David and I got into mini motorcycling around April of 2015 when we did our first mini moto rider clinic with M1GP, organized by Young Lee. We were first introduced via another riding friend, Mike Palero, whom was staffing that year. They usually run at Willow Springs Kart Track up in Rosamond which is about 1.5 hours away from where we live so we normally have to consider it a full track day since they run from 7:00am to 4:00pm and plan for the whole day.
Initially, I enjoyed the setup of the organization because the bikes were already provided and even if you crash they won’t penalize you to fix them, it’s all taken care of on site for the cheap price of $70.00. If you run your bike at the event it was $50.00. It was mostly also because they were very lenient, they didn’t force me to do drills or continuously follow me around (babysitting). I like the freedom to do what I and when I want to do them, but if you want to do drills all you have to do is ask one of the staff members. I found out was that I understood things better when I ran the track rather than doing the same drills over and over again, I didn’t really like the constant repetition. Although every person is different in terms of using a method to understand something.
There’s so much to learn starting from the basics of smaller bikes, body position, looking through turns, making turns, I can go on. I’ve definitely honed many skills from these clinics and became much more comfortable on my 300, especially on looking through turns and knowing when I should be turning with my body rather than fighting it. It definitely helped me understand riding out in tough situations like slipping out on gravel and dirt. They also provide free photos for the day to which they upload to their Facebook page albums (would be nice if they were linked to their website or something) because their Rider Clinic Facebook page is invite only. The original price couldn’t be beat, it was cheap and fun way to practice on getting better.
With that being said, there are a few kinks to the organization we thought would’ve been nice to be addressed and worked on. You can read them here on my Yelp page! David and I ended up investing in our own CRF50 and eventually got good enough that we didn’t need much coaching from the the staff any longer. $70.00 still wasn’t too terrible, then this year they decided to rise the prices to $95.00 per person. That’s almost $200 to do mini track for two people, almost the price of one big track day. We ended up deciding it was too expensive to continue with the organization when there are actually closer mini tracks like Apex, Grange, and Adams out in the Riverside area for $30-$50 a day. Willow Springs themselves also have open practice days for $25.00, so long as you have your own bike.
Now there’s another organization called UMRA that also deals in the mini moto business. Although they don’t run rider clinics, they do hold really well organized races and they’re really affordable too. Some races ranges $50 and higher depending how many races and classes you want to do. They usually have a two day event where Saturday is open practice and this day is the perfect day to try out mini moto if you don’t have your own, UMRA has rentals they will lend out for free. You just have to fix the parts you break if and when you crash since these bikes do belong to other people. They also provided hand on tips from the staff if you need them. The greatest part is the chemistry between everyone, everyone is family and always have these really cool BBQs after practice.
Mini moto is an awesome side gig, everyone should get into it. But always remember to hydrate properly when the weather gets really hot as you will definitely be sweating it out. I had the fun pleasure of experiencing mad heat exhaustion when friends and I decided to go when it was 116 degrees out. I always find packing a gallon of water with a dozen or so bottles of small Gatorade with some fruits and nuts for lunch in a medium sized cooler is the way to go.
Check out this fun video of M1GP’s mock race:
Kuma & Neko 