Motorbike Spring Rider

A spring rider looks like a simple thing, and mechanically it is: one steel spring, one shaped body, one anchor. What it actually delivers is vestibular stimulation — the rocking, tipping motion that young children seek out and that helps them build balance and spatial awareness. The motorbike version wraps that in a shape children want to get on, which is the difference between an item that is used all day and one that is walked past.

Motion that children control themselves

• Central spring: the rider tips forwards, backwards and sideways, and the spring returns it every time, so a child cannot reach a position they cannot recover from.
• The amplitude is set by the child, which makes the item self-regulating across the whole 0 to 6 age band.
• Ergonomic moulded handles give a secure grip in the riding position and keep hands away from the spring.
• Single-user item, so it suits sites that want to spread children out rather than concentrate them on one structure.

Materials and construction

• Steel components protected against corrosion by hot-dip galvanising and powder coating.
• Body in high-strength weather-resistant HDPE panel.
• Handles in injection-moulded plastic.
• Ground anchor supplied for fixing.

Installation and ground conditions

Foundation depth is 0.6 m and the anchor is supplied with the rider. The minimum impact area is 4.0 by 3.3 m for a body measuring only 0.9 by 0.27 m, so the item is generous in plan relative to its size and should be positioned early in the layout rather than squeezed in at the end. With a free height of fall below 0.6 m the surfacing requirement is limited, since EN 1176 calls for impact-attenuating surfacing above that threshold. Where the whole play area is being surfaced anyway, our notes on surfacing and fall height explain how the critical fall height is verified.

Technical specification

Frequently asked questions

How long does a spring last on a public site?

The spring is the component that defines the service life of the item. It is galvanised and coated, sized for continuous public use, and replaceable on site without lifting the foundation. Fatigue is checked at the annual main inspection.

Can the rider be moved to a different position later?

The buried anchor makes relocation a groundworks job rather than a lift-and-shift, so it is worth settling the layout before installation. Where a site expects to reconfigure, we can quote a removable socket fixing instead.

Does the item need supervision?

No more than any equipment for this age band. The motion is limited by the spring and the item carries a single user, which is why spring riders are among the lowest-incident items in a play area.

Send us your play area layout and ground build-up and we will confirm the anchoring method and return a costed proposal within 24 business hours.