2-stroke - mid-air control question

[David Rocci]

This is my second season out on my 03 RM 250. I'm getting more confident and getting more air. As I watch other riders at the track I see people accelerate into the jump and hitting the rear break in the air to correct. Most of the jumps on this track are arched downwards so mastering this will be key to a much smoother ride.

If you tap the break mid-air, will the bike stall if you don't pull the clutch?

Have you ever seen people take a foot off their pegs in mid-air? not like a flashy trickster but almost like some sort of 'tick' to help them focus. ever heard of anything like that?

many thanks!

-dave

 

[IndyMX]

Yeah, don't brake without the clutch in the air.. you don't want to have th bike stall in the air on you.. It would most likely leave you with a nasty rash or possibly some broken bones.

I don't know about taking a foot off a peg for focus, it might be an unconscious thing they do just out of habit, or it could be that they are trying to adjust the attitude of the bike in the air..

When it happens that my feet come off the pegs in the air, it's purely accidental and generally causes undue stress on my undershorts.

 

[tony91]

In general, you don't want to make it a habit to brake tap. I think of the brake tap as sort of a panic move. Work on your body position on the face of the jump to get the attitude you want.

 

[DougRoost]

Yep, I was one of many who witnessed Doug Dubach stall it in mid-air at DW05 on the back tabletop and it was quite the yard sale when he landed!

 

[David Rocci]

Thanks for the info about pulling the clutch.

The problem I have is that I panic when I'm mid-air and cannot correct....so I crash. I wrecked REALLY hard a few times last season and I'm little chicken to go hard this year. I've been out twice and my confidence is picking back up...

BUT, I find myself leaning far up on the bike when I stand for the jump. I find the ass of the bike hangs low and I'm almost verticle a lot. That's why I was asking about the brake tap.

The biggest problem is that when I'm mid-air, I have the 'oh ****' moment and freeze. As SOON as I land I know I should have hit the brake to correct it. My first assessment for this position mid-air is that I'm accelerating too much into the face of the jump and that I need to position my body more in the middle of the bike...

BUT, when I do that I tend to feel like I'm going to lose control of the bike or if I lean in the middle to middle-rear, I get whiskey throttle when I land...and then crash.

What I'm realizing as I run more laps at various tracks is that the face conditions of the jump are never perfect... there is rarely enough time to get a consistent speed before the jump and some are tipped, lipped or pocked and it flings the bike in different directions...BUT, I panic, freeze and cannot correct when I'm in the air.

Sorry for the long post. HELP! :)

-dave

 

[colotowyo499]

To panic in the air is a major obstacle. I'd suggest finding jumps that range in height, distance, speed, slope, etc. and work on starting small (shorter, slower, flatter) and working your way up (longer, faster, steeper).

The attack position is what you need to attain, especially in developing good technique--elbows up and looking ahead of your course. Let the bike rock under you while keeping your head stable, like you're holding a coffee cup on it. You don't neccessarily have to be at peak hp when hitting the lip, but should be on the gas and in the attack position. Letting off the gas after you're in the air will naturally let the front end level without having to tap the back brake. Letting off the gas before takeoff will create a nosedive. If you keep the throttle pinned, torque of the rear wheel will want to get your front end up more. Maybe practice preloading on tabletops and see if that helps. Hope this was a touch helpful... have fun!

 

[David Rocci]

colotowyo499; I think I'm going to take your advice. I'm going out again this weekend and I think I'm just going to break the track down into sections. I can practice each section and each jump over and over until I get better at each part. Maybe trying to tackle the whole track at once is what was discouraging and not really helping me improve.

I'll try it on Sunday and report back my results. Thanks to all that chimed in to help! This is not an easy thing to coach over the internet! :)

-dave

 

[2strokerfun]

.... I get whiskey throttle when I land...and then crash.

I know the feeling. I would sometimes be better off landing with only my left hand on the bars....

 

[GoT_GreeN]

If your front end is staying to high after the launch you may be holding the throttle to long after the take off. As soon as you leave the peak the throttle should be cut. A general centering position on the bike has a lot to do with the natural flight of the bike. If your positioned right on the bike it should fly in an arch with the front tire landing just before the back. The easier of the panic situations to do is spin the rear to bring the front back up if it's diving to much. Another thing, hitting jumps while in the powerband hard can cause the bike to do various things, try hitting the jumps in a gear higher, you'll find the flight can be smoother and the landing throttle up will not be as aggressive.

 

[colotowyo499]

Yep, I was one of many who witnessed Doug Dubach stall it in mid-air at DW05 on the back tabletop and it was quite the yard sale when he landed!

On the subject of mid-air stalling, let me add another thing that didn't happen to me until I got the big 2-smoker: knocking it into neutral off the lip of the jump. The gearbox on the 500 is heavy, like a tractor, I knocked it into neutral right before a steep double. Lack of acceleration caused me to case the landing and no centrifugal force from power to the rear wheel made it kick sideways after the bounce. I slammed down in the bottom sideways and woke up in front of the EMT's. Power, goooood. No power, baaaaad. :whoa: