Oceano Dunes
In the ongoing battle at Oceano Dunes, there has been a positive development. Friends of Oceano Dunes filed three separate lawsuits after the California Coastal Commission voted to end off-road vehicle use there within three years. One lawsuit is called a Quiet Title suit and alleges that since off-road vehicle use took place there with the knowledge of land owners for more than five years in the distant past, it should be allowed to continue. The Coastal Commission made a motion for the suit to be thrown out, which was just denied by the judge. The suit will continue to trial.

CARB
The California Air Resources Board is now tightening the standards for on road motorcycles. This affects dual sport and adventure motorcycles. It is looking at adopting standards like the very strict Euro 5 standards. It is even proposing to add more sensors to OBD (on board diagnostic) systems and requiring catalyzers. Manufacturers are concerned that the new standards will require extensive engineering that cannot be implemented in the timeline proposed by CARB. They strongly prefer that standards adopted should be identical to Euro 5, so they would not need to make different models of the same bikes. CARB has a comment period open until February 7. Click here for information.

Riverside OHV Park
For years I have seen Riverside County apply for OHV grants to build a new park in Riverside County. The county has recently made significant progress and has six proposed sites it is looking at. Off-road motorcycle racing legend Scott Harden is helping with the project. The county is accepting comments in their feasibility study and you can see where the proposed sites are and comment on them here.

Cleanups
SDORC, along with our partners ASA and CORVA, put on a very successful cleanup at the Imperial Sand Dunes. There were four stations at each corner of the dunes and a lot of trash was picked up. I would like to thank Audrey Mason and Bryan Henry for doing a lot of the heavy lifting on the event.

Next, Friends of Ocotillo Wells will be hosting a cleanup at Ocotillo Wells February 19 at the event center on Main Street. Check in around 9:00 am and come back around lunch time for food and prizes.

On February 26 SDORC and SDMUST will be hosting a cleanup at Painted Gorge. This is one of my favorite areas and deserves some attention. There is often shooting and off-roading trash left there and it is up to us to keep the area respectable. Look for the dumpster a couple miles down Painted Gorge Rd where we will have check-in from 9:00 am. If you don’t know the area, it is worth a look. There are great trails all around and you can legally practice your second amendment rights.

Video
California State Parks asked for some help in making an OHV video recently. After determining it would not be a hit piece, I agreed to help. I was able to take a Tuesday off work and invite some friends out to Ocotillo Wells to shoot the video. It was a long, but fun day, starting before dawn and ending at dusk. I look forward to seeing what they get and if any of the GoPro video came out (they put one on me and said go nuts).

Desert Safari
We have been offered a space at the TDS Safari March 5, so look for us, I believe in Salton City, for a fun day in the desert.

Mountain Dash
SDORC is co-hosting a dual sport motorcycle event called Mountain Dash with the San Diego Adventure Riders. We are looking at May 15 with a start in Escondido and finish at Pio Pico Campground by Otay Mountain. Expect both street and dirt sections with total distance of about 150 miles. The dirt sections are not too difficult and any type of motorcycle is welcome, although dual sport and adventure bikes will be best. Signup will open soon at https://dualsport-sd.com/.

We still have our weekly radio show on AM 1170 and FM 92.1 at noon on Sundays. Sometimes we call in from the desert or racetrack, but we are always on. If you don’t listen live, you can listen on our website here. We would love some new advertisers, so hit us up, it is reasonable and after the shows, we post them on our website, so you get more for your money.

SDORC is a membership organization, so click here to join or renew. It helps us keep our favorite sport alive.

Ed Stovin