As a parent, nothing makes me happier than to see my kids out having fun with me and the family. Dirt biking is something we do as a family all the time.
I have always been very keen on making sure my kids are wearing the correct protective gear. Not only will the correct gear help them stay safe but it will make for a better experience for the kids.
If your kid has a bad fall and gets hurt because he wasn’t wearing the correct protective gear, then they may not have as much confidence in riding their dirt bike or might not want to get back on at all.
I worry that sometimes we have too much of an attitude of tough it out, it will make you stronger. That is the wrong approach. We need to help our kids have fun while staying safe and also feeling secure. Having the correct gear will help them feel secure and drastically reduce the chance of your kid having an accident, getting hurt and never wanting to ride again.
It is also important to teach them good habits at a young age. I will share with you what I think is the best protective gear for kids and what my kids have. My overall rule of thumb is to buy the best gear you can afford. I am listing these items out in order of importance.
Dirt Bike Helmet
The most important piece of protective gear is the helmet. If I were to splurge on one piece of protective gear it would be the helmet. Wearing a helmet is pretty self-explanatory, it protects your head from getting injured? Not all helmets are created equal and knowing what to get can make a big difference. Here are my top requirements for a helmet for your kids:
- Open-face helmet – An open-face helmet or a ¾ helmet has a piece that goes from your ear to ear around your jawline and chin. This type of helmet offers much better protection than a bucket helmet or bike helmet. I can’t tell you how many times my kids would have whacked their face on the handlebars without an open-faced helmet. A full-faced helmet offers more protection, but it gets heavy and hot for kids.
- One Solid Piece – there are helmets for kids with plastic a piece that attaches to each side of the ear making it an open-face helmet. These offer more protection than a bucket helmet, but they frequently break or fall off. They are cheaper than a solid piece open-face helmet, but they won’t last as long. If you can swing it get the solid piece open face helmet.
- Fit – It is important to get a helmet that fits well. If it is too tight your kids will hate wearing it. If it is too loose it may fall off or more frequently keeps sliding down the front of their face, making it harder to see. The best thing is to go to a local shop where you can try some helmets on to see what will fit best for your kid.
I recommend the following helmets:
Top Tier Kids Helmets For Racing (Offers the most protection)
Second Tier Kids Helmets for Riding
- Fox Racing Helmets
- Bell Helmets
- Leatt Helmets
- Answer Racing Helmets
- HJC Helmets
- Troy Lee Designs Helmets
- Shift Racing Helmets
- Thor Racing Helmets
- MSR Racing Helmets
Dirt Bike Boots
After the helmet the next most important piece of gear is boots. Getting a good pair of motorcycle boots offers the most protection. They will protect your kids’ toes, ankles, and feet. Dirt biking can be very hard on your feet without the proper footwear. You should never let your kids ride a dirtbike in flip flops or sandals. That is a guaranteed way of getting your kids hurt. It is a natural response to put your feet down when you get scared and is something you have to work with your kids in overcoming. Because of this getting a good heavy boot for their feet is important. At a minimum have your kids wear a heavy boot or shoe if you don’t have proper dirtbike boots.
I recommend the following boots:
Top Tier Kids Boots For Racing (Offers the most protection)
- Alpinestars Youth Tech 7s Boots
- Gaerne Youth GX-J Boots
- Gaerne Youth SG-J Boots
2nd Tier Kids Boots for dirt biking
- Fox Racing Youth Comp Boots
- Alpinestars Youth Tech 3S Boots
- Fly Racing Youth Maverik MX Boots
Dirt Bike Gloves
The third most important piece of gear is gloves. Gloves protect the hands in multiple ways. When your kids first start riding a dirt bike they will fall every so often. When we fall we naturally use our hands to brace the fall. Having good gloves will protect the hands from getting scraped, banged and cut. While dirt biking your hands are in a vulnerable spot. They are at the widest spot of the bike which means they frequently get whacked or scraped up on stuff. Gloves will protect your hands from this. You can also get brush guards that attach to your handlebars that cover your hands. Gloves will also protect the inside of their palms from getting blisters.
** A quality dirt bike glove will work for any situation. Make sure that they fit well and buy the RIGHT size. As a parent, it’s tempting to buy gloves that are bigger so they can grow into them. This is a mistake as gloves that are a too big bunch up in the palm area and can cause you to whiskey throttle.
I recommend the following gloves:
- Fox Racing Youth DirtPaw Gloves
- Seven Youth Rival Gloves
- Fly Racing Youth F-16 Gloves
- Alpinestars Youth Radar Gloves
- 100% Youth iTRACK Gloves
- Seven Youth Annex 7 DOT Gloves
- Troy Lee Youth Air Skully Gloves
- Leatt Youth GPX 3.5 Junior Gloves
- Shift Youth WHIT3 Air Gloves
Youth Dirt Bike Riding Pants
Wearing dirt bike riding pants is very important while riding a dirt bike. Your kids should never ride their bike with just shorts on. Riding Pants will protect their knees and legs when they fall. Dirt bike pants also have a leather patch on the inside of the legs to combat heat.
The most important reason to wear heavy pants while riding is that if your bike isn’t electric then your kids will burn their legs on the pipe. When the bike falls over it will typically fall so that their leg is pressed upon the pipe. If they are wearing shorts it will burn their leg.
If they have heavy pant it won’t burn their leg. I have burned my leg a little just getting on and off the bike if I had shorts on.
You can get away with a good pair of heavy jeans but having a pair of dirt bike pants will offer better protection and make for a better experience for your kids. We don’t want our kids to be stressed out or scared about burning their legs on the pipe.
I recommend the following pants:
- Fly Racing Youth Pants
- Fox Racing Youth Pants
- Leatt Youth Pants
- Moose Racing Youth Pants
- MSR Racing Youth Pants
- O’Neal Racing Youth Pants
- Seven Racing Youth Pants
- Shift Racing Youth Pants
- Thor Racing Youth Pants
- Troy Lee Youth Pants
Youth Chest Protector (Roost Deflector)
For young kids chest protectors aren’t necessary but they can help your kid feel more secure while riding and offering some extra protection. In adults, chest protectors are the most useful for protecting your chest from rocks or dirt clods. With kids they typically aren’t going fast enough or riding in a group to warrant the need for a chest protector. It can help protect you if they wreck and hit the handlebars. Also, a Chest protector is known as a Roots Deflector. Roost is the dirt and rocks that are sprayed from the rear tire of the dirt bike rider in front of you.
Having a roost deflector while help when getting pelted with dirt and rocks.
With my kids, I feel like it helps them feel more secure when riding and I am all for that.
A chest protector or roost deflector is really made to deflect roost. Body armor is built to take more of an impact or protect against road rash.
They do offer “dirt bike body armor for kids”:
- O’Neal Racing Yout Underdog 2
- Protect Armor Vest
- EVS Youth Comp Suit
- Alpinestars Bionic Youth Protection Jacket
- Alpinestars Youth Bionic Plus Protection Jacket
- Leatt 4.5 Junior Body Protector
- Leatt 3DR Junior AirFit Lite Body Protector
I recommend the following chest protectors of Roost Deflectors:
- Alpinestars Youth A-5s Roost Deflector
- Thor Youth Guardian MX Roost Deflector
- Leatt Youth Neck Vest 2.0 Junior
- Fox Racing Pee Wee Titan Roost Deflector
- Fox Racing Youth R3 Roost Deflector
- Fly Racing Convertible 2 Roost Guard
- Thor Youth Guardian and Sentinel GP Roost Deflector
- EVS F1 Roost Deflector
- Leatt 4.5 Junior Roost Deflector
- Answer Racing Youth Terra X Mini Roost Deflector
- Fox racing Youth Raceframe Roost Deflector
- EVS F2 Roost Deflector
- Troy Lee Youth 3900 Protective Vest
- Fox Racing Youth Titan Sport Jacket Body Armor
Dirt Biking Goggles for Kids
When your kid is first learning to ride, having a good pair goggles isn’t super important. It is REALLY important to protect your child’s eyes from stray objects. The front tire of a dirt bike can spin up rocks back into your face. However, once they start riding faster, longer and with other people, good goggles quickly become very important. They will protect your eyes from dirt, dust, bugs, sun, and other random stuff. Having a bug fly into your eyes while riding is very distracting and annoying. Not being able to see because you are riding behind some other dirt bikes on a dusty trail is very annoying. Protecting your eyes from stuff hitting your eyes is always a good idea.
I recommend the following youth dirt bike goggles:
- 100% Youth Goggles
- Fox Racing Youth Goggles
- Scott Youth Goggles
- Oakley Youth Goggles
Youth Dirt Bike Jersey
Jersey’s are really good for riding in the heat. They do offer some protection. It is important that they have a long sleeve on so they don’t get scratched while riding. Overheating while your kids are dirt biking is also something to watch for. Dirt Bike Jersey’s are cooler than a standard shirt. Make sure you keep them hydrated when your kids are dirt biking when it’s hot.
I recommend the following Dirt Bike Jersey’s:
- Fly Racing Youth Jersey
- Fox Racing Youth Jersey
- Leatt Youth Jersey
- Moose Racing Youth Jersey
- MSR Racing Youth Jersey
- O’Neal Racing Youth Jersey
- Seven Racing Youth Jersey
- Shift Racing Youth Jersey
- Thor Racing Youth Jersey
- Troy Lee Youth Jersey
Youth Wrist Guards/Knee Guards/Elbow Guards
Wrist guards are very helpful for protecting your kid’s wrists from getting hurt. Knee guards will also help protect your kid’s shins and knees from trees and rocks. Also having wrist and Knee guards help your kid feel safe.
I recommend the following Dirt Bike Youth Wrist/Knee/Elbow Guards:
- Fox Racing Pee Wee
- Leatt Kids 3DF 5.0
- Answer Prodigy Pee Wee
- EVS Options
- Fly Racing Mini Youth Barricade
- O’Neal Racing Pee Wee
- Troy Lee Youth
Youth Dirt Bike Neck Brace
There is some controversy around Neck Braces. I will let you do your own research and make a decision on if you want your child to wear a neck brace or not.
Here are some quality Neck Braces for Kids:
- Atlas Broll Kids Neck Brace
- Atlas Tyke Youth Neck Brace
- EVS Youth R4 Koroyd Neck Brace
- Alpinestars Youth Neck Support
- Leatt Youth GPX 3.5 Neck Brace
- Atlas Prodigy Neck Brace
- EVS Youth R4 Neck Support
- Leatt Youth GPX 5.5 Neck Brace
The key with all of this is to allow our kids to get out have to fun and be safe while doing it. I hope this list helped you in your journey. Feel free to reach out with any questions that you have. I am happy to help!
