Pit Bike Racing
A Pit Bike is just like a regular motorcycle but modified to be used on rough roads, more conventionally in pits where motocross racing is organized. The pit bike is also called an off-road/on-road motorcycle and motocross racing is become very popular all over the world and more so in the United States of America and California in particular. Lately, the term is even being used for bicycles that are being ridden in these areas.
The history of this bike began from the times a Honda Z50 was used in dirt bike races across the USA and their mobility and cheap prices made them very popular and convenient to use at racing events. Movies like The 2001 Crusty Demons of Dirt 3 too played their part in making these dirt bikes popular and showed their users that they could use them for much more than just riding up and down the dirt pits.
Taking a cue from the movies, Honda too started serious work on the bikes and came up with some dynamic changes to the spoke wheels, shock absorbers and a total redesign of the frame along with a plastic fuel tank. The spares and accessories for these bikes were available in larger quantities and so the revolution began among teenagers and adults alike. More powerful engines, more comfort for adult riders and better bike parts soon contributed to the popularity of these bikes and that was the start of the racing phenomenon all across the USA.
Just like Motocross, Pit Bike Racing is today become a competition sport wherein bikes are classified according to the capacity and power of their engines and races are held for a designated number of laps around the track over a fixed number of outings called motos and the winner is the one with the best average position at the end of the race.
The newest and latest fad for pit bikes is the Pit Park which involves the riding of these bikes exactly like the regular BMXers would in a skate park. Here, the skate parks will not normally allow the use of their premises since the speeds and torque of the bikes can very easily damage the wood and so metal and concrete parks began to spring up but the dangers of this sport were aking to those associated with BMX racing. Tyres too began evolving with slick ones being preferred however, the regular knobby ones were also used.
These slim bikes soon began to be used for stunt riding and riders became expert in performing stoppies and wheelies along with variations, besides stunting for which quite a few modifications had to be made to the bikes including foot throttles and pegs among others.
