Motocross/Trials
Discussion
hi everyone.
totally new to forums but was hoping to get some help.
i am wanting to learn to ride a mx/trials bike, but have never riden anything before.
ideally i want to try it out before buying a bike, just in case i dont enjoy it as much as i think im hoping to.
i was wondering if theres anywhere that i can go that either teaches, or hires out bikes so i can have a go.
im located in Bradford, so somewhere close would be ideal.
thanks in advance.
totally new to forums but was hoping to get some help.
i am wanting to learn to ride a mx/trials bike, but have never riden anything before.
ideally i want to try it out before buying a bike, just in case i dont enjoy it as much as i think im hoping to.
i was wondering if theres anywhere that i can go that either teaches, or hires out bikes so i can have a go.
im located in Bradford, so somewhere close would be ideal.
thanks in advance.
I'd recommend trials over motocross to start with. With trials you actually hone your balance and throttle/brake skills.
Motocross is an entirely different beast and counter intuitive; e.g. when it's muddy going slower makes your grip worse. The only way to stay on is to push on, as fast as you can so your tyres work. Takes years of practice.
There must be a trials club near you? Or even green-laning on trail bikes?
Motocross is an entirely different beast and counter intuitive; e.g. when it's muddy going slower makes your grip worse. The only way to stay on is to push on, as fast as you can so your tyres work. Takes years of practice.
There must be a trials club near you? Or even green-laning on trail bikes?
There's an off-road place called Bumpy which should be somewhere near you http://www.bumpy.org.uk/
A bit further south is http://www.trials-school.co.uk/
At some of the motorcycle shows they have ACU 'try trials' events where you can have a 15 min go and then information on how/where to take it further.
And remember, a trials rider can go fast but a motocross rider can't ride trials
A bit further south is http://www.trials-school.co.uk/
At some of the motorcycle shows they have ACU 'try trials' events where you can have a 15 min go and then information on how/where to take it further.
And remember, a trials rider can go fast but a motocross rider can't ride trials
Yamaha Off Road Schools don't require a licence and will take absolute beginners - http://www.yamaha-schools.co.uk/ . They have a venue in Bolton - I believe they're in the process of changing to KTMs for this year (new website http://www.ktmmxexperience.co.uk but it just redirects at the moment) so names may change but what they offer shouldn't.
I'd strongly recommend you do the CBT locally though on a geared bike, just to get used to how the gears, clutch and brake work. Better to wobble around some cones in a carpark on a CG125 getting a feel for the clutch, than spending a chunk of your MX day doing it.
I'd strongly recommend you do the CBT locally though on a geared bike, just to get used to how the gears, clutch and brake work. Better to wobble around some cones in a carpark on a CG125 getting a feel for the clutch, than spending a chunk of your MX day doing it.
sjg said:
Yamaha Off Road Schools don't require a licence and will take absolute beginners - http://www.yamaha-schools.co.uk/ . They have a venue in Bolton - I believe they're in the process of changing to KTMs for this year (new website http://www.ktmmxexperience.co.uk but it just redirects at the moment) so names may change but what they offer shouldn't.
I'd strongly recommend you do the CBT locally though on a geared bike, just to get used to how the gears, clutch and brake work. Better to wobble around some cones in a carpark on a CG125 getting a feel for the clutch, than spending a chunk of your MX day doing it.
I did the Yamaha Off Road School, and it was a great day out. whilst it started assuming no off road experience, I would advise it if you have never ridden a bike before. You are paying for a lot of facilities that I expect you wouldn't use.I'd strongly recommend you do the CBT locally though on a geared bike, just to get used to how the gears, clutch and brake work. Better to wobble around some cones in a carpark on a CG125 getting a feel for the clutch, than spending a chunk of your MX day doing it.
I would do a day at a bike school first who hire bikes.
Learning to operate the controls and getting moving on a bike takes very little time - they're pretty simple, and there's far less to do than with a car. But all that does is get you moving in 1st gear.
Really, you need to determine if you want to ride a trail bike, a trials bike, or a motocross bike. They're all ridden using motorbikes, but the difference in types of bike, riding techniques, fitness, cost and time taken to get to any sort of useful ability is enormous.
Trail riding is essentially cross-country mountain biking with an engine, and is a lot of fun. The closest competition version of this is enduro. Disadvantage of this is that you'll need to have a full licence because you'll usually be riding on the roads to get to where you start. In any case you need to be road-legal to ride on pretty much all the green lanes, unless you have private land available to you.
Trials is a non-speed competition done either on mountains or indoor stadia and is the most technical motorcycle discipline - you've got to be seriously good at throttle control, balancing, and being able to plan a route. I'm rubbish at it.
Motocross is speed based - first across the line wins - and is the most physically demanding thing I've ever done. Pin-sharp precision is slightly less important than in trials, but you need a good deal more strength and stamina, plus the ability to ride over your opponents and cope with pain. Just take your brain out and stick it in a jar before the race. You don't need it on track, but you will need a huge amount of fitness. I reckon I can do maybe 20 minutes at full pace; anything more and I'll crash through tiredness. And I might well crash before that anyway.
Really, you need to determine if you want to ride a trail bike, a trials bike, or a motocross bike. They're all ridden using motorbikes, but the difference in types of bike, riding techniques, fitness, cost and time taken to get to any sort of useful ability is enormous.
Trail riding is essentially cross-country mountain biking with an engine, and is a lot of fun. The closest competition version of this is enduro. Disadvantage of this is that you'll need to have a full licence because you'll usually be riding on the roads to get to where you start. In any case you need to be road-legal to ride on pretty much all the green lanes, unless you have private land available to you.
Trials is a non-speed competition done either on mountains or indoor stadia and is the most technical motorcycle discipline - you've got to be seriously good at throttle control, balancing, and being able to plan a route. I'm rubbish at it.
Motocross is speed based - first across the line wins - and is the most physically demanding thing I've ever done. Pin-sharp precision is slightly less important than in trials, but you need a good deal more strength and stamina, plus the ability to ride over your opponents and cope with pain. Just take your brain out and stick it in a jar before the race. You don't need it on track, but you will need a huge amount of fitness. I reckon I can do maybe 20 minutes at full pace; anything more and I'll crash through tiredness. And I might well crash before that anyway.
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