How old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road (Dirt bike age chart)

How old should you be to ride a dirt bike?

You may be asking how old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road. This may be as a parent looking after your child. Or you may be a child checking before you ask your parents to buy you a dirt bike. Also, does the answer depend on which country you live in? Let’s take a look…

How old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road? How old you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road depends on the child, but kids of 3 years old can ride small electric dirt bikes with training wheels. Kids of 4 can progress to ride small petrol (Gas) dirt bikes. Kids aged 5-6 and up can ride petrol 50cc dirt bikes without training wheels and take small jumps.

How old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road

As I write this article about how old you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road, I’m trying to remember what age I was when I first rode off road. In fact the first bike I rode off road wasn’t actually a dirt bike. It was an old bike call a Kerry Capitano. When I now look back at this motorbike, this makes me feel very old!

This bike originally belonged to my brother who rode it on the road. But I was too young at the time to ride on the road. I was probably between 11-12 years old at the time. He changed his bike to a 50cc FS1E or “Fizzie” as we called them. He sold his Kerry Capitano to me.

I was fortunate and had a lane to ride my first off-road bike

We were fortunate that we had a side lane down the side of our house. I used this lane to ride my first off-road bike. This gave me the confidence and experience to progress. The other benefit of riding such an old bike was that it always went wrong. So this taught me how to fix bikes too. Which became a very useful skill to have when I bought my first car and my first proper dirt bike, which was a Husqvana.

So although my first dirt bike wasn’t actually a dirt bike, I began aged somewhere between eleven or twelve. But that doesn’t mean this is the youngest you can start. It’s also possibly easier these days to start younger with electric bikes.

Dirt bike safety and kids – Where and what are the risks?

Before you embark on letting your kids go dirt biking, here are a few pointers about the safety of dirt biking and kids. Dirt biking is considered a dangerous sport, but as with anything dangerous the risks of injury can be mitigated.

Consider the following when it comes to dirt bike safety and kids:

• Size and power of the dirt bike: Never put your kid on a dirt bike that’s too powerful for their strength and age. But also, make sure you buy a dirt bike with the correct seat height. Just like riding a push bike, your kids need to be able to touch the ground with their feet when they come to a stop. Otherwise they’ll fall off.
• Your kid MUST wear a safety helmet: Statistics on safety helmets show that more than 60% of deaths result from not using helmets.
• Trail-riding vs track-riding dirt bikes: More than 50% of all dirt biking injuries occur on official dirt bike tracks. Which may put you off taking your kids to ride their dirt bikes on a track. I did both as a kid. We used to trail ride and go to tracks too, as each one provides a different experience and you learn different skills. But at least by knowing this you can make your own decisions.
• Trail riding risks: If you decide to only trail ride because of the added risk of riding on a track, be aware of people walking and horses and horse-riders that use the same trails.
• Alcohol and dirt biking don’t mix: Whilst I appreciate your kids won’t be consuming alcohol (or at least I hope not!!), it’s worth knowing that in more than 50% of dirt biking fatalities, alcohol was a factor. But also be aware of your alcohol consumption when you’re around your kids riding dirt bikes. You not only need to set a good example, but also you don’t want to be under the influence of alcohol should anything go wrong when your kid is riding their dirt bike.
• Dirt biking is safer than ATV’s or four wheeler off-road vehicles: This may surprise you, but there are more risks associated with ATV four wheelers than two wheel dirt bikes.

Kids aged 3 years old can begin dirt biking

Kids of 3 years old can begin to ride a dirt bike. You are probably best to put them on a small electric dirt bike to begin with. Your 3-year-old may also need training wheels or stabilisers to begin with, depending on whether or not they can already ride a push bike or not.

Or you could even go for a small electric dirt bike with stabilisers that come as standard.

Legal age limit for riding off-road on dirt bikes

You may have to check the legal age limit for riding a dirt bike off road in the country where you live. In the UK there’s no legal age limit for riding off-road like there is for riding on a public highway. Similarly in America there’s no age limit to how old you can be to ride a dirt bike off road.

But please check your country and the legality for the minimum age for off-road dirt biking.

Places to ride a dirt bike

For your kids to ride a dirt bike off road you need to find a suitable place that’s both legal and where they aren’t going to be a nuisance to others. As an 11-12 year old I was fortunate where I lived, as we had a side lane to ride.

If you don’t have this luxury you may need to invest in a trailer to transport your kids dirt bikes to somewhere they can ride. This is because they won’t be able to ride along a public highway to get to a site where they can ride their dirt bikes.

I also don’t suggest you allow them to wheel them along a public highway either, as this could land them in trouble with the police too.

Consider other off-road users

Where you take your kids to ride off road on their dirt bikes, make sure they consider other people who use the trails if this isn’t an official dirt bike track. Be careful of horse riders and hikers and be especially careful when going around a blind corner or taking a blind summit.

Dirt bike age chart

Caution when using this dirt bike age chart: Please, please bear in mind the following dirt bike age chart is only a loose guide to follow. When considering the age of your child and the power and engine size of the dirt bike, please make sure you consider your child’s prior dirt bike experience.

Where no prior dirt bike experience start with a less powerful engine

If your child has no prior dirt bike experience, you can almost assume they are a 3 year old. Let me explain this by way of an example; My dad was possibly aged 45=50 at the time when we put him on a small motorbike. He pulled the throttle fun-on and careered off into the bushes.

Whilst at the time this was funny and would make a great viral video, fortunately my dad wasn’t hurt. But it could have been worse. The point being that whilst he could ride a push bike, he wasn’t motorbike savvy and he wasn’t a child.

Match the engine power an cc to your child’s ability and not necessarily their age

If your child’s first request for a dirt bike is aged 16, don’t buy them a powerful 450cc dirt bike! In the chart below I suggest a petrol (gas) dirt bike with a cc between 110 to 450cc for a 16 year old, but this assumes significant prior dirt bike experience.

If your 16 year old as an example has no prior dirt biking experience, but can ride a push bike, consider an electric dirt bike or a low powered 50cc dirt bike for them to learn with first.

The same principle applies to any age through the range 3 to 16 below. But the older your child, the larger and heavier they’ll be. This means that a small dirt bike designed for a 3 or 4 year old, may not be big enough for a 14 year old.

Please bear the above in mind when viewing the following dirt bike age chart. Safety first:

Age	Dirt bike type	Gears	Training wheels
3	Electric	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch	Yes
4	Electric/ petrol (gas)	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch	Yes
5	Electric Petrol (gas) Max 50cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch	Possibly
6	Electric Petrol (gas) Max 50cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch	Possibly
7	Electric Petrol (gas) Max 65cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch	Unlikely
8	Petrol (gas) Max 65cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch or clutch & gears	Unlikely
9	Petrol (gas) Max 65-85cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch or clutch & gears	No
10	Petrol (gas) Max 65-85cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch or clutch & gears	No
11	Petrol (gas) Max 65-110cc	Automatic/ Centrifugal clutch or clutch & gears	No
12	Petrol (gas) Max 65-125cc	Clutch & gears	No
13	Petrol (gas) Max 65-125cc	Clutch & gears	No
14	Petrol (gas) Max 110-250cc	Clutch & gears	No
15	Petrol (gas) Max 110-350cc	Clutch & gears	No
16	Petrol (gas) Max 110-450cc	Clutch & gears	No

I hope you enjoyed this article about how old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road

I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your adventures of dirt biking in the comments below. Please also share your photos. Either from your cameras or videos from your Gopro’s!

If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions about dirt biking (or specifically about how old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike off-road), please comment below with your questions.

There will also be many more articles about dirt biking for you to read and learn about this fabulous sport and hobby.

Have fun and be safe!