charger

Member
Dec 29, 2000
22
0
when doing some bigger jumps (70-100+ ft.) when do you bail off, or is it better to stay on. do you only bail off when overjumping? i was watching a show on Fox T.V. and some guy jumped off in mid-air cause he overjumped this jump and ended up breaking his femur. he said that if he would have stayed on the bike he probably would have broken his neck or back and could have died. what would you have done. (the jump was probably over 100 ft.) just guessing i would think that it would be alot smarter to stay on if you're coming up short.:think knowing me i'd be too scared to step off and would hang to see what happens next. thanks for the help:D
 

TrackMaster

Member
Mar 15, 2001
212
0
Wow, good question.:think Id like to see some replies to this thread.

I think personally I'd jump if coming up short, cuz instead of casin' it, id try to land on the ramp and kinda slide down to break the fall. I would stay on when overjumping I think. The way I see it, youre gonna hit pretty hard anyway, so you might as well have some suspension cushion it a little bit rather than putting the full force on your body. I just hope I wont have to make the decision anytime soon.:eek:
 

KC_BigDog_51

Member
Mar 25, 2001
262
0
Hang on at all COSTS!!!!

I don't know how may of you watched the Las Vegas SX on pay per view but there was a clip of Ricky Carmicheal going through the whoops and the seat hit his butt and his feet got bucked off the pegs and he hung on all the way through those monsters and finally the front wheel hit the 3rd one from the end and his chest slammed into the bars throwing him up and over and he landed safely on his back unharmed. I can't imagine what kind of injuries he would have suffered if he let go!!! OUCH!!

I would think the only time it would be better to let go is if you are going to hit the face of another jump and it is going to pitch you over the bars. If you let go before the impact your forward momentum might be enough to clear the jump with your body at least.

About a month ago I entered my first race and towards the end of the second moto my legs were beat and I was sitting down way too much. Going over this big up hill double we have of about 65 feet you need to sit down all the way up the face to compress the suspension but stand right before take off. Kind of like a seat bounce but you cant stayed seated all the way through the jump because of a small kicker at the point of take off. Well, being so tired I failed to stand soon enough and got enough air to clear the jump but was nose diving badly and I thought for sure I was going to get bucked over the bars. I hung on leaned all the way back and pinned the throttle. When I landed I was thrown forward all the way to the bars but was able to keep the throttle pinned so the bike continued to speed up under me eventually pulling out of the almost painfull situation.

It scared me to death but if had let go there would have been no chance of riding it out but since I hung on and with luck and remaining calm and doing all the things you need to do in the event of a nose dive I rode it out unharmed.

I think hanging on is the safest way to avoid injry. Remeber if you let go you gave yourself no chance to see if you could have saved it.
 
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High Lord Gomer

Poked with Sticks
Sep 26, 1999
11,790
34
The only time I bail is if I know that I'm going to land first with the bike on top of me. I've managed to pull out some straight up and down front wheel landings, but if it looks like I'm landing on the front fender, I'll try to get away from the bike. That is very rare, though.
 

MikeT

~SPONSOR~
Jan 17, 2001
4,112
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Originally posted by High Lord Gomer
I've managed to pull out some straight up and down front wheel landings,

That's scary. One of these days I'll sell my house and go riding with you Gomer. I hope not to see any of those "landings" of yours
 

scotts250

Member
Jul 30, 2001
143
0
Hang on.....

Unless your going to land in the face of a landing or the bike ist going to land on you etc, I would let the suspension work for you as much as possible. I was riding on adrenaline a while back in a race and over jumped a 110 ft tabletop all the way into the flat ground with both tires. I bottomed out hard, it gave me some whiplash and flat spotted and my front rim but I was able to pull it off without going down and finish the race only loosing a couple of spots. I was seeing stars for most of the lap but I think bailing off would have resulted in some broken stuff on me and the bike. I think the worst part of it was being in the air knowing that I was about to hit really hard.
I've learned to that when in doubt GAS IT!!!!!
Scott
 

RM_guy

Moderator
Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 21, 2000
7,045
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North East USA
If it’s someone that you can trust, go ahead and bail them out. You never know when you might end up in jail and need the favor returned. I like to keep some cash on hand for situations…oh, OK, I see…:think

Sorry, wrong topic. Never mind ;)
 

MikeT

~SPONSOR~
Jan 17, 2001
4,112
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Originally posted by High Lord Gomer
Aww...you don't have to do that! (One of the cars and a couple of the kids should be enough) :o


LOL ..... You know what I mean! :confused:
 

KawieKX125

~SPONSOR~
Oct 9, 2000
948
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Never, ever bail if you are coming up short. The extra 12 inches or so of suspension tha your bike has absorbs the impact MUCH better than joints, ligaments, and bones. The only time I think about bailing is if I will land below the bike or I am past vertical.
 

HAzE

Uhhh...
Dec 29, 2000
74
0
hmm....

How do you bail off if your straight up and down endo? I would be afraid the bike will hit me from behind? I have ended up in this situation once, on a table top, hit a kicker I didn't know about. Threw me up at the bars, pinned the throttle, it only kept me from going more forward. Came up short on the jump, while doing an endo, went over the bars, did like 2 front flips while on the bike after hitting the face of the jump and then my head went right into the ground, cracked the visor, face first! Nuts went into tank...Hurt like hell, left the bike where it was, crawled to the side of the track and layed down. Someone stopped picked up my bike, and brought it to me. Someone stopped and directed bikes, and someone asked if I was okay. I eventually got up, rode off. Then started jumping it the next moto...I learned to lean back slightly on jumps so I don't endo. I would rather hit the back brake then endo! The jumps at my track aren't very high, except for the finish line, but I don't jump that. So it wouldn't really hurt that much I don't think? It's probily like 18-20ft off the ground...SO how would you bail if you endo? GO off to the side or soemthing?
 

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon
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Mar 16, 2001
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Charlestown, IN
Overjumping is something I don't do much of on the track. :)

But since I ride on a farm with natural singles/doubles I am familiar with the g-out.
I like to give it a bit of panic rev. That helps to get the back wheel down first and absorbs a bit of the pounding. BUT hang on tight! Don't be squatted down like Sally, stay in your best attack.

If I happen to land front first and short , I have no advise. It's every man for himself at that point, just try to recover....I do think about rollin out of the bikes way once the inevitable endo is occuring!:eek:

Actually...come to think of it, I bale most often at the track! :confused:
 
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sfc crash

Human Blowtorch
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Jun 26, 2001
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my rule of thumb is always hang on until the bike and you are both on the ground ie: when the front axle comes out in wfo 4th gear across a clover field,(83 kdx200) the bike and you are sliding, kick away so when the bike finaly grabs and flips over, you are still on your back sliding,realativly un-harmed(i did this) , i also got much too confident my third time{first time riding a moto track) riding around the local track and got squirley and clipped the tripple last jump top sideways with the wheel turned, i held on 'cause of sheer terror( i'd like to say so i could tell which way the bike was going) but because i held on,when i did land on my front fender heading down, the bike twisted down to the left and i went over to the right:confused: i got dinged a little, bent my bars, broke the clutch handle off and put road rash on top of the fender, but hey..i think had i bailed i would have had 268lbs+ of wr426 land on me.:eek:
 

HAzE

Uhhh...
Dec 29, 2000
74
0
:eek:

How about when you come up short on a mini triple, because of your clutch slipping, and you didn't even make it, and your front wheel lands on the top of the 3rd landing ramp! and it bounces you back up like 10 feet with your bike(10ft a little exzagerated). You hurt your knees severly, but you don't get hurt that bad...Later.
 
Mar 31, 2000
68
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Anybody ever see the footage of Seth Enslow trying a 300ft sand dune jump??? Not only did he reach the landing point but over shot it another 50ft or so which put him in a landing from what should of been 20 or 30ft from the highest point of flight to 50 or 60ft !! The hangtime was crazy. He rode it out all the way to impact. Which caused him to smash his head on the handle bars. The bolts from his clutch lever punched a hole thru his skull resulting in a nasty surgery. Another time he jumped a ramp to ramp and snapped the front end off his bike on impact- ouch.
Point being ---- Don't take any "Bail out" advice from this guy....
I admire some of you maniacs for having the balls to launch off them doubles and triples.
 

hjgird

Member
Jul 28, 2000
17
0
Originally posted by sixstring4137785
Anybody ever see the footage of Seth Enslow trying a 300ft sand dune jump??? Not only did he reach the landing point but over shot it another 50ft or so which put him in a landing from what should of been 20 or 30ft from the highest point of flight to 50 or 60ft !! The hangtime was crazy. He rode it out all the way to impact. Which caused him to smash his head on the handle bars. The bolts from his clutch lever punched a hole thru his skull resulting in a nasty surgery. Another time he jumped a ramp to ramp and snapped the front end off his bike on impact- ouch.
Point being ---- Don't take any "Bail out" advice from this guy....
I admire some of you maniacs for having the balls to launch off them doubles and triples.

The dune jump is in Crusy I. He did not puch a hole in his skull with that one. It happened later while doing a ramp to ramp record attemp. Wind from behind, overjumped and smashed his head into the handlebars.
 

KC_BigDog_51

Member
Mar 25, 2001
262
0
Originally posted by sixstring4137785
The bolts from his clutch lever punched a hole thru his skull resulting in a nasty surgery. Another time he jumped a ramp to ramp and snapped the front end off his bike on impact- ouch.

Yeah that was from "Seth-The Hard Way" film not the original "Crusty Demons of Dirt" video.

True, but if he had let the bike go he would likely be dead.

Cam- You are exactly right on that one!! He would have been toast if he would not have hung on to the bike to absorb some of the impact.
 

Hucker

~SPONSOR~
Sep 15, 2000
999
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The accident your talking about happened up in Canada. I saw it on "You Gotta See this", insane if you ask me. it wasn't even a landing, just a huge pile of dirt :)

As far as Seth peircing his skull, there was a special on TLC and he was interviewed. He said that he just wanted to go as fast as possible, and that he just over jumped it and the bolt that holds the bar clamps down was the one that peirced right about his left eye. It shattered the bone around his eye and they had to peel away face (literally) in order to put some titanium plates and screws in.
 

sfc crash

Human Blowtorch
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Jun 26, 2001
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titanium im me? not yet! ha! it's incredible all the scrapes, and i mean big, not the average joe on the street type of stuff that i've walked away from with out so much as a scratch, well sometimes a little ding. from major parachute malfuntions, near fatal(at least really bad) helicopter rapells,full equipment night river crossing drowning, ambushes where i was one of the ambushee's,high speed auto roll overs off a 30 ft bridge..blah blah blah...and those are just some of the biggins, let alone all the little stuf. believe it or not, i am a top notch troop( i love me :cool: ) but sometimes i get into and walk away unscraped like some happy idiot:confused: ....bring on the 426 and some racing...i'm in. one of my favorite quotes..BY ME.."damn!..ya gotta get better at this stuf right? otherwise it'll kill ya":think ..oh, btw my close buddy, also my former 1sgt, has a better part of his left upper face as titanium plating, that's why when we'd get really drunk and he'd piss me off, i never felt bad about hauling off and punching him there...hmm, note to self, look into some titanium plating and elective surgery;)
 
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