LAUNCESTON Braaap entrepreneur Brad Smith has joined forces with various stakeholders to give trail bike riders a legal venue for practice and competition.
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Earlier this week, police warned that many riders were putting their own and other lives at risk by taking to public streets on the unregistered vehicles, often at night.
Police have about 24 confiscated bikes at the Northern police impound lot.
Once confiscated, the bikes are impounded for an average of 12 months.
Many riders tell police they have nowhere else to go - except the city and suburban streets.
But Mr Smith yesterday slammed dangerous and illegal riding.
"What they're doing is s--thouse," he said.
"I want to say `don't do it' - because we've got sick tracks coming with coaches, clubrooms, competitions, everything."
Mr Smith first approached the Launceston City Council a few years ago to discuss the possibility of allocating land for trail bike use.
Alderman Ivan Dean - who has long been committed to dealing with illegal trail bike usage - had been his greatest ally, he said.
Mr Smith's efforts were prompted by the fact there was nowhere in greater Launceston where trail bikes could legally be ridden in public.
"Now we've got this really big area at Rocherlea, we're putting clubhouses in and we're basically at the point of turning the dirt over," he said.
Mr Smith said he was also hoping to work with police to deal with those riding illegally.
"We want to do something like if your bike's impounded you come out to Rocherlea and do a course with us," he said.
"These kids have got so much passion - imagine if we could harness that passion and use it to develop their life skills."
The aim, he said, was to give kids the opportunity to get their adrenaline rush from something as exciting as trail bike riding and mini motorcross versus drugs, alcohol or crime.
Fellow Braaap mechanic Brodie Smith, 17, admits he used to ride his trail bike illegally because there was "nowhere else to go".
"Everyone knows pretty much everyone and it'll be really good to have this track at Rocherlea where everyone can get together without doing anything illegal," he said.
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