Starting to get air time

[2_SL0]

Ok, last trip out I was starting to get a little air time, (it was very small amount) however I'm noticing the bike is moving at one speed and normally tends to land a little earlier than me, difficult to explain, but basically we don't seem to be coming down together in one fluid motion.

I am guessing everyone is going to say hang on more with your knees, which I except is most likely what I am doing wrong, however any tips on this would be much appreciated. I'm not going for the big superman move or anything, more its a natural progression of me getting a little faster.

[B0000M]

Ok, last trip out I was starting to get a little air time, (it was very small amount) however I'm noticing the bike is moving at one speed and normally tends to land a little earlier than me, difficult to explain, but basically we don't seem to be coming down together in one fluid motion.

I am guessing everyone is going to say hang on more with your knees, which I except is most likely what I am doing wrong, however any tips on this would be much appreciated. I'm not going for the big superman move or anything, more its a natural progression of me getting a little faster.

yea grip a bit with your knees, but dont be rigid on the bike in the air, try to flow with it to get it landing nicely in a manor suitable for the next part of track.

the thing holding most people back from nice jumps is the fact that you will tend to back off the gas on the up ramp. you want to be either holding steady power up the ramp or ideally accelerating a bit. take the acceleration gently while you're getting the hang of jumping, but if you hold your power up the ramp your air will increase significantly as well as making the bike so its not trying to nose dive every time.

important basic things to know too are if the bike is nose diving in the air, feed it throttle in the air, if the nose is too far up, tap the back brake in the air, the momentum and weight of the rear wheel will assist in correcting the angles.

the best jumps for learning on in my opinion is a table top with little to no lip on the down ramp

[theblacksmith]

I totally agree with what BOOOM says. Another factor I found was suspension setting.With mine i had to stiffen the rebound on the back shock as it tended to "bounce" a bit when I left the ramp - resulting in the bike pushing me up and landing earlier than I did.(Yuk feeling) The stiffer setting and applying a bit of throttle on leaving the ramp corrected this. Some jumps have a nasty little lip on them(due to rutting) which I find I have to throttle quite hard as my back tyre leaves the jump.Id much rather land on my rear wheel than the front.

[Pierce]

Defo some good points there. Gotta grip the bike with your knees but also be lose on the bike so that the bike can do what it wants without throwing you off. Steady hand on the throttle is best for a normal jump. Table tops or small doubles are good to learn on. Where are you riding 2 slo?

[telliman]

get off the side of the bike!

[camchain]

I've found the biggest thing to watch out for as confidence builds is - over confidence. As in: "Hey, I'm really starting to get the hang of thi- SLAM."

Those rutty jumps with a steep, short face and a 'knuckle' on the top edge always psych me out, and being too tense just adds to the problem. Steep take-offs have a lot of potential to mess you up due to suspension suddenly compressing hard as you hit the face then uncompressing suddenly (and unevenly) as bike leaves the ground. All that stored energy has to go somewhere and it happens fast.

Lotta physics going on there and takes a lot of time to get the feel for it all, so I reckon above all, take your time. IMO you don't have to push too hard to make solid improvement especially when focussing on one particular aspect of riding.

BTW finding with the new super light 200 it's a lot of fun to compress the suspension (with pushing down bodyweight) and popping up off stuff I used to basically roll over with the heavier bike.

[telliman]

yea grip a bit with your knees, but dont be rigid on the bike in the air, try to flow with it to get it landing nicely in a manor suitable for the next part of track.

the thing holding most people back from nice jumps is the fact that you will tend to back off the gas on the up ramp. you want to be either holding steady power up the ramp or ideally accelerating a bit. take the acceleration gently while you're getting the hang of jumping, but if you hold your power up the ramp your air will increase significantly as well as making the bike so its not trying to nose dive every time.

important basic things to know too are if the bike is nose diving in the air, feed it throttle in the air, if the nose is too far up, tap the back brake in the air, the momentum and weight of the rear wheel will assist in correcting the angles.

the best jumps for learning on in my opinion is a table top with little to no lip on the down ramp

na holding neutural revs when learning to jump just puts the shits up ya if ya throttle control is no good, unless its a kicker id stay away brom the gas, line your jump up dude and give it shit then let the gas off on the up ramp then maybe blip it a bit in the air,that way your covered,using revs on the up ramp only leads to loops for beginers.

[Pierce]

unless its a kicker id stay away brom the gas, line your jump up dude and give it shit then let the gas off on the up ramp then maybe blip it a bit in the air,that way your covered,using revs on the up ramp only leads to loops for beginers.

I'd have to disagree there. Especially if it's a 4T. Way too much engine braking and it will cause bad nose dive off the jump. Steady hand on the throttle, not excellerating nor buttoning off. Steady gas so that if it goes nose down you can rev slightly or nose up you can tap back brake but it shouldn't do too much of either.

[telliman]

I'd have to disagree there. Especially if it's a 4T. Way too much engine braking and it will cause bad nose dive off the jump. Steady hand on the throttle, not excellerating nor buttoning off. Steady gas so that if it goes nose down you can rev slightly or nose up you can tap back brake but it shouldn't do too much of either.

thats cause you never get it out of third bro,haha, so you advise someone new to jumping to start working the clutch and brake in the air and thats easier to learn to jump? hes never going to know how a bikes going to react on take off.
nose dive from engine braking, classic.

[telliman]

thats cause you never get it out of third bro,haha, so you advise someone new to jumping to start working the clutch and brake in the air and thats easier to learn to jump? hes never going to know how a bikes going to react on take off.
nose dive from engine braking, classic.

in saying all that, im still learning myself so oooo yea.

[B0000M]

even better, learn jumping on a 2stroke. heaps easier,

by the time you've mastered that you would have realised 2 strokes are just better to ride and you wont bother going back to your noisy 4stroke

[Pierce]

thats cause you never get it out of third bro,haha, so you advise someone new to jumping to start working the clutch and brake in the air and thats easier to learn to jump? hes never going to know how a bikes going to react on take off.
nose dive from engine braking, classic.

No i'm no saying clutch and brake in the air. i'm saying if you hold a steady throttle up and off the jump you'l be less likely to need to adjust in the air (button off once you're in the air of course). You're telling him to button off on the up ramp...? 4T - excelleration = engine braking, engine braking on a jump means the nose will dive... I don't see much sense in that. I've not yet come across a ride that say's to button off before they leave the ramp.

Oh and third gear on a CRF250 is a heap slower than 3rd on a CR250 niceone:

[Pierce]

even better, learn jumping on a 2stroke. heaps easier,

by the time you've mastered that you would have realised 2 strokes are just better to ride and you wont bother going back to your noisy 4stroke

I wish i had this advise in Aug last year when i bought my CRF...:whistle: CR250 is heaps more fun :woohoo:

[B0000M]

I wish i had this advise in Aug last year when i bought my CRF...:whistle: CR250 is heaps more fun :woohoo:

still got your crf? i pm'd youu the other day regarding a softcock who wants to go from a cr to a crf


edit: the pm just came thru! lol. nevermind, and i guess this answers the question. yea the mrs's crf is going great, works a treat as a backup bike for me too

[telliman]

I wish i had this advise in Aug last year when i bought my CRF...:whistle: CR250 is heaps more fun :woohoo:

bro, you look scared of your 2t, you say more fun but you looked like you enjoyed your 4t heaps more.haha

[telliman]

or nose up you can tap back brake [/QUOTE]

this requires clutch, but each to there own just enjoy i say!

[telliman]

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=78858&d=1196629818



you mean like this!:Oops:

[soundbeltfarm]

important basic things to know too are if the bike is nose diving in the air, feed it throttle in the air, if the nose is too far up, tap the back brake in the air, the momentum and weight of the rear wheel will assist in correcting the angles.



just remember if you start tapping the rear brake use your clutch so you dont stall .
by the way i really suck at jumps so take my advice with a grain of salt bro

[Coyote]

I'm one of the more overly-confident jumpers around with bugger all skill. Totally agree with the above statements. All things I learnt the hard way. I've landed perpendicular to the ground on the front, relying on the frames flex to cushion the landing. I've landed on my back after giving it too much gas. Last time I went riding I kept going until the bike was falling apart (and after to go around the track and pick up the pieces, going a slower pace of course).

My advice is to jump a little higher each time rather than going flat out. Worked for my brother. It's luck that I've gotten better by trial and error without breaking any bones.

[courts]

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=78858&d=1196629818



you mean like this!:Oops:

Ah, a real kimmy's classic- love it!(not that I could do any better).

[Pierce]

bro, you look scared of your 2t, you say more fun but you looked like you enjoyed your 4t heaps more.haha

How about you bust your knee up and then get back on an MX track man... It's not the bike that i'm scared of. Torn ACL and MCL due to a motocross accident would take its toll on your confidence too bro. :Pokey:And as to that pic of my at kimmys, funny you didn't post the head on shot you took on the same day. i was jumping it sweet the rest of the day(with only 4months riding under my belt)... I don't claim to be a pro cos i'm far from it, just giving advise that has worked for me. No need to be a prick about it :rolleyes:

I may have been faster on my 4T but didn't enjoy it as much. We'll see how you all enjoy the 4T rebuild cost eh:girlfight:

[telliman]

woooow, it was just friendly banter bro,do you need me to have a word to my mother dude!

[SpikedPunch]

Torn ACL and MCL due to a motocross accident would take its toll on your confidence too bro.
Weirdly enough I got into bikes after rupturing my PCL playing roller derby. Thought I'd take up a nice safe sport instead :eek:

[Hemex]

Weirdly enough I got into bikes after rupturing my PCL playing roller derby. Thought I'd take up a nice safe sport instead :eek:

How strange... I tore my ACL'a on both knees...chipped median condoyles and MCL torn on my left knee with basketball... What a safe sport Ive chosen now...:shifty:

[Pierce]

woooow, it was just friendly banter bro,do you need me to have a word to my mother dude!

It's all good mate, got your Ma down at the retirement village:buggerd: to help me relieve some of my stress as i was a bit tense

and to the above comments.... Jesus boys you couldn't have chosen a safer sport for your dodgy knees:lol:

[2_SL0]

Thanks for the advice guys, my biggest thing would be lack of confidence I'm guessing.

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

confidence is important, but you need the skill. make that jump yo bitch! haha (BTW, skill is not an attained trait me as yet!)

[tommorth]

humpy bits in paddocks are good for practice as you get used to being airborn but you dont go very high so pretty hard to fuck it up

[jt119]

i love jumping not that im eny good at it but find a little more gas off the top works for me

[mattwood]

humpy bits in paddocks are good for practice as you get used to being airborn but you dont go very high so pretty hard to fuck it up


you'd think so aye, my bent handle bars say otherwise tho :angry:

I think the best place to learn to jump is on a nice table top that isnt to steep on take off or landing. My first real jumps were over the big table top at black hill, its a good jump to practice on! Just try different things, you'll eventually find whats right for you, and like everyone says 'practice makes perfect' :2guns:

[tommorth]

mattwood what happend ?
I managed to fall off a few times jumping the table tops at ardmore even landed backwards once but havent come off YET on natural jumps . practice is definitly the key tho

[mattwood]

Im not entirely sure :laugh: The front some how washed owt up the bump and i sort of did a mid air tank slapper. It was a 5th gear pinned crash so i ended up about 30meters aways from the bump with the bike on top of me and my legs tangled round the handle bars :third: might off been able to save it if i had any whipping skills :laugh:

[flyingcr250]

mate i was getting some super air at kimmys today, theres nothing like a bit of competition to make you go that bit faster, and jump that little bit biger than you normaly would.

[mattwood]

mate i was getting some super air at kimmys today, theres nothing like a bit of competition to make you go that bit faster, and jump that little bit biger than you normaly would.


I was keen to head owt there this weekend, but my grandad had other ideas for me.. stacking hay.. for the next week.. yay :(

whats the track like now? has the new bit got some good berms and lines yet?

[flyingcr250]

I was keen to head owt there this weekend, but my grandad had other ideas for me.. stacking hay.. for the next week.. yay :(

whats the track like now? has the new bit got some good berms and lines yet?

the new part still needs work, i think it was better when it was a straight down hill. i cant seem to find a fast way through. the rest of the track is not too bad some of it is hard pack and some of it is loose, the berms are cool and they water the track before people get there. still good value i reckon.