jumping help

[xkevenx]

hi guys, i have a silly question. i am learning to jump basicly i am learning hwo to ride :whoa: so im a noob in motorcross. i am already told to have a steady body pos. now if your bike is air wheelying you should lean forward or tap your break(rear) do you need to tap it hard or just a little or long or short? what effect does it have? and can you use your front break as well? and what is the effective way. leaning front or breaking... and also if your bike is nose diving what do you need to do? gass it or lean it. i cant tell what you need to do. the weather here has not give me anny oppertunity to jump very well cause its very damn muddy in here. annyhow thanks for the tips on jumping in advance.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

When you hit the rear (or front) brake in the air, it stops that wheel. All of the angular (rotational) momentum gets transferred to the rest of the bike and causes the whole bike to rotate forward (front down/rear up). When you rev the engine / speed up the rear tire in the air, the opposite happens, it rotates the bike rearward (front up/back down). Before you hit the rear brake in the air, you need to make sure you have pulled the clutch in so that you won't kill the motor.

Leaning (pulling the front of the bike up or down in the air) will help a little, but when you pull the front up, it also results in your body being pulled down.

The real answer is that it is best to learn how to launch the bike into the air properly so that you don't need to make in-air corrections. In general, if you are consistently front-high on a jump, you probably need to get your weight farther forward for takeoff. If a jump is consistently kicking you with the front too low, you probably need to be harder on the gas. Notice that I didn't say you probably needed to be farther back on the bike. It is rare that beginning riders are ever too far forward. Hitting the brake in the air is something that really makes more of a difference on longer, higher speed jumps. I would worry more about body position and less about hitting the brake in the air for now.

 

[xkevenx]

okay thanks for the tips. jumping is just so hard to learn and to conquer. and your saying that your body position before the jump is important. do i need to be standing or do i need to be sitting? i gues i just need to confront a hill and turn the gas and see what happens:p

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Standing in a slightly crouched position. You use your knees as a second set of shock absorbers, so you don't want your legs extended all the way.

 

[cr85re]

no its not hard just get comfortable and hit er up.just keep your wight dead in the middle of your bike and you will probably be fine.

 

[xkevenx]

thanks guys, ill try next week or when the weather is better

 

[Flux3D]

just practice jumps as much as possible, it's really the only way to get good at them. Before you know it you won't even think twice about jumping (at least with the smaller stuff :) )

 

[newblue]

I've jumped BMX and mountain bikes for most my life, minus a few years here and there.

Just got into motos. First ride out there were some nice big rollers to get a little jump from down the middle of the road. I crouched a little, tried to bounce the susp. a bit right at the bottom, and ripped the throttle.

But nothing happened. My front came up a little, and the ass end did for a quick second.

From watching my buddies in front of me, and talking to them later I was doing it right. The only thing I can think of is, I was a little scared so I might have subconsciencly pushed the back down with my legs? :think:

Any ideas?

 

[High Lord Gomer]

What normally happens is that you hit the jump with your knees slightly bent, then when the bike leaves the jump, you let it come up toward you in the air, resulting in it looking like you're almost sitting on the seat in the air. Just before landing you then push the bike back down with your feet, ensuring that you have proper placement of your feet on the pegs (and also helping the get the bike back down on the ground a little sooner). None of it usually requires any thought, it all becomes automatic.

 

[truespode]

Try to watch as many people at the track as you can. Also, buying Gary Semics book on technique is a good one.

Here is an excerpt from the free stuff he has online...

http://www.gsmxs.com/tips.htm#30

Be careful with your practice and do not move to bigger stuff too fast. Also, when watching others watch others on 2-strokes. Although the body position on a 2-stroke and 4-stroke are very similar I have noticed that I can jump easier on a 4-stroke. It suits my natural riding style better.

Ivan

 

[xkevenx]

thanks dudes, thanks for the help. i am not trying to break my spine doing so. so i want to learn it proper and safe and it makes some sence now. when aproaching the hill, get a central body position and when riding up the slope do not let go of the throtle, and in the air you need to make (maybe) some changes with your weight of break. when landing push the bike down with your feet. and the problem is it just looks so damn hard to do. but when i hear you guys its not so bad
.

 

[truespode]

One thing about body positioning. Practice accelerating and decelerating in a parking lot where you lean forward as you accelerate and lean back as you decelerate.

That practice alone really helps your overall body control. It allows you to learn to grip with your knees before you end up in the air wondering what to do.

Practice body control, position and grips on the ground first so you react in the air properly.

Ivan

 

[Madmanadam]

if you are going slowish over the jump try lean back if you are going fast lean forwards. Oh and, practice makes perfect... well hypermathmatically speaking it doesnt really because no-one is perfect so practice makes really good.
LOL.

 

[Flux3D]

if you are going slowish over the jump try lean back if you are going fast lean forwards.

That's not always true, I know of plenty of jumps where if you lean forward when going fast you will nose dive and crash.
The best bet is to stay centered on the bike and just take your time getting used to the jump. Then once you have a better idea of what the jump is like you can make ajustments to your position.

 

[KX85 rider]

Ive only ridden my bike 5 times so far, so am not saying am any good or anything, but before you hit a jump-not sure if anyone else has said this-grip the bike really tight with your knees and like 'high lord gomer' said before, stand in a slightly crouched position. One mistake i made before i started griping the bike with my knees is jumping into the air but my feet flew up in the air slightly resulting in landing with my feet not on the footpegs so i was off balance-also i panicked and went straight for the front brake nd flew off my bike. You could also land on your back brake and thats no exactly what you want to happen so remember to grip the bike tight with your knees- i also find that my overall jumping has improved since starting to grip the bike with your knees. So yea, long story short, grip the bike with your knees and stay in a low crouched position.

 

[Moparman1539]

Im not that good at jumping, but the mistake i was always making was chopping the throttle at the top of the jump making me nose dive, and making my feet come off the pegs. (very scary... once i landed with my knees on the seat) and i've also almost kissed the front fender (that was bad too.) with to much throttle coming off the top of the jump.

So use STEADY smooth throttle throughout the whole jump, don't hesitate or you can be in deep $hit.