It would be greatly appreciated if you can lend a few hours of your time to help clean up that area and we may spread out and see what other dump sites have sprung up over the winter.
Okanagan Forest Task Force has a self loading truck and a bin for all the RV steel but with people being people there probably is other junk out there… and who knows what the party spot/shooting gallery under the powerlines looks like!
What to Bring:
your ATV if you want to ride around looking for trash (and do a little riding after?)
your car/truck if you’re just coming to the main mess at 2km
gloves, good boots, dirty clothes
something to clean up with after
Signing the Waiver – because this is a club organized event, all participants will be required to sign the waiver saying you won’t sue the organizers or the club if you are injured at the event. If you’d like to sign the waiver ahead of time please visit the ATVBC website and bring a copy of the email or a screenshot on your phone Saturday.
I was frustrated when I first heard about the new waiver requirements imposed on ATVBC by its insurance company and what it would mean for rides and events. It concerns me that our legal system rewards someone injured while willingly participating in a club event instead of holding them accountable for their actions and decisions. Given a few minutes to reflect, I put myself in the shoes of someone injured who loses the ability to make a living for months or years and came to understand why they might try using the legal system to keep themselves and their family afloat at the expense of volunteers and their organizations.
I don’t have the power to change the legal system so I accepted that we would need to comply with the new waiver requirements so our club could continue to function without risking the financial future of all our volunteers. Our volunteer directors, ride leaders, tail gunners and everyone who has ever been in a decision making role in the club have spent too much time, energy and money sharing the love of ATVing with others to be sued for everything they own.
Why Waivers? Signing the waiver means you’re waiving your right to sue the club, directors, ride leaders, etc. Please read the waiver on the ATVBC website and be sure you understand what it means for your legal rights should you be injured at a club event.
As of May 1, 2022 all new and renewing memberships can only be purchased via the ATVBC website. When you complete the membership form you are required to accept the waiver.
As of May 1, 2022, all people participating in club rides and events will be required to have signed the waiver. The recommendation from ATVBC (its insurance company) is that we have everyone sign a waiver at every event to ensure we don’t miss anyone. The club is still determining if it will track who has a current waiver or if we’ll use the waivers for everyone approach.
Non-members and guest riders are still welcome on rides provided they read, understand and sign the waiver.
What Does This Mean For You? You either sign the waiver and can participate in club rides and events, or you don’t sign and you can’t.
Effective May 1st, ATVBC will be converting to on-line transactions for the purchase of new or renewal club memberships. This will mean the end of the paper transactions that we had been used to. Over the past few years, the majority of Vernon club members have already made this switch and have been using the ATVBC website to purchase their club memberships.
It’s long overdue to give a big shout-out to the staff at Johnston Meier’s Vernon office for their service in handling the paper renewals at their office for these many years. Please be aware that you will no longer be able to purchase your ATVBC membership at their office as of April 30th. You will need to bring your ATVBC membership information with you when you go to get your insurance. Please be kind and respect the Johnston Meier staff if they politely inform you that you have to bring your membership paperwork with you.
For those members who are renewing, you should have received a reminder email from ATVBC where you can click on the URL in the invoice to lead you through the process. Otherwise you can go to the website www.atvbc.ca and click on the Join ATVBC link to take you to the renewal.
Once your purchase is complete, you will get an email from ATVBC with your membership details and a membership card you can print out if needed. You will need to take this info with you when go to renew your machine’s insurance policy in order to get the club discount. In a hurry? You can screenshot or print your membership card while you are still on-line after making your purchase and take that to your insurance agent.
Your membership is valid for 1 year and you will receive a renewal reminder via email prior to the expiry date. As always, please ensure that you advise ATVBC of any changes to your email address so that they can keep you up to date.
We haven’t had a wheeled group ride for far too long and the chatter on Vernon ATV Trail Riders suggests the Noble Canyon trails are in good condition for wheeled ATVs.
Meet at the cattleguard on Noble Canyon Road in Lavington at 1:00pm for the safety meeting then it’s off to explore all the trails we can find, we’ll aim to be done riding and back down between 5-6:00pm.
Remember you can’t unload before the cattleguard, either unload at the cattleguard then park along the road back toward the highway or continue up Noble Canyon Road past the cattleguard to find parking along the roadside. Please don’t park in the turn around, trailers use this to turn around and don’t block any driveways (simple stuff right?).
This will be an intermediate level difficulty ride due to the winter conditions and with the mild temperatures it’s possible the roads will be extremely slick in spots. A single tank of fuel will be sufficient, bring your extraction gear and emergency kit. We should pass a recreation site with an outhouse at some point during the ride.
Vernon ATV Club rides are open to everyone. Attend a few rides to meet other riders, find new trails and see that ATV Club membership has its benefits!
It was a beautiful warm and sunny day for the 2022 Vernon Winter Carnival Parade with enthusiastic spectators lining the parade route. For 2022 the Vernon ATV Club and Vernon Snowmobile Association teamed up to enter the largest parade entry, check out the videos to see all the action.
Once a year we have the chance to ride the streets of Downtown Vernon in front of thousands of eager onlookers.
The Vernon Winter Carnival Parade is 61 years strong and is a really fun event. Children and families line the streets to see the floats roll by and love seeing quads and side x sides.
Carnival normally has a theme but this year there isn’t so it’s an easy one because you don’t need to decorate your machine. All you need to do is show up by 11:00am on Saturday, February 5 with your machine to take part in the fun.
Check out past Vernon ATV Club Winter Carnival Parade entries and sign up by Sunday, January 23 using the form below or by emailing info@vernonatvclub.ca.
We’re looking to get as many machines out as possible, 10 would be good, 20 would be better and 50 would be beyond awesome!
It’s the time of year where the snow is piling up enough to make a ride with wheeled ATVs a frustrating day of pushing, pulling and digging. There are a few rowdy souls out there with tall tires and heaps of horsepower who continue on wheels in these conditions but most folks who want to continue ATVing through winter may start thinking about tracks.
ATV snow tracks aren’t cheap and they aren’t for everyone so I thought I’d share my experience from years of snow track ownership.
Our first set of ATV tracks were TJD Cat Tracks, a Quebec made track advertised as year round tracks for snow, swamp, mud, etc. The track design used a combination of bogie wheels which allows for all season use and a slider strip (like snowmobiles use) for the winter operations. TJD sold their track division to Camoplast which is now Camso, the market leader for powersport track products.
This first set of tracks were installed on a 2006 Yamaha Kodiak 400 which meant you weren’t going anywhere fast but you could go almost anywhere. There was no power steering back then so if you got on an off-camber you had to fight it hard to keep the machine from going downhill. These tracks worked so well for winter forestry work we bought a second set, this time mounted to a 2007 Kawasaki Brute Force 750.
Both track kits are still around today, by purchasing a different fit kit we’ve adapted the Brute Force tracks to a Yamaha Grizzly 700 and the Kodiak tracks fit straight onto a Yamaha Rhino side x side.
How do ATV tracks work? ATV tracks bolt onto the lug nuts to drive the tracks through an oversized cog, the track assembly is held in place with a fit kit or set of brackets that secure the track assembly to your ATV’s suspension.
Gearing for different displacement machines is achieved by using a different size drive cog. As you go up in engine size the number of teeth on the drive cog goes down. That’s how the same track assembly can be made to work on a 400cc machine (17 tooth) and a 700cc machine (15 tooth).
How much fuel will you use? A lot! Those large drive cogs give your ATV mechanical advantage over the tracks but it comes at a cost of lower top speeds and increased fuel consumption. Plan on using twice as much fuel, this varies though depending on snow depth, snow type, slope of the trail and how far you like to push the pedal.
How long does it take to install them? The first time you install them it’s going to take hours but once you’re familiar with the process and learn to align the lug nuts to the drive wheels and cinch those up then the fit kits bolt up fairly quickly. Then you check your limiting bolt adjustment and track tension and you’re off.
Where can you go? ATV tracks will go almost anywhere and keep your machine on top of the snow. When you get off your machine you’ll need to be careful you don’t end up knee, belly or deeper in the powder your machine is effortless riding atop.
Steep slopes and certain types of snow will stop tracked machines but otherwise they go almost anywhere.
When do they suck? Hard packed and icy trails are no fun. When you put tracks on your machine you’re getting rid of all the suspension your tires provide. Most track systems recommend you crank up your shock preload/stiffness to prevent the track assembly from hitting your machine’s bodywork so frozen bumpy roads and hard packed trails will send jolts through the tracks directly to you.
You also need to be prepared to become the abominable snowman. If you’re not going perfectly straight the tracks are kicking up a huge amount of snow. When riding a quad this packs around your legs and feet in the footwells and in a side x side snow gets everywhere inside the cab if you’re not fully enclosed.
When are they awesome? As soon as you have a couple of feet of snow the ride smooths out and you can go off the beaten trail.
Background on this video: Steve was stuck on his quad so Marc hooked up to tow him to safety but instead takes him on a minute long tour of untouched powder then returns Steve to the exact spot where he first hooked up to him. Unfortunately we missed the minute tour of the powder, we were all laughing and all Steve could do is follow along.
Is it hard on the machine? I haven’t noticed any damage from regular use of the tracks. The tracks are large with a lot of leverage so if you tag a hidden log or rock it’s possible you’re going to bend or break something in your suspension.
The biggest problem we encountered is needing to clean out around the suspension and driveshafts or else everything could ice up and possibly tear a CV boot with all the snow/ice packed around the drivetrain.
You’ll also want to check your oil and coolant before each ride because you’re often riding at higher RPMs for sustained periods, like when climbing for a protracted time.
What do they cost? For a quad you’re looking at around $4200 for Camso T4S and for a side x side it’s $5600ish for the Camso 4S1 (both previously called Camoplast Tatou Tracks).
It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the classifieds because good looking used track kits come up in the $2-3000 range.
The good part of tracks is you’re probably not going to get stuck, the bad part is you spend the day towing other people.
Your homework? If you’re thinking about tracks you want to do a bunch of research and talk to as many people who own tracks as possible because everyone has a different opinion to share.
This is an intermediate level ride with how slippery the trails are and the additional snow. A single tank of fuel will be enough, bring your winter riding gear and snow extraction gear.
The plan is to be back down around dark so a total of approximately 4 hours of riding.
The ride safety meeting starts at a positively leisurely time of 1:30pm at the cattleguard which is 350m up Noble Canyon Road from Highway 6. Remember ATVs can’t unload before the cattleguard so drive up the road a bit and park along either side, there’s lots of parking for the first couple of kms.
It looks like snow may return by Sunday but it shouldn’t be enough to slow us down. Starting at 1:30pm is a bit different but allows folks to do what they want to do Sunday morning and go for a 3-4 hour ride in the afternoon.
The Fine Print:
Ride speed will be determined by who shows up.
A single tank of fuel will suffice.
Bring your all weather gear and emergency kit.
We’ll pass outhouses at Rec Sites along our route.
Invite a friend, this may be the end of the warm spell.
Vernon ATV Club rides are open to everyone. Attend a few rides to meet other riders, find new trails and find out why membership has its benefits!
