Hey, just wondering if anyone has any tips on starting out?
my current plan is to buy a cheap motocross bike and basically play around with it a bit before looking for some competitions/races to take part in…
my main problem right now is finding places i can go just to play about, and practice with the bike… does anyone know of any good places near croydon (surrey) or anywhere in the southeast?
i really appreciate any and all info on where i can start practicing! 
There used to be a farm down by that Mormon temple on the A22 before you get to East Grinstead. You turn right at the roundabout having headed from M25 direction and there was a track in on the left after about quarter of a mile. This took you down to a farm, known as Gingers. If I can get any details I will. There is a moto cross shop near Purley, they maybe able to help you.
you have the right idea about geting loads of practice time there is no substitute for hours in the sadel, maybe you should get a cheep road legal enduro bike for now, then you can go green laneing all around, any time you like for whole days at a time, and ride about on the road to and from your best spots, get loads of low impact sadle hours then when you are dailed in nicely and have good feel you can take your bike on a motocross track for some extreme practice and in a few months you will be really good. my mates who bought full on off road only motocrossers, need a van to get to tracks and there bikes get used 2 times a month. I ride off road maybe 3 times a week ( i live in central london). and i can enjoy any type of terrain i find because i know my bike pretty well. (no race winner though, just good’nuff to scare myself a bit)
Now, when I go out with my motocross mates (who started at the same time) it is like riding with little children, they can’t ride there own powerful bikes as they have hardly an expirience on them, they get knackerd in 45 minits and need an hours practice just to get warmed up suficiently not to do really basic mistakes like lock the front up into every fast-to-slow turn, like a road rider or fight the bars out of turns like a mountain biker.
the more practice you get the better you are on the bike, the more it feels part of you…whatever gets you riding the most (at first) will be the best bike place combination. There are always some green lane riders going out somewhere near you on any weekend… if you stop near any woodland withing 25 miles of london on a sunday at some point during the day some kitted out riders will go by, they are out there!
The bigger clubs and trf etc vary in activity and ability levels but if you go on a few rides you will soon form a sub group, i ride with a bunch of yobs called “the green lane crew” they know tons and tons of routes around luton but are on the wrong side of london for croydon area, but take a look at there site www.thegreenlanecrew.com and get a feel if that is the kinda thing for you.
I am sorry i live too far away to be of much help with tracks and clubs and shops in that area, but i hope this general advice from my expirience gives you some pointers on one way to get good and enjoy your self loads on the way.
i am now searching for an enduro bike
only problem… it seems even the not-so-sexy ones are like 1.5k minimum 
i COULD get something like that, the cost of the bike isnt the problem (although 1.5k minimum might take me a few months to get, being a full time student)… the main problem is the insurance… what would the insurance be on a bike like this?
and at a risk of showing just how newbie i am… is it legal for me to ride one (125cc) with L plates? and how exactly do i go about doing a bike test? i’ve always wondered that…
also, are there anything in particular that will lower the insurance that i should look out for? perhaps a certain manufacturer or something?
Dude a word of wisdom there is a place called, Urban Bikes just outside of coulsdon, there bikes are dirt cheap I mean I paid £800 for mine all in… But DO NOT buy from them, the I bought it and in 2 months I spent hours upon hours upon hours stripping rebuilding, removing rust, buying new bolts that had falling off, replacing this that and the other…
So if you see one of there Ads please take it from me stay well clear, I was talking to a green lane freind who said he saw one of them turn up and within minutes bits were falling off, not what you need if you are looking for dirt biking… Also there is a KTM out there '99yr will cost you around £900 second hand…
hope that helps…
i appreciate the warning
had to put the bike on hold due to quitting my job… should be able to find a new one soon enough, and if i go for a computer based job instead of a random one, i should very easily be able to earn a lot more (and i’ll hate the job less, and be able to do more hours) ^-^
dude I work in an IT dept, unlucky for you that you were not looking about 4 weeks ago as we just highered a newbie…
