Ya I agree, guy seems like a jerk, some of those didn't even look like trials, just hills in the woods. I cant believe no one was ran over standing so close to the trial, and the fist sized rocks being thrown by the tires could put a real hurting on someone if they connected.
Did not expect to see what I did when I clicked the link. I ride dirtbikes at that place a lot and have seen that guy run. It's pretty amazing. He made it up stuff no one else was coming close too.
The video doesn't do some of those obsticles justice....I ride a 2 stroke dirtbike and when I saw some of the things he did my jaw dropped.
For those of you talking about spectators and treading lightly.....what do you think of events like baja and stage rallying?
As far as his driving....he was getting out there,, raising hell,and having fun. He always had a big grin on his face and I could see why. There are also some good rock crawling obstacles at this park.....he went slow on some and was very technical....it just isn't in the vid.
DrBoost wrote: I'm not a fan. The cage work is impressive but anybody can buy off-the shelf axles, suspension and cubic inches and hammer through anything. I've done lots of 'wheeling, I mean lots and have wheeled with guys like that. I'd rather finesse a more streetable Jeep through that same stuff and piss off the eco-weenies less and leave the trail for others to enjoy. Seems like his sidewalls act more as suspension than his springs do.
I would LOVE to see you try the same obstacles in a streetable jeep.....hell I'll pay your entry fee.
Side note, I was hoping this was about BTTF hover conversions becoming available.
I still think he has all the driving finesse of a meth enraged bull in heat. His line selection is not the best either, so he overcomes that by stuffing his foot in it. Of course picking your way up an obstacle doesn't make as much racket as he does, thus it's not as photogenic.
About the alleged earth rape/environmental damage issue: I submit to the group at large that all the 4 wheeling these guys do won't hold a candle to the erosion damage done by one strong summer thunderstorm, let alone a tornado. And it's not even really damage, it's unsightly to some but does no lasting harm.
But since it's humans involved it automatically becomes A Bad Thing. Sometimes it's in the eye of the beholder, for instance I was told once that dirt bikes were more damaging to the environment than logging and then burning forest compartments. That's bullE36 M3, folks.
Guy is a jackass even if he hasn't quite as bad as a logger.
The point of Tread Lightly is to minimize damage to public trails and the like by promoting responsible four-wheeling. If the authorities are fine with his chainsaw approach to taking obstacles, then more power to him. If I think he's being a tacky show-off, then that's my opinion. 
Cotton wrote: Did not expect to see what I did when I clicked the link. I ride dirtbikes at that place a lot and have seen that guy run. It's pretty amazing. He made it up stuff no one else was coming close too. The video doesn't do some of those obsticles justice....I ride a 2 stroke dirtbike and when I saw some of the things he did my jaw dropped. For those of you talking about spectators and treading lightly.....what do you think of events like baja and stage rallying? As far as his driving....he was getting out there,, raising hell,and having fun. He always had a big grin on his face and I could see why. There are also some good rock crawling obstacles at this park.....he went slow on some and was very technical....it just isn't in the vid.
Have to agree. The hate on this forum is getting pretty tired.
Zomby woof wrote:Cotton wrote: Did not expect to see what I did when I clicked the link. I ride dirtbikes at that place a lot and have seen that guy run. It's pretty amazing. He made it up stuff no one else was coming close too. The video doesn't do some of those obsticles justice....I ride a 2 stroke dirtbike and when I saw some of the things he did my jaw dropped. For those of you talking about spectators and treading lightly.....what do you think of events like baja and stage rallying? As far as his driving....he was getting out there,, raising hell,and having fun. He always had a big grin on his face and I could see why. There are also some good rock crawling obstacles at this park.....he went slow on some and was very technical....it just isn't in the vid.Have to agree. The hate on this forum is getting pretty tired.
I third this motion. I'm sure everyone among us has taken part in some sort of over-exuberance behind the wheel. I see no need to throw stone at him.
I don't understand why it's so commonplace for guys in trail rigs to have to head protection on though.
It's the over-exuberance coupled with the complete lack of control - over and over and over again. It's like watching a high-powered car at the track constantly on the verge of crashing until the inevitable happens, all while trying to keep a Spec Miata in sight.
I've seen excellent drivers in poor rigs make it up tough obstacles as well as excellent drivers in excellent rigs do things that will blow your mind. A crap driver in a high-powered rig is nothing to get excited about - I'd much rather see a low-powered vehicle pick its way up those obstacles carefully and get through due to driver skill. Of course, I don't watch drag racing either.
As for dirt bikes and erosion - they tend to create channels for the water to run down, which accelerates the erosion damage. Not that clearcutting is pretty, but it is a different effect.
I'm not sure how he could see over the top of the engine. The only other thing that stands out, tires don't have much traction when you can see under them. Wonder if it would have done better with a little softer setup. Nice rooster tails though.
I don't hate him any more than any jackass that yells "Hey ya'll, watch this!" and does something stupid. I find it mildly annoying and very mildly entertaining.
Keith wrote: As for dirt bikes and erosion - they tend to create channels for the water to run down, which accelerates the erosion damage. Not that clearcutting is pretty, but it is a different effect.
Erosion is a fact of nature, it is an example of the constant entropy of everything around us that we are powerless to stop.
A heavy downpour will do damage no matter what, it does not need a dirt bike track to get started. The worst erosion I have seen was from trees which had fallen due to the ground being soaked by heavy rain, the tree falls and rips up a large chunk of soil, this then turns into a monster hole. It's seen along creek and river beds all the time. That makes alleged dirt bike 'damage' look like nothin'.
The FS employees who said motorcycles were worse than logging had no answer for this true observation: I have stood in the middle of a clearcut and looked at skidder ruts 2 1/2 feet deep, far larger and deeper than any track left by dirt bikes, even after an enduro of 3-400 bikes. I have walked and ridden through old clearcuts and hit those damn things when they were hidden by the undergrowth, they are by that time generally small stagnant breeding ponds for mosquitoes. I have also stood in the middle of a burn and seen dead birds, deer etc.
But dirt bikes are worse than logging? Bull shi+.
Keith wrote: It's the over-exuberance coupled with the complete lack of control - over and over and over again. It's like watching a high-powered car at the track constantly on the verge of crashing until the inevitable happens, all while trying to keep a Spec Miata in sight. I've seen excellent drivers in poor rigs make it up tough obstacles as well as excellent drivers in excellent rigs do things that will blow your mind. A crap driver in a high-powered rig is nothing to get excited about - I'd much rather see a low-powered vehicle pick its way up those obstacles carefully and get through due to driver skill. Of course, I don't watch drag racing either. As for dirt bikes and erosion - they tend to create channels for the water to run down, which accelerates the erosion damage. Not that clearcutting is pretty, but it is a different effect.
again....you need to see some of this stuff in person....you aren't picking your way up it....it's just not going to happen.
As far as the post that mentioned the authorities.....from what I can tell the majority of this video was shot where I ride, which is private property owned by individuals who open it up as an offroad park a couple of times a month. In fact I'll be going there tomorrow with my bike (I'll try to tread lightly wide ass open in 3rd I promise).. If this dude happens to be there I'll introduce myself and see if he'll join the forum and chime in on this thread.......would be interesting.
it's his build/ rig, his brain (even w/o a lid), his foot/ balls on the throttle, private land (waiver or not)... it's his business. I say go for it.
You might not be able to pick your way up these obstacles like you could on rock, but WFO is not the answer to everything. Sometimes the solution is to hit the gas, but you have to do it at the right time and retain enough higher brain function to remember to lift off when it's not helping you. Simply aiming at a slope and relying on incessant wheelspin to eventually work you up isn't clever or as effective as putting down the power when it will help. Too much of that video is the guy sliding around sideways, hitting trees, crabbing across slopes into awkward places and getting accidentally turned around so he had to drive down.
I would have loved to see him try to come down some of those drops.
I can't count the number of times on a dirt bike when I lost traction on a climb, every nerve was screaming GAS IT! and what actually worked was backing off a bit so the rear tire could bite. It goes completely contrary to instinct.
I couldn't make it through the whole video. Maybe when I was in 5th grade I would've thought it was cool.
If WOT is your main tool, you need to take it to a wide open area. Hillclimbs are best left to those with finesse, or at least get the spectators the hell out range.
At least the people on this board are more polite than most of the comments on his YouTube videos. I really don't like that type of driving though, I think off road driving could be fun, but building a $50k custom buggy then taking it out and pointing it at a big hill and keeping your foot on the floor until it breaks doesn't seem fun at all.
Cotton wrote: For those of you talking about spectators and treading lightly.....what do you think of events like baja and stage rallying?
Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt
You don't even really know, do you? But by all means, please provide me with some more entertainment. Staggering amounts of ignorance makes me laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pniVAyqcAcA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STbWJ0KsDAw&feature=endscreen&NR=1
Travis_K wrote: At least the people on this board are more polite than most of the comments on his YouTube videos. I really don't like that type of driving though, I think off road driving could be fun, but building a $50k custom buggy then taking it out and pointing it at a big hill and keeping your foot on the floor until it breaks doesn't seem fun at all.
Used to be events areound here called 'mud bogs'. In the off season, a farmer would plow a strip of field maybe 500 feet long by 25 feet wide to a depth of maybe 3 feet, then flood it till it turned into an absolute sloppy mess. Then on Saturday and Sunday he'd charge the local goobs $10 per run to see if they could make it all the way through, along with $3 a head spectator fee. These things generated a lot of buzz and were packed, I went once out of morbid curiosity.
There were guys in all kinds of trucks, Jeeps, dirt bikes, quads, three wheelers, you name it. Must have been upwards of 100 entries and probably 1500 spectators.
I watched some guy in a then nearly new F250 4x4 go blasting into this muck at WOT, he got maybe 3/4 of the way through and horrible noises started coming from the engine. He kept his boot in it until he made it all the way through and something in the motor let go big time as he made it out. But man he was HAPPY he had beat that mudhole! He jumped out, climbed on the hood and started dancing in circles. Purse for class win? $100.00. It probably cost him that much to tow it home.
I understand the need to conquer a hill or etc, there's been many times I have pointed a bike at a seemingly impossible climb just to see if I could make it. But common sense and a desire to save my wallet from a direct mortar round kept me from destroying my equipment in the process.
I'm curious about how the rear steering works on that thing. It does not appear to be directly linked to the front steering. Foot controls, maybe? I'm curious, mostly.
Oh...and if you're into slow uphill climbs...here's my contribution. In a much more grassroots style: http://youtu.be/t5OcFcyLwDY
[edit: and because I think my music will get it flagged...here's the no-music version of the video above: http://youtu.be/ySmqpaUacrc ]
Clem
Probably hydraulic via Eaton Orbitrol. That way there's no linkage, only hydraulic lines and hoses. The rear steering can be easily locked out also.
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