jump that goes right into a corner

[HajiWasAPunk]

I'm not sure how to best handle this jump/turn.

It's a small double (only about 10 feet gap and the jump is about 3 feet high) then a flat for about a bike length or 2 and then goes downhill into a big wide sweeping turn.
One option is to triple it and just land on the downhill into the turn, but when I try anything close to that speed, I have a really hard time making the turn afterward (twice I went right over the berm).

Should I be turning the bike in the air (I've seen pro guys do this but never tried it myself and assumed it was too advanced a technique)? Or is there some other technique to clear it but make it easier to get into the next turn?

 

[High Lord Gomer]

It sounds like a fairly high speed jump (to triple). If so, turning in the air might not be a good option. Turning in the air actually starts by turning / leaning / weighting on the jump face. Landing while pointing other than straight is ok if it's not at much speed or if the landing surface is banked to match your intended direction.

Can you swing wide, then angle back inside so if/when you do triple you will be landing closer to the middle of the track? Doing that might be OK for a practice time when it is not very crowded, but if crowded or in a race, people will likely cur underneath you in the turn and then jumping diagonally across the track would be dangerous.

If tripling puts you too far outside and too fast to make the turn, try merely doubling and cutting the inside of the turn as tight as possible. You will shorten your distance travelled and still leave the outside open for someone who can triple and still make the turn.

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

It's not terribly fast to triple (you could easily do it in 3rd gear on 125 and it's only about 20-25 feet) but I'm just not used to landing downhill, into a turn, into a pretty sandy part of the track?

The problem is, if you double it but and try to land it the section before the downhill, you sort of bounce down the hill and that's tough to stay in control and go fast too?


I think you're idea about angling back towards the middle is the best approach, I'm just not used to manuvering on the face of a jump, but I think this would be the ideal way to attack it. You're right though, if this section is crowded, it could be to avoid crashing and if someone went down in front of you here, it'd be tough to avoid running over them. I'm just practicing though, not racing yet so I've been working on it with very few (if any) other riders around.

BTW, this is one section of the track that makes me think I shouldn't get a 450 yet. I have a tendency to go down that hill a little straight-armed riding back a little and a little "whiskey" throttle is all you need to go over that berm. I'm thinking on a 450 they'd have to come get me out of the woods! :)