whoops.

[m4i2k2e2]

ive been riding a couple pits near me and they have whoops all over the place. today i was riding them in second gear. is there any certain way you guys do them, or a certain speed. ive hear to lean back and keep the from end as light as possible. the faster you go is it easier to go through them?

 

[Christoferlee]

The woops around here are VERY big and long, so you eather go slow, or FAST, not in between or you'll tend to loose control... and leaning back helps to. (thats just me and how I do it...)

 

[defo26]

Lean back, grip the bike tight with your knees, try to be in a gear higher than normal like 3rd or 4th so your not revving out the bike, keep looking forward not down because looking down will make the bike start to dip in the whoops and you dont want that. More speed is easier then going slower through whoops but make sure you go at the pace you think you can go. Just keep practicing and you will get faster.

 

[stumanarama]

if you are going to go fast through them, go fast through them. its when you let off the throttle halfway through when things start to get out of hand

 

[m4i2k2e2]

Lean back, grip the bike tight with your knees, try to be in a gear higher than normal like 3rd or 4th so your not revving out the bike, keep looking forward not down because looking down will make the bike start to dip in the whoops and you dont want that. More speed is easier then going slower through whoops but make sure you go at the pace you think you can go. Just keep practicing and you will get faster.

thanks, i noticed i tend to look down right beyond the fender. ill work on that.

 

[IndyMX]

thanks, i noticed i tend to look down right beyond the fender. ill work on that.

So do I.. That's a hard habit to break.

 

[m4i2k2e2]

i always tend to look up last minute and i notice there something i need to stop for. that is never fun.

 

[06KX100]

thanks, i noticed i tend to look down right beyond the fender. ill work on that.

So do I.. That's a hard habit to break.

I second that...i still do it if i dont think real hard about it, i thought about putting a note on my front fender saying look up!! :laugh:

 

[IndyMX]

I second that...i still do it if i dont think real hard about it, i thought about putting a note on my front fender saying look up!! :laugh:

Not a bad idea actually..

I saw a note on someone's bar pad at one of the supercross races a few weeks ago that said "Breathe". Something that I also sometimes forget to do..

 

[stumanarama]

mouse mccoy wrote on the inside of his barkbuster "stay off the clutch" for the baja 1000

 

[m4i2k2e2]

I second that...i still do it if i dont think real hard about it, i thought about putting a note on my front fender saying look up!! :laugh:

thats a great idea. ill try it out.

 

[HubertGarfunkleIII]

for me I woudl go through my local tracks woops in 3rd gear. you need to GRIIIIPPP the bike with your legs! you do want to lean back. But not tooo much, which was my problem.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

you need to GRIIIIPPP the bike with your legs!

Not me. I prefer to have the bike rock back and forth under me, which it won't do if you are squeezing it with your legs.

 

[tnrider]

Not me. I prefer to have the bike rock back and forth under me, which it won't do if you are squeezing it with your legs.

that is a cool feeling the first time you get it right!

another thing is to keep the bars straight - it is really bad to hit the top of a whoop with your bars turned to the side - wheels just don't roll well that way. :yikes:

 

[KX85 rider]

if you are going to go fast through them, go fast through them. its when you let off the throttle halfway through when things start to get out of hand

I know it's a silly question but, when your going through the whoops, do you rev the bike when you go down the whoops or can you just go straight through them throttle open if you like? this question is been bugging me for ages! :bang: :bang:

 

[High Lord Gomer]

There are different ways to go through whoops. If they are big enough and spaced far enough apart, you can double or triple through them. If you can't double through, you might be able to ride down between two, then carry the front tire in the air over the next one, then ride down in between, and carry the front tire again. If they are small enough, and/or you are good enough, you can pin it and blitz across the top.

Here is one of the local fast kids I taped a couple years ago:

http://themxtrack.com/TravisFlowers03.wmv

 

[m4i2k2e2]

thanks for the tip guys. if i grip it with my legs(which i was doing) what does the bike do instead of rock? just bounce? whats ill try both to see which i like better. the bike rocking looks cool though.

 

[KX85 rider]

thanks for the tips- i will try them out tomorrow since am going down to ride at cmx centre.
thanks again

 

[KX85 rider]

thanks for the tips, tried them out Sunday. but what i really wanted to know is how to get the confidence to start doing the doubles through whoop sections? I can do jumps on table tops-sometimes clear the small ones occasionally but when it comes to whoops i can't find the confidence to try a jump or to across that section, any tips? anything to boost my confidence or anything?

 

[IndyMX]

anything to boost my confidence or anything?

Seat time.

 

[KX85 rider]

Seat time.

what do u mean?

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Seat time = Time on the bike. He means that with experience will come confidence. (I know this because I'm one of the voices in Indy's head)

As far as working your way into doubling through whoops... If possible, try to double out of the last set in a whoop section. Then, if you can exit to the side, you might try doubling in at an engle and leaving the whoops before you hit the third one. Most tracks frown on riding around obstacles, though.

 

[KX85 rider]

try to double out the last set in a whoop section

What about doubling the first set?

 

[High Lord Gomer]

What about doubling the first set?

Did you catch the next sentence?

Then, if you can exit to the side, you might try doubling in at an engle and leaving the whoops before you hit the third one.

Doubling in and then hitting the brakes or slowing down so as to not continue doubling is more dangerous than committing and trying to double all of the way through, for me anyway.

First lap one time at a track outside of Atlanta I doubled in and thought as I was in the air, "This is just my first lap so I should slow down." So I slowed down, the back end kicked hard, I went down, and broke my ankle. The worst part was that I had scheduled it so that I had a week off between the job I was leaving and the next job. I had planned on riding that whole week. After doing that I worked an extra week at my old job and showed up on crutches to my new job.

 

[d_alexand]

swop

if you are going to go fast through them, go fast through them. its when you let off the throttle halfway through when things start to get out of hand

+1

Getting off the throttle is a definite no no... Also, if you start to swop from side to side you gotta stay on the gas, if you let off the throttle it could get really ugly. If you're trying to skim big whoops and your front wheel drops down in the trenches just give it a little more gas to get your front end back to the tops again.