When it comes to motorcycles, there are several different types. There are street bikes, cruisers, sports bikes, and touring motorcycles. There is also a popular bike that is considered to be an off-road motorcycle and more commonly referred to as dirt bikes. These motorcycles are carefully designed to perform specific functions. The following bullet points are typically true for off road bikes compared with standard street bikes.

Off-road bikes are light weight with a small engine. They enable a long suspension travel as well as high ground clearance. Dirt bikes are simple and rugged in construction, requiring little to no body work or fairing. They usually consist of large wheels with knobby tires which are clamped to the rim using rim-locks.

Because of their sports like features, off road motorcycles are often customized for a variety of off road motorcycle sports. Most bikers prefer to use honda motorcycle parts when customizing.

Motocross: This is simply racing while taking jumps in competition with other dirt bikers. Rally raid or “Rallies”: This is simply long distance racing, usually located through deserts and terrain. Trials: This is an extremely specialized sport that focuses on balancing skills and precision as opposed to speed. Track racing: This is high speed oval racing that involves no brakes, no suspension, two gears at most, and a methanol fueled engine. Note: These machines are not street legal.

When it comes to motorcycles, there are so many uses. And off-road bikes are the best when it comes to competitive biking sports. If you don’t have one already, get yourself a dirt bike and take yourself for a fast ride around your backyard.

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Mountain Bike, abbreviated as MTBs or ATBs (All Terrain Bikes) is a bike that are meant for riding on dirt paths or unpaved environments. They are more rugged than road bicycles, and can handle more strain.

The tires of the mountain bike are wider and knobbier than road bikes, for more grip and shock absorption. Front suspension for the MTBs is becoming the norm, and in today’s mountain bikes, you can find front and rear suspension. The wheels are usually 26″ in diameter, but this is slowly changing to 29″ in the newer mountain bikes.

Mountain Bikes can be widely classified into four types.

* Fully Rigid

* Hard Tail

* Soft Tail

* Dual/ Full Suspension

Fully Rigid Mountain Bikes don’t have any suspension, and their frames have fixed rears and a rigid fork.

Hard Tail Mountain Bikes have a suspension fork in the front, and no suspension in the rear. A soft tail Mountain bike has very less suspension in the rear, and its frame has a flex in the rear, rather than the pivot. A Full Suspension MTB has a suspension fork in the front, and a rear suspension as well, with a link that lets the rear wheel move on a pivot.

Until recently, MTBs had the same design and geometry of Road Bikes. When mountain biking became more popular, riding became more aggressive, and new mountain bikes with lighter and stronger frames were created to cater to the rider’s needs and aggressive riding style.

The New-age mountain bikes have 21, 24 or 27 speeds. They usually have 3 gears in the front. The rear has 7, 8 or 9 gears. They also feature disc brakes. This gives the rider better stopping power than normal rim brakes. They can also take heavy breaking without wearing out soon, and causing lesser problems.

There are a wide range of tire types for mountain bikes. Some styles include slick street tires, sticky rubber tires, etc. Tubeless tires are also gaining popularity in the MTB world for their pinch flat resistance. Some good MTB tire manufacturers are Wilderness Trail Bikes, Schwalbe, Kenda, Maxxis, Nokian, etc.

Mountain biking has become more of an adventure sport by itself, and lot of equipment can be found just for mountain bikers, most of it safety related. Protective gear that is worn by the rider is often referred to as ‘Armor’, and is work to protect against injuries. ‘Armors’ may range from just knee and elbow caps, to full body padding. Usually, Downhill and freestyle bikers wear more armor, as their riding styles are more dangerous and prone to injuries. Most of these bodysuits also have special protection for the spine, comprising of a set of plastic plates, covered with foam.

Most bike parks require bikers to wear full face helmets, to protect against injury. These helmets a just like their counterparts used in motocross, but are considerably more ventilated and lighter. Most professional riders wear these by choice, to avoid head injuries.

Some of the Mountain Bike manufacturers are Airborne cycles, Alpine design MTBs, Arrow Racing, Dagger, Dart, Full Dynamix, etc.

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A dirt bike or an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) is meant to ride off-road. It is in fact a lightweight motorcycle equipped with rugged tires and suspension; in other words it can be called a 2 or 4 wheel off road motorcycle. ATV’s and dirt bikes have been around since the 60s and are still thriving. Kids and adults thirst for adventure and the call to rugged terrains is renewed with every generation.

ATV are used as outdoors utility vehicle such as on farms, hunting… ATVs are good recreational vehicle, they are fun to rid on dirt and sand dunes; there are many professional, sanctioned off road ATV races. The demand for dirt bikes and ATVs has drastically increased. There are many ATVs and dirt bikes available at cheap prices for kids and adults. It is now common to see youngsters who are seven to eight years old mounting dirt bikes and ATVs expertly and with ease. But injuries caused by riding dirt bikes and ATVs happen very often. Studies by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission have come up with stunning figures: many as 4 out of 10 people who are involved in an ATV accident are kids under the age of 16.

The primary safety rule of course is to first learn how to ride an ATV or Dirt Bike before hitting the outdoors. The responsibility for properly training a child to ride ATVs or dirt bikes lies with the parents. The young rider must be supervised at all times while riding an off-road machine.

The law in the US does not allow ATVs on freeways and kids should never be allowed to ride where there is traffic. Children should not be allowed carry anyone on the off road vehicle; this is a major cause of serious accidents. It’s a good practice to make a complete pre-ride check before using the ATV or dirt bike. Check the tire pressure, gas level, test the brakes front and rear as well as the lights. Please refer to the respective ATV manufacturer manual for complete details.

Riding on public roads can prove fatal. Ensure that children never ride without a helmet and wear gloves, eye protection and protective gear. It is good sense not to make do with protective gear meant for other activities such as daddy’s football gear – because the gear required for safe riding on dirt bikes and ATVs is designed with that purpose in mind.

Bikes and ATVs are age specific and size specific, so elders are well advised to buy and upgrade the bike according to the child’s age. There is no rule as to what age a kid has to be to ride an ATV or dirt bike but do not put a 4 year old on a 110cc ATV or a 50cc dirt bike. A 4 stroke 70cc ATV for kids packs enough punch for an adult to have fun on it. Thankfully most youth ATVs and dirt bikes are equipped with safety controls such as:

A speed governor that sets the maximum speed as low as 5MPH

A corded plug that allows an adult to run along with the youngster and pull to kill the engine (great feature for very young riders)

A remote control that can kill the engine by the press of a button within up to 200 feet (great to keep little older kids under control)

As for the ever-popping question, how young of a child can ride an ATV? Since every kid is different, it is up to each parent to decide what age a child can ride what ATV or dirt bike.

Remember that a child on a bike is definitely vulnerable. Riding vehicles off road can be very fun and provide a healthy workout. To reduce the risk of injury, good training, constant supervision and following the manufacturer’s instructions are a must.

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The evolution of off-road motorcycles, commonly called dirt bikes, is a long and complicated story. The first motorcycles were actually nothing more than modified bicycles with attached gasoline engines. These powered bicycles were amazing inventions in their day. Unreliable, but amazing methods of transportation, these motorcycles began captivating people across the globe. Since paved streets were not quite the norm at the time, motorcycles generally could be considered dirt bikes right from the start. No single person or company has been credited with the invention of the dirt bike. Off-road motorcycling is really an evolution of many years, with better tires, better suspension and seats, stronger frames, and better control features being credited to many individuals who were essentially modifying their own bikes for better off-road use. Triumph motorcycles did however design a motorcycle specifically built for dirt riding in 1914, although this model is not actually credited with being the first dirt bike.

Motocross racing seems to have had it origins in Europe, very possibly France with these early motorcycles being raced through wooded trails or racing to the top of a mountainous road for publicity. Many of these early races were not races of speed but races against time where riders simply competed against each other on an individual basis. Racing expanded as did the production of motorcycles to include scrambles and cross country events which excited and entertained spectators. Incidentally, the word motocross was derived from the words motorcycle and cross-country. The races would eventually be moved to a shorter, closed track for easier viewing by the spectators and better monitoring of the racers themselves. With the world at war and the Great Depression, off-road motorcycles may not have been a priority concept with people for many years but the interest in dirt racing wasn’t about to go away. Then Soichiro Honda came along in 1946 with his idea to produce cheap transportation for people after the second world war. Honda became the most predominant name in motorcycles and dirt bikes in particular, undoubtedly due to the fact that they are the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. They were joined by other manufacturers over the years who would eventually become household names as well. Suzuki produced their first motorcycle in 1954, Yamaha in 1955, and Kawasaki in 1960. Although dirt bikes were still far in the future for the big four, this was the beginning of the onslaught of a motorsport unlike any other. Dirt bikes and dirt bike racing would eventually become one of the most popular motorsports in the world.

After a mix of both two stroke and four stroke motors in various models through the years, Honda finally designs and builds a competitive two stroke motocross motor in 1972. It reached the USA in 1973 and is called the Elsinore CR250. It immediately becomes the fastest production off-road race bike in its class and placed Honda alone at the top of the heap in regard to motocross racing. In the 1970′s, motocross racing would finally do what motorcycle manufacturers hoped it would. Off-road motorcycling would become a recreational activity not unlike bicycling with its popularity exploding among the general public. The big four Japanese manufacturers would eventually produce a full product line of dirt bikes in a variety of sizes for various racing classes and ages. Children’s dirt bikes would become available for those early starters and dual-use motorcycles would also become available with dirt tires and suspension along with street-legal features. Other manufacturers also joined the specialized dirt bike market including Maico, Gas Gas, and KTM.

To this day, dirt bikes continue their evolution with almost constant improvement in weight reduction, suspension, engine reliability, and overall performance. They are used as weekend recreational vehicles by millions of people around the world. The world of motocross racing has become more popular than ever before thanks to dirt bike riding basically evolving into an art form. Freestyle riding and stunt riding are captivating more young riders every year and the manufacturers continue to respond by producing high quality, cutting edge dirt bikes.

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