Jumping Tips? ~jump practice vid~

[ConradM]

This is a little field/riding area in the back of my neighborhood -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTpEZSnYaJc

Some info, I've only been riding about a month and I'm 34 years old so this stuff scares the crap out of me.?

I know it's a small jump but what could I be doing different? I thought maybe I should try pulling up on the bars next but I haven't actually read anywhere that you're supposed to do that...

[JRod4928]

you're not looking too bad for only riding for a month. keep it up! ? your body position isn't bad. Look up some instructional youtube videos and threads on these forums and you'll find some good info. Take them all with a grain of salt, because some punk's jumping video is not the same as Gary Semic's jumping instructional video, but here's my suggestions, take it for what its worth...

To be brief (people could go on forever about this stuff)...

Jumping is about 3 things - Body Position, and Throttle control, and seat time. Out of those 3 things comes consistency, fluidity, and confidence.

All of these things work together and none of it is a hard and fast rule that'll work on every jump....

Body - When learning, you need to understand what 'neutral position' is...you're pretty close from what I could tell in the video. Neutral is when your head is over the bars, knees slighly bent, strong back (not bent forward, but a straight back from your butt to your neck), elbows up, square with the bars. When you lean forward or back, it is all in reference to the 'neutral position'. On most jumps, you want to be in neutral position on takeoff.

Throttle - jumping a 2 stroke is usually done by accelerating up to the jump face, or up the face of the jump, then rolling off the throttle before the back tire leaves the takeoff. the amount of throttle you give will affect the body position you need to be in to counteract the throttle. If you're pinned up the jump face and through take off, you had better be leaning way forward with respect to neutral position or you'll be looping out. If you're dragging the brake on takeoff, lean way back with respect to neutral position. Jumping a 4 stroke is a little different because of engine braking, but don't worry about that right now, youre on a 2 stroke. The key is to be smooth, no quick throttle changes one way or another. I'd suggest keeping the RPM's low, so the powerband doesn't kick in and scare you. It'll help you be more consistent, then when you get used to that, you can try higher RPMs.

This all changes depending on the jump face shape, length, trajectory, landing, distance, etc. and that's where seat time and experience comes in.

If you see a bump forming on the takeoff of the jump, that's called a kicker.... fix it or find a new jump if you see one forming. They can send you on your head before you even know what happened. Don't jump anything you're not comfortable with. it's a loooong process!

Edited April 12, 2013 by JRod4928

[ConradM]

Thanks! Very informative... So I should be rolling off as I leave the face?

I've been blipping it right before take off. That's something I used to do when I raced nitro RC cars to preload the suspension... I kind of figured it transferred over.

[ridleyredraider]

Constant throttle, don't pull on the bars unless the rear kicks up. Your suspension looks pretty soft so I wouldn't worry about that. The problem with that jump is that the first time you went over it in the video was your fastest...but the suspension soaked it up and you didn't really jump it. That's what you should be doing every time you go over something that small, stay on the gas and let the bike soak it up.

You need a bigger jump with a big, smooth face. I'm not saying make something dangerous. Make the landing higher than the jump lip so you're not falling to the landing, called a step-up... something where the suspension can't take the hit and the sprung weight stays relatively at the same elevation.

Something like this to where you can easily go from rolling it to hitting it harder and going further.

[JRod4928]

it's all a matter of trial/error, but yeah you got the idea.

try to avoid blipping the throttle. Be smooth and consistent with your throttle for now and account for bike trajectory using body position. once you have that down and you have a good feel for the bike and how it reacts, then experiment with the throttle. one variable at a time.

do some research to make sure your suspension is set up correctly. You don't want to start bad habits because your bike doesnt behave correctly due to an incorrect setup for your height/weight....but that subject is meant for a different thread, lol. lots of reading about suspension setups.

[ConradM]

Constant throttle, don't pull on the bars unless the rear kicks up. Your suspension looks pretty soft so I wouldn't worry about that. The problem with that jump is that the first time you went over it in the video was your fastest...but the suspension soaked it up and you didn't really jump it. That's what you should be doing every time you go over something that small, stay on the gas and let the bike soak it up.

You need a bigger jump with a big, smooth face. I'm not saying make something dangerous. Make the landing higher than the jump lip so you're not falling to the landing, called a step-up... something where the suspension can't take the hit and the sprung weight stays relatively at the same elevation.

Something like this to where you can easily go from rolling it to hitting it harder and going further.

That's a great idea... I probably won't make one but maybe I can find a natural one somewhere.

[freeriders98]

I'm pretty much a newb, and didn't have dirt bikes as a kid. So I never had the "fearless" stage on a bike. But with 5-6 years of on and off dirt riding now I will give you my insight.

I think the best jump to learn on is a smooth take off roller type jump. One where you can vary your speed and jump 5ft or 50ft. That allows you to increase progressively on the same take off simply by increasing your speed.

I see you are in Idaho, not sure how far you are from the St. Anthony dunes but that is actually where I learned how to jump. I think sand is a great skill to have. So spend a day learning to ride the sand, and then start jumping. Sand is a little more forgiving than hard pack if you crash. There are TONS of spots out at the dunes to to get the feel and slowly increase you distance and height as you get more comfortable.

[YZPaGuy]

First I would get some gear. You are going to wad it up eventually, it's envitable. Knee pads, elbow pads, roost gaurd, riding pants. The jeans will tear to shreds when you crash. The roost gaurd will save your chest if you decide to superman on top of the bars and helps you slide across the ground.

Seat time, videos online, riding with guys that have some experience and some time with an instructor help allot. Seat time is the most important. Start jumping small and don't move up to big until you have hunderds of small jumps. Once you start to get comfortable you can start working on the technical aspect. Braking to bring the front down and reving to bring it up. Pushing and pulling on the bars. You can start messing up on purpose on the small ones just to learn how to fix it in mid air, don't mess them up bad enough to crash but enough to have to adjust to land properly.

[ConradM]

First I would get some gear. You are going to wad it up eventually, it's envitable. Knee pads, elbow pads, roost gaurd, riding pants. The jeans will tear to shreds when you crash. The roost gaurd will save your chest if you decide to superman on top of the bars and helps you slide across the ground.

Seat time, videos online, riding with guys that have some experience and some time with an instructor help allot. Seat time is the most important. Start jumping small and don't move up to big until you have hunderds of small jumps. Once you start to get comfortable you can start working on the technical aspect. Braking to bring the front down and reving to bring it up. Pushing and pulling on the bars. You can start messing up on purpose on the small ones just to learn how to fix it in mid air, don't mess them up bad enough to crash but enough to have to adjust to land properly.

I wear gear when I'm not goofing off in my neighborhood.

[ConradM]

I'm pretty much a newb, and didn't have dirt bikes as a kid. So I never had the "fearless" stage on a bike. But with 5-6 years of on and off dirt riding now I will give you my insight.

I think the best jump to learn on is a smooth take off roller type jump. One where you can vary your speed and jump 5ft or 50ft. That allows you to increase progressively on the same take off simply by increasing your speed.

I see you are in Idaho, not sure how far you are from the St. Anthony dunes but that is actually where I learned how to jump. I think sand is a great skill to have. So spend a day learning to ride the sand, and then start jumping. Sand is a little more forgiving than hard pack if you crash. There are TONS of spots out at the dunes to to get the feel and slowly increase you distance and height as you get more comfortable.

Ugh, I hate sand.? There's plenty of it out at Hemingway, don't know if you know where that is. But I just hate how it feels so vague.

[xxcody2gunsxx]

From the looks of it your in the right position .the lip and the hill is a rolling one . hit it with more speed and you can land far passed the downside but not much higher .

I have only been riding for a year now .I'm 32 . a good way I set my mind ,body and bike for a jump is right before lift off I push down on the bike with feet and go up with the suspension . a preload . it helps me hit jumps in the right position with body and bike .

constant throttle is definite . you'll be amazed what little bit more throttle at the face would do or less would do .

I see other riders take jumps in a relaxed manner but when I try it , it doesn't work out so well with me just yet . I think speed has a lot to do with it and I'm not that fast at hitting jumps yet .

hope this helps

side note . Get on you tube and watch body position tips ,jumping tips,peg weighting, flat cornering slides,whoops and everything else in between .the more you watch the more you learn .

I agree Seat time is best but even better when you make a plan on what to work on and work on it .

you'll be amazed how your reaction will be when your front end dives on a jump before you want it to and you "panic rev" to level it out . you never practiced that before but you knew what to do to fix it .

maintenance too . save a ton and have peace of mind knowing that the work is done right and that means a lot when your riding .

Edited April 13, 2013 by xxcody2gunsxx

[xxcody2gunsxx]

Ugh, I hate sand.?

Sand is awesome . the slides ,natures whoops,hills with potential mad air . how can you not like sand other then Maintenance issues . it gets everywhere !!

[freeriders98]

Ugh, I hate sand.? There's plenty of it out at Hemingway, don't know if you know where that is. But I just hate how it feels so vague.

In sand you have to ride fast, stand up and just let the bike wander around under you. Speed is your friend!!!! And the Idaho dunes are AWESOME, not very crowded, wind blows them smooth. And some HUGE bowls that you can rail wide open. And you can go out to Choke Cherry hill and see what if you can climb it!! Once you learn how to ride in it, its awesome!!!

Edited April 13, 2013 by freeriders98