Off-road motorcycles are the most exceptional category of motorcycles made to ride off-road. They are exclusively designed to tackle possibly the roughest and most challenging terrains, including rocky trails, steep inclines, muddy swamps, and sandy deserts. Thus, these kinds of motorcycles encounter extreme challenges and, for this reason, off-road motorcycles come with some compatible body features, including a larger wheel setup. So here, we are briefing on "why do off-road motorcycles have larger wheels" and providing the reasons.

Why Do Off-Road Motorcycles Have Larger Wheels?

Off-road motorcycles are an inverse category of motorcycles to standard street motorcycles that are dedicatedly designed to tackle off-road situations. Thus, off-road motorcycles are featured differently to handle various challenging environments on the rugged terrain that regular road bikes simply can't handle. Hence, to meet these challenges, off-road motorcycles typically feature larger wheels, and here, we have collected some reasons why off-road motorcycles have larger wheels.

Firstly, larger wheels in off-road motorcycles offer larger surface coverage at a time. Thus, they very easily tackle rough terrain conditions and often overlook smaller obstacles in between the total covered surfaces. Whereas, smaller wheels may have to deal with a smaller part of the surface at a time, and there both the motorcycle and rider may struggle hard.

Secondly, larger wheels in off-road motorcycles provide a higher ground clearance benefit, which is a very important feature for such kinds of motorcycles. So when riding off-roads, motorcycles often roll over rocks, deep ruts, muddy pit holes, and fallen branches, thus encountering bumps, ditches, and dips in the terrain. However, with larger wheels, off-road motorcycles can ride over these obstacles more easily, reducing the risk of getting stuck or damaging the motorcycle at the bottom end.

Larger wheels in off-road motorcycles provide better shock absorption through the larger diameter of the wheels. The larger wheels have a larger rim and tire setup that contains a larger volume of air and the wheels cover larger road surfaces. Thus, the entire wheel setup can absorb more impact, provide better vibration dampening, and ensure better shock-absorbing characteristics than smaller wheel setups.

Larger wheel setups in off-road motorcycles also ensure better traction facilities. In larger wheels, the tires have more contact with the road surfaces and a larger volume of air inside. Thus, they grip more and feature a cushion-like impact on the surface. As a result, those wheels provide far better traction even on loose or slippery surfaces, which the smaller wheel setups cannot do.

Worth fully, larger wheels also offer better stability in off-road motorcycles, even when chasing the toughest terrain conditions. Further, when riding on such kind of terrains like sand, gravel, or loose dirt, smaller wheels can quickly dip into the ground. But with larger wheels, the weight of the motorcycle is distributed over a larger surface area. Accordingly, by providing more grip and traction, it helps the motorcycle roll easily, staying on course.

So, you can see, that off-road motorcycles have larger wheel setups for many reasons. Not all the off-road models feature the same kind of wheels, but larger wheel setups obviously provide such versatile advancements we described above. Further, it's an ergonomic feature that is engineered to give off-road motorcycles better capability to deal with unpredictable riding conditions. So, these are the core reasons why off-road motorcycles have larger wheels.