Dirt bikes for beginners

Off-road bike training is a great way to get match fit for summer expeditions and learn new skills along the way, as we’ve been finding out

Words by: Dan Trent

Published on 6 June 2025 | 0 min read

Fair to say dirt bikes don’t always have the best image, whether unlicenced electric ones ridden by kids in hoodies or noisy enduro machines tearing up the countryside.
In fact, riding motorcycles off-road – when it’s done responsibly – is huge fun, great for your skills as a rider and a fabulous way to explore the great outdoors. Indeed, watching the latest exploits of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman you may be inspired to plan a riding trip literally off the beaten track, whether it be Morocco or the Himalayas. Or maybe you’re thinking of keeping it closer to home on the Trans Euro Trail network across the UK and European mainland. Wherever your summer riding plans are taking you, money spent on training could be at least as important as choosing the right bike or kit. Enter Phoenix Motorcycle Training, a network of riding schools for riders getting CBTs and full motorcycle licences at centres around the UK. But Phoenix can also teach you how to ride off-road, whether you’re a beginner, expert or just refreshing your technique before an overseas adventure. We joined them for a session in the Peak District for a flavour of what they do, and find out why you might want to give it a go. Skip to: What is a dirt bike? Where can I ride a dirt bike? How do you ride a dirt bike? What kit do you need? What did we learn? Why ride a dirt bike?

What is a dirt bike?

Off-road motorcycles come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from kid-friendly 50ccs through to specialist competition machines for trials, enduro, motocross or endurance racing. Many of these are designed specifically for off-road use, and can only be used at dedicated centres or tracks. For all-round use like mixed-surface touring or the ‘green laning’ Phoenix bases its training around on you need a road-legal off-road bike, which generally means a machine with knobbly off-road tyres, long-travel suspension and the protection to shrug off the inevitable bangs, scrapes and knocks off-road riding entails. This could be a specialist lightweight enduro style machine with a small, single-cylinder engine or – as we’ve been testing recently with the Zero XE – electric power. Or it could be a heavyweight adventure bike, like the ever-popular BMW GS Adventure or the Tiger 1200s we tried out at the Triumph Adventure Experience in Wales. The most versatile are mid-weight all-rounders like the popular Yamaha Ténéré 700, these being light and tough enough to throw about off-road but also fine for loading with kit and racking up the motorway miles en route to the fun stuff.
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Where can I ride a dirt bike?

See above, but if you want to race, do jumps and generally go full send you need to save it for private land, dedicated tracks and specialist off-road centres. Of which there are many dotted around the UK. To ride public off-road tracks – often called ‘green lanes’ – you must have a road-legal and registered bike, the correct licence, insurance and everything else you’d need for riding on the street. It’s important to stick to designated tracks and rights of way, commonly known as Byways Open to All Traffic, or BOATs, and finding them means getting the maps out, doing your research and understanding the rules where you hope to ride. These can vary from region to region, some national parks restricting motorised vehicles to certain times of the year or specific weekends and even controlling access via permits. Which is the beauty of tapping into the local knowledge of the Phoenix instructors, who can pick the best tracks to suit your skill level and combine them into a day out in the hills. There are also organisations like the Trail Riders Fellowship, which represent the interests of riders, negotiate access, publish up to date information on where you can and can’t ride and publish a code of conduct to encourage responsible off-road riding. Which is important, because if you’re using public rights of way you’ll be sharing the trails with walkers, cyclists, horse riders, land-owners, livestock and wildlife alike. And because motorbikes are seen as fast, noisy and sometimes disruptive riders have to work harder than ever to present a positive image and prove the stereotypes wrong. Short version? Be nice, say hi!
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How do you ride a dirt bike?

Before even turning a wheel JB talked us round the fundamentals of riding a motorbike off-road, many of which differ from or even contradict how you’d ride one on the street. Nor do you just sit there and watch the world go by as you might on a regular bike, off-road riding being a much more dynamic activity that’ll have you standing up on the pegs and throwing your weight around to maximise grip and traction. Where road riders hang off the inside of the bike in turns you do it the other way around for dirt, leaning the bike into the ground to let the tyres bite while you keep your body more upright. Those flat saddles you see on serious dirt bikes aren’t especially comfortable, but mean you can slide your weight forward to push the front wheel into the ground and stop it washing wide. On loose surfaces like sand and in flat corners JB advised you may want to grip the bike between your legs, but when the going gets bumpier you then widen your stance so the bike can move around beneath you. A lot to take in!
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What kit do you need?

Bottom line, you probably will fall off at some point. So, while the speeds are generally lower you still need the right protective gear, boots generally stiffer, bigger and taller than road equivalents while moto-style helmets and goggles are better for ventilation and visibility. Leave the padded leathers and fancy adventure textiles at home as well – dedicated leg pads and separate body armour ‘suits’ protecting your arms, shoulders chest and back are preferable and generally worn under reinforced riding pants and breathable jerseys, with extra layers on top as the weather dictates. Whatever the weather accept you’re going to get dirty, whether that’s dust in the summer or mud in the winter. All part of the fun!
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What did we learn?

Starting with low-speed figure-of-eights on a bit of wasteland might have seemed basic, but JB’s instruction here taught us the fundamentals of body position and weight distribution we’d need out on the trails. The slower he made us go, the harder it got but the muscle memory of straightening the inside arm and sliding around on the flat, enduro style seat would be needed later on. From there we went to a flat, gravelly corner, which we tried seated and standing to see what felt more comfortable, JB watching on and offering tips in real time via a radio earpiece. Once we’d got the hang of this we headed out for a mixed loop of road and green lanes, the latter with a combination of gravel, loose rocks, ruts and puddles to really test our mettle. At the start working the clutch and gears while standing up felt weird, but after a few miles it was a lot more natural, our ‘dual sport’ 250cc Fantics eagerly gobbling up all sorts of punishment and coming back for more.
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Why ride a dirt bike?

Even if you’re not planning an off-road adventure a session with someone like Phoenix is a fun day out, as well as equipping you with some fresh skills and broader horizons for where your riding may take you. Ridden sympathetically and with respect for the terrain and other countryside users, a motorbike is a fantastic way to enjoy the great outdoors, and you can obviously cover a lot more ground. Dedicated dirt bikes can be bought relatively cheaply as well, their simplicity and toughness making it a reasonably accessible way to enjoy a motorcycle, though you’ll need to invest in the right kit and it definitely helps if you live somewhere with decent access to green lanes and other legal off-road riding.
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