Some trail riding questions | GTAMotorcycle.com

Some trail riding questions

zheka130

zheka130

Well-known member
Hey guys
I am thinking of getting a dual purpose bike to ride some trails and adjacent roads outside of the city.
I cant understand a few things,
For example, can anyone ride the trails in Ganaraska forest or a similar wooded area where dirt bikes are common?
Is there more to it than that?
Thanks
 
Most of the good places where riding is allowed require a permit/trail pass (and insurance which you would have anyway on a street bike). I'm not sure how many passes you need to ride anywhere (eg. I think Ganaraska and northumberland forests are separate passes but I could be wrong). Northumberland forest pass has reciprocal agreements with other places (maybe near bancroft?) to allow you to take trips. OFTR probably has most of the information you need.

Some of the good local riding places are private property and a crackdown has basically eliminated them as places to ride.
 
If you live in Toronto you pretty much need to travel ~3 hours north or east into Canadian shield territory, that will get you into remote areas that have decent elevation and the associated terrain, challenging enough to need a dirt bike.

Time was when you could find free ride places scattered throughout the immediate GTA area but those are all long gone, you will get chased out of the green belts where they still exist.
 
zheka130 said:
Hey guys
I am thinking of getting a dual purpose bike to ride some trails and adjacent roads outside of the city.
I cant understand a few things,
For example, can anyone ride the trails in Ganaraska forest or a similar wooded area where dirt bikes are common?
Is there more to it than that?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Pay an annual fee and ride as much as you want at Ganny, it is only 1 hr or less from Scarborough. I believe it is $180 now.

 
You will need a licensed bike and liability insurance unless you own the property or are competing in a sanctioned event.

On top of that you may need a trail permit. Simcoe Forest is near Barrie and requires OFTR membership (see above). Ganaraska is near Peterborough and requires its own permit ($175/year or $30/day)
 
Trials said:
If you live in Toronto you pretty much need to travel ~3 hours north or east into Canadian shield territory, that will get you into remote areas that have decent elevation and the associated terrain, challenging enough to need a dirt bike.

Time was when you could find free ride places scattered throughout the immediate GTA area but those are all long gone, you will get chased out of the green belts where they still exist.
Click to expand...
A yes/no answer will be appreciated!
Is it possible to trailer dirt bike(s) into these "remote areas" and ride with no plate, no insurance, no permit?!
 
itsme said:
A yes/no answer will be appreciated!
Is it possible to trailer dirt bike(s) into these "remote areas" and ride with no plate, no insurance, no permit?!
Click to expand...
No
 
itsme said:
A yes/no answer will be appreciated!
Is it possible to trailer dirt bike(s) into these "remote areas" and ride with no plate, no insurance, no permit?!
Click to expand...
The simple answer is if you ride at any time on land that you do not own, you need insurance. Dirtbike insurance is cheap.
 
itsme said:
A yes/no answer will be appreciated!
Is it possible to trailer dirt bike(s) into these "remote areas" and ride with no plate, no insurance, no permit?!
Click to expand...
Law and reason not withstanding, yes, happens all the time.

Is also cheap enough to compete in some amateur competition events where entry fee is your insurance and the bikes are not plated.
Where would you practice riding on such a bike -> private property and closed course competition venues.
 
itsme said:
A yes/no answer will be appreciated!
Is it possible to trailer dirt bike(s) into these "remote areas" and ride with no plate, no insurance, no permit?!
Click to expand...
Easy answer - No. These "remote areas" you speak of are usually owned by someone, if they're within a couple hours of Toronto. It's really not worth it in the end.
 
If you're riding from Etobicoke than Simcoe County forest would be closer. Once you get to Orangeville you can pickup some entertaining road allowances to get you up to Simcoe County Forest. SCF has lots of good riding. OFTR membership is required there.

If you go over to the east side of the city there are loads of good road allowances starting near the town of Raglan, extending east through Bewdley all the way to the Northhumberland forest. This area encompasses the Ganaraska forest, which requires a permit to ride the trails. However no permit is required to ride the road allowances going through the Ganaraska forest. People who like single track buy the permit, dual sporters like myself just barrel through on the road allowances at no charge.


zheka130 said:
Hey guys
I am thinking of getting a dual purpose bike to ride some trails and adjacent roads outside of the city.
I cant understand a few things,
For example, can anyone ride the trails in Ganaraska forest or a similar wooded area where dirt bikes are common?
Is there more to it than that?
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Few of the guys I ride with used to find a good place to ride and then go chat with the farmer to see if we could ride it.
Once they seen what trials bike are, vast majority of the time the answer was yes.
Wouldn't work for MX or Enduro type bikes, too noisy and destructive. Might work for electric off-road bikes.

Low water provides some excellent riding orrortunities, rivers like the Moira or Ottawa dry up almost completely and leave acres of rock to ride. Cops don't patrol dry river beds, or at least I never seen one :|
 
Last edited:
Slick_Steveo said:
is it? I bought a trail bikes for myself and my 13yr old stepdaughter. Hers is a 08 CRF 100 and I bought a brand new CRF250F. I'm ahving trouble finding reasonable insurance. Was quoted 1700 each bike per year.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. Mine is around $200 for Full Insurance. State Farm, now called Desjardins will insure off road only. Check the OFTR forums, there are a couple names posted on there who cater to Offroad riders. You should join OFTR too.

oftr.ca

Home - OFTR - Find where to ride your dirt bike on off-road trails in Ontario.

The OFTR gives our members access to trails, maps, events and more so you can find where to ride the off road dirt bike trails in Ontario.
oftr.ca oftr.ca

oftr.ca

Trail Riding Event in Ontario | Ontario Federation of Trail Riders (OFTR)

Updated regularly by the OFTR, this event calendar helps you find trail riding and off-road motorcycling events across the province of Ontario.
oftr.ca oftr.ca
 
Slick_Steveo said:
is it? I bought a trail bikes for myself and my 13yr old stepdaughter. Hers is a 08 CRF 100 and I bought a brand new CRF250F. I'm ahving trouble finding reasonable insurance. Was quoted 1700 each bike per year.
Click to expand...

Steve,

Make sure they are quoting CRF250F not L.

Mine was $200 a year through Desjardins, which compared to a couple of other buddies is high.
 
Jayv said:
Steve,

Make sure they are quoting CRF250F not L.

Mine was $200 a year through Desjardins, which compared to a couple of other buddies is high.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i thought it was weird. The quote was from a friend of my wife's who works for a broker in Guelph. I phoned a few other places today. No issues to get quotes for the 250, waiting on 2 now, so far not one will insure the 100.
 
kiwi said:
Yes it is. Mine is around $200 for Full Insurance. State Farm, now called Desjardins will insure off road only. Check the OFTR forums, there are a couple names posted on there who cater to Offroad riders. You should join OFTR too.

oftr.ca

Home - OFTR - Find where to ride your dirt bike on off-road trails in Ontario.

The OFTR gives our members access to trails, maps, events and more so you can find where to ride the off road dirt bike trails in Ontario.
oftr.ca oftr.ca

oftr.ca

Trail Riding Event in Ontario | Ontario Federation of Trail Riders (OFTR)

Updated regularly by the OFTR, this event calendar helps you find trail riding and off-road motorcycling events across the province of Ontario.
oftr.ca oftr.ca
Click to expand...
I did join the OFTR and called some of the people on their forum. Waiting to hear back.

I think the $1700 quote was basically "yeah we can do it, but we don't want too" it was through my wife's friend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom