"Join A Club" Video From The General - Jimmy Lewis Weighs in Too

This video message below from The General is not geared to those of you who are already members of BRC or some other land use organization. It is geared to the 98 percent of the approx. 43 million off-roaders in this country who are not members of ANY organization or club.

*********************************************

YouTube Video "Join A Club" Video from Don Amador

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy8cyutGdL8

*********************************************

*********************************************************************

Dirt Rider Mag's, Jimmy Lewis, also has been banging the drums for a number of years regarding getting off-roaders to wake-up out of their dream-like state and get involved by joining a club --- see his post at:

http://blogs.dirtrider.com:80/6534753/editorial/save-a-trail/index.html

**********************************************************************

I believe now more than ever that the future of our sport depends on getting the non-involved off-roader engaged in the battle.

Who are those non-involved riders? They are folks who think that “somebody else” will fight (and pay for) their battles for them or worse yet… they are the clueless riders who think that land-closures “won’t affect them.”

KTM and FMF have stepped up to the plate to help push up those membership numbers by declaring May as Protect Your Right To Ride Month. Also, BRC has a free 3 month trial membership promo going on right now.

***********************************************

KTM/FMF's May is Protect Your Right to Ride Month

http://www.soundoffmc.com/

***********************************************

***********************************************

BRC's 3 Month Free Ride Membership

http://www.sharetrails.org/three-ride-intro/

***********************************************

It is my hope that the non-involved riders will wake-up and smell the campfire coffee. Who knows… the trail they save might just be the one they ride on.

BRC Obtains Status for CFC Donations

For a number of years, pro-access government employees have strongly urged the BlueRibbon Coalition to obtain official status in the Combined Federal Campaign Charity List.

Today that vision was realized when the BRC announced that the United States Office Of Personnel Management has granted the aforementioned status. BRC will be listed under the National/International Independent Organizations list for charitable donations.

BRC News Release on CFC Status
http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/media/?story=641


I know that BRC has many supporters in the federal land agencies and our military who want to donate to its effort to champion good stewardship of public lands. According to
the BRC news release--the organization will be listed as: 11402 BlueRibbon Coalition.

I think a special note of thanks should go to BRC executive director, Greg Mumm, and his staff for a mission accomplished.

CPSC OHV Ban - Conspiracy, Hypocrisy, or Bad Government

Over the last few days, The General has received a lot of emails from
off-roaders who are asking why youth-OHVs and related products did not get the same sort of exemption that the sporting goods industry apparently received from the CPSC.

After all, youth OHVs and related OHV clothing/safety gear are considered to be part of, or related to, the sporting goods industry and those products are often sold along side of each other at multi-venue retail shops.

(photo of a youth training wheel set was taken today at a major retail chain -- this product would be banned at Malcolm's shop if used for a youth dirt-bike)

Those questions are good ones. In fact, they are validated by a recent statement given to The General from a spokesman of the outdoor industry about how basically the youth outdoor/sporting goods industry was not impacted by the CPSC lead ban.

That statement is supported by a Feb 12 article from the Sporting Goods Industry Association that talks about how sporting goods ARE NOT a toy and hence deserving of the CPSC reprieve.

SGIA Article
http://www.sgiauk.com/module/news/display/newsdisplay.aspx?news=52

Another article where non-motorized "sporting goods" are given a pass

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090318/OPINION01/303189989

Based on that information, The General decided to take a trip today to a major national discount retail chain store and see if they are selling almost identical youth “sporting goods” that Malcolm is prohibited from selling.

While there were some youth products that had “CPSC approved” decals on them, there were many sporting goods (youth baseball gloves, youth training wheels set, youth swim/goggle sets, bicycle tire tubes, etc) being sold with no “CPSC approved” sticker.

Unlike the non-motorized sporting goods industry who got an apparent pass from the CPSC, it appears that some government bureaucrats have decided to use political science instead of sound science and common sense to take a whack at the “motorized sporting goods industry” (i.e. OHV) causing great economic harm and personal hardships.

Is it a conspiracy? I’m not going that far since I know many people in government and most don’t have the energy or time to develop and implement elaborate conspiracies.

Is it hypocrisy? That is a charge that appears to have some merit since the CPSC has used a double standard that judges non-motorized vs. motorized sporting goods differently.

However, the charge of “bad government” is applicable since this CPSC ban on youth OHVs should have never gotten this far. Now we have dealerships going bankrupt and shops still in business like Malcolm’s dealership is preparing to employ civil disobedience as a tool of last resort.

The question is will current efforts by Congress to fix this problem be enacted in time to save family businesses and/or will the CPSC do the right thing and issue a stay in the next week or two?

Those are good questions to which The General does not have the answer.

# # #

So Long Dirt-Bike Kids - Not If We Can Help It!!!

*Photo is of a "Dirt-Bike Kid" who came over to

an OHV sound check station to get tested... cool thing was he did this on his own.

An article “So Long, Dirt-Bike Kids” was published recently http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/dirt-bikes/

I believe it shows the bias of the so-called “mainstream” media to
target activities that it/they deem unworthy. When I was young,
I was one of those dirt-bike kids. Also, so were my two sons.

My nieces and nephews were dirt-bike kids. My wife’s cousin has

dirt-bike and ATV kids. My nephew’s two sons are dirt-bike kids

too. A lot of this nation’s youth are dirt-bike kids.

I draw your attention to a Wall Street Journal editorial that notes how

dirt-bikes were “highlighted” by the NYT while it failed to mention

how the lead ban impacts everything from ball-point pens to comic books.

WSJ Article
http://overlawyered.com/2009/02/cpsia-chronicles-february-6/comment-page-1/

Also, ck out article on impacts to dealers

http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/39229887.html

DR Mag on the Issue

http://blogs.dirtrider.com/6424265/editorial/dirt-bikes-for-kids-soon-to-be-illegal/index.html

The General continues to ask the troops to keep sending letters in, make phone calls, and
never give up! Too much is at stake. (see blogs below for sample letter, etc.)

Motorcycle Shop Owners Worried About Lead Ban

It appears that more users and shop owners are becoming aware of the Feb. 10 BAN on youth

OHVs. The General continues to urge riders and dealers to visit the office of their Member of Congress - TODAY. I think a lot of folks are slowly coming to the realization of just how great an impact this BAN will have on business owners and family OHVers.

Here is a news article on this issue:

http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/feb/04/some-frustrated-lead-mandates/?print

For info on how to send letters... see info below in yesterday's blog.