Inviting friends to ride, Liability???

A

alswagg

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We would like to invite our friends to go riding with us. We have two guess sleds which are in extreamly good condition, both mechanically and cosmeticaly. I want to be able to allow our friends to ride, but if they would happen to damage, ie crash or such, how do you collect? I always want to be upfront with them prior to the ride. If you damage it you either buy it or pay for the repairs. If it is mechanical, out of their controll, that is a differant story. What does everyone else do or think?? Al
 
Before I got my sled last year.....I have had the chance to ride with friends on a "borrowed" sled.

However for the exact reasons you stated, I often times turned down invites just because of the nature of riding. The only times I accepted was when they were doing "trail runs". Maybe I was more proactive but I always told them I was going to keep it under control....avoided the jumping when they did it, paid for the fuel and if we stopped someplace a lot of times would offer to buy lunch for the guy's sled I was borrowing. I even just stepped up (since these are some of my best friends) and would tell them if I "F" something up...I guess I'll be entering the hobby quickly with a smile. We always had that understanding. My father brought me up with the mentality don't borrow it if you can't afford it.

It was never really discussed much with us, but there was always that understanding if I did do something to "cause" it.....I would have ponied up to fix it. Even now when we go riding in groups and everyone wants to swap sleds...(most of them like to try my SRX out since they all run polaris and cats) I am still hesitant to ride other's sleds for the same reason and I also know how some of those guys ride and I don't know what I'd do if they cracked up mine.

I guess I'd start with a light hearted conversation of lets have fun and keep it under control....and maybe keep the riding to easier trails.
 
Usually with my good friends I just remind them straight up before they borrow anything from me that if they break it they fix the problem. They agree with me and if I were to borrow something from anyone even someone I dont know I have the same thought I break it I buy or fix it.

If I were you I would tell them right before they step on that sled that if they break it they fix it. If they agree then go have fun if not cancel the ride. If they are good friends they will do exactly to what they agreeed opon.
 
That's sounds reasonable to me, but you know your friends better then us. I guess if you're unsure that they feel the same way I wouldn't invite them. Of course anything can happen, I have taken the hit for good friends before , if it was something minor as their friendship was worth it to me, but I can be overly generous to my close friends. Just use your best judgement, that's all you can do.
Gil
 
a good friend will under stand i had a friend roll one of my sleds and before i ever said a thing the first words out of his mouth was ill pay for all the damage so we rolled it back over and contuined our ride and didnt let that affect our ride ...and all day he kept saying he was sorry ...
 
gil7247 said:
That's sounds reasonable to me, but you know your friends better then us. I guess if you're unsure that they feel the same way I wouldn't invite them. Of course anything can happen, I have taken the hit for good friends before , if it was something minor as their friendship was worth it to me, but I can be overly generous to my close friends. Just use your best judgement, that's all you can do.
Gil
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Good advise ! I might add that If you have an agreement on paying for repairs ask yourself, can they afford to repair your sled after running across a bare parking lot and dead smack into the steel safety pipe at the end of the gas pumps.......what would be really sad is if it was the last sled in the group that would need gas..... :o|
 
certainly do not do any hill climbing...My nephew rode my 600 years back and went up the first hill,hit a bump half way up..threw sled up..he freaked,but I was on top of the hill and just screamed down ..give it gas man,,don't stop.And he made it.Had visions of my sled rolling all the way down with him being injured..But he did ok for a beginner actually.A few hours of riding and he was getting the feel of it...but if he rolled it..I am sure he would have offered to pay for repairs..
 
Vmax540 said:
Good advise ! I might add that If you have an agreement on paying for repairs ask yourself, can they afford to repair your sled after running across a bare parking lot and dead smack into the steel safety pipe at the end of the gas pumps.......what would be really sad is if it was the last sled in the group that would need gas..... :o|
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GOOD point but the way I look at it he will have to afford it. It wouldn't really matter to much to me when it got fixed because its my extra sled but as long as it did get fixed within a reasonable time frame of course.
 
I believe what your trying to do, is how to tackfully put it to the riders of YOUR back-up sleds.
"I have a back-up sled you can ride if your willing to fix what ya break. Barring of course mechanical breakdown".
or
"You break it,you buy it". Then shake on it.
Us here in Illinois now require insurance on sleds.
 
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That's why I finally bought my own sleds. Over the course of riding for years with my brothers who both plenty of sleds, I broke one of sled of each brothers. I fixed the one that was my fault, the other was mechanical because of poor maintenance. Which my brother admitted, he didn't expect me to fix it. But I just hate riding other peoples stuff. If you know them well enough, you should be able to tell if someone is going to be responsible enough to ride your stuff, and definately tell them if they break it they fix it, If they don't like that policy, then they don't ride.
 
sounds like a uniform vote to me. i as well dont like riding other peoples stuff. it makes me feel uneasy cause i dont want to break it on them.... my brother had a donor sled for a while and one of his buddies neil did actually roll it. but neil was a long time true friend and insisted on fixing it cause he felt horrible about it. it was funny tho my brother was walking around picking up broken pieces of sled and putting them in his pocket lol. he was a little disturbed at first.
 
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