Please Note - There are many bike related online forums, but only Active Forums will be listed below.
With 2011 still only just getting under way, we are already seeing a bunch of new or revamped dirt bike forums for Aussie (and international) riders sprouting up all over the Internet. Once the dust settles and the weeds have died out, we'll post some more of the survivor's links here. All forum links provided by Dirt Bike Australia are reviewed every few months to make sure that they are still meaningfully active. We are not interested in wasting your time or ours. Forums are listed alphabetically, not in any preferential order.
- Editor
Australia's Offroad Club
An Aussie off-road web site and forum that includes an active section for dirt bike riders.
Bike Chat / Enduro / Vintage Enduro Forum (
Started March 2010) - The forum goal is to promote bike riding, mainly dirt bikes and vintage bikes. Ideally making the forum a place for riders and people who love bikes to have somewhere to go to chat, make friends and find parts. If you are interested in Vintage Enduro, why not get on board and help out.
Dirt Bike World Forum for Aussie dirt and trail riders was first started in 1999, making it one of the older, larger and more successful Australian dirt bike forums.The DBW forum covers a comprehensive range of dirt/trail riding topics. The forum tries to maintain G-Rated web content and will not accept web based free email accounts (eg. Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc), when signing up. The DBW forum also has
Club Mud (
you will need to purchase Dirt Bike World merchandise to become a member), which then entitles Club Mud members to discounts and access to additional forum features.
Dirt RiderZ Forum (
started June 2010) is designed for Guys & Girls Australia wide to join, enjoy, contribute, participate in any way they like. DirtriderZ has a wide and various range of members of all ages, and has several Female members which is great to see :) The Forum's members include Trailriders of all levels including people that race MX, Enduro and compete in many types of dirt related events. With a friendly Crew this Forum also offers many other great features including regular & annual rides and social events. Feel free to pop over, register and say hello.
Dual Sport Motorcycle Riders Association (DSMRA) Forum
Enduro Bike Talk (Shepparton, Vic)
Fmx Australia.Com Forum
Old Fart Riders (TAS) Forum
MC News - Has a Motocross, Enduro and Supermoto section
Old Bull Trail Riders forum is targeted specifically at older riders, those getting back into
dirt riding and experienced riders just looking for somewhere to communicate with like minded friends. Old Bull hopes to provide interesting articles, interviews and some good buys for bike gear.
OzVMX (Oz Vintage Motocross)
Perth MX.com (WA)
Perth Trail Scene (WA)
Tour Oz Forum -
An Outdoor Enthusiasts forum based in Queensland but with a diverse Australia-wide membership. The forum includes Dirt Bike and 4WD sections. Tour-Oz goals include: Fostering participation in outdoor pursuits, promoting appropriate and responsible recreation practices, protecting the right to freely enjoy the great outdoors and assisting in the education of fellow outdoors enthusiasts.
TrailMates Forum (Newcastle and Hunter area NSW)
Trailrider Australia Forum - Started in 2009, with new features added in 2011. Trailrideraustralia.com has been set-up to provide Australian Trail Riders with a place to meet, chat, organise rides and give ride reports in a friendly environment. The forum allows the attachment of high quality pictures, and even has a picture gallery where users can upload lots of pictures quickly and easily. An Australia wide forum with strong Southeast Queensland rider base.
Trailriderz forum (TAS) gets visitors from all over the world making it a great place to meet other riders and find out about events and rides, particularly down in Tasmania. Lots of useful information, a friendly crew and deals on bike parts and gear.
Magazine Related Forums (a subscription may be required for access to some areas)
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Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine (ADB) Forum
Dirt Rider.Net Forum
Fullnoise Forum
Trail Bike Adventure Magazine
New Zealand Dirt Bike Forums
Bushriders Motorcycle Club
The Advantages of Joining Online Dirt & Trail Rider Forums
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Let's begin by being up-front with some of the potential down-sides of Online Forums ...
Some online dirt and trail rider forums are actually run by registered clubs and/or associations. These may therefore have a Joining and/or Annual Membership Fee. Other forums that are run by magazines may require a Subscription Fee, particularly to gain access the juicy bits of their forums.
There are however still some online dirt and trail rider forums that do not require any form of Direct Payment. Whichever type of forum you join, you may find that one component of the real price you will pay is an increase in your junk mail.
Some (but not all) forums will use the email address of riders who sign up to promote or sell something. It may be by simply promoting the forum's sponsor(s) or a sponsor's products. It may also be advertising from Affiliate web sites or even other sales related web sites run by the forum's owner.
The better forums will at least offer you the opportunity to configure your Personal Settings to determine what "news" (and the advertising that comes with) will get sent to you.
Information is one of the key advantages of joining a forum. If you are prepared to wade through, what may at times be a lot of meaningless chat, forums do contain some choice information. It may be about riding locations, riding tips, bike maintenance or even D.I.Y. tips, like how to mount a camera on your helmet. It's all there, you just have to take the time to find it.
Community is another big part of forums, since forums do provide opportunities for riders to share their experiences, discuss relevant issues and organise rides and/or outings. Forums are a great way to meet dirt bike riders from other states, even other countries. As well as stay in touch with those trail riders you have shared a dirt bike adventure with.
Online Time is one thing you will need to have a fair bit of, if you want to participate in forums. Conversations (or threads) can run for days, weeks, even months, or they could be all over in an hour. It takes a certain level of dedication to become a "regular" on a forum, to keep up with what is going on ... and it helps if you are an extrovert.
Lurking is of course another alternative forum use. This is where you sign up, read messages and gather info, but don't actually take part in any (or many) conversations. Some forum moderators frown on this behaviour and in rare instances may even boot you out if you don't contribute. But then they may boot you out if you shoot your mouth off all the time as well.
Editors Thoughts
I tend to see many forums as just interesting social experiments. It takes some seriously dedicated management (and often quite a long time) to turn a forum into a successful communication tool that serves its membership. My hat goes off to those that have put in the massive effort required to make it work!
So if you join a forum, don't expect to get instant responses to every inane question, or replies to every clever remark and comment. Some riders have lives and would rather get out and ride, than spend their time talking about it.
However, if you are someone who can really "get into" the social side of forums, you might also want to check out some of the Groups on FaceBook, MySpace and similar Social Networking web sites.
And lastly ... Forums are the perfect medium for us to reveal our true ignorance to the world by providing us with an opportunity to make a total fool of ourselves in public ... and of course, without having to worry about anyone actually seeing us do it ;-)
