I’ve come to the decision that I no longer want to ride sportsbikes on the road, they’re just not very nice to ride unless you’re properly on it and that’s just a recipe for trouble with my lack of self control!

So I’m thinking about buying a motocross bike, probably a Kawasaki KXF 250 there are a few tracks near me to go and ride at and likely to be sharing ownership with a mate (motorbike road racer, already has a van) I guess I’m just after some pointers as to what I’ll need and where is the best place to buy kit, what might I have overlooked.

What do I need to know?

wait until it’s very very dry so you don’t cut up all the trails for us offroaders without engines. 🙂

When i say tracks, I mean motocross tracks – like this – not green laning.

You will get hurt. Enjoy 🙂

I haven’t raced since I was a kid, but one thing I would say is take it very slowly at first. Getting whipped off a motocross bike is very different to getting thrown off a mountain bike. Things can get broken very quickly. Might be wise to go on a skills course. I don’t know where to buy kit other than ebay and http://shop.1stmx.co.uk/ which are a big retailer. But a neck brace isn’t a bad idea. Obviously a good pair of boots and motocross pants, id go for armour as a beginner. Knee brace is also a good idea. Especially good to stop you leg getting torn if it gets caught up in a corner, when your leading with it. though as a kid in the 80’s I never wore a neck brace or knee brace, but did wear body armour. (left out lid etc as that is pretty obvious)

your local racing club may have a sales board for old kit? or uk based motocross websites classifieds

http://www.dirtbikerider.com/dirtbikerider/dirtshop/

jimjam is correct 😆

If you think you are fit you will find out you are not.

10 yr olds on 85’s will be flying past you.

Good boots vital, kidney belt also and a neck brace is an idea.

It can be very rough, stuff gets nicked, maintain the bike or face big eye watering bills. I would go 2 stroke but that is my preference.

Maybe buy a 125 as a 250 maybe a touch too much of a handful for a beginner/less fun overall.
Also some MX kit for sale here 😉

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-mxdh-jersey-trousers-now-even-cheaper

One story, my cousin used to come to races with me and my dad when I was a kid of about 14. He was late 20’s and really enjoyed watching. Decided to get a bike to have a go for fun and maybe race. He bought all the new kit and new bike, he tried following me around the track and within about 200 yds, hitting some whoops, he was thrown in to the face of one and broke his arm reaching out to stop himself. He sold all the kit the next week.

That’s not to put a dampener on things at all. That’s to say, you will love it if you take it slow at first and build up to speed.

https://www.facebook.com/MXForos/videos/767395890018370/

It will beat the living shit out of you, even if you don’t crash. Insanely fun but utterly brutal. The top guys must be incredibly fit.

Hmm, swear filter not working?

*Awaits scolding email*

Why not start with an Enduro steed. Less intense and far longer laps

Take the lights off for doing practice sessions on your local MX tracks.

Give it a year and see if you want to specialise.

Very easy to get into. Just turn up at a practice track and off you go.

Consider racing hare and hounds / enduro as well. Big loops on natural trails, a lot like mountainbiking. The larger circuit makes mixing with the axe murderers less of an issue so a really easy form of racing to get into. There are classes for MX bikes. You can ride enduro bikes on MX tracks too, but MX bikes are cheaper.

I’d get a two stroke rather than a four stroke. Maintenance on a four stroke is much more complex. Don’t be fooled into thinking four strokes are low maintenance. They’re race bikes. On that note, be prepared to spend as much time on maintenance as you do riding.

Typical ‘crosser owner-

“hew hew, crossers, hew. Powerbands in every gear, god’s honest truth mate. Loves the back wheel hew.”

If you’re looking to buy one, get used to reading the following phrases-

race tuned
maintained by GP mechanic
loves the back wheel
not for the faint hearted
first to see will buy
powerbands in every gear
just had top end rebuild (it won’t have, and it’ll be ready to shit itself within 10 minutes of starting it up)

They attract thieves like you wouldn’t believe.*

* me, still bitter nearly fours years after my lovely, rare Yam WR200 was stolen and broken for parts by some knuckle-dragging arsehole from Sunderland 🙁

It will beat the living shit out of you, even if you don’t crash. Insanely fun but utterly brutal.

At the begining,this^^. 🙂

The last thing to leave the bike is your throttle hand,get strong wrists.

Sunderland

You’re describing Northerners, not MXers. All the ones I’ve know are seriously fit racers. And mostly injured.

If you know your limits you don’t need to get hurt – I had bags of fun pottering around MX tracks as a latecomer, it’s awesome and I was learning on every lap. If you have time and money, go for it. For me it was actually cheaper and easier than racing DH – tracks closer, fees less than race entry, absolutely knackered in a day rather than a weekend away.

You don’t have to break yourself but you will hurt. I remember struggling to put my own socks on for a couple of days after a big session when I started. I got a lot stronger.

250F sounds like a good starter but can be very expensive to maintain, so don’t discount 125’s. £60 for a top end, and it’s good to go again.- I’ve seen sports bikers come off fast road bikes, buy a 250cc 2 stroke, get hurt and quit! In the right hands on the right track a 125 is still extremely competitive.

You’ll need to use the spanners, a lot. And a jetwash.
Basic kit will be OK but get good boots, consider spare goggles and eventually (once you can take a hand off!), roll offs if riding wet or sand as you will get covered in roost!
Take security very seriously, keep the bike really low key and out of sight.

2 strokes 🙂

It’s worth stressing a 125 two stroke is the equivalent of a 250 four stroke. Neither are kids bikes. Step off an r1 onto a 125 and you’ll find it a handful.

Actually looking to split bike purchase costs with a mate, which is why looking at 250 4 stroke, not so worried about maintenance as we’re both pretty handy with the spanners – he builds his own race engines for the road bikes.

Boots and helmet are on the list, as are trousers, I’m guessing that I could use my mtb knee pads – hard shell ones – but will need a new upper suit, have a 661 SP1 that I use for DH days but would want something a bit more substantial and probably some impact shorts. Would I need a kidney belt too?

Thanks for the link LoCo, I’m a bit too fat for those though!

I would suggest reading up on kidney belts as it is a debate. Many think they are simply hang over from the days when motocross bikes were pretty primitive in terms of suspension. It is to do with constant hits through your body over bumps at high speed. Modern suspension should tune this out.

Worth having a think/look at trials too. Very satisfying, sociable sport, plenty of crossover with mtb, loads cheaper than pretty much any other motorsport, loads less potential for physical trauma than short circuit or MX racing, but, depending how you ride, can be pretty physically demanding.

Typical ‘crosser owner-

😆 not far from the truth, I have met some of the best people at MotoX and some of the scummiest bottom dwellers it has ever been my misfortune to meet and I include myself 😆

The Enduro bike option is a good idea, a mate has a KTM 300 which is happy to lug about in 3rd all day long (thats how he rides it) or can really shift if you want to use it.

be prepared for arm pump beyond your wildest imagination 😆

These days there are twin shock events Evo events all sorts of ways to burn your money. It is really great fun and utterly addictive.

Ask any half decent MX rider of their injuries and they normally recite a list of their big long bones, little spinal ones, joints, wrists, fingers etc. Usually visited ITU at some point. Hmmm, not for me! But I’m sure you’ll be fine. I can recall mtbing at Thetford forest whilst the motorbike enduro was on and being in awe of the loons riding the long ruts on the back wheel only at very high speeds, mental.

You will be knackered in no time until you build your fitness. Coming off the bike will happen, more often to begin with and with experience from greater heights. Due to the offs you will have, you need to be supple enough to bounce and shrug it off or if your older invest in lots of pain killers and make sure you have an understanding boss who doesn’t mind the constant sick leave.
If you can’t strip the head off the bike be ready for regular big bills. Again if you can’t maintain your bike and chance the maintenance expect after a long trip to be watching your mate wizz round the track whilst you’re a spectator because your bike won’t run.

Protect yourself from monkey butt.

Don’t forget to put the lid on the vaseline and leave it next to your lathe.

Tempted to point you towards a 125 – problem with 4 strokes for beginners for me is that they’re almost too easy to go quick on, so the offs you have whilst learning will be higher speed than they would be on a 125. A 125 is plenty, plenty fast enough, not quite as easy to ride but more fun to get speed out of, and a top end job costs peanuts and will only take an hour. And if you can go quick on a 125, you can go quick on anything… 😉

It will hurt, lots.

You are not fit!! Nowhere near!!!

Buy a smoker and learn to ride properly.

My 125 top end went, took the barrel too. It cost roughly 350 for parts but majority of that was a replate down at Langcourts.

I wouldn’t touch a 4 banger unless you know the history, if you don’t I’d budget for a rebuild.

4 banger rule, when they go bang…its a grand!!

Apologies if slightly off subject.

Has anyone got their kids into MX recently and what age would you start them at?

My dad got me a Yam PW50 when I was a kid, absolutely loved it but wish he’d have upgraded to an 85 and took me and my bro training. Money wasn’t really the issue for him, more time unfortunately.

My boys about to turn 3 but I was thinking maybe 5 for a first proper bike?

How much would be a reasonable amount to kit out and is the training / club meets going to break the bank if it were to be regular thing?

Cheers.

+1 for the 125 suggestions. Don’t think they’re for kids or girls just because they’re ‘only’ 125cc- you have to stop thinking with your British road bike brain- ‘bigger’ does not necessarily mean ‘better’ but it does probably mean ‘hurts more when you crash it’!

Could always go for a 150 KTM which is meant to be brilliant or 144 TM which is a work of art but is very off on power wise.

Costs of Schoolboy Scrambling can be huge, 4 or 5 is a good age to start.

If you want to see a little kid ripping go and look at Dangerboy Deegan on youtube, his dad was one one the original freestyle riders Brian Deegan and owner of Metal Mulisha, I think. I just hope he has a childhood that isnt just racing.

Loretta Lynn’s is good to look up on youtube as well some very fast kids racing there.

I think 5 is about the right age, many pro’s start around that age or younger… I dont think racing starts till 8. I think it depends on the child though. I think it is about being the right age for the child.

You’re describing Northerners, not MXers

Yeah. No one has ever had a bike stolen south of Manchester. I live in the northeast and I’ve never burgled anyone.

This is a thread I’ve been tempted to start myself. I love DH but find British uplift days unspeakably boring and they’re all miles away. I’d get much more actual saddle time, much closer to home on an MX bike. Big financial drain though when you get into maintenance. Torn between an MX bike and a track car.

Lad I know came from sports bikes, thought he had throttle control, got a 250cc 2 stroke and wrecked himself!

Very roughly:

600cc / 125 2 stroke / 250 four
1000cc / 250 2 stroke / 450 four
500cc 2 stroke 🙂

Another mate blew his 250F so I loaned him my 125 for the ‘expert’ sessions. He scoffed at the little bike, lit it up from the gate and wheelied the first straight, toes in the dirt, unable to climb back on and shut it off. 😆

He scoffed at the little bike, lit it up from the gate and wheelied the first straight, toes in the dirt

I think this is the main problem with beginners and injuries. It’s like any bike, they’re only as fast as you want them to be. I’ve seen so many accidents that could have been avoided by just winding it in a bit.

I’d get much more actual saddle time, much closer to home on an MX bike. Big financial drain though when you get into maintenance.

Weekend DH racing – 8 runs practice, 4 runs race day – 12 x 4 = 48mins riding. £70.

Day MX – 6 motos, 20 mins a time, 120 mins. £25.

I had a spreadsheet for my YZ costing out my spend and nearly everything day to day per ride over about 3 years (track fees, fuel, oil, tyre wear, chain, sprocket, top end) and it was under £60 a ride (riding 3-4 times a month some times). With above, better value than DH.

Bike parts are about the same cost across both. A decent 2 stroke can be had for £1500-£1800.

Add in a 40 min drive instead of 2-3 hours and I quit riding DH.

If any of you are near Reading, Ashdown Farm is a cracking track to use.

ARGH! You just proved my point with maths! I don’t need to be spending the rest of the day on eBay looking for a 125.

Just to prove the point though my local track is Hamsterley. It’s a 2 hour round trip so about £15 diesel plus £30 for uplifts of a sub 3 minute track. We get about 30 minutes of actual descending a day with 10 uplifts. My next closest venue is Innerleithen so that’s a full day out with 5 hours in the van and with my mates, takes about 6 weeks to organise.

On the other hand there’s 3 pay to play venues less than an hour away where you can pay £10 and blast around on your MX or enduro bike all day. That’s probably what I’d do before I went to a proper track with jumps and other traffic. Then I’ve got South Tees MX, PJMX, Causey Park, Darlington all an easy drive. I’ve already got the van as well.

That’s it…..of to eBay.

That was exactly my thought process and my experience bears it out. If I lived in the Welsh valleys or Ludlow it might have been different. Or if trail bikes 8 years ago are wear they are now. But then, it was an easy decision.
I did a tryout day with Geoff Mayes for a stag do, another for my birthday then raided my savings account 4 days later.
Do it!
You’ll get your money back on a good used 2 stroke if you maintain it well.

If any of you are near Reading, Ashdown Farm is a cracking track to use.

That was my favourite track. Had more of an enduro flavour to it (you could incorporate a singletrack section into it). Great venue for H&H too.

My lad on the big hill….

That was 13 years ago 😯

If you are over 30, enduro & trail riding is the way forward, with the odd practice as MX tracks.
Full on MX is just going to end in tears.
Rally’s are also great, a bit more sedate than a hare & hounds enduro, typically 3 X 40 mile laps of a course.
Great day out.