Motorcross

   PROS:

  • Relatively inexpensive
  • Cheap to maintain and repair
  • Can use on varied of terrain
  • Race or recreation
  • Stiff suspension
  • Instant throttle and brake response
  • Lots of MX tracks available nationwide
  • Lots of riding areas available everywhere

   CONS:

  • Can't ride on streets
  • Most challenging Off-Road bike to ride
  • Need a way to transport it
  • Requires a lot of PPE
  • More Maintenance

If you are new to the sport of motorcycling, a dirt bike is a great place to start. Keith Code, the president of the popular California Superbike School, reminds us that‚ all professional riders started on dirt bikes. Riding off-road gives you the ability to learn the basics of riding without all of the hazards associated with riding on the street. Motocross bikes, specifically, are designed to be competitive in the motocross environment.

They are ruggedly built with lightweight aluminum construction, high ground clearance, beefed-up knobby tires, and monoshock rear suspension. They are the lightest of all production motorcycles weighing in at about 250 pounds. This allows them to be powered by smaller, water-cooled high performance engines; typically two or four stroke.

This simple, yet highly evolved design makes them almost bulletproof in short course racing environment they were designed for. Even though their primary use is closed course, they are definitely versatile enough to be used for desert and enduro riding. Since the rules of the road don't apply, motocross bikes don't have headlights, brake lights, and blinkers. This makes for budget-friendly maintenance and repair.

Popular Uses

TRACK RIDING

Motocross tracks are what these bikes are built for! Right out of the showroom you can take it out to the local track and be ready to ride. There are tracks all over the country, many with different tracks for different skill levels.  The track is a great place to progress your skills!


DESERT RIDING

Desert riding is an extremely popular use of a motocross bike, especially in the southwest USA. There are sand dunes, hard packed mud humps and everything in between making desert riding one of the most fun and diverse places to ride a dirt bike.


TRAIL RIDING

A stock motocross bike can handle pretty much any trail you throw at it! However, they are equipped with suspension built for the jumps on a motocross track, so don’t expect as plush a ride as you will find on well tuned enduro bike.


MX RACING

If you’re getting serious about motocross, almost all tracks have some sort of club races. Racing requires another level of commitment, as you are likely to be in close contact with other competitive people.