Getting in to motocross

[Aspect]

I always wanted to do it when I was younger, but parents could never afford it. Now at the ripe age of 23 im thinking about it again, and it's financially more of a realistic prospect (self funded).

Thing is, i've never ridden a motorbike in my life. I can ride a push bike just fine, but i have no illusions that it will be anything like that.

So my questions are...

Are any of you guys in to MX? And if so, any suggestions on how i should go about learning and getting in to it?

My dad used to race, but that was many moons ago. It was quite cool to see his face when i said i fancy trying it

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[DAnDan]

I used to race a few years back, but quite due to reasons I won't mention here.

Basically, my advice would be to pick yourself up a semi-decent bike, obviously don't go any buy a brand new model unless you have money coming out of your ears, but at the same time, don't buy a bike that's going to need a lot of work. MX bikes need a lot of maintaining compared to other bikes anyway, so buying one that will need extra work will bite you pretty quickly. But this depends entirely how much money you have/want to sink into the actual bike.

Then you'll need gear, no track will let you on without good boots, an approved helmet, proper legwear, and gloves at the minimum. You'll then definately want to buy some body armour (roost protection), and probably a jersey to go over it. You should be able to pick this all up new for a few hundred, or less if you buy used, but don't buy a used helmet whatever you do!

Then you'll need a way to get to the tracks, as MX bikes are about as far from road legal as anything you'll find, so you'll need either a car with a towbar and trailer, or a van. And don't forget to have a good way to secure the bike to the trailer . It'll also be worth getting a decent set of locks for the bike, as they have absolutely no security (key, alarm etc) on them.

Hopefully that'll help you a bit. Feel free to ask any other questions you need.

 

[Aspect]

Thanks for the reply mate.

Id plan on getting a decent second hand bike. I'll look for one that doesn't need much work. Saying that, my dads worked on bikes his whole life, so im pretty confident about the maintenance.

The real question i have, is how to go about learning when i've never rode a motorbike. I drive, so i have an understanding on how to work a clutch/gearbox. I guess im just worried about learning in a public setting.

Any advice?

 

[DAnDan]

Well you're only ever going to be using it on private tracks, or your own/a friend's land, so there's limited ways that you can learn really. Some tracks offer training days where you could go along, but they're often aimed at more experienced riders.

I learnt by just going along to a track (a simpler, less dangerous track) on a day when I knew it would be quiet, and putting in some laps.

 

[Aspect]

Was that the first time you ever rode a bike?

 

[helpimcrap]

you will crash. a lot! when riding a crosser. before you make the effort go to some practices at ryton nr coventry.

MEGA isn't the word when you see Gary Taylor performing stunts in the middle if he still does!

seriously look into it and get a ride on one before commiting - i race and i hated it!

 

[Aspect]

you will crash. a lot! when riding a crosser. before you make the effort go to some practices at ryton nr coventry.

MEGA isn't the word when you see Gary Taylor performing stunts in the middle if he still does!

seriously look into it and get a ride on one before commiting - i race and i hated it!

Ha, i do suspect i will spend more time picking up the bike and my body parts than actually riding. I've been playing rugby for the last 10+ years, so im not a stranger to injuries or pain.

Is Ryton a good place to start? I think the nearest track to me is Little Packington, not sure how suitable it is to start on though.

 

[W!ll]

Aspect what you really need to do is get some bike time in, do you have any friends who have a bike that can let you learn? The problem your going to face is learning to ride a bike which to be honest isn't hard, just takes some time but then learn to ride offroad which is a whole different ball game in comparison to road riding.

If you know of any land owned by a co-operative owner/friends or anything as such i have an enduro bike i'd be happy to let you play about and learn on (very similar to an MX bike, just a little softer on sus and power delivery). As the only times i really get to ride mine are at practices days such as those run by enduroland, or H&H races.

 

[Aspect]

I don't have any close friends who ride, but i do know a few people i could possibly ask. I imagine the trick will be getting used to the power delivery initially, and the different way of clutching/changing gears.

Unfortunately i don't know anyone with land. Thanks for the kind offer, i will keep that in mind mate.

In the past i've had a tendency to rush in to new interests and burn out with them quickly. So i want to take my time to do this properly.

 

[DAnDan]

Was that the first time you ever rode a bike?

It was the first time I'd ever ridden a motorbike of any kind, so I was pretty unsure about it, but I didn't really have an alternative. But I just found a track that was the easiest of the local ones, and went on a day I knew would be quiet and put in a lot of practice, just built up from there really.

As said, you will crash, a lot, everybody does, but the bikes, and your equipment are built to take it. The ket thing is just to take is slow, MX bikes WILL do you a lot of damage if you don't show them enough respect, it's all to easy to get over confident on the throttle and find yourself out of control on a 90foot jump. As long as you stay within your limits you'll make progess without damaging yourself.

As others have said, if you can find somebody with land who is willing to let you have a go (even if it's a small area, just enough to get used to the gearbox/clutch) it will give you a big advantage to just jumping on a track. One other thing that may be worth checking is any local farmers who may be willing to let you have a ride around an unused field they have for a small price (offer them a tenner or so should do it).

 

[W!ll]

There is one other idea i can suggest. There is a company that run enduro practice tracks fortnightly, they have a fair few different venues based around the milton keynes area but do go further a field. There is an event on the 26th of this month where total novices can go, hire a bike and have a play, enduro is very similar to MX except obviously bike time is much higher and there is an absence of such extreme jumps, much more about cross-country riding almost. Check them out at http://www.enduroland.com enduro might even be a better idea for your first go on a bike, lots of shared skills but it can be a lot easier if you take the easy outs etc.

Where as i'll be doing the practice day on the 27th!

 

[runing.man]

I used to ride when i was 15 years old but due to the lack of money and the cost to maintain the bike i could not afford it then.

But at 25 i wanted to start up again so got my bike around November last year and all the gear i needed and been riding every week end since and am so glad i started back.

You say your dad used to race is there any chance your dad could learn you how to ride, i know you say it was a while ago but i had not been on a bike for 10 years and i could still ride so maybe your dad could help you ?

 

[PardonTheWait]

It's expensive and it's hard, difficulty wise and physically, but it's fun.

You can get a decent bike for £1500, but the other kit is relatively expensive, another few hundred. You'll need a trailer or a van, trailer will be a couple of hundred.

Riding these days tends to be £30-35 a day for practice tracks, the bikes need a lot of maintaining - oil changes, filter changes/cleans, they destroy tyres, they destroy chains, two strokes need rebuilding and four strokes need valves checking (less often, more expensive), fork seals need doing and so on. It does eat a large amount of money but it's tons of fun.

If you're committed it's well worth doing - if you don't have any friends that do it you will be able to make friends through it if you're a little outgoing, the people at practice days are always friendly enough in my experience.

As for learning, you just need somewhere flat at first, I started off on wasteground locally, riding a couple of mates' bikes, then got my own and just trundled around every week for a while before I started going to tracks.

It's a steep learning curve but it's fun, and largely, falling off means aches and pains as opposed to real injuries. The day after I always used to feel like I'd just fallen down the stairs whether I'd fallen off the day before or not. It's a relatively low speed sport so the chances of massive injuries are comparatively low. Knees and wrists are most common injuries from what I've seen.

 

[Aspect]

I used to ride when i was 15 years old but due to the lack of money and the cost to maintain the bike i could not afford it then.

But at 25 i wanted to start up again so got my bike around November last year and all the gear i needed and been riding every week end since and am so glad i started back.

You say your dad used to race is there any chance your dad could learn you how to ride, i know you say it was a while ago but i had not been on a bike for 10 years and i could still ride so maybe your dad could help you ?

Im sure my dad would try and help, although i can see the arguments happening now lol.

It's expensive and it's hard, difficulty wise and physically, but it's fun.

You can get a decent bike for £1500, but the other kit is relatively expensive, another few hundred. You'll need a trailer or a van, trailer will be a couple of hundred.

Riding these days tends to be £30-35 a day for practice tracks, the bikes need a lot of maintaining - oil changes, filter changes/cleans, they destroy tyres, they destroy chains, two strokes need rebuilding and four strokes need valves checking (less often, more expensive), fork seals need doing and so on. It does eat a large amount of money but it's tons of fun.

If you're committed it's well worth doing - if you don't have any friends that do it you will be able to make friends through it if you're a little outgoing, the people at practice days are always friendly enough in my experience.

As for learning, you just need somewhere flat at first, I started off on wasteground locally, riding a couple of mates' bikes, then got my own and just trundled around every week for a while before I started going to tracks.

It's a steep learning curve but it's fun, and largely, falling off means aches and pains as opposed to real injuries. The day after I always used to feel like I'd just fallen down the stairs whether I'd fallen off the day before or not. It's a relatively low speed sport so the chances of massive injuries are comparatively low. Knees and wrists are most common injuries from what I've seen.

Yeah i think the trick will be finding somewhere flat where i can learn. Once i get the nack of it, i'll be much more confident in heading to a track.

 

[Aspect]

Any suggestions to what bikes i should be looking at guys?

 

[W!ll]

Orange ones are pretty damned good! But realisticly 125-250 2st, prob more likely 125, or 250 two stroke from any of the big manufacturers should be good; KTM, Honda, Yam, Suzuki or even Kawasaki.

 

[DAnDan]

I'd say to go for a nice 125 2-stroke, or if you prefer a 4 stroke a 250F. They're pretty similar in power, but the 4 strokes have become far more popular in recent years. Maintenance wise the 2 stroke needs it more often, but it's easier to go, whereas the 4 stroke needs it less frequently, but it's a bigger job (still, not too big to be done in by yourself with a good manual).

You may find you prefer to ride either 2 or 4s, but you'd need to have access to both to find out first, which is unlikely. As said above though, anything from the major manufactures will do you fine.

 

[Aspect]

Cheers for the advice guys!