I Have Such Great Friends!

Got an email the other day;

Doug,


I took your advice and went with the stock wheels, which was tough because I really like the ITP wheels. I went with 25" terra cross tires. I had an opportunity to weigh each wheel as I was getting the terra cross tires mounted. The stock aluminum brute force wheels weigh 6.7 pounds each for the rear and 6.2 pounds each for the fronts. For comparison the 14" ITP wheels were around 14 pounds.

I must say that the terra cross tires have completely transformed my machine. I saw somewhere on your website that you ran about 5.5 psi in yours and I did the same and wow what a difference. I have regained all my power, my steering is fantastic (almost feels like power steering) and the handling is awesome. The 25" terra cross tires actually measure 24-1/4 inches and thus bringing the brute force closer to the ground like I want. Now I have an awesome machine that feels stable, handles great, and is predictable. Doesn't have all the flash, but definitely is capable!

Wow! Stephen was smart enough to ask for advice. Smart enough to take it. And then smart enough to investigate it further. He took my advice and immensely improved his ATV and his riding experience. In the process of checking this all out, Stephen did something I hadn’t done – measure the weight difference between good, stock aluminum wheels and those ‘nice-looking’ 14” wheels from ITP.

Stephen’s just one example of the type of person that follows ATVTV, and whom I consider a friend. He’s someone I’ve never met but yet I know that if I ever do, that we’d get along just fine – talking about our families, our riding experiences, and those more important things we no doubt share.

That’s what I like most about what I do….. I get to meet so many of you. Sometimes in nothing more than an email. But sometimes it’s the Walmart checkout line where we visit as though we’ve been friends for years. Sometimes it’s in a restaurant where we are surprised to be sharing the same experience. Or sometimes out on the trails where we chat about the riding adventures we share.

And sometimes I’ve found that our lives actually intersect and we become friends for more than just one passing moment. But whether our paths cross in an email, or for 30 seconds in meeting, we have a bond. We like the same things. But maybe more important, we see life through the same set of values. And ‘that’ is what bonds us together and yet sets us apart from the rest.

We care about the same things – tires that work as well as the ads say they should, wheels that don’t weight so much that they control the ATV, zippers on bags that actually zip when packed with dust and dirt, exploring trails rather than destroying them, and other, more important things.

I’m fortunate in that I’m constantly reminded what a great bunch of people I’m able to call friends.

Thanks. It means a lot.