Since you’re searching for an answer for this question, you might as well know that dirt biking is not the safest hobby out there, but it’s sort of perfect for parents who want to share their adventure with their little ones. Dirt biking has been for years a decent sport for families around the world because it brings people together, and it lets everyone have fun in their own way.

Although, the moment that we want our children to join in, first we think of the bad that can happen, and that’s a good thing because you’re now doing research on whether it’s safe for your child or not. Well, nothing fun is really safe, but with the right precautions, your kid might be able to join you in those cool stories that you tell him/her about.

Dirt bike riding is a family sport of course, but there are some steps you have to take in order to ensure optimum safety for your kid. First, let’s point out the fact that a lot of parents purchase small electric dirt bikes for their kids, and they are safe to use for kids as young as three years old. I have also seen 4-year olds use 50cc dirt bikes but with training wheels on. After that time of riding, your kid will gain riding experience, and maybe by the time he reaches 6, you can safely eliminate the training wheels.

Introducing your child to a dirt bike

Over the years, I have seen parents introduce their children to dirt bike from very early on, mostly when they reached 3 or 4 years. Anyhow, there are other factors that present signs which help you in finding out whether your child is ready to ride a dirt bike or not. First, try talking to your little one, ask how he/she feels about dirt bikes.

Second, consider your thoughts, how well do you think your child can handle dirt biking. Third, do you think your child is mature enough to ride a dirt bike, trust yourself first before trusting what others say, you know your child better, and you know their instincts better than anyone on the internet.

If it comes down to that, you will have to make a wise purchase, don’t go straight for a 50cc dirt bike like I have seen most parents go, start with a light electric model that is built specifically for children. Over the course of riding, you should always supervise your children and never leave them alone, fresh minds can get hyped just by watching another person ride a dirt bike like crazy.

While supervising your child, they will improve their riding skills with tips and advice from you, and by the time they are six, you can try introducing them with more advanced dirt bikes. Never get confident enough with your child, that’s something you should seriously keep in mind. Even though they might have learned most of the basics, it’s important that you keep an eye on your little one the whole time.

How to choose the right dirt bike for kids

Searching for a dirt bike for kids can be frustrating since the market is pretty huge nowadays, and you never know which one is best suited for kids. The most child-friendly dirt bikes are the small electric models, and they are being widely used from kids of age 3 to up to 6 years old.

Although, that doesn’t mean that you should just go purchase the first electric model that you see, you must first know the differences in order to find a bike that meets your child’s character. The most crucial aspect that has shows whether the bike is suited for a specific age is speed, and you’re going to notice that speed changes a lot when looking out for bikes.

I have seen people recommend 250cc dirt bikes for kids, don’t get fooled by that because a 250cc is hardly made for kids of age 6, and even up to 10. Don’t get me wrong, as your child starts to improve his/her riding skills, he/she will definitely be able to ride a 250cc, but I’d never recommend that for kids under the age of 10.

There’s a moto that you should live by, the less powerful the machine the safer for your child. Once your child reaches 7, you can then consider getting a 70cc model, and go for a 100cc model only if you feel confident enough in their riding skills. Their safety is more important than their desire to handle adrenaline and speed.

There are a wide range of brands from which you can choose from, but the most popular for kids is the Razor MX350 Dirt Rocket Electric Motocross Bike. It’s available on Amazon with a very reasonable and budget-friendly price, and it’s also one of the most highly-rated dirt bikes in the category for children.

You can get it in a variety of colors such as blue which would better accommodate a boy child, pink which would better accommodate a girl child, and red for kids who love red.

There are even some fancy graphics on the plastics which give a great look to the overall aesthetics, so there’s nothing bad about the design that would disappoint your child. To get more into the details, the bike speeds up to 14 miles per hour with no pedaling needed, and it only weighs 140 pounds, so your child will be able to manage it.

This is not the only dirt bike out there, make sure you do proper research if you don’t feel confident with this one. Another option I’d recommend is the Yamaha TTR50, it’s a dirt bike specifically made for 6-year olds and up. Make your child excited when buying the dirt bike because that bike will be the one that they’ll use to start out and learn the basics of dirt biking If they don’t like the idea of riding a dirt bike, don’t push them into doing it, it’s against everything that you’re trying to achieve, safety for your kid.

There are a couple of things to observe also, try finding out how much strength your little one has in their hands, because they’ll have to get a good grip of the handlebars when riding. They will also be required to maintain a supportive upright positions through bumps, and hold back the throttle to maintain a steady course. Take in mind that some torque are too powerful for kids, so make sure you take this seriously because this might prevent off-road crashes.

Lastly, consider your child’s height, weight, and body strength when searching for a dirt bike, and of course, your budget because you don’t want to go too much off chart with your savings. If you want to find out more dirt bike differentiations, make sure you read our article on “Two-stroke vs. Four-Stroke Dirt Bikes“.

Safety measures for kids

At first, you’re going to think that dirt biking is too dangerous of a sport for grown-ups and let alone for kids. However, that’s not the case, the likelihood of kids getting injured is minimal, of course, based on the research that I have done. If you approach dirt biking the right way, with the proper protective gear and safety measures, dirt bike riding won’t seem that dangerous after all. Here are a few tips that you should consider:

• Don’t put your kid on a dirt bike that’s not their size! Make sure you purchase a proper sized dirt bike for their height and weight.
• Always buy the best protective gear there is for your children. Most injuries happen due to low-quality helmets and “not the correct size for your child” helmets.
• Don’t start with four-wheelers, dirt biking has proved to be way much safer than four-wheelers. Even though this might sound off, but it’s the truth.
• Don’t start off at an official dirt bike track. First, try taking your child off-road but somewhere where the surface is flat without any bumps and small objects that might change the direction of the dirt bike when coming in contact with the tires.

From all the research that I’ve gathered, I found out that most injuries on a dirt bike happen due to the improper sizing of the dirt bike for the kid, not wearing quality gear or wearing the improper size, and not supervising your little one at all times. If you can go through all these steps, nothing will likely happen to your little one.

Dirt biking has been and it’s still a family sport, and if you approach it the right way, you’ll enjoy nothing but fun, adventure, and happiness. After all, kids nowadays are smarter than my generation was, and they’ll be cautious not to change to 2nd gear in their first rides. What you can also do as an extra safety step is to set the governor on the throttle so they can’t go too fast even if they wanted to.

Riding gear for kids checklist

Make a checklist of all the protective gear that will follow below, and make sure you do proper research when looking for gear for children. To make it simpler, when searching let’s say for a helmet, use the search phrase “best dirt bike helmets for (your children’s age)”, that way all the products that show will be specifically made for children of that age.

Nonetheless, here’s a checklist of all the gear that is necessary for kids to have optimum protection at all times:

• Helmet
• Goggles
• Gloves
• Boots
• Knee brace
• Elbow brace
• Body armor(chest protector)

Do not take your child on a ride if they’re not wearing all of the gear that is mentioned above. Having all the necessary safety measures it’s probably the most crucial part that ensures your child is protected from unpredicted falls or similar impacts that might injure your little one.

Bottom Line

It’s okay if you don’t feel confident enough about introducing your kids to a sport like dirt biking, but once you get to try it all together as a family, that fear will definitely go away.

If you do everything as mentioned above, then you will have nothing to worry about. Supervise your child when he/she is riding their dirt bike, be there to give advice at all times about speed limits, how to use brakes, how their body position should be like, and so on.

I hope this article was helpful to you, and if by any chance I left some questions that are related to this topic unanswered, make sure you contact me and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.