Get a free Mountain Bike by being "antisocial"

[Angelfishsolo]

Anything that encourages people to give up those motorised monstrosities is a good thing. Whether or not the scheme will work remains to be seen but it is good to see action being taken.

 

[Fiona N]

If the m-bikers are anything like round here, I doubt that giving them a mtb will be enough - probably too much physical effort involved.

A local children's playground has been ripped up by these illegal off-road idiots and when anti-motorcycle gates were concreted into the entrance, they were ripped up a few days later and taken some distance away before being dumped in someone's garden. There was good evidence to indicate a tractor had been used to 'uproot' the gate.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Sadly that has been my experience as well. No matter how hard the governing bodies try to prevent access to M-vehicles somebody will come along and destroy the efforts. The end result being that the area is only fit to be used by said vehicles. A crying shame.

That said the two options seem to be
1. Punishment such as bike seizure and crushing which results in more stolen machines and worse condition bikes of the trails

2. Appeasement such as the OP scheme which could have a positive result.

Only other option as I see it is shooting the idiots on sight which probably wouldn't go down to well with Human Rights Lawyers and such. BTW that was a joke.

If the m-bikers are anything like round here, I doubt that giving them a mtb will be enough - probably too much physical effort involved.

A local children's playground has been ripped up by these illegal off-road idiots and when anti-motorcycle gates were concreted into the entrance, they were ripped up a few days later and taken some distance away before being dumped in someone's garden. There was good evidence to indicate a tractor had been used to 'uproot' the gate.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

But then again, it's possible that if there was somewhere people could go and legally use motocross bikes - motocross being, after all, a legitimate pastime, whether people like it or not - there'd be far fewer instances of them breaking into children's play areas and riding antisocially. Just a thought, and it seems to me to be a more obvious solution than swapping a trials bike for a cheap 'n' nasty MTB. I wouldn't do that if I had a motorbike.

 

[vernon]

As Cubist mentioned there's a cart load of bureaucracy to contend with when setting up such a scheme. How many suitable tracts of land are available where riding will not disturb the peace and quiet of neighbouring houses? Who will fund it? Who will insure it? Who will enforce riding hours and noise control?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

How do riders get to said piece of land? I'm sure most of the illegal m-bike riders do not have access to cars and trailers.

As Cubist mentioned there's a cart load of bureaucracy to contend with when setting up such a scheme. How many suitable tracts of land are available where riding will not disturb the peace and quiet of neighbouring houses? Who will fund it? Who will insure it? Who will enforce riding hours and noise control?