Question:
Dear Motorhead,
Great job with the mag! I read an article on supertraxmag.com about speed and speed traps on our trails. I own a thunder cat 1000 and would like to mention on occasion I have been beat (not often). This being said I do not support the idea of speed traps set up on our trails.
Reckless, careless driving causes accidents plain and simple, however, there are trails where driving over 50 is MORE than acceptable.
Should there be varying speed limits for different trails? Should there be officers on the trails? Should we realize that we’re responsible for our own actions – sober or impaired? Should we realize that we’re riding the fastest, best power to weight ratio and most innovative machines in Motorsports?
Maybe when we take the test for our snowmobile driving license test at age12, we need to learn that snowmobiling involves speed and acceleration and it should be respected accordingly.
Stupid laws suck the life out of our sport. Irresponsible driving, drinking and driving, lawsuits, etc all suck the life out of snowmobiling.
Lets just ride into the sun with the wind in our faces, miles of lakes and trails before us as nature has lain out with all her splender. There is nothing anywhere like it. Embrace freedom. Go snowmobiling!
Jamie
Response:
Thanks for your email!
You better watch out – you’re dealing in common sense and that can be scary!
I agree with the majority of your assertions – here’s the problem. You (and many of us) are not PC.
Your comments about speed and freedom run counter to what the safety and environmental messaging is all about right now. Here’s the problem. You know the difference between common sense activity and moronic behavior. So do I. I like to think we’re in the majority – right?
Unfortunately, I’m less convinced of this – in particular when I hear the news on winter Monday mornings of how another impaired rider was killed participating in some stupid activity while drunk.
We are all judged (and legislated) by the lowest common denominators in the sport. Personally, that’s why I now take the opportunity to go right up to people behaving poorly and tell them what they are doing to my sport.
Maybe I get more license to do so with the magazines logos on my jacket and sleds or maybe I’m just getting more assertive as I mature (notice I didn’t say “age”). Doesn’t matter. We need to be examples to the rest of the flock. We need to speak out in bars, at trailside stops and when we are with our friends – and their friends.
Don’t ride with Buds who drink – even one drink. Just don’t do it. We have been zero tolerance around here for years – we have to be – however we all need to be. Riding like idiots on crowded, busy weekends is insane.
Your comments about the speed limit are valid and make sense – however the last thing we need to do is to send a message out to the few morons who act irresponsibly that the speed limits been raised.
Sure, most of us know we have sleds that can cruise comfortably at higher speeds and most rides will pull the C-note on lakes while we run trails at 50 klicks. I can’t completely reconcile this either way with the problems I’ve just mentioned.
Being able to enjoy God’s creation on a snowmobile is something we must protect and it doesn’t happen when we do nothing. We have to be proactive in keeping our freedom to snowmobile.
Anyway, thanks for your comments and thoughts – the issue is deserving of more discussion.
Motorhead mark
