As you may know, mini bikes have their roots in the world of go karts. During the 1950s and 1960s, go karts (also known more generically as go carts) were a booming business. Along with them were several manufacturers of kids bikes. Both of the hobbies started in garages around the country as people with spare parts lying around put them together to produce mini bikes or other miniature vehicles.
Typically using a 2-stroke engine (although some use 4-stroke), these small kids bikes produce loud sounds. When not tuned correctly, they emit blue smoke and sound even worse. Today, they're a controversial subject for some, but they can be a great, inexpensive hobby.
As mentioned, the mini bike hobby started in garages and backyards across the country when people looked at the spare parts they had from go carts and thought, "hey, I have an idea..." And from there, the fad began to spread, with mini dirt bikes showing up at many events as a side diversion. During the early 50s was when mini bikes first began to rise in popularity in the United States.
In these days, they were mostly used by drag racers to travel around the track between races. Of course, the minibikes went home with their owners and eventually neighborhood kids picked up on the idea of a mini motorcycle and things began to pick up for mini bikes as more and more people began to build them, each trying to make theirs better, smaller, faster.
In the late 50s and early 60s, the mini bike phenomena really took off. What started in backyards as a diversion soon gained a gathering all its own. The subculture of midi moto bikes was born from go carts, but the hobby definitely went its own way over the years. Eventually, however, with the gas crisis in the 1970s and other events, the mini pocket bike languished, much like the muscle cars of the same era.
The kids bike would not die completely. In fact, while they languished in many garages around the country and collected dust, they stood as monuments to an earlier time. Eventually, a new generation would stumble upon them and the interest in mini motorbikes would pick up again. Today, for example, there has been a resurgence of the popularity of mini bikes. There has been some controversy as well, though.
Known as pocketbikes as well as mini bikes, this is still a very popular obsession for many people. That said, there is controversy surrounding them being used on streets because of how dangerous they can be. Still, on your own property or where local laws allow, these small kids bikes are making a comeback. If you're looking for something that's economical and fun, building a mini bike from spare dirt bike parts or an inexpensive kit can quickly become a mini bike fascination - which is a good thing any way you look at it.