Bike Guides

So you’re looking at dirt bikes but don’t yet have the licence? Sounds like a tough situation but it isn’t.

You can ride a dirt bike without a licence if you are riding on private property. This is also true if the motorcycle itself is registered, but your licence is yet to come – you’ll need to stay away from government land for now.

The exception to the rule is organized group tours. You’ve probably been on vacation and have seen signs saying ‘ATV tours’ and the like where the organizers don’t expect you to have a licence to ride these bikes in the tour. They have sought special permission from the government with insurance as well to cover you.

Riding Dirt Bikes with No Licence

There are certainly places where a licence isn’t necessary to ride a dirt bike. These include:

• Motocross tracks. Many MX riders aren’t licenced, including under 16s.
• Dirt bike parks. They generally don’t ask you to have a licence to ride.
• Private property. If you own a large portion of land, then anyone can ride here without a licence.

At the same time, there are some liability issues which come to the surface if you’re riding without a licence. Your health insurance may not cover you if you’re riding a dirt bike without a licence so do check with them prior to going on the trails.

Some people think that they can ride a low-powered motorcycle with a car licence. This is true as some states allow you to ride a 50cc moped without an actual motorcycle licence, yet dirt bikes are almost always much more powerful than these.

Children Riding with No Licence

Kids riding dirt bikes is an interesting issue as they can’t generally get a licence until age 16 in most states, with some states making the minimum age 17 or 18. This doesn’t prevent them from riding, however, if they stick to the 3 solutions we’ve provided above.

You can enroll your kids into a dirt bike school to help their skills development. In fact, most MX tracks provide coaching for children weekly to help develop their skills and this may be an insurance requirement.

In terms of riding on public land, the rules are almost universal. Children aren’t allowed to ride on government or public land with their dirt bikes, which includes roads, parks, trail bike routes and dirt roads. The only exception is teenagers and they need to have both a licence to ride and registration on their dirt bike.

While you may be able to claim recreational registration for a children’s dirt bike in some areas of Australia and the United States, they still won’t qualify for a licence. Therefore this can be an expensive process with no real benefit unless you want to ride your own children’s bike offroad which is unlikely.

The Solution

Often the best solution for kids who are in love with their dirt bikes is the parents choosing to move into the country. It’s here that children can ride as much as they want without looking over their shoulder.

Certainly, there is no need for licences or registration for dirt bikes being ridden at home. It’s your land and your rights. You’ll find that just about every pro rider in the world had open land that they could practice on daily. If your kids are committed – then this is a solid way to go.

Riding a dirt bike to school…sounds great in theory, but is it actually possible? Well, the rules are quite clear:

If your dirt bike is registered, you have insurance and you hold a licence – then yes, you can ride a dirt bike to school. Some schools discourage students riding a motorcycle of any kind to school, but legally there isn’t much stopping you as long as you park off school grounds.

The school principals don’t like dirt bikes because of the anti-social behavior they bring. There have been instances of teenagers riding on school ovals which rips up the grass and you risk striking a child.

Riding a Dirt Bike to School

It probably isn’t the wisest idea to bring your dirt bike to high school or even college/university. Some reasons we would discourage it include:

1. What if someone pushes over your dirt bike while you’re in class?
2. What if it gets stolen? Do you have insurance to cover a replacement?
3. What do you do when it’s raining? Riding wet clothes to school isn’t fun.
4. How will the teachers and principal accept it? Usually it’s banned.

In fact, riding any sort of motorcycle to school isn’t a good idea and isn’t worth the risks involved as we’ve outlined above.

Alternative Options

What are some good alternative options that will still give you a thrill? Well – you could get an electric mountain bike with a 1,000+ Watt motor which will be a fun ride. Simply disconnect the battery and keep it in your schoolbag.

Another option is to simply leave dirt bike riding for the weekend rides only. It can be too much trouble trying to bring a dirt bike to school. You’ll be spending too much time worrying about it being damaged or stolen rather than the school work.

In Summary

While a novel idea, we wouldn’t recommend it. Leave it for the Instagram or Snapchat feed for weekend riding and after school muck-arounds. School is a place for learning and inspiration.

So you’re looking to buy a new or used dirt bike? Your dealer could be a great talker and thus, here are some things you should ask them.

Because when you’re spending your hard-earned money, you’ll want to ensure you’re simply asking the right questions.

We recently published a guide for used ADV motorcycles and now let’s get into dirt bikes which are slightly different. Be sure to ask any dirt bike dealership these questions:

1. Is this the right offroad motorcycle for me?

Not all dirt bikes are created equal and you should be asking specific questions on whether this particular dirt bike will fit your needs as a rider. Are you riding tight technical tracks or wide-open savannah? Are you racing or simply going recreational? Do you need to have road-legal registration? There is a clear difference in throttle responses, bike weights and engine capacities.

2. Do they have a wide range of dirt bikes?

We generally discourage people from simply using a one-stop dealership unless they have their heart set on a particular color or manufacturer like KTM. Within each manufacturer, they have specific dirt bikes that may better suit you as a rider, though some have very strong similarities such as Yamaha and Honda’s dirt bike range.

3. What mechanical checks do they do on used bikes?

You can buy used dirt bikes at dealerships and so you should be asking about their comprehensive range of checks that they’ll do before selling you the bike. In some cases, it will actually come with a warranty though this will be limited and won’t cover accidental damage. Most dirt bikes today are actually very reliable and most problems are quick and cheap fixes anyway.

4. Do they also stock gear?

Chances are that this is your 1st dirt bike purchase. If so – congratulations and welcome to the world of offroad fun! Ask your dealership if they stock gear because you’ll need protection gear out there on the tracks. It isn’t just a helmet but boots, clothing, gloves and protection plates such as a neck brace. Expect this to cost you between $700 and $1,500 depending on the quality of workmanship you require from your gear.

5. Can you test-ride the dirt bikes?

Some motorcycle dealerships run test-ride days where you can try out some various dirt bikes and find that one that suits you the best. Others might actually have a short yet simple test track located behind their premises for potential customers to use. This is one of the best ways to pick a dirt bike yet most dealerships sadly don’t offer this, especially for riders who haven’t touched a clutch level for a while.

In Summary

Dirt bike riding is a heck of a lot of fun. If this is your first purchase, then we can highly recommend using a motorbike dealership over a private sale for peace of mind. Then again – you’ll want to throw them these questions either over the phone or simply when going in.

Also ask them for great local riding spots in the neighborhood which are legal. You should expect a dirt bike dealer of all people to know this bit of information…if they are indeed enthusiasts.

See you out there!

So you’re curious about riding a dirt bike at home in the backyard. It’s exciting and could be possible.

You’re legally permitted to ride your dirt bike in your backyard or anywhere on your private property, provided it doesn’t interfere with the enjoyment of your neighbours. Avoid having a loud dirt bike and be mindful of smells and roosting on the side fences. The most common reason why you can’t ride is complaints to local authorities.

The main focus is on being respectful to those next to you. You won’t have too much fun riding in a backyard anyway and should focus on finding open country in which to ride, either government land or private land.

Riding Dirt Bikes in Backyards

Your backyard typically isn’t the best place to ride a dirt bike. Most areas are just too small to get up to a decent speed. Typically it’s best for children under 12 to learn how to ride dirt bikes as beyond that age, you’ll often just grow tired of it pretty quickly.

It’s certainly a great place to learn slow-speed riding as well as doing small jumps. These skills are helpful to hone in. You’ll develop better brake and clutch control which will help on the tight technical tracks, so clearly some benefits here.

Keeping the Neighbors Happy

Probably the biggest hinderance is your neighbours as riding dirt bikes in backyards is just so loud. You can alleviate this by:

• Only riding between daylight hours, preferably 9am to 3pm.
• Not upsetting their dogs in the process
• Put a very good muffler on your dirt bike
• Avoid creating dust for your neighbors
• Supervise the kids so they aren’t too ambitious
• Wear your riding gear including a helmet

One of the best ways, however, is to get an electric dirt bike. These are near-silent and are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, Australia and Europe.

By having an electric dirt bike, you have almost no smells, sounds and the maintenance is much less. Calls from authorities will become much less likely which is a win for everyone!

In Summary

Riding a dirt bike in a backyard is a novel idea for kids. As for adults, you’ll get bored pretty quickly unless you have a lot of land to work with.

Seek out some local riding spots for genuine fun where you can open the throttle. Yet if you still want to ride your dirt bike at home – keep the neighbors and noise issues in mind!

So you’ve got a dirt bike and you’re curious if it needs registration to be ridden. Well, that’s quite simple:

Dirt bikes don’t need to be legally registered in most states, territories and jurisdictions provided you are riding on private property. You won’t be allowed to ride on public land which includes both formed residential roads as well as offroad tracks without registration.

By having a dirt bike registered, you’ll actually open up many more riding areas. Often it’s worth the expenditure as you can join other riders out there enjoying some great spots and camping trips.

Dirt Bike Registration Overview

While you don’t need registration if you choose only to ride on private property, you may have to register the transfer of sale with your local motor vehicles registration office. This will ensure that there is a record in case your dirt bike gets stolen.

They will often just need your VIN number as you won’t have a licence plate or registration plate number. In addition, you can typically only register a dirt bike if you hold a motor vehicle licence. This does mean that you can own a motorcycle, whether registered or unregistered, regardless of whether or not you have a licence to ride one.

Many people actually have unregistered dirt bikes at home which are reserved for private property riding. You’ll find ranch/station owners to have several motorcycles and quadbikes which are never registered because they don’t need to be.

Where to Ride Unregistered Dirt Bikes

Let’s say you’ve just bought an unregistered dirt bike and are looking for places to ride. Well, you’ll still have some options:

• Your own private land. You can ride in your backyard if space permits. Some people buy up farms simply to go riding regularly and for free, though keep in mind that excessive noise could attact calls from neighbours and have police presence.
• An organized motorcycle park. Most states have several of these where you pay an entrance fee and can ride for as much as you want. These are in far-flung places where noise complaints aren’t likely.
• MX tracks. There are plenty of motocross places where you can ride an unregistered dirt bike. In fact – this is what they’re truly built for! It’s more of a competitive landscape though with less focus on casual riding.
• Organized group rides. Sometimes organizers get together and organize group rides on several interjoined private properties for riders, even if their motorbike isn’t registered.

Don’t be the type that takes the risk of trying to ride your unregistered dirt bike on government land which is very much against the law. There are dirt bike police who monitor riders in offroad areas a long way from the city areas and often do licence and registration checks on the spot, with big fines involved if you break the law.

How to Get Dirt Bikes Registered

So it’s time to get your dirt bike registered. It can be a time-consuming process which is why buying a dirt bike which is already registered can be a much better idea. Some riders trade or swap their dirt bikes for one that’s already ready to go, but then again, that isn’t always feasible.

To get a dirt bike registered, you will need:

1. A hardwired headlight that runs constantly when the engine is running.
2. Turn signal indicators front and rear, as well as working tail and brake lights.
3. A working horn, mounted dirt bike mirrors and registration plate mount.
4. Speedometer which also shows turn signals, engine hours and highbeam/low beam settings.

These are the general things you’ll need to attach permanently which will add more weight to your motorcycle. Before you can get registered, these will need to be inspected by a government official for authenticity. Afterwards, your licence plate will be issued and you’ll need to pay an annual registration fee.

Dirt Bikes Which Can’t Be Registered

Yes, unfortunately, not all dirt bikes can be registered as they don’t meet EPA guidelines. You’ll have to check with your dealership first or the manufacturers’ website.

Generally speaking though, kids dirt bikes and very small adult dirt bikes can’t be registered as they don’t meet road-legal requirements. This is also the case with pit bikes and some Chinese motorcycles too.

This is why doing your upfront research is necessary for success.