I WAS interested to hear from Stephen James Reels (South China Morning Post, February 19) that rarely-seen motorcycles were now being seen regularly as ''cavorting pairs'' in country parks. I wonder if these might be breeding pairs? It is illegal to drive any motor vehicle on unleased Crown land and I guess country parks fall within this. As one who both rode in and organised legal off-road motorcycle events from as far back as 1975 I am well aware of this.
Unfortunately the conflict between off-road motorcyclists and walkers, environmentalists and the like, rages worldwide and, as I enjoy both hill walking and dirt-bike riding, I can see both sides of the matter.
My experience is, however, that the ''greenies'' offer no flexibility, and do not agree that any degree of off-road motorcycle sport is acceptable.
In practice, one might argue that pleasure boating is equally objectionable and one might argue that uncontrolled walkers cause more damage to the countryside than the dirt-bikes that are occasionally seen there.
The Pennine Way in the UK has to be closed at times to repair the erosion caused by walkers. In California the authorities have attempted to combat the problem of illegal off-road riding by having police officers mounted on dirt-bikes themselves.
If the Hongkong parks authority intend to follow the same course, I would take pleasure in offering my services as a volunteer patrolman. That would be fun.
