Where should I start in order to build an ATV/MX track?

Question

My father has partioned off 5 acres of his land for me and my nephews to build a atv/mx park. The land is flat farming land. We have a brand new tractor with a front loader, and various scrapers. Any suggestions or web sites that you can point me to. We are not expert riders but we would like to have jumps, mud pits, and other obstacles.

This would only be used for family and some close friends. Not for public use.

Answer 1

If you have a public track in your area, go talk to the owner. Ask them if they had to amend the soil, any problems they have with the particular ground in your area. Some soils are so difficult to work with, you will need to amend them.

Make sure you have irrigation planned for and easy to work with. A dusty track is no fun.

You can check out designs by watching races on tv, but keep in mind that those tracks are set up to challenge the best riders - not to keep beginning and intermediate riders happy and healthy.

Start small. Work in a large oval, make bermed corners by digging down, not building up. Use the dirt from the dug-out corners to build one whoop section on a straightaway, and one jump on the other straightaway.

Make a starting line coming in at an angle and heading into a left hand turn. The start should be about 2x as wide as the rest of the track.

Make jumps tabletops rather than doubles or triples. This way if someone comes up short, they wont plow into the face of the next jump.

If you start with a big oval, and play with it for awhile, you can then use the 'infield' to make more corners, jumps and whoops as you get to be better riders, and as you figure out what makes you happy. Leave the original oval in place, and have the new track components join into it.

By leaving the original oval integrated into the track, you have a 'beginner' loop always ready for anyone to ride.

For safety, if you plan on having more than a couple people on the track at one time, be sure you have plenty of run-out room between your track sections (don't have one whoop section going north - directly next to a jump headed south). Use hay bales or old tires as barriers between close and/or problem sections.

If you do have any friends over to ride, have your parents make a written set of 'track rules' anyone who is not family will have to read and sign the rules. This won't keep anyone from suing your parents if something goes wrong, but it will help keep arguments and problems to a minimum.

For more information, check out this site:
http://www.motocross-racing-tips.com/motocross_track_design.html

Answer 2

By saying park I assume you will be letting other ride there besides family. Therefore the first thing to do is try and get the county to issue a CUP (conditional use permit). You will have to get any people around you to sign the papers allowing it. Second thing is insurance and lots of it. then each of you design a track that appeals to you. As many jumps, pits, and obstacles as you wish. then sit down and put them all together taking what designs are best from each one. Be sure to incorporate easy as well as difficult avenues for beginner to expert riders. A nice banked flat track in the middle would be fun also. I know when I used to go out to the park that was where I almost always started just to get warmed up. There is nothing like taking a 200 lb bike up to 90 mph on dirt. Where you have flat land high jumps and climbs are limited, however pits and whoopdee doos are fantastic. We also had a tree walk (a large dead tree laid down, first climb over it then run the length of it ). We also had a side hill, you could do this with small rock walls filled with dirt.

Just use your imagination and go wild , if it don't work your only out a little time to change it.

Answer 3

The last race track to be built and open in CA was Thunderhill, which is just over 10 years old now. Thunderhill is owned (and has been since it started) by the SCCA, with contributions from a few other car clubs to help it aquire the land (in exchange for guaranteed dates). After a few years of operation, they expanded the original track to it's current 3 mile length, and in the last few years have managed to begin adding permanent buildings and other such upgrades. It's worth looking at this because all of the issues they've had would be faced by anyone looking to open one today... and then some! Thunderhill was mainly handled by the San Francisco region of SCCA, but in order to find the land, they had to go about two hours North of Sacramento, a good 4 hours away from where they were based. This was due to land costs and ability to get the needed zoning. Lands costs would run in the multiple millions for any site with the possible size to install a track. A road course would make more since as most of your day to day revenue would be generated by car club and private rentals (while the major tracks in CA like Laguna Seca and Infineon can generate the majority of their income with a couple events: MotoGP, ALMS, NASCAR... it would take a well established track with a large bank account to attract such series). Improvements to the land would also be in the multiples of millions (track construction and minimal buildings and such). As well as insurance needs, contracts with emergency crews, and you would need some support from a group like SCCA or NASA to provide course workers for events. An oval would be possible as well, but these are seldomly handled as car club rentals, which would provide no income until you are able to book a large event. The biggest hurdle though would be finding the land - cost would be a major issue, as would getting the support of the community, passing environmental impact studies and such, and lastly, finding all of that in a spot that is not located near an already established track. The second hurdle would be the needed money (most would be handled by investors, but even with the world's best and most compelling business plan, you will need to show some major investment on your part to convince them to risk their money on your vision).

Answer 4

Small Motocross Track Layouts

Answer 5

i think i it is prefer that you think a your ideas.