My boy is 12 and has beeb racing for 5 seasons now.

He now wants a half pipe. I can possibly buy a used one from a neighbor.
21' long, 8 feet wide and 4 foot high.

Will this ramp be OK for bikes????

Sorry, might be a dumb question.
We were looking at building a quarter pipe, but this thing looks better!!!
His mom will kill me!!

any suggestions about the ramp??

thanks,
Scott

you havent built this yet Scott? Eight foot is a bit narrow for bikes. rideable but narrow. I'd go 12'.

8 feet wide is a little narrow, but it's what pretty much every one of today's vert superstars learned to ride on back in the 80's.

I guess I'd just question if you really want a ramp in your backyard. His friends will want to ride it. He'll want to make it bigger or add stuff to it. Your neighbors will probably hate it, and your town ordinances and/or homeowners association rules may prohibit it. Just something to think about. Is there a decent skatepark in your area? I saw that you're in KCMO; there's a pretty good concrete park over in Overland Park or Prairie Village (I forget).

With all that said, I can definitely see the appeal in having your own ramps. Having your own place to ride would be ideal. I've given some thought to laying up some stuff in my basement to ride over the winter months.

Also, make sure your homeowner`s insurance will cover it. Mine did when we had a ramp and it didn`t cost any extra, just had to declare it.

good to hear they covered it That is one of the main thi ng holing me back from building ramps in my yard is the liability factor

your funny Frank! LOL

we live in the country, no worries about neighbors or homeowners.
Thanks for thr advice guys!

We have a little shorter half pipe coming from a good friend. It is going inside my shop. The taller one wont fit in there, so this would be outside behind the shop.
Won't see it from the street.

I guess the cows in the pasture behind us might complain.

Scott

I think this one belongs to Bubba Bond on here. I think he's added onto it since then but I don't have an updated picture. He was in the same position. Kids that raced that wanted to get rad. Ain't no harm in that.

Here's more stuff!

well let me know if you need any help

Doesn't Dennis McCoy live in KC, and have a monstrosity of a half pipe set up in his yard? I read that somewhere that he did.

Lees Summit actually, I get the luck of seeing him at the local park every once in awhile. Amazing rider period.

one thing to consider: usually, used outdoor ramps are in pretty beat shape due to weather.

8 feet really isn't wide enough for a bmx mini ramp. the goal is to carve, do manuals, peg grinds etc. and that's too narrow to do that.

also, 4 feet tall isn't that great for a bmx mini either. usually bmx riders want 6 or 7 tall. the transition has to be big enough for the wheelbase of a bike. usually skate ramps that are 4 feet tall have too-tight transitions for bikes....

check out these scans of an old school THRASHER RAMP PLANS. the half pipe in the picture is 8 feet tall. a bmx mini would be that same transition just cut off at 6 feet tall. so imagine that exact picture with the top 2 feet cut off so it doesn't quite go up to vert. you could also have a bmx mini with 9 foot transition cut off at 7.

Well, Santa came early.

Plan to add on this spring.

looks good Scott!

You think adding 4' to the width will be enough? I mean, 12' wide for bikes?
He loves the scooter on it. His skateboard skills leave much to be desired and isn't ready for the ramp. I will give it a try on a nice warm weekend day (hospital will be warned and video cameras on for funny home videos)

Scott

Throw some hard wood on top and we'll bring the skateboards and bikes over. The hard wood is good because when you go down, you'll slide instead of stick. Got it on my ramp and its pefect. Home depot has it in 1/4" and its cheap. Also know as masonite.

Get it dry i'll be up this evening w/ my board Still working on getting you my ramp, i need to move a truck before i can move anything around in storage.

Yeah Eddie, you and Frank can come up anytime!
Well, when the snow melts.

I am still cleaning out my shop too. LOL hope to be cleaned by New Years.

My half-pipe BITD had 12' of flat and I felt it should have been about 16' to be perfect.

It was 12' wide and 8' feet tall with 8' transitions, pretty close to the Thrasher pans with 4' decks on both sides. It wsa perfect for bikes except needing just a bit more bottom deck.