Okiewan

Admin
Dec 31, 1969
29,555
2,237
Texas
Firt bit of advice: post in the right forum.
 

Strick

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 8, 1999
1,782
2
Gas on - on the face of the jump. You can hold it steady on lesser angled faces, but you have to blip the throttle of the steep ones. You need the launch effect!
 

_SOLO_

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 15, 2000
725
4
I have that same sort of problem when I ride 125's. Last time I rode Gomer's son's bike I was doing this one double and i would get everything right but my feet would automatically come off of the pegs and up near the airbox. This brought my front end down for the landing, I know that alof of people use this technique to jump but I don't mean to do it and it sort of scares me.
 

KTMKyd

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 20, 2001
238
0
You're probably just too tense, this used to happen to me all the time until I got used to riding and jumping. Just hang loose and keep your knees bent on the face and then when you lauch slowly straighten out your legs to push your bike away from you, then loosen your legs again for the landing. It's hard to explain, and it sounds kinda hard, but once you get comfortable it is completely fluid.

Hope that helps!
 
S

Saratoga

I am not clear on when your feet leave the pegs. If they leave the pegs violently on the impact of the face, I suspect your suspension is way too soft. Have a experienced rider watch you or consult a suspension shop to make sure your suspension is in the ballpark.

Be real careful with jumps. Take it real slow. I have two less riding buddies because jumps ended both of thier riding careers.
 

SpeedyManiac

Member
Aug 8, 2000
2,378
0
Try gripping the bike with your legs to try and keep your feet on the pegs. I actually always do this when jumping. I bring my feet up a bit and can kind of whip it (not well, I ride an XR100R). I would suggest gripping harder.
 

_SOLO_

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 15, 2000
725
4
My feet leave the pegs when I am at the apex of the jump. I think the problem was that I wasn't holding on tight enough with my knees so after the bike stopped going up I did'nt. I'll try it next time.
 

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 16, 2001
6,452
0
Charlestown, IN
Bingo! Solo,
Gripping also helps my bike make the proper arc.
 

Jeff Gilbert

N. Texas SP
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Oct 20, 2000
2,969
2
Gripping with your knees helps but,

I have a hard time using only my knees. It feels better for me to use the inside of my boots to grip the frame along with my knees. If by chance you still are launched upward & off the pegs bring your legs in and catch the side number plates with your boots and it should help from summer-saulting over the bike.
 

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 16, 2001
6,452
0
Charlestown, IN
Using knees is sometimes more of a figure of speech than anything. It's actually your thigh muscles that do the work when we squeeze our legs together. Unless you are short, like me, and rearward...your knees prolly don't even touch the bike (lol..sitters excluded). But racehorse jockeys do the same thing with their legs as we do to help control their ride, and you will never see a jockeys knees touch the horse. But squeezing with the knees is also what they call it.

Jeff, sounds like a freeride trick to me! :eek:
 

Moo

Member
Jul 23, 2001
53
0
WARNING! THIS IS A METHOD THAT MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR BIKE

Sometimes when no matter WHAT I DO I STILL get tossed off... I will put my right foot UNDER the rear brake lever. Please don't flame me for this.... I only do it occasionally... and I realize that it might be hard on the lever... but it really does help on those jumps when it seems like nothing else does. Please realize the risk to your bike before trying this. :cool:
 
Last edited:

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 16, 2001
6,452
0
Charlestown, IN
LOL,
If you are comming off that much, I suggest a nice can-can...or maybe a lil heel clicker would be in order! Might as well get some crowd appreciation out of it while you are at it!
Remind me to do a "look-back" anytime I happen to jump before you, Moo! :)
I don't want to miss any good stuff!
 

gabeah

~SPONSOR~
Jun 29, 2001
9
0
i simply took the clip-in pedals off my mtn. bike and mounted them on my cr.
a little velcro on my grips and gloves... problem solved. ;)
 

Traildale1

Member
Apr 22, 2000
34
0
If your body is getting pushed up in the air away from the bike off jumps, it may be that your legs are too stiff - rigid - locked as you launch off the jump. What happens is that the suspension compresses into the face of the jump and then rebounds as you are taking off. If your legs are too stiff (or worse - knees locked) when the bike "springs up" then that upward force is transferred directly from the pegs to your 2x4 legs and it launches you.
One thing you can do is to "suck it up" - a BMX and mountain bike technique in which you start the jump with straight legs and then as you launch, you bend your legs and let the bike rebound up to you. You'll see this a lot at the pro level, when they are trying to stay low off the jumps - they can then straighten their legs and push the bike down to the ground sooner and get back on the throttle quicker. Another technique you can try is to squat as the bike compresses into the jump face, and then do a little jump with your legs as the bike launches (picture a skier taking off one of those huge jumps - just before he takes off from the big ski jump, he compresses and jumps into the air). Do this on SMALL jumps first to get the feel for it first. The best general advice is to stay loose. Too tight and the bike will toss you around. Hope this helps.
 

FMX_novice

Member
Jan 5, 2001
161
0
When i first started jumping I was doing a superman with my stomach on the bars, then leaning back and landing with my feet off the pegs and my butt slammin the seat then id pop off the bike and fall. I dont know why i did this but i think it has to do with you being nervous and tense when you start jumping. Staying loose is crucial if you watch the x games youll see the riders compress the hell out of the forks to get the most height, which equals the most air time to pull trix. Try doing that on a much smaller scale, that will stop the rebound from sending you off.
Picture a rubber band cut, so its a long straight length of rubber held taut. Now when you pull that rubber down that is compression, you let it go and thats rebound, if you put a pebble on the top of the rubber band and pull it and let it go the pebble will go flying off. You are the pebble, that rebound needs to be softened by lessening the pebbles resistance to this rebound motion. I hope someone could follow that anal-ogy.
 
Top Bottom