Listen, I agree with you guys in terms of standing up for the no helmets thing and the floorboards rule and all of that. It sucks, we all agree, it sucks. I love the mobilization of the community in standing up for their rights. But I have a feeling that fighting these laws can and possibly will hurt us, or at least slow or even halt the development of bigger badder UTV's as the manufacturers fear losing the market due to manufacturing laws and lawsuits.
Perfect example of what I mean by guys hurting our sport and spawning these lawsuits is the dimwit who folds his RZR4 XP900 with a car load of people in the dunes and trys to claim that he was only going "15mph" and its Polaris' fault.... lol THAT IS WHAT IS HURTING US HERE AND CAUSING ALL OF THIS!
Maybe I am way off here? I see it a bit differently, I work with these manufacturer on a personal level, so for me to hear Papa Bear or anyone else talk about how the Manufacturers don't care about anything about bottom line I call BS and I take offense. Sure maybe the top senior brass sitting in suits and count dollars only care but you mean to tell me that these guys developing, designing, building, selling, etc etc at the Manufacturer level don't care? These guys LOVE this sport, most of them ride a lot on their free time. I am talking about men and women from Kawasaki, Polaris, Arctic Cat, Can-Am, etc etc that I know and work with and can see how much they love this sport and building cars that WE as enthusiasts will love. They have a lot of people that LOVE what they do working at the manufacturer level, they love to off-road just like you and I, and they have as much of their personal selves invested into this hobby as any of us.
Anyway, I avoid these threads for many reasons but one this I will say is the sharing of debate, conversation, and ideas is good. I know we all care and thats why we are here!!
Joey,
Like you I am proud of this whole community, unlike the people on RDC who seem incapable of organizing like the UTV crowd.
Regarding the people who hurt this sport. I would be OK with the manufactures pushing and passing a law that states if you modify your UTV in any way that compromises the structure, suspension or drive train then you have voided any rights to sue the manufacture. Now adding seat belts or misc accessories (Bling) that do not effect structure or performance would not be in this category.
I would also be OK if they mandated some sort of school, like what you do to get a Motorcycle license. Part of this school could touch on Treading Lightly programs and other land issues.
To me these would be things that could be done to protect Manufactures, teach new buyers, and show that we are trying to educate. This might (Probably not) keep some of these environmentalist from being able to make the claims they do. Also this would be a great way to track the sport and get better statistics.
But once again making laws that say your 2006 Rhino with a full aftermarket cage and rear seats in now illegal is just wrong. Every aftermarket cage I have seen is better built then what comes from the factory. Aftermarket rear seats are bolted to the bed or chassis. Most factory seats are held in by a slot and a single release latch mechanism .
Making laws that state if you cant touch the floorboards then you cant ride, is wrong, just wrong.
The lawsuits this could bring California "People vs State" could cost California 5X what they think this law is going to save by limiting who can ride. Also considering the UTV market is the fastest growing market in the off-road industry. Polaris claims they have grown 30% each year in the past 3 year. In 2012 they expect to sell twice as many UTV's as compared to 2009. I have also read that the UTV market makes up approx 33% of the off-road market and in Green Sticker fee's.
Out of that 33% how many are vehicles that had added rear seats? How many were purchase with the idea of carrying children? Lets just say 20%. So that could be 20% of the current market that would either be illegal or could not carry kids. If you cant use your machines then you dont need to pay Green Sticker fee's, Dune passes, Gas & food. The aftermarket industry will be effected, the Sand Sport Show will be effected. The RV industry will be effected.
It is amazing how many people and businesses can be effected by a law that was pushed by the manufactures as they are more concerned about the bottom line and about being sued.
Also I dont doubt the people you meet and deal with at the manufacture level are true enthusiasts. The guys developing, designing & building no doubt are into the sport and what they are doing. But like you said it's the "Brass" that pull the strings and make all the decisions. Those are the ones who ultimately run the business and those are the ones who pay Org's like ROVHA and "Sit on the Board". Those are the one who look at bottom lines, shareholders and not whats good for you and I.
And I always wanted a dual-sport...
