16 replies to this topic

[fstrecon8653 TT Member]

Hello,
The Navy is moving my family from Washington state to Great lakes area for the next 4 years and we are planning on living in southern Wisconsin (Kenosha area w of I-94) . We have a few toys so I was wondering about registration costs(can't find anything on dirtbikes), local camping/ orv parks that have room for toy haulers, and some good local single track trails. I was also reading that dirtbikes are not treated the same as quads and 3wheelers, and that dirtbikes can't ride on orv trails, is this true? my oldest son and I have dirtbikes and my wife rids a 4x4 quad, I really would like to ride as a family. one last thing, can Dirtbikes be made street legal in Wisconsin.
thanks in advance

[Layton TT Platinum Member]

Not much legal trail for dirt bikes in WI. The good thing for you is that all you have to do is go north to the UP of Michigan and there is a lot of riding.

[shagger TT Gold Member]

I lived in Waterford for a couple of years and wasn't really happy with what I found. I bought a trials bike. You can ride an event about every weekend for cheap between the southern Wisconsin guys and the Northern Illinois guys. They are a great bunch of guys too.

Most of the better Wisconsin single track is halfway to Minnesota near Black River Falls.

I went to boot camp and BT school at Great Mistakes. I heard that the BTs had to cut half their willy off and become MMs. That makes sense really. I was a coal burning Homer Simpson type for the rest of my days. And that how the civilians do it.

[ajayMike TT Member]

Welcome to the Great Lakes region. We have some of the best dirt riding anywhere. Unfortunately, not much is in Wisconsin.

Google "Wisconservation Trail Riders" to find our club's website.

We ride single track a couple of times a month during riding season, mostly in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

We are a chapter of the Cycle Conservation Club, and maintain the Porterfield Lake Cycle Trail. Our club has riders of all skill levels, from young fast guys to old fat guys that ride vintage bikes like me. We'd be happy to have you join us.

Mike

[fstrecon8653 TT Member]

Thanks everyone, I guess that really sucks for me, I have a purpose built kx250 thats set up for NW single track. I currently live within 15 min of some of the best year round single track and atv trails in WA. Nice for the half day rides, or taking my 4 year old out so he can tear it up on his bike. I guess I'll have to plan special trips out for the family.
Thanks for the offer AJAY, I'd love to get over to michigan but with my wife expecting our 3rd child (end of summer) I don't think I'll be able to get too far away from the family. If there is family rides (mixed atv and bikes) and camping trips I might be able to break out the toytrailer and head over but it wouldent be until next riding season.
Again thanks

[shagger TT Gold Member]

I really is a good idea to buy a trials bike for the time you live in that area. Most of the events are within an hour and a half drive.

When life give you lemons...

Its likely that I'll be moving the the Netherlands. I have no idea what I going to do there.

Edited by shagger, 11 February 2012 - 07:50 PM.

[k131honda TT Member]

Check out RPAOFFROAD.COM!!! They have the best Hare Scramble's series in the state. There are alot of race's within a few hours of your area. They offer classes for everyone. Come give one a try you wont be disappointed.

[fstrecon8653 TT Member]

Good site. I love hare scrambles, used to race them when I was younger. Hey can a 2 stroke dirtbike be made street legal in Wisconsin? I was reading about some of the trail systems and some allowed street legal bikes.

[sirceo26 TT Bronze Member]

you can't make a dirtbike street legal in wisconsin if it was originally issued an off-road title. you may want to try richard bong recreation area. It's probably 20 min from kenosha and is a 7 mile loop of easy trails, great for a family ride. other than that you will have to travel a couple of hours north to find any more riding spots other than mx tracks

[Cooksend TT Member]

Gotta love racing the WIXC Series. Like mentioned above, check them out at RPAoffroad.com. Rick runs a great race series and the group of folks racing are top notch! Check out VVMapping.com to find some of the MI singletrack and ride when you can!

Thank you for serving our country!!!

[fstrecon8653 TT Member]

Man, I took a little family trip to Bong Rec Area to check out the camping and riding area and after 20 min of driving around the park and talking to the ranger I realized This is going to be a long 4 years. The kids will love it and I'll break out the 3 wheeler to ride with them but it’s not worth the hassle to un-winterize my race bike. You can’t ride in the rain or the day after, no trails from camp ground to the special use area, pretty much flat, and the ranger seamed more concerned about dirtbikes causing ruts than having fun. Unfortunately even if I wanted to ride the KX there is no race gas around here!!!!! I talked to the local Kawasaki Dealer and he said the nearest place to get it is across the border in Illinois. What in the hell! Why is this state so Pro ATV but anti-Dirtbike? Are there any Wisconsin residents out there who are trying to fight for dirtbike rights? If so I’d like to help.

Edited by fstrecon8653, 29 April 2012 - 07:53 AM.

[snopro315 TT Bronze Member]

Make a journey to Akeley, in Northern MN. They have a ton of woods riding with trails sprawling everywhere and you can camp there or around there as well. You can ride trails forever and they have some elevation changes down the highline trails. Just another option, MN doesn't shun dirtbikes

[The J-ROD TT Titanium Member]

Yeah, there are way too many quadtards in this state and not very many places to ride. I used to like to hit trails now and then, but I've switched to 100% track because good trails are few and far between.

[Dirtdiver73 TT Newbie]

 fstrecon8653, on 29 April 2012 - 07:53 AM, said:

Man, I took a little family trip to Bong Rec Area to check out the camping and riding area and after 20 min of driving around the park and talking to the ranger I realized This is going to be a long 4 years. The kids will love it and I'll break out the 3 wheeler to ride with them but it’s not worth the hassle to un-winterize my race bike. You can’t ride in the rain or the day after, no trails from camp ground to the special use area, pretty much flat, and the ranger seamed more concerned about dirtbikes causing ruts than having fun. Unfortunately even if I wanted to ride the KX there is no race gas around here!!!!! I talked to the local Kawasaki Dealer and he said the nearest place to get it is across the border in Illinois. What in the hell! Why is this state so Pro ATV but anti-Dirtbike? Are there any Wisconsin residents out there who are trying to fight for dirtbike rights? If so I’d like to help.

fstrecon8653,

The Navy PCS'd me here for 3 years also. The best place I found was Flambeau trails. However, it is a 6 hour drive for me from Waukesha. Wisconsin is strongly biased against dirt bikes and caters more towards quads. Flambeau is awesome. Just have to make a weekend out of it. There's Crawford Hills and some others but they are all limited 11 miles of trails or so. My son and I rode Flambeau and rode 150 miles that weekend. I found this site to be very helpfull: www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/wisconsin_list.htm

[rabbityracer TT Silver Member]

Assuming the OP hasn't gone AWOL after getting a lay of the new surroundings - I probably would, sorry! - what about Fox Valley Offroad in Illinois? Not 15 mins, but def not 6 hours. Also, if you have a weekend to do it, even Black River Falls or Knobby Ridge would be worth the trip with the kids, you'd probably like Knobby the most - its all primo singletrack.

You're on the right track thinking about a plate - I think there's some more dual sport stuff going on around there - they have a a few events somewhere around Madison every year. Even non-plated every so often. I remember seeing a post here a while back...like this: http://www.thumperta...wi-sat-nov-5th/

Otherwise, join the club and get a wheeler - you can ride the whole damn state on it!

Edited by rabbityracer, 20 May 2012 - 06:17 PM.

[Dirtdiver73 TT Newbie]

Thanks for the info on Fox Valley. Sounds great if you like track riding. I'll stick with the trails. Aztalan is another good place for Mx/sx track.

[fstrecon8653 TT Member]

[size="3"][font="Calibri"]Thanks, for the information, I'm heading to bong for the weekend but I'm not taking my bike. I'm taking the kids bike and my 3 wheeler. I put the Bike on craigslist about a week ago to trade for a quad, 3 wheeler, or basket case Harley. If I don't trade it I’ll keep looking for other areas to ride but I can't do 6 hours away. That’s 12 hours of driving, another few hours setting up the toy hauler, and about $300 worth of diesel in 2 days. It’s just not feasible for a normal weekend trip. Any vacation longer than 3 days I normally save for Hunting, or long distance family trips. Again thanks for the information but unless I find local property to ride on I’m switching to 4 wheels until we move back to WA. [/font][/size]