Offshoot Motor Sports From Dirt Bike Racing

Dirt bike racing is an exciting sport. It is hard not to be impressed looking at riders traversing over rough and muddy terrain or performing death defying jumps. It's always an exciting sight when a dirt bike kicks dirt upon accelerating or doing sharp turns. Even the crashes are quite spectacular.

Dirt Bike racing has become so popular that offshoots of the main sport have emerged.

One of the offshoots of dirt bike racing is freestyle motocross. This is a relatively new sport. The sport does not focus on racing per se. Instead it focuses on the stunts that riders do. There are judges who score the riders according to the complexity, style, level of trick difficulty, best use of the course and the reaction of the crowd.

Freestyle motocross stunts are awesome to behold, especially the high jumps which often exceed 50 feet. Riders do back flips, one hand seat grabs and other stunts that are truly spectacular.

Another offshoot of dirt bike racing is the emergence of minibikes or Pit bikes. Pit bikes were originally designed for motocross riders to navigate the Pits, or the area that is assigned for parking. They were also designed for children who are interested in motocross. Adults began adding taller handle bars. They improved the bike's suspension and other parts. From there, the craze grew and people began racing pit bikes.

Pit bikes are smaller and cheaper than standard dirt bikes. They have smaller tires, reinforced frames and are powered by 75 to 147 cc engines.

Another offshoot of dirt bike racing is the supermoto. Supermoto began in the 1970's as a side project for many road racers. Then in 1980, UK racing journalist Gavin Trippe organized races which pitted top road motorcyclists and motocross racers against one another in specially designed tracks.

Although the sport died in the US after 1985, it gained popularity in Europe. In 2003, supermoto was back again in the US. Supermoto races involve off road bikes that are specially modified so they can run at high speeds on race tracks that consist of pavement and dirt. Some tracks also have jumps, beams and pits, just like a standard motocross event.

Sidecar racing is another offshoot. Sidecars are installed on standard dirt bikes. This means that there are two passengers for every bike. The sport is physically demanding, especially for the passenger who acts as a counterbalance.
All these dirt bike racing offshoots are as exciting as the parent sport. If you have the drive for unique adventure, why not try any of these?