WTF... I'm at a loss

[mxlife0166]

Alright, here's the deal. I've been riding for about six years and have been riding and racing on tracks for about 2. I went to a new track one weekend and everything was fine. I jumped/cleared everything and overall it went well. The jumps were about 40 to 60 feet and I had no problems. My weak spot was in the turns, and because my local track was closed, I had to wait about 3 weeks to get back to the new track. So, I spent those 3 weeks practicing nothing but turns and starts (I don't have any jumps on my property). I finally got to go back to the track, and my turns were great, I carried great speed and was much faster. Here's the problem. I hit one of the jumps which I cleared about 50 times before and nearly endoed. I attempted the next jump and got the same result. :bang: I must have attempted those jumps a hundred times but something just didn't feel right. I was off somehow. I figured that it was just an off day so I didn't sweat it. My local track opened last week and I went for the practice. Again, every jump that I attempted I almost crashed, and now, for the first time in a long time it seems like I'm afraid to hit these jumps. WTF is wrong with me??? :pissed: Any ideas or tips? I need some help here... I feel like a total newb on the track and like a dumb@$$ because I was one of the fastes guys at the track last year but now I can't even clear a simple tabletop :bang: Help!!!

 

[ellandoh]

did you blow out a shock, fork, mess with settings??

 

[rm_racer]

I bet your pretty good at turning now tho eh? :) :laugh: .

 

[travis712]

Well what kind've bike you got? Maybe you blew a head gasket, or your rings are spent, or you bent a valve, etc, so your not making the power you used to. Well let us know. Me and ellondoh are kinda suspecting the same thing, lol.

 

[mxlife0166]

yeah, my turning is great now :) I ride a suzuki RM 125 right now... i'm sending my engine out tomorrow to get rebuilt because i quess i rode it too hard the other day :| i think i may have bent the shift forks and i know i need a new clutch so my engine is going to get a complete top to bottom rebuild. because i can't ride for a few weeks i'm gonna get the forks rebuilt as well. if i'm still having problems with jumping... i don't know. I'm either gonna work my a$$ off to figure out whats wrong or i'm gonna take a break for awhile. i've got a few opportunities available to do the amateur superbike/ moto gp thing, so i may experiment with that for awhile. :yikes:

 

[travis712]

Oh nice. Out of curiousity, how old are you? & are you paying for all that yourself? Sounds like quite a bit of money.

 

[mxlife0166]

Oh nice. Out of curiousity, how old are you? & are you paying for all that yourself? Sounds like quite a bit of money.

I'm 16 and yeah... i have to pay for all of it myself. My parents (especially my dad) hate motocorss... they think I am wasting my life and my money. They couldn't be more wrong. My best friend's uncle owns a landscaping company and I've been working with them since I was about 12. I saved every cent that I earned for motocross so that is how I pay for everything. I'm definetely far, far away from being another spoiled racer. I've owned a total of two bikes in my life... a clapped ut xr 80 and my RM 125... both used... both off ****. I only bought either used or discount parts and pretty much made my stock 125 into a race bike from scraps. I learned to work on my bike from just messing around with the engine... the problems with my bike now are a little too advanced for me so I have to drain my bank account... again... to get it rebuilt. As far as the superbike/ moto gp thing, I've made a few connections with people over the years and they've watched me ride with a street bike and told me that I could easily win the local races... the only problem is... "local" to them is about 2 and a half hours away.

 

[travis712]

I'm 16 and yeah... i have to pay for all of it myself. My parents (especially my dad) hate motocorss... they think I am wasting my life and my money. They couldn't be more wrong. My best friend's uncle owns a landscaping company and I've been working with them since I was about 12. I saved every cent that I earned for motocross so that is how I pay for everything. I'm definetely far, far away from being another spoiled racer. I've owned a total of two bikes in my life... a clapped ut xr 80 and my RM 125... both used... both off ****. I only bought either used or discount parts and pretty much made my stock 125 into a race bike from scraps. I learned to work on my bike from just messing around with the engine... the problems with my bike now are a little too advanced for me so I have to drain my bank account... again... to get it rebuilt. As far as the superbike/ moto gp thing, I've made a few connections with people over the years and they've watched me ride with a street bike and told me that I could easily win the local races... the only problem is... "local" to them is about 2 and a half hours away.

Awesome **** man. Good to know your not a spoiled brat. I wish I could find a job. GL with the bike man. My parents arn't too fond of atv/dirtbikes, but they let me own them, so i'm fine with it.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

Did you mess with any of the suspension settings when practicing corners? If you let off the shock rebound damping, it could cause an endo (I think). Also, because you're carrying more speed through corners, are you coming into the jumps faster and hitting them in a different gear or different part of the powerband? I also think this might cause a problem. I'm not a very experienced motocrosser so this is all based off of stuff I've read in mags and online.

I must say I'm impressed with your work ethic and buying all your own bikes. I've been in the same boat, although my parents have no problem with me riding, they just can't afford it, so I've bought my own bikes since I started riding in 2000. Good luck with your racing and maybe ask a local pro for some advice as well? Maybe someone seeing you ride in person will notice something that we can't tell over the internet.

 

[bigd83]

maybe ur just not preloading the jumps

 

[Agitator]

I'm 16 and yeah... i have to pay for all of it myself. My parents (especially my dad) hate motocorss... they think I am wasting my life and my money. They couldn't be more wrong. My best friend's uncle owns a landscaping company and I've been working with them since I was about 12. I saved every cent that I earned for motocross so that is how I pay for everything. I'm definetely far, far away from being another spoiled racer. I've owned a total of two bikes in my life... a clapped ut xr 80 and my RM 125... both used... both off ****. I only bought either used or discount parts and pretty much made my stock 125 into a race bike from scraps. I learned to work on my bike from just messing around with the engine... the problems with my bike now are a little too advanced for me so I have to drain my bank account... again... to get it rebuilt. As far as the superbike/ moto gp thing, I've made a few connections with people over the years and they've watched me ride with a street bike and told me that I could easily win the local races... the only problem is... "local" to them is about 2 and a half hours away.

That's totally awesome, man :cool: .

My parents aren't too thrilled about me ridin', and I had to use my hard-earned savings to buy a bike.

I'm seventeen, btw. It just drives me crazy when I see people at school (or anywhere for that matter) who have their parents buy them cars, bikes, ipods, etc...

It's not that I am jealous of them, it just bothers me that they're so self-centered and spoiled. (no offense to those of you whose parents buy you stuff).

Anyway... It's great to know that there are people like you who are willing to work hard for stuff-and appreciate it!

Good luck with your bike! I've never been to a track, so I can't really help ya' out...

 

[mg89]

Yeah man, Good that there are people that work hard for the things they love. I pretty much have to take a lot of money I have been saving out of my bank account to buy parts for my bike, I don't really need to worry about getting a professional to get my bike done because my dad is a mechanic, but dirt bikes are still money eaters.

Also, when you have been jumping, have you noticed anything you do differently now than from when you jumped before you practiced corners like crazy. You may just have lost the felt of jumping. Start of on little 10 footers and work your way up or till you get your feel for jumping on your bike back.

But anyways dude, good luck.

 

[mxlife0166]

I think I'm doing everything the same as I was before...I probably just lost the feel and judgement for jumping like you said... I guess it happens. Got word from the dealer today and they said that I blew an inner fork seal or something??? I can't remember exactly what he said so... It will still be a couple of weeks before I can ride again. Maybe the seal had something to do with it. That probably messed with the oil pressure and flow inside the fork. Suspension is definetely not my strong point so if I'm wrong... correct me. Thanks for the replies and support :cool: :cool:

 

[ziptiedEXC]

I don't think it should matter if he was a spoiled brat, allthough I admire his work ethic also.

I grew up dirt poor and did'nt ride until I was 26. My 15 year old son has been riding with me since he was 5. I enjoy giving him things that I could only dream of when I was a kid.

 

[nick545]

I admire what you do. Their's no way in hell I'm gettin a bike anytime soon. I'm probly gonna still be riding my 80 when I'm 20. For..........
1. my parents don't like me riding
2. I'd never ask them for a bike and
3. I don't got a job and I'm not gonna have 5,500 anytime soon
(All my friend's that are racing and that are amazing at riding are just that good because their parents are rich as hell and get them whatever they want.....It gets me so mad cause they're soooo spoiled and they don't deserve it)
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make a jump on your property and work on that like you did with your turning. GL

 

[RMCoastie]

I had a bad accident on a 50ft table/double I had hit and landed hundreds of times before and then one day I over jumped it and got knocked out and messed up my left hand. Now a few months later I go to a different track down in FL and all I would hit is the 20ft double, a 30ft table and a 30ft step up. I have digressed so much and Im willing to bet it was because of that crash. Im scared to jump and do stuff I could do in my sleep. I hope I pull out of it one day.