Minibikes Make Big Fun and Could be the Gateway to New Riders
As some of my readers will know. I raced a mini bike in the Pull Start Racing League this past year. It was a whole heck of a lot of fun, and I hope the guys that put it together will continue it in 2020. As far as I know, they plan to keep it going.
It occurred to me after a season or riding in the league that there are few opportunities like this out there. I did some searching and found some things, but this is a unique experience and one that I think the motorcycle industry should be taking advantage of.
Get More People Out Riding
Having more easily attainable opportunities like the minibike racing I did in 2019 is a perfect way to get more folks interested in riding. Yes, we should promote small-displacement racing for kiddos, but we should also do so for adults. It helps pull in people who want to ride but never have.
There’s a narrative in the U.S. right now that younger folks don’t want to ride motorcycles. It’s too dangerous, they don’t have money, or it’s just simply not for them. I don’t think this is the case.
Everyone I talk to about riding a motorcycle who doesn’t ride wants to. While economic and safety factors do play a role, I think it’s more the industry and society as a whole doing a piss poor job of making motorcycling accessible.
I have a few ideas about this and have outlined them below.
Licensing Process
It starts with the licensing process. Sure it’s easy enough to take a motorcycle safety course and get your license in most states, but a lot of those classes (at least near me) are held at odd times, three-days long, or in the middle of the week.
When I took my course I actually had to take off work to attend. Granted, that has been a while now, but looking over the MSF basic rider’s courses near me, I see kind of odd times and weekdays being used. Why?
Why not have the classes be just a Saturday and Sunday deal? They could go all day and cover all the course material. I know that’d be a lot, and MSF instructors may be able to provide me with info as to why this isn’t done, but I know few people who want to give up vacation days at work for something like this.
You can always go the non-class route. I don’t recommend it. Take a class. It’s worth it. The non-class route is fraught with issues, too, including the commonness of idiots just renewing their motorcycle permit year after year so they don’t have to take the riding test.
So, there’s plenty of room there for improvement. Make the classes on the weekends and get rid of the silly permit workaround.
Inaccessibility to Bikes to Test
This comes down to an issue with the dealers. I’ve noticed some dealers make it tough for riders to actually test ride a motorcycle.
This goes against the whole idea of selling motorcycles. Some dealers expect folks to actually spend thousands of dollars on a motorcycle when they haven’t even had a chance to test ride it. Ridiculous.
Some dealers are better than others about this, and I don’t mean to suggest that all of them suck. But come on guys, let folks ride the bikes they’re about to buy.
This is less connected to the minibike angle but still worth noting
Struggle to Find a Place to Ride Competitively
When it comes to racing mini bikes or anything on two wheels, It’s not super easy to get involved. There seem to be too many damn rules and you have to wade through a lot of red tape. This is indicative of the whole motorcycling experience in general right now.
I’d love to see a dealership, manufacturer, or somebody help sponsor events like the Pull Start Racing League. The league is struggling to find another place to go after some issues with our previous venue.
The big players in the industry should step up and get involved in grass-roots racing scenes like the one I rode in. They need to do a better job of this, and they’d be better off because of it.
The Mini Bike Gateway
I could see some mini bike racing as a way to get people involved and into motorcycling and racing specifically. Make it as easy as possible to get involved. The guys at Pull Start Racing League did this and the numbers were growing consistently.
People loved it. I think by lowering the barrier to entry, you’ll eliminate all the excuses people have to do something they genuinely want to do. Mini bikes could be an awesome gateway to motorcycling. These silly little machines could help bring in tons of new riders old and new as long as the whole thing doesn’t become too wrapped up in red tape and costly (time or money) requirements.
I’d genuinely be interested to hear people’s thoughts. These are just thoughts off the top of my head. They’re not refined and you can dispute them or poke holes in my theories. I hope you do.
