[motodave250r]

Whenever i jump i have a tedancy to to pull up on the handle bars. Should i do this or just rely on the throttle to pull the front wheel up

[JohnSBA]

I'm a rank amateur when it comes to jumps, but in my limited jumping experience, I find that if i go from a sitting position to a standing position while going up the jump, without pulling on the bars at all, my bike tends to fly evenly through the air. Whereas, if i'm already standing on the pegs as I hit the beginning of the jump, I tend to pull the bars and loft the front too much.

[dssmith]

I would be a little careful going from a sitting position to a standing going up the face of the jump. If you are a little late, it compresses your rear suspension and then releases right as your front tire is coming off the lip. This causes your front end to dive down while your rear tire gets thrown hi, which can possibly end up flipping you over the bars. Make sure you are standing before your front tire comes close to the lip, unless you are seat hopping of course, which is something different.

[[email protected]]

I would be a little careful going from a sitting position to a standing going up the face of the jump.

That's true.
This guy is learning, so as little thinking as possible is the way to go.
We want him already standing and already in the right body position, in the right gear and at the right speed well before going up the face. Doug

[zak13]

if youre a beginner i say just stand up with your knees bent, steady throttle and just hit it, soon youll be comfy and will start scrubbing, then who knows, maybe youll do a backflip!!

[KevinM]

Start with safe table tops.

A wise man has told me... if you're going straight... you should be standing up. So I don't think you need to stand as you go up the face unless you just came out of a turn and the face is like.. right there.

Neutral body position on the bike.

Smooth throttle...don't blip. Steady throttle up the face.

But you can give it a little gas on landing to raise the front end a bit.

Grip the bike with your knees. That's your control. And always go up the face with the bike straight.. not crooked. You could land crooked and get pitched to the side.

Take it easy. Do tester jumps if you can on the obstacle.... a little further each time.

If you are really making this up as you go along, get some local help. A lesson or day long MX school will help immensely if you're starting out. And you'll have fun.

Good luck. Stay safe.

[mco15]

Well as you progress you wil figure out your style and the way to get over jumps. Stay little and pay alot of attention to how ur bike is reacting with different styles of riding (sitting,standing). The more RPMs off of a jump the higher your front end will be. If you arent sure if u can make the jump thats typically the way to go because you never want to nose dive.

[Monkeywrench]

You have gotten some good advice here.
I think one of the reasons you find you're less apt to pull on the bars when you wait until going up the face before standing, is that you're just about eliminating your arms from the equation. As you stand, your legs are supporting your weight and doing the work. Wether or not you realise it, you're probably rowing forward while you stand, which is good! (You should be able to look down and see the top edge of your # plate).

If you approach a jump already standing, a common challenge many people just starting out fail to realise is that they need to readjust their body position/body angle. Meaning: imagine a toy dirtbike with a pretend rider on it, in the standing position. Looks fine on flat ground, right? Now tilt the front end up, and imagine his body position. He is no longer vertical/perpendicular to the ground... but leaning back some. If he proceeds up the jump this way, physics cause your upper-body weight to be supported by your arms (so you don't fall bacK). This creates a pulling-back on the bars, which causes your front end to rise.

Try and concentrate on everything the guys wrote above. Great advice.
As you approach the jump, be standing already. Body forward, body weight supported thru your legs, chest over the tank, knees bent slightly (do not lock your knees), head over the bar pad (you'll actually be leaning forward). STAY in this position all the way up the jump, and keep the speed constant (do not speed up, and do not slow down). Once your bike leaves the face of the jump, you will have a natural tendency to allow the bike to come forward a bit, placing your person back in the center of the bike. Try to land front tire just before the rear, or maybe even both tires at same time, but not rear tire first. That creates a slap-down effect which can throw you forward.

Start small, and always abort if you feel uncomfortable or out of position. If you plan to abort, be very careful about deciding before you start up the face of the jump. Chopping the throttle up the face of the jump will result in a nose-down air flight, and very difficult landing. Once you hit the face, you should be committed based on feeling ready to go and comfortable. If the approach to the jump is choppy and you don't have confidence because of it, you risk a lot by making that your learn-to jump. I would find one that's very smooth for starters.
Concentrate on getting used to that forward body position as you go up the face, and keeping your speed smooth. Those 2 parts are very important to the bike's position once you leave the jump.

[mr.wannaride]

this may have been covered already but here is what works for me

practice on table tops!! very helpful

1. when approaching the jump look at the line you want to take off from (one point on the lip of the jump)
2. set a steady pace.(half throttle in whatever gear necessary)
3. stand up before you get to the jump
4. get in the attack position ( ball of your feet on the pegs, leaning slightly forward, knees slightly bent,ELBOWS UP AND OUT)
5.come off the jump a little more than half throttle


- if the jump you go off has alittle more "kick"(steeper) than you think the front end might drop down quickly on the bigger jumps. if this happens don't freak out, rev the bike in the air, wide open if the front end is so far down that you might go over the bars
this is also known as the "panic rev"

if you notice that there is a particular jump you are going really high on but it isn't a long jump, you can go off the jump a little faster that you think you need to go and lean forward more ( if you were to look down you would see the top edge of your number plate) this will allow the suspension to compress more and rebound less causing the bike to go faster through the air and carry a straighter trajectory, if you can do this technique very efficiently if is a great way to pass someone on the track.

start out small and go bigger as you feel more and more comfortable

gook luck

[woodsman]

You have gotten some good advice here.
I think one of the reasons you find you're less apt to pull on the bars when you wait until going up the face before standing, is that you're just about eliminating your arms from the equation. As you stand, your legs are supporting your weight and doing the work. Wether or not you realise it, you're probably rowing forward while you stand, which is good! (You should be able to look down and see the top edge of your # plate).

If you approach a jump already standing, a common challenge many people just starting out fail to realise is that they need to readjust their body position/body angle. Meaning: imagine a toy dirtbike with a pretend rider on it, in the standing position. Looks fine on flat ground, right? Now tilt the front end up, and imagine his body position. He is no longer vertical/perpendicular to the ground... but leaning back some. If he proceeds up the jump this way, physics cause your upper-body weight to be supported by your arms (so you don't fall bacK). This creates a pulling-back on the bars, which causes your front end to rise.

Try and concentrate on everything the guys wrote above. Great advice.
As you approach the jump, be standing already. Body forward, body weight supported thru your legs, chest over the tank, knees bent slightly (do not lock your knees), head over the bar pad (you'll actually be leaning forward). STAY in this position all the way up the jump, and keep the speed constant (do not speed up, and do not slow down). Once your bike leaves the face of the jump, you will have a natural tendency to allow the bike to come forward a bit, placing your person back in the center of the bike. Try to land front tire just before the rear, or maybe even both tires at same time, but not rear tire first. That creates a slap-down effect which can throw you forward.

Start small, and always abort if you feel uncomfortable or out of position. If you plan to abort, be very careful about deciding before you start up the face of the jump. Chopping the throttle up the face of the jump will result in a nose-down air flight, and very difficult landing. Once you hit the face, you should be committed based on feeling ready to go and comfortable. If the approach to the jump is choppy and you don't have confidence because of it, you risk a lot by making that your learn-to jump. I would find one that's very smooth for starters.
Concentrate on getting used to that forward body position as you go up the face, and keeping your speed smooth. Those 2 parts are very important to the bike's position once you leave the jump.

Wow. Never new that. Wish I had. I've always landed back first with the front a good halfoot above it. It hurts, but keeps the bike tracking straighter I thought. I'll have to try your way now. Whatabout jumps with flat landings? How does one land those?

[[email protected]]

How does one land those?

As far as landing on flat ground, rarely is good, but if you have to do it more speed makes softer landings, with the front tire a little above the ground.
What monkeywrench is saying with the nose down landing means VERY slightly nose first or both wheels contacting at or near the same time,and this is only in situations where you are without a doubt landing on the downhil slope of the jump.
That's done by tilting the bike a little in the air, if you go worrying about getting nose down before you know for certain that you're not going to be short or long you're going to be injured.
This stuff takes practice, focus on whats important and it'll all work out.
1. Right body position.
2. Don't be short. Find out what gear riders with a bike like yours are hitting the jumps in, listen to their bikes.
Don't go worrying about freakin' seat bumps, scrubs,
3. No throttle jacking. No giving it a little "boost". Know the speed you need, get it, keep the throttle still until you're in the air.
The question is about jumping for new guys. Remember 1,2 and 3. Doug

[mikey526]

You have gotten some good advice here.
I think one of the reasons you find you're less apt to pull on the bars when you wait until going up the face before standing, is that you're just about eliminating your arms from the equation. As you stand, your legs are supporting your weight and doing the work. Wether or not you realise it, you're probably rowing forward while you stand, which is good! (You should be able to look down and see the top edge of your # plate).

If you approach a jump already standing, a common challenge many people just starting out fail to realise is that they need to readjust their body position/body angle. Meaning: imagine a toy dirtbike with a pretend rider on it, in the standing position. Looks fine on flat ground, right? Now tilt the front end up, and imagine his body position. He is no longer vertical/perpendicular to the ground... but leaning back some. If he proceeds up the jump this way, physics cause your upper-body weight to be supported by your arms (so you don't fall bacK). This creates a pulling-back on the bars, which causes your front end to rise.

Try and concentrate on everything the guys wrote above. Great advice.
As you approach the jump, be standing already. Body forward, body weight supported thru your legs, chest over the tank, knees bent slightly (do not lock your knees), head over the bar pad (you'll actually be leaning forward). STAY in this position all the way up the jump, and keep the speed constant (do not speed up, and do not slow down). Once your bike leaves the face of the jump, you will have a natural tendency to allow the bike to come forward a bit, placing your person back in the center of the bike. Try to land front tire just before the rear, or maybe even both tires at same time, but not rear tire first. That creates a slap-down effect which can throw you forward.

Start small, and always abort if you feel uncomfortable or out of position. If you plan to abort, be very careful about deciding before you start up the face of the jump. Chopping the throttle up the face of the jump will result in a nose-down air flight, and very difficult landing. Once you hit the face, you should be committed based on feeling ready to go and comfortable. If the approach to the jump is choppy and you don't have confidence because of it, you risk a lot by making that your learn-to jump. I would find one that's very smooth for starters.
Concentrate on getting used to that forward body position as you go up the face, and keeping your speed smooth. Those 2 parts are very important to the bike's position once you leave the jump.

Wow. Never new that. Wish I had. I've always landed back first with the front a good halfoot above it. It hurts, but keeps the bike tracking straighter I thought. I'll have to try your way now. Whatabout jumps with flat landings? How does one land those?

Woah, Ive talked to a lot of A riders and read a lot of books and they all say do not land front wheel first unless you are absolutely sure that the landing is smooth. Many of the "A" riders I have talked to say that your front wheel should be 2-6 inches higher than your rear when you land. If the landing face has potholes or bumps in it, your almost guaranteed to endo if you land front wheel first. Slap downs do hurt if you got enough air, but I almost always land with the front wheel a couple inches higher than the rear and I cannot feel it. On most smaller table top jumps, I do land with the front wheel even or maybe a little lower than the rear, but of course, you don't want the front wheel over 6 inches higher than the rear wheel when you land. If your confident, try landing in all possible ways, but for now I think he should try to land rear wheel a little lower than the front.

[[email protected]]

Personally, I strive to land simultaneously if I really know the jump, but for the most part the front a little after the rear is the way to go.
I agree the slap down if you're only talking a foot or so is inconsequential.
It's s o easy for the new guys to get distracted, thats why I encourage them to concentrate only on the basics. I've never seen an endo with a perfect both wheels or slightly nose high landing, just like I've never seen anyone hit a face because they carried a little too much speed Doug

[Monkeywrench]

...do not land front wheel first unless you are absolutely sure that the landing is smooth

Agreed - that's very important.
By landing front wheel first I mean only a fraction before the rear wheel (almost like a drummer hitting his snare one stick after another, in a quick "flam" type way). Might just be a personal preference, but seems when I land this way it helps me row back during the landing to help absorb. Landing rear tire early seems to work against rowing-back to help absorb the landing.

Gary Semics has a great video on jumping posture. In one section of the video, he has students jumping up onto a flat plateau, landing in this same way (front tire just a touch before the rear), while teaching them to row back to help absorb the landing. After watching this a couple years back and trying it, it felt very comfortable, and almost natural as well.
But definately need smooth landing - good point raised there.

[dlx742]

wow.. thats a lot of contradicting ideas on how to jump.

dude.. if you are trying to learn how to jump you need to not worry about as many things as the replies say. mostly because you will not be high enough in the air your first few times.

find your learner jump. i would say a 20 ft table. jumping the entire thing you might be in the air for a split second. not even long enough to think about which tire is going to land first. you should be standing for all of this keeping your center of mass between your two wheels, meaning that your body must move forward going up the face of the jump and must move slightly back while landing (but not much since the landing probably wont be very steep)

your first time over it just roll it to find your line. think about where you want to hit the lip and where you want to land and eventually ride off to

you have two tries to roll over the jump because after the third time you are just syking yourself out.

after you roll it twice keeping hitting it faster and faster each time. you will quickly learn how you are going to want to land (on flat ground both wheels at the same time on the throttle to make your front wheel lighter. on the landing you better land front wheel first or both wheels at the same time or you will look and feel like a goon with sore balls. i dont care what people on here say, landing front wheel first is the proper way to land on a man made groomed landing)

as you land make sure you are slightly on the gas which will make it feel less and less like you just fell from the sky.

as you jump higher and longer you will start to notice that the way you move your body before and while you are in the air will greatly affect the way the bike moves in the air. such as tapping your rear break to bring the front down, punching the gas to bring the front end up, seat bouncing to compress the suspension more, and so on.

do not worry about pre loading or pulling up your first few times. the face of the jump will compress your suspension for you and your bike will do the rest of the work. just concentrate on staying comfortably on your bike and you will quickly build your jumping confidence.

its all about how much confidence you have. if you dont think you will make it, then you wont.