A father in Italy first created the minibike or the pocket bike for his son. He made the miniature motorcycle out of old bits and bobs which he found lying around the place, despite being very basic it went on to become a large craze. Soon after this most people began building their own mini motorcycles. In the beginning these bikes were popularly called “pit bikes” because they could maneuver very well in tight roads and they could also sit in about the same place as a trailer or a pickup. Not only this, these bikes were also faster than most previous forms of transportation.

Soon after this a whole market developed for minibikes and many cottage and major industries developed to meet the increasing demand. Today, they have evolved into distinct specialized types of minibikes of course with the same concept.

Pocket Bike

A pocket bike or minibike is a miniaturized version of a motorcycle. The traditional minibikes usually use four stroke motors that power a chain to turn the rear wheel. There are some models that use two stroke motors although electric-powered models are also available in the market today. These 2-stroke motors produce a loud, whining buzz and are a more polluting cloud of smoke as exhaust, if it is not properly tuned.

These bikes have been selling really fast and belong to a class of their own.

Types of Bikes

Minimoto

These bikes look like sports bikes and are used to race on tracks that are used for kart racing.

Pit Bikes

Pit bikes are used to quickly move around in the pit areas of motor racing events and tracks. These bikes look like motocross motorcycles and are used in some motocross competitions.

Mini choppers

These are minibikes that look like choppers.

Parts of a Pocket Bike

It is important to remember that to keep your bike running smoothly the worn out parts have to be replaced with new ones.

A pocket bike has many different parts. The vital ones are tires, axles, wheels, chains, tanks, pistons, engines, brake parts, carburetors, throttle units, gas tanks and cylinders. Other essential ingredients that boost the power of pocket bikes are high-velocity chrome stacks and high-performance air filters. Among the accessories there is chrome racing pipes, mufflers and a whole lot of other accessories available in the market.

These bikes are convenient and fun and can be easily carried in the arms. Gas-powered engines power up the pocket bikes. Features like the racing tires, disc brakes, fairings and light-weight aluminum alloy cast perimeter frames and swing arms can be added to a pocket bike.

All these parts have an important role to play in the proper functioning of a pocket bike.

By Rachna Gupta Published: 10/9/2007