How to ride a berm
- Thread starter Thordian
- Start date
- Oct 20, 2000
- 2,963
- 2
The track I raced today was close to perfect dirt as it gets. On the sweeping turns with a berm I dragged the rear brake entering, upshifted, held the gas on and delivered power by slipping the clutch. I found on wide turns with big berms it was faster for me to hug the inside and swing wide to prevent being passed, it was about as fast as railing the berm. On tighter turns with good berms I tap the rear brake and hold the gas on, dump the clutch and try to rocket out.
- Jan 8, 2000
- 3,331
- 1
Lean the bike over. While this may sound like a basic component of turning, you'd be surprised how many new riders think that the berm is going to do the turning for you.
The more you lean the bike over the higher you can ride the berm, the faster you can come out of the berm.
The more you lean the bike over the higher you can ride the berm, the faster you can come out of the berm.
Hold it wide open in as high as gear as you can go while keeping the bike on the powerband and not bogging then shift down to 2nd as you lock up your front and rear brake sliding the bike form the entrance to the apex meanwhile you got the clutch in and the bike still revved up as you hit the apex hold her wide open like a start and dump the clutch once the bike is pointed in the right direction and hold on.
coming out of the last whoop try and get a little kick off the last whoop to pivot your back wheel around the front tire, you should be in a fairly high gear through the whoops riding the torque curve as it is, so shifting may not be neccesary unless the loam is deep enough to bog the motor down. Since it is loamy, do not weight the outside footpeg but sit square on the seat. If it a sweeper just hold it wide and lean in as far as you are comfortable, if it is hairpin, oversteer the front while sitting down and allow the back end to swing around(practice this slowly at first because you will have a habit of dapping your foot because it feel like a low-side, but don't worry you shouldn't crash)
theturbojosh
Member
- Apr 13, 2004
- 48
- 0
Slow down before the berm and power all the way through it... if you watch bubba or carmicheal they slow down a little before a berm then scream the bike all the way through. So unless you're faster than them you should too.... :ride:
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,788
- 35
I've never heard a really good rider advocate sliding in, dumping the clutch, and exploding out of a turn. What I always hear is to be as smooth as possible, carry as much speed as possible through the turn, and accelerate all the way through.
Someone needs to wake up Wardy, because he is a master at finding 14 different fast ways to get through any turn.
Someone needs to wake up Wardy, because he is a master at finding 14 different fast ways to get through any turn.