSCRIBE: Interested in a Subscription, hit us up on www.atvrideronline.com and get signed up.Thanks,ATV Rider Magazine Staffwww.atvrideronline.comRead More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
RV Living: Why You Should Consider Solar Power Posted By :
Half a lifetime ago, when my wife and I first got a taste for remote RV living, we decided very early on that solar power had to be the way to go. Despite rapid advances in solar technology — even way back then — many fellow travelers were surprised when they learned our RV was solar powered. Granted, that tiny house-on-wheels was getting on in years, and there was still a general belief among caravanners and motorhomers that solar power was too expensive and too te…
VENT-Send Us Those Letters
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
Are You Dreaming Of The RV/Motorhome Lifestyle?
Are You Dreaming Of The RV/Motorhome Lifestyle? “Well Then, NOW Is The Time To Get Down To Some Details On How You Can Get Not Just The “RV Basics” But Everything You Need… http://www.rvlifewave.com
Raptor 250 Torture Test
Raptor 250 Torture TestThe one quad ever made that’s guaranteed to leave you smiling after you’re done riding.Okay… We’ve already run a few stories in the magazine about the Raptor 250 but it wasn’t until about a month ago that i finally threw a leg over this machine myself. I heard from Adam Campbell that this was the funnest little bike he’s ever ridden and it’s guaranteed to make a good rider better and i really wanted to see if it could live up to the claim. After the editors race that Yamaha held August 6th round of the ITP Quadcross at Glen Helen Raceway, i brought home one of these tiny titans to finally experience what it could really do. The machine issued to me was outfitted with a GYTR complete exhaust system, nerf bars and a Pro Armor kill switch. It got most of the oversized editors around the track pretty well so i figured it should move me around half way descent as well. Just to give you a few stats on me: I’m 6’1″, tip the scales at 245 and when it comes to motocross racing am usually in the novice class. I’m not the fastest guy in the world, but i can definitely hold my own. Finally on a tuesday night i grabbed some beadlock wheels with ITP MXR6 MX tires i had laying around, mounted them up and headed out to Milestone MX in Riverside, CA. I geared up, threw a leg over the quad and fired up the potent 250. Now i’m not gonna say that i didn’t get a few funny looks from other people at the track. My sheer size made this quad look like one of those 25 cent rides you might find outside of a grocery store that I used to want to ride as a kid. As I was riding around the track the first thing I had to realize was that I could not ride this like I ride my KFX 450. First it has stock suspension so it’s a little tippy and second it doesn’t have 1/4 the horsepower of that machine. It still has a good amount of grunt, but you’re not going to be clearing any huge jumps without a long run. Because of these reasons I had to fine tune my cornering technique which has since paid off when I ride the big bike. Not only have I improved my riding, but i’m having the time of my life doing it. I took it to the most recent round of the ITP Quadcross at Competition Park in Hesperia, CA and took a first place in limited mod 250 class, just look past the fact i was the only one in my class to race though. To help boost the popularity of this machine Yamaha is offering a brand new Raptor 250 to the class champion for the Open Mod and Limited Mod as long as you are riding one of these little machines. Since it’s starting to show some wear, I have decided that i’m going to put a graphics kit, GYTR bumper, high flow intake kit and rejet the carb, ROX anti-vibe risers and FASST Flex bars. Pics of the completed bike will be posted on my next blog about this machine. here are a few photos of me at the quadcross. Enjoy!!!Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
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