Advice on Returning to MX after 20 years

Skip the track unless it is mostly naturally terrain, ride off road and enjoy riding for many more years. MX rules, but isn't always the easiest or safest to come back to after many years. My take anyway....

You know that answer, you are going to crash. It’s going to hurt more than it did 20 years ago. Injuries are a part of it. We all would be lying if after 30 we didn’t think about getting hurt more but it’s never good to be distracted by those thoughts before you even hit the track.

You'll have to get past the mentality of going all out or how you used to do things, etc. Be great if you come back.

Think about the whole picture. Driving, cleaning, all day process, money spent. If it still sounds attractive, then do it. There is no escaping the above and you have to love it to stay with it. 
My most appreciated moments come 20min into a 30 min moto on a fully beat up track. That’s when I find myself at the peak of enjoyment. 
Find what fuels you and keep pushing that button. We have sub 10 years left to cut laps before we’re out in the pasture. 

Do it!   Forget “what people think” and ride for your love of riding. Start slow, do what you can and as our motto is “ride to ride another day”.  If you can’t do a particular jump on a given day, so what. Get over it fast as you can and eventually it’ll come back.  If you are riding for someone else. i.e. what other people think, you are riding for the wrong reason. 
 

FYI, I am 55.5 years old, have 4 plates and 22 screws in my pilon fractured ankle and rode 38 of 53 weeks last year. Some days I do the jumps and if they are too sketchy, rutted, kickers, etc. I don’t. 
 

Ride on!

I would get an enduro or adventure bike first to get the body used to moving that way again! Mx is the peak of 2 wheel sport - easy to stuff up

If you’re thinking about it, you’ve already made up your mind.  There is no wrong time to come back to riding.  You don’t have to go out there and whip and scrub everything, just enjoy it. Be sure to talk shit with your buddies too. 

100%. Every day you don’t, is a day you didn’t. 

Have someone video you, work on body position balance and control, stand everywhere, no foot dabbing, squeeze bike, look ahead, corners, corners, corners.

Here’s the chance to re-invent your technique which will make you a safe rider and that will lead to confidence and speed. 

Especially in America with the luxury of tracks with dedicated vet layouts, do it man!!

If you get a good 250, 350 or 2 stroke, there's no reason you can't ride the vet tracks, do some trail riding or cross country or whatnot to get your eye in, get your mind and body a tune up and ease yourself in.

If he is a hardcore MX guy this is a mistake and his friends are already at the track. Take it slow and don't get landed on. You will want to go fast when you start getting comfortable. I was off the bike for 20 years, got back on at 50, 57 now.

I quit for over 30 years. Started back 2019.  No matter how much I raced in my teens and early 20’s, It’s never fully come back.  Almost like starting from scratch.

I bought a trail bike.  Rode it some, then bought a 250YZF.  Then bought a 2023 Honda 250R which actually set me back.  Dang Honda was hard to ride until I got it dialed in.

In my case key to getting back in the grove for me was find the right track to ride.  MX 2.0 east of Houston is a good Vet/beginner track.  So is Ultimate MX in Alvin,Tx.   I’ve been told 2.0 MX is kinda like Murphys.  Owner has the track in good shape even though it’s been wiped out several times by rain.  I rode it Saturday and it’s not just a good Vet track, it’s a good track period.

Conditioning is my biggest problem.  I can’t seem to get off beer and BBQ lol.  
 

park your EGO - remind yourself to PARK your EGO and get a bike that u can boss around and not one that kicks your ass. I'm 55 and came back last year from 30 yr break. Started on 250 2T and then 450F.......i was decent local Pro back in the old days. Now i'm just old. Got a 250f and am now starting to have fun. (but dear god i don't remember the muscle pain in day's after riding lol) 

One thing I left out I should mentioned.  Some guys get it back quick so don’t.  I’ve talked to guys in their 50 that quit for many years that said it came right back.  Talked to others who quickly realized they can’t do it anymore and sold a near new MX bike.  I’m somewhere in between.  

Gear up, take it easy, smile from ear to ear. 

Enjoy. 

1. If you go off track, do NOT accelerate! 2. Enjoy yourself, brother, welcome back. 

I came back after 5 years off at age 41. Didn’t stop because of a big injury, just tired of the little ones and was just over it, quite frankly. I’m 2-4 hrs each way from any decent track, so that factored in as well. 
 

I came back in 18 mostly to ride with my daughter who had just started. I am now 6 years back and having a great time. I go when I feel like it, instead of every weekend like I used to feel like I had to. I am competitive by nature but am also smarter now about whether I’m feeling on or off, and adjust my riding accordingly. I don’t put pressure on myself to do “the big double” or whatever. 
 

As an aside, my dad just came back at 73, and is having a blast. 
 

Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed as they say. I’ve buried too many friends and family, some at much younger ages than they should have gone. I’d say go for it. You can always sell the bike if you discover you’re just not into it. That to me is better than always wondering if you “should have tried.”

If you find yourself wanting to line up behind a gate again, I’d suggest one of the Vet/OT series if one is near you. Competitive folks, but everyone recognizes we all have to work on Monday and it’s a lot of great camaraderie.

The main question should be, when you crash, and if you break something, it will take longer to heal, maybe complications, longer rehab?

How will you, or you family survive if you're off work 4, 10, 16 weeks?

That's what kept me off the bike, last time it was a simple spiral fracture tib fib, that had complications, 17 weeks off work.

I stopped riding just about 20 years ago. I keep getting the itch to ride . And then a friend will have a big crash and I rethink things.  I crushed my foot and had many surgeries to fix it. It sucks to shift with. Recently the Stark Varg has gotten me interested again to the point I bought an EMTB and made a deal with myself. If I can get into good shape and avoid injuries on the MTB. I will buy a Varg or who knows what might be out by the time I'm in good shape. 

So far I have put just under 60 miles on the EMTB. Mostly doing laps around the mile track/trail that I built for my SXS.  This weekend I had a customer offer to let me ride their Varg on those same trails. The bike was setup for an average height/weight female rider. I am 6'9: and 300 pounds. So it was far from being setup for me. But I have not smiled like I did in a VERY VERY longtime. I rode about 15 minutes or so. And had it on the lower setting. The Varg or an electric powered MX bike that is similar to it is what I will buy if and when the time comes. And I think everybody should try one out if the price and runtime fit into what they want and need from a bike. But it sounds like a KX250f is the bike You want. I say get whatever bike will make you the most excited to ride again.

If You can ride without that fear of injury in the back of your mind being too strong. You will have a great time. I tried riding for years after the early surgeries I had on my foot and I just became so worried about getting hurt along with the pain I had in my foot, I got hurt every ride .broken hands, wrist, arm, torn ACL and 7 concussions and lots of sprains and bruises  most of those happening after the foot injury.  Then my garage burnt to the ground with (3) 450's,tools and gear  in it and my truck parked close enough that it also burnt. I took that as a sign to pause my riding. 

Now many years later I was able to go out on that Varg and I was so excited to ride that the fear was almost not there. And I felt like it felt very natural to move around and jump the small jumps I had. I think that the riding the EMTB helped me feel like I had never stopped riding. I felt as comfortable on that Varg as I have on ANY bike. It was a wild feeling.  I think that if You are in decent physical shape, Go for it. If You are out of shape, consider an EMTB to ease into the riding thing and get stronger so that when You do crash, Your body has the best shot at not being injured.  

I came back to it after the best part of 20 years.

I’d raced pro back in the day until I was 25 then quit at the end of ‘92.  Came back to it in my early 40’s. I’d, obviously, changed massively as a person in those intervening years and it really wasn’t any fun at all and after breaking some bones stopped for good. 

Looking back I’d have been better off leaving it well alone and as part of my youth.
 

 Get in the best shape you can, lots of stretching and build endurance. Your going to crash and the better shape, the  strionger and more flexible you can be,  the better chance of minimizing injury and a quicker recovery, which at your age is longer than when you were 20. I'm 63  had a total knee replacement eight years ago,  discs issues in my lower back, but race vintage MX, ride track days on modern Vet track on a modern bike, ride off road and compete in the ocassional Trial. If I didn't exercise and stretch I wouldn't be able to do any of that.

 Good luck on getting back into it, hanging and riding with friends is worth the effort.

I’m 51.  I was never a big mx rider but did a lot of off-road and enduros.  Was off the bike for the best part of ten years.  18 months ago got back into riding, with some mates in similar situations.

In my hiatus from riding I’d gotten properly into fitness.  In the past I was always fit from playing sports but never really trained properly.  The last eight years or so I’ve done a lot of training for endurance events as well as structured strength training particularly on core strength and legs.  Overall I’m fitter now than I was 20 years ago.  

When I got back on the bike the biggest difference I noticed was the benefit of being properly fit and strong.  On top of that I went and got some proper riding coaching to improve my technique, which I’d never done before.  Now I’m back riding regularly, don’t get as tired and sore as I used to.  I’ve done a few off-road races but I’m thinking of buying an mx bike and doing some casual mx for fun (there are a few good natural terrain style tracks in my area).

I think 7eleven's post poses the right questions to make a decision based in reality.

On the upper age limit for racing, I can offer some inspiration even though I'm only in my 40s...

I have a 63 year old buddy who still gets after it on motocross tracks every weekend.  We rode Saturday.
If there's a race going on, he's racing and probably getting a couple holeshots.   
If there's no race, he's finding some place to practice.
He's pretty good about staying off the ground and that really helps longevity.

Another buddy is 84 years old. He mentored me into moto as a young guy and raced right up into age 65 or 66.
He is still sharp as a tack, lifts weights in his garage and walks a lap around the neighborhood every morning.

If you stay consistently active, find the enjoyment in it and keep the mindset that you're a rider/racer, you can enjoy the sport a very long time.  I've had conversations with both of those friends on this topic.


If you pull the trigger on moto, go out to a practice day and get some bike time to re-learn the basics.
Then make your second or third practice day an appointment with a patient riding coach.
The skills I've banked in my 30's are now allowing me to ride more safely as a 40+ guy riding within my limits.
Make sure your fitness is as good as you can too.  Riding tired is a sure-fire way to make costly mistakes.

I hear that. I absolutely suck now, was never anything special but was competent and confident. It is what it is though.

It is what it is and either way I love it. Getting out on the bike, the bikes themselves (there's nothing cooler), the maintenance and modifications, the racing in person or on TV, the smell in the garage...

What PNWMXer and others say is a real good point to, even if you give it another go and find out it's not for you, or you're just over it now, or the risk vs reward doesn't stack up or isn't justifiable, at least you know and won't regret not trying it... I'm not saying run out and buy a bike without thinking, but I bet that kind of regret could sure suck.