No bikes no more!
By TMX Archives on 23rd Apr 08
With the imminent death of trail riding in sight, JD states the case for a united front and an end to the infighting and squabbling that plagues the sport ... ANYONE out there who clung to thoughts that trail-riding would not be too adversely affected by last year's legislation should read the page 2 story this week regarding the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority which has just imposed Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) on no fewer than EIGHT routes! This, of course, follows a "programme of full consultation” and, naturally, will be reviewed after five years. Well, I'm sure it did and I'm sure it will but wherever you stand on this one, the bottom line is: No bikes. Full stop.
It was always going to be so once the Government handed direct power to the National Parks to impose TROs willy nilly, without recourse to the local highways authorities. The YDNPA did not even try to hide its glee in its press release, calling it a "Milestone decision for the Authority”. It's not wrong there. And the release ends ominously with the words, "This is the first time that the YDNPA has used its new powers.”
Believe it or not, this isn't a blame-storming session. There's no point, we have been had over a barrel and that is that. All I would like to say, or rather reiterate, as I have said it all before, is that, unless motorcyclists can present a united and organised front, we will continue to be legislatively ‘had' on all fronts. Our disorganisation makes us (motorcyclists) the softest of soft targets – unlike highly focussed and organised bodies such as the Ramblers Association for instance.
We have been down this road so many times before but motorcycling has a whole bevy or organisations such as the ACU, BMF, AMCA, ORPA, MAG, BSMA, TRF, MCIA, LARA and others who all, in their own way, are fighting for the cause – and often very effectively in their own corner. The problem is when it comes to fighting the Government, or any large legal authority, we have very little political clout. Oh yes, there are various individuals who are proud of their personal associations with this MP and that Lord – but it didn't stop the death of trail riding did it! To have any clout at all, we still need a UNITED front. In theory this is easy, in practise all but impossible because each organisation and each individual representing them has its/ his own agenda. We are so busy in-fighting with so many individuals jumping up and down shouting "Me!”, "Me!”, "Me” that the ink is dry on much legislation while we are still squabbling amongst ourselves...
And before anyone writes in saying I shouldn't say things like this because our enemies may read it and learn of our disorganisation I have news for you...‘They' already know!
IT is no coincidence that the proliferation of ‘foreign' trail bike tours comes at a time when our own Rights of Way system, which was established over many centuries, has been effectively dismantled – in less than a decade and by a particularly inept government at that. Good job they don't actually know what they are doing or we would
really be in trouble.
Whatever, you can now go trail riding in virtually any European country you can name including those countries so far east that most of us would have difficulty getting within 500 miles if attempting to point them out on a map! So, with that in mind, I duly found myself down at BMW Off-Road Skills last week with ace rallyist Simon Pavey trying to administer a crash course to myself and DBR editor Sean Lawless. Sean certainly got the crash bit right.
I had never previously ridden a big (1200cc) BMW flat-twin in my life, never mind off-road, yet the supremely skilled Pavey had us powering down axle-deep muddy slots within five minutes of sitting on the beasts. I might tell you more about this in a future issue but for now I would just like to say, I was absolutely amazed at how far you can get off-road on a bike that looks like it shouldn't even be ridden onto a grass verge to park it. For sweeping gravel roads the big BeeEmm is an absolutely awesome tool and so, with Britain having been effectively declared a No-Go area for trail bikes I am seriously considering the options.
Believe me, you haven't lived until you have powered a BMW GS1200 along a twisty gravel fire-road. While undeniably weighing a ton (which you discover when you drop one!) they are amazingly stable, with enough power to pull down trees.