bike kicks sideways when jumping.

[Nevada Sixx]

hey, what causes my bike to kick out sideways when i take off from a jump? i know i had enough air in the tires, and i believe i had my legs squeezed tight... could it be from too much throttle on the tip of the jump?

 

[Farmer John]

Add a click or so of rebound dampening.

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

Does it kick to only one side everytime you jump? Is it on every jump?

 

[jeffd]

Check the alignment of the wheel in the swing arm. Also check the condition of the bearings in the rear suspension. Too much slop and the bike can dance sideways with the deflection.

-jeffd

 

[MX823]

Check the above advice as well as making sure your forks are not binding. Loosen upper/lower clamp pinch bolts and let the front forks settle allign forks then retorque to factory specs.

I know this is simple but are you cross rutting on the face.[front tire in one rut and rear in another]

 

[Nevada Sixx]

it seems to want to kick to the right, the rebound being fast could be the problem,, Could slightly bent handle bars cause it?

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

I'm sure it could be a number of things. I think I would first check to see if your rear wheel is centered in the swingarm, perhaps when adjusting your chain you may have one adjuster out further than the other causing the rear wheel to be at an angle. Have you ever seen an old van "dog walking" down the road? I'm thinking your bike might be doing that a little bit meaning the rear wheel isn't exactly following the front wheel.

 

[Nevada Sixx]

i now remember that i have a leaky fork seal on my left fork,, if forks are off from each other, could that make a bike kick?

also,, these are small jumps,, about 30 feet,, such as a table top..

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Shouldn't make a difference. Some bikes have adjustable compression damping in one leg and rebound in the other. If that doesn't make the front end behave funky, different oil levels shouldn't either.

There have been many threads on this very topic in here before...a search should yield some good advice.

 

[BigSchafft]

Just my $.02 You may be letting off the throttle a split second before takeoff. This causes the bike to lose forward drive and kick sideways. I have this problem occasionally, when I notice it happening its almost always corrected by holding it on longer off the lip of the jump. Hope this helps.

 

[yardpro]

make sure you are not weighting one footpeg more than the other. that will do it too. oh yea, why not get used to it and tell everyone you're the local tailwhip king??:D

 

[Nevada Sixx]

i thought too much throttle coming off the jump would do it..

anyway,, what do you do if it does kick out? can you straighten the bike somehow while in the air? by turning the bars? or weighing a peg?