For some time, I've been mentioning that being active on the pegs by weighting and unweighting is important for jumping and traction control. The better riders use it constantly but with so little movement that you might not notice unless you watch videos in very slow motion.

Last year I bought a Vurtego Pogo Stick to help get in shape and to focus on the jumping input to the foot pegs that I've noticed the top riders using. I thought that I would use the Pogo Stick to help get in shape for riding but quickly found out that I might need to ride to get in shape to use the Pogo Stick. It is a REAL work-out!!

So anyway, a friend that has bought the same Pogo Stick and also rides Trials has found this video. If you have any doubt that Pogo Stick Style jumping is important to riding, take a look at this video:

http://www.martinbue...t/videos/M1.wmv

:thumbsup:

Notice that the rider does not seem to be jumping much. Or there is little motion that would look like a big jump, but you can see that he's obviously getting enough power to the pegs to get this contraption off the ground.

Watch for this action in the rides of some of the top riders. It's subtle, but it's there.

And just as a rider can accentuate the rebound of the suspension with body input, they can ALSO cancel the rebound with body input. And that is why the Trials Suspension has so little damping. Because it gives the active rider the option to increase or cancel rebound by using the best suspension system in the World......... Your legs and Brain working together!! No other suspension system can see what's coming and instantly adjust for it and no motorcycle suspension has as much travel as your legs with infinitely adjustable damping, EVEN in the middle of the stroke!! :thumbsup:

2PLY said:

Thats impressive! The pogo stick will be my next piece of exercise equipment- the combination leg workout and coordination looks like a great way to get a hard,fast workout.
It will have to wait- having recently bought two trials bikes, my new Gaernes oiled boots were next- and I just got those (if someone would have told me a year ago that I would buy >$300 Italian foot wear:eek: I would have told them 'your nuts') Next priority is a trials helmet, using an old 3/4 for now- good enough for short rides, but heavy. Cant wait to buy a set of trials pants and jersey, but I figure thats not as important as the skid lid, so I will stick with Levis for now.:ride:

My first resonse is, "Who picked the music?" A distant second is, "Why?" I can certainly see the utility as regards trials, and for convincing someone to wear a helmet while pogo-sticking, but is this an actual item that is being marketed to the general public? I figure market saturation will occur after the first two units sell. My guess was that it is being used to test motorcycle frame geometries or something like that.

John

A friend got his son a Moto Stik the other day and we had a go at it. Not as easy as it looks. That one in the video looks strange.

Here's a Moto Stik clip. http://www.motostik....o/motofull1.wmv

kembro said:

It was the Motostick that first caught my attention but then I found out the useful weight limit was around 200 pounds and I was already above that. So more searching took me to the Vurtego.. It uses compressed air without any springs.

The Motostick is easier to ride than the Vurtego, but that's only when you are starting out. With 18 inches of travel, it's that first step up to the pegs that is difficult. Then you discover that it's one heck of work-out, much more than I had expected.

That video is not really about riding motorcycles. It's just that it turns out to be the very same movements that are important to learn. If you watch this video and then watch some of the Trials Video clips where the riders use the same movements, it might help you remember to try this when hill climbing where traction is scarce or any other place where you need a quick shot of power in a very short distance.

I've had the recent opportunity to try this technique up a muddy hill where there was no traction. On the second try, I used this Pogo Style jump timed with throttle. At the maximum point of weight on the rear tire, my throttle input is also at maximum (not full throttle). As the suspension rebounds and the bike leaps, the throttle is closed. On the next downstroke of the suspension, I add throttle again along with a heavy jump off of the pegs to jam the tire into the ground. It was amazing how well it worked.

The bike sort of leaps ahead of you on the power stroke, but you catch up with it before the next power stroke, ready to do another Pogo Stick jump. I saw the top World Champ riders use this on a soft hill where none of the less qualified riders could get up. It looked impossible until the the top guys showed how to lift the front wheel an inch above the ground and use all of the bike's weight plus their own weight tripled from the jump to get the tire to hook up where there was no traction before.

In the video, Martin Buehler was really designing and studying the various possible movements for Robots. That one was the Monopod, also known as the Robot Jockey.

Gandalf_WR450 said:

Some guys have used sweat pants or jogging pants. The problem with Levis is that they restrict your reach when you need to take a dab. Trials Pants have more stretch panels than regular riding pants.