Mini bikes

For as long as motorbikes have been around there have been smaller sized models aimed at Children. Kids off road bikes grew in popularity towards the end of the seventies as the country went bike mad, largely due to the success of Barry Sheene. Barry was an inspirational racer and larger than life character off the bike; his zest for life and skill helped to bring bike racing into the media spotlight. Another popular TV show at the time was Kickstart; a trials based show for kids where the talented youngsters would ride over impossible looking objects on their trials bikes - like a VW Beetle for instance! As a child of the ‘70’s I was hooked on anything with two wheels and by the age of eight I’d pleaded with Santa to bring me a brand new 50cc Tecno-moto for Christmas. The gleaming red, Italian six speed machine sat waiting for me on Christmas morning and was soon on its way to the local field which was a popular riding spot for kids, and we were just left to it, nobody seemed to mind the buzz of two strokes back then!

Fast forward to the 21st century and suddenly an influx of cheap Chinese bikes has turned mini bikes into an overnight epidemic, or every schoolboys dream come true depending on how you look at it. Irresponsible riders have forced the powers that be to clamp down on our chosen leisure pursuits so it’s worth your while to find somewhere that is both safe and legal or there’s a chance ‘Big Brother’ will be crushing your bike!

These days its not just youngsters who are finding out that mini bikes are good fun though…

Mini bikes, as we know them, started gaining support from bike racers who would use them as paddock bikes to get around the race track. The ever competitive teams soon started spending cash on their chosen bikes and tuning goodies started to get popular, as did aftermarket customising. Before long a pit bike, as they were known, was an essential part of a team’s equipment and the ‘cheap runabout’ was costing a few grand and the racers all had to have the fastest, flashiest pit bike! The new craze soon caught on with the general public. The most popular pit bikes to begin with were the 110cc, single cylinder, four stroke Thumpstars but they were soon copied. These days there are dozens of different makes and models to choose from, starting at a bargain £100 and ranging to about £1500. Remember though that some of the very cheap bikes will come without any spares back up or warranty so you’re better off shopping for a half decent machine, then if things do go wrong (or you crash the little bugger) you can at least repair it.

Mini bikes come in all shapes and sizes, the most popular models are scaled down versions of moto-x bikes but there are also sports bike styled machines with full fairings and race replica paintwork, aggressive looking streetfighter style bikes, mini choppers and funky machines like the legendary Honda Monkey bike and the Sachs Madass, which are both road legal. Some other mini bike importers also offer the option of supplying their bikes with all the lights, number plate etc to make them road legal, but remember that if you’re low down to the ground there’s a chance that other road users won’t notice you, so be very careful or you could be squashed like an illegally used mini moto! 

Mini Racing

If it moves people will race it and mini bikes are no exception to the rule, there are classes for mini moto-x, enduro, road racing, trials and pretty much anything else the full sized bikes can do the little ‘un’s will try as well. One of the most impressive types of mini bike racing is the Fab Racing series. The pint sized Metrakit machines are ridden by kids as young as eight, usually after they’ve progressed from racing mini motos. The machines are basically scaled down GP bikes from 50cc up to 80cc, depending on the rider’s age and ability. To keep things on an even playing field only minor modifications are allowed to the bikes and a mobile Dyno is used at race meetings to check that there’s no rule breaking being carried out by over zealous Dads! Mini GP really is about rider ability rather than who owns the biggest cheque book. A British lad, 12 year old Scott Redding progressed from riding a Metrakit bike last season and is now part of the renowned Moto GP academy in Spain, where the thirteen year old schoolboy from Gloucestershire is being groomed for future MotoGP stardom. If you’d like more info on Mini GP racing log onto www.fab-racing.co.uk or for details of your nearest mini bike friendly track check our listings.