Taking care of yourself
Choosing and taking care of your machine
Motocross bikes range in size from 50cc kids bikes up to 500cc monsters. The bikes have peaky engines, usually two stroke but recently four stroke motors have started to make a big impact and they’ll eventually take over once bike manufacturers are forced to stop making environmentally unfriendly two strokes. There’s even an electric powered MX bike on the market which is meant to be quite good, it may work well but you’ll never feel the same riding a silent bike as you would on a noisy petrol driven machine! Suspension and tyres obviously play a large part in a good crossers DNA profile. You need good suspension to soak up the bumps and soften the landings, and the knobbly tyres need to have as much grip as possible to make good traction on both the dirt and, (more often than not in the UK) mud! Good brakes are also a pre requisite for the job, so make sure yours are in full working order before hurtling around your local track…
A recent survey found that a massive 33,000 people a month in Great Britain actively take part in motocross and it’s the 68th most popular sport. In a survey that includes sports as diverse as skittles and kayaking it’s quite a good placing!
Race meetings are held every weekend around the country, with local clubs putting on meetings, usually on farm land or specially built motocross tracks. Motocross tracks are made up of a series of straights, bumps, jumps and sweeping banked bends called berms. Usually the tracks are muddy so landings are quite soft. Junior classes start at the age of six, where they’ll start on 50cc bikes and progress through to 125cc before entering adult classes. It’s probably best to get kids involved as young as possible, they’ll progress much quicker than an adult would and it teaches them some discipline from an early age. Racing motocross might seem a bit scary to many parents but apart from the inevitable bumps and bruises and maybe the odd broken bone its as safe as anything and probably much better for them than sitting in front of the Xbox like a vegetable all day! A good place to look if you want to get kids involved is the British Schoolboy Motocross Association, check out - www.bsma-motocross.co.uk
MX kit
If you’re spending decent money on a secondhand bike don’t forget to buy the riding gear to go with it, the essential items are a good quality MX lid with goggles, a pair of motocross boots or similar that offer good protection to the foot ankle and calf, and a pair of quality gloves. Body armour should also be high on your shopping list, C.E approved armour is the best. You can get a vest that slips over your head and has all the essential armour to protect your upper body. Knee and shin pads are also recommended. Most MX riders wear thin tops and trousers which allow them to move around easily and also stops them from sweating too much whilst muscling the bike around the dirt.
Supermoto
There are one or two off shoots of motocross. In recent years ‘super moto’ has taken off big style around the world. Supermoto is a mixture of on and off road disciplines, part of the track will be made up of tarmac and part will be an off road moto cross track. The bikes are motocross machines but they’re usually fitted with road tyres to improve grip on the tarmac sections. The sport originates from France where somebody thought it’d be a good idea to ditch the knobbly tyres and fit some decent road tyres to their crosser, soon it caught on and super moto, or supermotard as its often called was born. Supermoto events are often held at established race circuits like Three Sisters, Mallory Park and Cadwell Park and it’s a thrilling sport to watch or to participate in.
Freestyle MX
If you like your sport to be extreme freestyle MX will be perfect for you! Freestyle MX is, as the name implies, a freestyle stunt competition which can be run on a dirt course with jumps. More often than not though freestyle MX’ers use a purpose built stunt ramp. Riders compete for points with their routine of death defying stunts. Popular tricks include the backwards somersault and recently a few riders have started to perform front somersaults as well, only a slight miscalculation on take off will see the rider grinding his face into the landing ramp, not good when it goes wrong but it looks awesome when it works! Other tricks to look out for are ‘Superman’ ‘Cliffhanger’ and ‘Whips.’ Freestyle MX shows are often touring the UK so keep your eyes on the local press, they also pop up occasionally at festivals, and carnivals.
In fact Motocross is now so popular that it has even managed to get a mention in the 2007 Guinness Book of Records as the longest Motocross Dirt Back Flip!!
Jeremy Stenberg and Nate Adams both from USA did a ‘dirt to dirt’ back flip measuring an incredible 100 feet (30.48m), in the motocross freestyle finals at the XGames 11 in Los Angeles (USA) on 6th August 2005.
-->Motocross
Motocross
Even the dumbest of people will have heard of motocross, or MX as it’s often called. MX is one of the toughest most physically demanding bike disciplines you can try your hand at. Its no coincidence that most top bike racers have a motocross bike in their garages, every winter they’ll use them for training (as well as plenty of gym work of course). Bike racers will spend every spare minute between testing and promotional duties riding hard on MX bikes to build up their strength and stamina for circuit racing.
Motocross bikes range in size from 50cc kids bikes up to 500cc monsters. The bikes have peaky engines, usually two stroke but recently four stroke motors have started to make a big impact and they’ll eventually take over once bike manufacturers are forced to stop making environmentally unfriendly two strokes. There’s even an electric powered MX bike on the market which is meant to be quite good, it may work well but you’ll never feel the same riding a silent bike as you would on a noisy petrol driven machine! Suspension and tyres obviously play a large part in a good crossers DNA profile. You need good suspension to soak up the bumps and soften the landings, and the knobbly tyres need to have as much grip as possible to make good traction on both the dirt and, (more often than not in the UK) mud! Good brakes are also a pre requisite for the job, so make sure yours are in full working order before hurtling around your local track…
A recent survey found that a massive 33,000 people a month in Great Britain actively take part in motocross and it’s the 68th most popular sport. In a survey that includes sports as diverse as skittles and kayaking it’s quite a good placing!
Race meetings are held every weekend around the country, with local clubs putting on meetings, usually on farm land or specially built motocross tracks. Motocross tracks are made up of a series of straights, bumps, jumps and sweeping banked bends called berms. Usually the tracks are muddy so landings are quite soft. Junior classes start at the age of six, where they’ll start on 50cc bikes and progress through to 125cc before entering adult classes. It’s probably best to get kids involved as young as possible, they’ll progress much quicker than an adult would and it teaches them some discipline from an early age. Racing motocross might seem a bit scary to many parents but apart from the inevitable bumps and bruises and maybe the odd broken bone its as safe as anything and probably much better for them than sitting in front of the Xbox like a vegetable all day! A good place to look if you want to get kids involved is the British Schoolboy Motocross Association, check out - www.bsma-motocross.co.uk
MX kit
If you’re spending decent money on a secondhand bike don’t forget to buy the riding gear to go with it, the essential items are a good quality MX lid with goggles, a pair of motocross boots or similar that offer good protection to the foot ankle and calf, and a pair of quality gloves. Body armour should also be high on your shopping list, C.E approved armour is the best. You can get a vest that slips over your head and has all the essential armour to protect your upper body. Knee and shin pads are also recommended. Most MX riders wear thin tops and trousers which allow them to move around easily and also stops them from sweating too much whilst muscling the bike around the dirt.
Supermoto
There are one or two off shoots of motocross. In recent years ‘super moto’ has taken off big style around the world. Supermoto is a mixture of on and off road disciplines, part of the track will be made up of tarmac and part will be an off road moto cross track. The bikes are motocross machines but they’re usually fitted with road tyres to improve grip on the tarmac sections. The sport originates from France where somebody thought it’d be a good idea to ditch the knobbly tyres and fit some decent road tyres to their crosser, soon it caught on and super moto, or supermotard as its often called was born. Supermoto events are often held at established race circuits like Three Sisters, Mallory Park and Cadwell Park and it’s a thrilling sport to watch or to participate in.
Freestyle MX
If you like your sport to be extreme freestyle MX will be perfect for you! Freestyle MX is, as the name implies, a freestyle stunt competition which can be run on a dirt course with jumps. More often than not though freestyle MX’ers use a purpose built stunt ramp. Riders compete for points with their routine of death defying stunts. Popular tricks include the backwards somersault and recently a few riders have started to perform front somersaults as well, only a slight miscalculation on take off will see the rider grinding his face into the landing ramp, not good when it goes wrong but it looks awesome when it works! Other tricks to look out for are ‘Superman’ ‘Cliffhanger’ and ‘Whips.’ Freestyle MX shows are often touring the UK so keep your eyes on the local press, they also pop up occasionally at festivals, and carnivals.
In fact Motocross is now so popular that it has even managed to get a mention in the 2007 Guinness Book of Records as the longest Motocross Dirt Back Flip!!
Jeremy Stenberg and Nate Adams both from USA did a ‘dirt to dirt’ back flip measuring an incredible 100 feet (30.48m), in the motocross freestyle finals at the XGames 11 in Los Angeles (USA) on 6th August 2005.
Motocross bikes range in size from 50cc kids bikes up to 500cc monsters. The bikes have peaky engines, usually two stroke but recently four stroke motors have started to make a big impact and they’ll eventually take over once bike manufacturers are forced to stop making environmentally unfriendly two strokes. There’s even an electric powered MX bike on the market which is meant to be quite good, it may work well but you’ll never feel the same riding a silent bike as you would on a noisy petrol driven machine! Suspension and tyres obviously play a large part in a good crossers DNA profile. You need good suspension to soak up the bumps and soften the landings, and the knobbly tyres need to have as much grip as possible to make good traction on both the dirt and, (more often than not in the UK) mud! Good brakes are also a pre requisite for the job, so make sure yours are in full working order before hurtling around your local track…
A recent survey found that a massive 33,000 people a month in Great Britain actively take part in motocross and it’s the 68th most popular sport. In a survey that includes sports as diverse as skittles and kayaking it’s quite a good placing!
Race meetings are held every weekend around the country, with local clubs putting on meetings, usually on farm land or specially built motocross tracks. Motocross tracks are made up of a series of straights, bumps, jumps and sweeping banked bends called berms. Usually the tracks are muddy so landings are quite soft. Junior classes start at the age of six, where they’ll start on 50cc bikes and progress through to 125cc before entering adult classes. It’s probably best to get kids involved as young as possible, they’ll progress much quicker than an adult would and it teaches them some discipline from an early age. Racing motocross might seem a bit scary to many parents but apart from the inevitable bumps and bruises and maybe the odd broken bone its as safe as anything and probably much better for them than sitting in front of the Xbox like a vegetable all day! A good place to look if you want to get kids involved is the British Schoolboy Motocross Association, check out - www.bsma-motocross.co.uk
MX kit
If you’re spending decent money on a secondhand bike don’t forget to buy the riding gear to go with it, the essential items are a good quality MX lid with goggles, a pair of motocross boots or similar that offer good protection to the foot ankle and calf, and a pair of quality gloves. Body armour should also be high on your shopping list, C.E approved armour is the best. You can get a vest that slips over your head and has all the essential armour to protect your upper body. Knee and shin pads are also recommended. Most MX riders wear thin tops and trousers which allow them to move around easily and also stops them from sweating too much whilst muscling the bike around the dirt.
Supermoto
There are one or two off shoots of motocross. In recent years ‘super moto’ has taken off big style around the world. Supermoto is a mixture of on and off road disciplines, part of the track will be made up of tarmac and part will be an off road moto cross track. The bikes are motocross machines but they’re usually fitted with road tyres to improve grip on the tarmac sections. The sport originates from France where somebody thought it’d be a good idea to ditch the knobbly tyres and fit some decent road tyres to their crosser, soon it caught on and super moto, or supermotard as its often called was born. Supermoto events are often held at established race circuits like Three Sisters, Mallory Park and Cadwell Park and it’s a thrilling sport to watch or to participate in.
Freestyle MX
If you like your sport to be extreme freestyle MX will be perfect for you! Freestyle MX is, as the name implies, a freestyle stunt competition which can be run on a dirt course with jumps. More often than not though freestyle MX’ers use a purpose built stunt ramp. Riders compete for points with their routine of death defying stunts. Popular tricks include the backwards somersault and recently a few riders have started to perform front somersaults as well, only a slight miscalculation on take off will see the rider grinding his face into the landing ramp, not good when it goes wrong but it looks awesome when it works! Other tricks to look out for are ‘Superman’ ‘Cliffhanger’ and ‘Whips.’ Freestyle MX shows are often touring the UK so keep your eyes on the local press, they also pop up occasionally at festivals, and carnivals.
In fact Motocross is now so popular that it has even managed to get a mention in the 2007 Guinness Book of Records as the longest Motocross Dirt Back Flip!!
Jeremy Stenberg and Nate Adams both from USA did a ‘dirt to dirt’ back flip measuring an incredible 100 feet (30.48m), in the motocross freestyle finals at the XGames 11 in Los Angeles (USA) on 6th August 2005.
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