Teaching Your Kids to Ride a Dirt Bike (A Beginner's Guide)

As a parent, introducing your kids to an adventurous activity is always fun. However, at first, bringing them to an adventure sport, which can be a part of their daily life, can be challenging. One such experience that you can share with your kids is dirt biking.

Dirt bikes are a superb choice for your kid to experience growth through adventure. And, it is also essential to teach your kids how to ride a dirt bike safely and smoothly.

While it is a fun thing to do things on your own, teaching kids is not as easy as it seems. While learning a new skill such as riding a dirt bike, your child can get easily bored, or frustrated during the process, if you’re not careful.

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Here are a few things you can keep in mind while you’re teaching your kids about dirt biking.

Pick the right bike

It is crucial to start with the right bike. You can consider buying one according to your kid’s requirements. The most basic bike starts from 50cc, which is manageable for your child since it is lighter in weight and smaller. You do not want them to get intimidated by a bike size beyond 100cc.

Start with a bike of a smaller size, and later on, you can switch to bigger ones. Make sure to let your kid try the bike while going through the buying process. Do not get a bike without first considering all this.

Make a Game Plan

Teaching your kid a new skill can be exciting for you as a parent, but keep in mind to adopt the ‘One lesson a day’ approach. Keeping the right pace is the key here. If you teach him multiple things in a single day, it can confuse him. He might outgrow the excitement of learning a new skill. You can start by teaching him basics about the dirt bike and its parts. For his first day on the field, you can start by teaching him about balance.

Initially, teach him how to ride the bike in a straight line using the first gear. You can introduce gear shifting, turns, and breaks later on, in a way that it doesn’t get confusing. Try to teach him concepts gradually each day, while building his/her confidence.

Field size

Selecting a suitable place for practice is also crucial when you’re beginning. Avoid going to a field that is too rocky or too sandy as it can be difficult for the kid to manage such terrain in the beginning. Always begin by taking your kid to places with dirt as that’s where dirt bikes move smoothly.

When it’s time to teach them about turns, make sure the field is open and big. Begin by teaching them how they can make turns roughly, and then slowly progress towards teaching them how to make tighter turns. This way, you can make sure that they’re not overwhelmed by this part of the training.

Slowly let go of the training wheels

It is normal to start with the training wheels. They give kids confidence, and also make sure that the balance is maintained. However, with time, you should let your child try on their own. Prolonged use of training wheels can hinder the process of learning weight distribution and appropriate stance for them to use on the bike. The sooner they learn it, the better.

Break – Time & Rewards

Never underestimate the importance of break time. It is natural for the kids to get invested in the biking experience, but you should make time for some rest as well. Make sure to keep them well- hydrated, and you can also treat them for a job well done after the lesson.

Safety First – Always!

Dirt bike riding is a safe sport for your kids as long they have the right gear. You can buy all-important gears for them including, helmet, goggles, boots, gloves, chest & back protection, neck brace, kidney belt, knee, and elbow guards. Your child can occasionally get minor rashes, and you should keep an eye out for that. Always keep a first aid kit handy with you. You can motivate them to learn from their mistakes while applauding their efforts.

The Process

We have discussed the ideal environment for you and your little student to begin, and now let’s get into the process.

Safety

When your kid is just starting on the dirt bike, make sure that these following are in check.

Make sure that the bike is assembled the right way, and is not in any way a risk to the child’s safety. Test the brakes and lights to see if they’re working.
Find a safe place to practice. It should be wide and without many bumps and holes. A grassy field is such a place where you can take your child.
Make sure that your kid has all the safety gear on before driving. You can buy appropriate helmets, shoes, and socks, goggles, pads (knees and wrist), etc. to make sure there’s no risk for your child.
In the beginning, make sure that either you or some adult is there to supervise your child’s progress. Make sure that the growth is gradual, and for beginners (especially kids below six), don’t go above second gear.
Balancing can be tricky, especially for the younger kids. You can make use of training wheels to give the kids an idea, and afterward, you can remove these to advance their learning.

Starting – Up

The dirt bikes for kids come in various types. There are two-stroke dirt bikes, four-stroke dirt bikes, and also electric bikes. Electric bikes don’t have gears, and the same goes for many two-stroke bikes as well. Four-stroke bike and many two-stroke bikes have gears. Also, two-stroke bikes use leaded fuel, whereas it’s not the case with the four-stroke bikes. The following is the start-up process of a 49 CC dirt bike, with a two-stroke engine.

When you’re starting your kids’ dirt bike for the first time, here are a few things that you can impart to them.

Preparing the Fuel – You have to make the fuel for the dirt bike, and that’s the first step towards starting up. First, get the unleaded fuel, and then mix it with two-stroke oil (2TC Oil) in the ration 25 to 1. You may get the mixing bottle with the box After you’ve made the mix, shake it well. Now put the oil in the fuel tank.
Now put the key to the ignition and turn it to the right. Make sure that the kill switch (Usually on top of the handle) on, as, without it, the bike will not start. Also, check the off switch to see if it’s not stuck inside.
Next, turn the petrol tab on, which you can find located below the fuel tank. Before starting the bike, put the choke down (You can find it alongside the petrol tab).
Now, place your left hand on the throttle grip, your right knee on the seat, and pull start. Twist the throttle grip a little while you’re at it.
After the bike starts, push the choke forward, and the choke will come back up. It has to be in this position before the kid uses the dirt bike.
Now, start the bike again. Put your left hand on the throttle grip, and your right knee on the seat, to hold the bike.

After starting the dirt bike for the first time, you need to adjust the low idle speed of the engine. You can do this by locating a little screw with a spring. By turning it to the left, you lower the idle speed, and to the right, the speed increases.

Leave the bike running for a few minutes to break in the engine speed after the first startup.

If your kid’s dirt bike has kick startup, you can teach them to put the right amount of force for the startup.

Clutch, Brake, and acceleration

To have a good understanding of how a bike operates, the kids need to be familiar with the underlying mechanism of driving a dirt bike. The throttle and brake lever are on the right handlebar, and the clutch lever is on the left handlebar.

The initial stage of learning to drive revolves around getting comfortable on the vehicle and establishing balance.
To do that, you first need to tell your kids the role of clutch, brake, and throttle. Using these elements, your kid will learn to balance the bike.
Clutch, along with the throttle, helps propel the bike forward. By making use of the front brake, the back brake, and the downshifting, kids can control the bike.
So, the first thing to do after you’ve introduced them to the startup process, you can talk about the clutch, throttle, and the break.
You also need to make sure that they’re comfortable in balancing, and, shifting weight, before you go further into gear shifting.
When they’re at low speed, they’ll have to rely on their body shifting to balance the bike. You can teach them to make use of their legs, and body weight to do that.
It is the phase where you make them comfortable with using the clutch, brake, and throttle smoothly. To ease into this, you can make use of the training wheels. But, before advancing, you’ll have to get rid of these.

Gear Shifting

Usually, in dirt bikes for kids, you can find between four to six gears. Gear change eases the transition of the bike into a higher speed.

After reaching a certain speed, the bike starts making noise, which means that it is time to go into a higher gear.

Now, to go into the first gear, with the use of the clutch, the kid can use the left foot bottom to push down the gear shift. For leveling up, the upper part of the foot is useful in pushing the gear shift up.

Here are a few tips you can give to the kids about gear shifting.

Always wait for the right time to shift the gear. Change it when the bike has the appropriate speed.
For lower speeds, kids can lower the gears.
To downshift, the kids need to put the front of the foot on the gear shift lever pushing it down.
Usually, the neutral in dirt bikes is between the first and second gear.

Making turns (Corner Shifting)

Making a turn is one of the most crucial lessons that you need to impart to your kid. It is something that most kids struggle with at the beginning. Here are a few pointers that you can give to your little students.

While shifting, body position matters a lot, and when they’re about to make a turn, their bodies should be towards the front of the bike.
The inside leg should be forwards and up and not dragging.
With the outside leg, they need to put pressure on the outside pack to ensure the bike balance.
They need to keep the elbows up, chest forward while looking up to turn most efficiently.

It is all about being as precise as possible, which comes with experience. They should turn at low speeds in the beginning. After they’ve had some experience, they can speed up, still keeping the balance.

Conclusion

Teaching sounds like a lot of work, but you can easily turn it into a fun activity if you introduce a little creativity into the equation. You can watch dirt bike videos from YouTube with them, click your kids’ pictures, and record special moments. In addition, if they are having trouble learning to balance, you can use bicycles to ease the process. Remember that learning a skill comes gradually, and practice is what makes one perfect. Last but not least, if done right, learning a skill like this from you can become an everlasting pleasant memory for them. So, make sure to have a lot of fun.

Sachin

Hey! This is Sachin. I love creating helpful content for everyone out there. On this website, my aim is to post articles that can help people buy perfect ride ons for their kids.