Quads on trail rides with bikes, esp dusty ones

[F5 Dave]

Just idly musing yesterday. Quads & bikes don't always play well together. Some quad drivers block bikes passing & try to race them, which is dangerous for the bikes. In some circumstances a good quad rider will be faster than the average or slower bike rider, like gravel roads etc. But overall when the going gets tight they are slower & impossible to pass without taking big risks.

Come a dusty ride & they kick up abut 4 times the plume.

So this isn't actually a quad bashing thread. There are plenty of quads in the various bike clubs & indeed they seem to feature highly in the organisers of these events & obviously have their uses setting out rides.

But my question is; would it not be a keen idea to set the quads off 20min after the bikes? This way by & large the bikes would make a reasonable fist at getting away & by the 2nd lap everyone is a bit more spread out anyway.

I mean that wouldn't be too much of an imposition surely? I wonder if this has been mooted before? Maybe there would be a backlash, but it would surely benefit both parties? Maybe it's just a dumb idea & I should my mouth the hell up.

I'm an out of town member of at least one club, maybe I'll ask them.

[scott411]

as you put above that the slower riders will hold up the quads, and putting the pressure on the slower riders will not help matters,

i know the quad and 2 wheeler differences are massive, and it has been put to me that they should be on different rides, but nearly every organisers uses them for marshalls anyway,

most trial rides are loop rides anyway, so even if they start 20 min behind it only delays the problem,

i know alot of riders do not, but slower riders should let the faster ones through as soon as they can, it makes it more fun for both parties imo

[Taz]

Have never really had a problem with quads om trail rides. It ain't a race.

[RJM]

Quads have their place on the trails. There were a few very dusty patches on the Waikaretu ride yesterday where I was behind a quad. Just sit back for a minute until on a grassy bit and you can ride past. I was amazed at people trying to pass them in the dust and saw one guy eat the ground pretty good.

Only quad I had a problem with yesterday was just through a gate where it was clearly sign posted 1st gear on road, he came screaming past and roosted me and another guy with decent sized rocks. That's just a ride behaviour thing though whether on 2 or 4 wheels.

[F5 Dave]

yeah the real slow riders will get caught up, but that will happen anyway. Anecdotally I'd bet that the vast majority of riders would lap the course as fast or faster than a quad. Maybe that ain't true, but I'm usually having to pass a lot of quads & there's still riders who pass me at a million miles.

With a 20 min head start that should sort it out I would have thought. Yesterday we did a ride at Tokomaru & it was open & fast. Heck I even got passed by a quad on a grass section when I slowed to sort my drink tube. He'd been following 50m back for about 10 min, but I peeled back in & just had to stop for the dust. Way more than a bike.

Yes I know they are loop rides, but the first loop is always a bit of a fest with people getting stuck on the first decent obstacle. And yes I know these rides aren't put on for my benefit. Just trying to think of a way to stop the clash at the start of a ride.

Yes it isn't a race, but you'd think some chaps are blocking like it is, or passing like it is with a fist of throttle firing rocks at you.

[Jay GTI]

I’ve been to a few events where quads and bikes are present, Epic Events aren’t bike or Quad specific, although they do mark out ‘no quads’ in the expert sections. Overall I haven’t yet had a real problem with encounters, bar one wank stain quad rider who made a special effort to roost people who got too close to him (when he got back to his car there was apparently a line of guys wanting to have a word with him).

If the event is set out in a way that is suitable for both, both should be allowed to ride together. I know some organisers do quad and bike only days, but I assume this is more to do with terrain than agro between bikers. It is harder to get by a quad and harder for them to get by slower bike riders, but it’s all about rider courtesy and being aware of traffic coming up behind. Personally, I never have a problem pulling over and stopping and I have been blocked by 2 wheelers and quads equally… but a lot of the time it’s not intentional, the guy in front hasn’t been aware I’ve been sat on his tail and is just taking the best lines he can. Equally, they aren’t often aware of how much roost they’re throwing up when passing. I’ve been told by a few people the 350 tends to chuck all sorts of crap at anyone behind me (more so than my old RM) so it’s pretty easy for me to accidentally give it too much throttle and spray people I’ve gone past…

[Reckless]

Ah no need to worry the dangerous bloody things always chase the rider down, then roll over them if they have an off!
So sooner or later they give up injured or will actually have to learn to ride a real bike instead of a car with mud tyres and handle bars LOL!!!

They always seem to me like an accident waiting to happen to me!!
Then they chase you down and stuff you up even more!!
Should be on a farm with a sheep on the back I reckon!

Oh btw I am still curtious to quads out on rides I just don't see the point quite frankly??

[F5 Dave]

Now now, I did say this wasn't a quad bashing thread. There could be any number of reasons that they can't ride a bike. Obviously not by any rational choice.

[oldguy]

IIm going to Buy a Quad,

I pass just as many two wheelers, (some of them can make it hard to pass) as quads so I can't see any problem,

[Reckless]

Now now, I did say this wasn't a quad bashing thread. There could be any number of reasons that they can't ride a bike. Obviously not by any rational choice.

haha Wasn't quad bashing and as I said I'm as curtious to them out on the trails as I am to any one else but I just can't quite see the point compared to a bike?

Blackbuell rides a road bike and a quad on the dirt! Me and A&R have riden with him before and he's bloody fast on the thing!! Still can't see the point though?

Just my 2c I thought it might get a response though!! haha!

[F5 Dave]

Having had the same Avatar for a number of years I've just noticed that it's strangely pertinent to a thread I'm posting in.


Oldguy, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm hoping I'll be able to ride dirtbikes into my 60s, but maybe I'll have to go to adventure riding that or just roadbikes.

[Blackbuell]

Hey ya guys you have got to HTFU i Ride a quad cause its a lot harder to ride it fast than

a two wheeler ,but hey i ride a two wheeler as well now and some quads hold me up

its a trail ride who gives a shit wait for a clear part & pass its really not that hard !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sxyrx7]

as a quad rider i have found bad riders on both 2 and 4 wheels

and it can be frustrating if you think its hard to pass a quad on your bike its a lot harder for me to pass a slower quad
but last Sundays ride was more than wide in most parts to easly and safey pass slower rides

the forest trails are more like follow the leader in some parts with almost not room to pass and so i avoide narrow trail rides


the beach ride always has a big turn out of quads and for me is the most enjoyable of the mr motorcycles events

[Jay GTI]

Hey ya guys you have got to HTFU i Ride a quad cause its a lot harder to ride it fast than

Nah admit it, you ride a quad because you were bullied at school...

[B0000M]

im a quad basher

fucken things. always holding everyone up on the tight sections,

often found blocking the track on "NO QUADS" sections when the operator has not seen / ignored the signs,


back to the dairy farm where they belong!

search the quad bashing thread from a while ago to read more.... lol



but seriously, the ultimate solution is quads saturday, 2 wheels sunday - of course this doubles the effort / time required by organisers