Tarafrost Photography - Dirt/Trials Bike Obstacle Course

Dirt/Trials Bike Obstacle Course

(Last Update: October 2012)

Here's a few shots of the new 6'x8' rock garden obstacle (shot with my iPhone)....

September 19, 2012

Here's a video tour of my obstacle course that I shot with my Contour HD 1080p headcam unit...

August 26, 2012

I've added some new obstacles, fabricated from the large wire spools that Rob (Upriver, aka: Sir Standzabit) got me last year. The idea came from Gandalf on ThumperTalk

I enhanced Gandalf's design to add the grab handles on both sides to make it easier for two people to move these things around.

I have three built so far. The door painting on the honeydo list interrupted construction.....as did running out of 2x4s!
Got another half ready for slats, and two more full spools queued up. I figure more are better....more options as to how to lay them out.

Side view. Haven't had the guts to hit the large side first, but have done the small side then large one. Fun, fun, fun!

Looking down the obstacle course. Still need to get a load of fill dirt for the splatter wall!

August 19, 2012

I've done some work recently......late last year a buddy (Thanks Treeguy, aka: Andrew) brought a nice big log to play on. I had also gotten a dozen or so old railway ties as raw material for a splatter wall. So I finally got around to building the splatter wall!

This is what the play area/obstacle course currently looks like:

I plan to dig out the tires and replace them with bigger ones....we'll see if I get to this before the winter snows fly!

You can see the splatter wall in the distance!

The splatter training wall. Railway ties held together with rebar! Took most of the afternoon to assemble.

The back side of the splatter wall with bracing struts. Just need to get someone to bring me 4-5 cubic yards of fill to create the runout!

Finally dug in one of the wire spools to play on! Thanks Sir Standzabit!

This is the zig zag, tight turn practice area in the front pine stand. I can only do every other one so far. Stay inside the green tape and you're fine!

Another view of the tight turn practice area. The loose dirt/pine needles can be challenging!

View from the other end of the play area. I may dig in the bigger tires at some point, unless I can get 3 more large tractor tires instead!

Lots of fun things to play on!

Fall, 2011

I've had some inquiries about the details of the dirt bike teeter totter construction, and my "work-in-progress" dirt/trials bike obstacle course, so I've posted some photos here to give folks an idea of what I currently have in place and details of the teeter totter and "holding pressure" ramp construction.
I've included a yardstick in many shots to give you an idea of the size of various components that went into the construction.

Click on any image to see a much larger version!

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Closeup of the support struts of the teeter-totter.

Side view of the support struts of the teeter-totter. The main supports are 6x6 posts.
There are two threaded rods (the upper nut and one behind the 4 bolt heads at the bottom) that go horizontally through all 4 6x6 segments and tie them together.

Closeup of the pivot pipe. It's 1 1/4" black plumbing pipe (pretty heavy duty stuff), and has spring clips at both ends to keep it in place.
The clips make it easy to change the height of the pivot point.

Another view of the pivot pipe. There is a 2" long ABS plastic pipe spacer between the support post and the underside rail of the ramp, which keeps the ramp centered evenly between the posts.

The underside of the ramp and the rather beefy support structure. The ramp board is re-inforced for almost the full length with two pressure-treated 2x4 rails. The pivot pipe goes though these rails.
The outboard struts keep the vertical 6x6 supports from tipping forward/back or side to side, and are lag-bolted into the 6x6 support posts. I recommend a good impact wrench to make it easier to install all the lag bolts.
I used a cordless 18v DeWalt impact driver for this. Made the job much faster and less strenuous.

A closer view of the whole support structure.

This is what it looks like when you are approaching the ramp. With the far end nearly 6' high, even though the pivot point is just under 3' high, it's rather intimidating when you do it for the first time!
The ramp is a 2x10 that is 12' long. You can see the heads of the 3" wood screws that hold the 2x4 re-inforcing struts underneath.

Side view of the whole Teeter Totter. Since the pivot pipe comes out quickly, with the removal of a single spring clip, it's pretty easy to pull the ramp off for transport to club events and the like, in a decent sized trailer or in a pickup truck.

Real close look at the spring clip on the pivot pipe. Plus some lower mounting holes, though I tend to keep it at the highest setting....less likely to snag a peg on the vertical supports that way.

Side view of the support structure. You can see the rod that ties the vertical 6x6's together, with the nut on the end. There is a 2nd such rod, but it's behind the horizontal ground support strut, behind the 4 smaller bolt heads
Yeah....the leaves are falling here. Soon the snow will fall and the riding season will be done! ;-(

Closeup of the 6x6 support struts. You can see the big nut on the rod that goes through all 4 6x6's at the lower right corner.

Here's what my obstacle course currently looks like. Clockwise from the lower left, teeter totter, 16' (2 rail ties) balance beam, wheelie (holding pressure) practice ramp, vertical tires and some log crossings.
The spare tires on the right will be tied together into a horizontal pattern at some point.

The wheelie (holding pressure) practice ramp. I wasn't able to get decent hardwood pallets, since most of them have return deposits on 'em these days, so I just built one out of some spare wood I had left over.

The wheelie (holding pressure) practice ramp with a horizontal yardstick. The main area is about 1 metre long (just over a yard).
The edges of the top and bottom boards are rounded, 'cause it hurts if you lose it at the top and land on a nice, sharp 90 degree corner. Don't ask me how I know that! LOL

The top is hinged, to make it easier to adjust the angle and thus height and steepness of the ramp. It's set just under 3' high currently.

Side view, showing the horizontal struts that hold everything ridgid. Just remove a few wood screws and you can move the struts up or down and adjust the angle pretty quickly, if need be.
It looks easy, but it's way steeper than this looks when you approach it on a trials bike!
The trick is to have enough momentum to scale the ramp, but keep the front wheel in a wheelie, so that you roll down the back side on your rear tire only, and touch the front tire down on the ground as the rear comes off the ramp. Easier said than done somtimes! ;-)

Another view on an angle of the wheelie (holding pressure) practice ramp.

Here's the view of the whole obstacle course from the other end. The dug-in vertical tires are fun....though I am getting some bigger ones soon and plan to replace these not too far down the road, to make this "endurocross-style" obstacle more challenging.

Raw materials I've scrounged (thanks for the spools Upriver!), to add to the obstacle course down the road. The tire is from a big road grader and is 4.5' tall! Youza! ;-)
Not sure how I'm going to arrange the spools yet, but it'll probably be specific to trials bike practice. Suggestions are welcome as to how to arrange them! They are about 4' in diameter or a bit less.

I have a much bigger log coming to replace one of the smaller ones I currently have on the course.

Not sure how much more I'll get done before the winter, but definitely will have some new things on the course for next Spring. Thinking of adding a rock section as well, and some large stumps from a huge maple I had to cut down.

I hope you get inspired by what I've built so far and the plans for future additions. Go play in the dirt....riding offroad is a blast, as are trials bikes!