Portable kicker ramp for BMX or MTB

Subscriber ramps: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/sbhramp/

In another video we built a kicker ramp with a little down slope for beginners. That ramp now lives at Virginia Key Mountain Bike Park in Miami, right next to the teeter totter. It works exactly as designed, and the kids love it. This ramp will live a happy life, and teach many riders how to get air for the first time.

If you haven’t seen the video on that ramp, check the description for a link.

People have been asking me to build a bigger ramp, but that’s not going to happen until I have a place to put one. Even the last ramp was a pain to haul around. If I had a place to put a bigger ramp, I’d probably be building a dirt jump as we speak. In fact, what I really need is a smaller ramp that I can bring places. This would get far more use, and be an important prop in future videos. Let’s build one right now.

We’re buying one sheet of plywood because that’s the minimum amount we can get. We’re going to have a ton of wood left over. Because this ramp is small enough to bring indoors or leave in the trunk of a car, I don’t need pressure treated plywood or stainless hardware.

James is here to help me again, and to make sure that we’re following all safety precautions.

First we’ll trace the sides of the ramp on the plywood. It’s 3 feet long, 12 inches high, and has a downslope 6 inches from the end. This sloped part looks useless, but it’s there to stabilize the ramp and keep it from flipping forwards when you hit it going fast.

To trace a nice mellow curve, we’ll use the PVC pipe method. This bend should give us a pretty serious pop, without being too steep for mountain bike wheels. Now that we’re done tracing, we’ll cut out the shape with a jigsaw. Tracing another piece from the first one will ensure that both sides are identical.

With a chop saw, we’ll make our 16 inch cross bars from this 2x4. These will be fastened to the sides with deck screws to create the frame of the ramp. To cut our surface, we need to measure the curve, and add a couple of inches to the end. With a flexible ruler, this is an easy task. As is the case with plywood, it bends easily and stays in place with screws. A little sanding, and our portable kicker ramp is ready to ride. As you can see, we’ve barely used any wood compared to our last project.

Time to go for a ride. I actually don’t know many BMX tricks, but maybe this ramp will give me the opportunity to learn some.

This ramp turned out so lightweight, that I can carry it on my bike fairly easily. With a bike trailer, transport would be even easier. This gives us the opportunity to make any downslope into a landing, so I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more places to set this up.

If you want to build this ramp I think it’s easy enough by just looking at what we did here, but I left some basic measurements in the description. Yours can be longer, wider, or steeper, but I think that this size is a pretty nice balance for portability. If you’ve already built the last ramp, or even a ramp influenced by the videos on this channel, hashtag it so we can all admire it. Better yet, post a video clip! #SBHramp

Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.
Here's the old ramp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxvYN4pfjFQ

MEASUREMENTS
Height: 12 inches
Width: 16 inches
Length (bottom): 36 inches
Length (top): 30 inches

So the slope at the back of the ramp starts 6 inches from the end. This part makes the ramp more stable by adding some footing.

MATERIALS
Some plywood. 1/2" or 9/16" is fine
One 2x4
Drywall or deck screws, not too long: 1 5/8" is good

TOOLS
Jigsaw
Drill
Chop saw or circular saw is nice, but you could use the jigsaw in a pinch.

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