I too am glad to see so many new raptor riders not afraid to hit the mx tracks. This is good.

For everyone looking for advice, search the forums, the web and dirtwheels and ATV Sport for jumping techniques and tips. Racer425 makes valid points about jumping. First start with tabletop jumps and single jumps. Downhills, uphills, doubles and triples are not for beginners.

Machine setup is also key. The stock shocks on a raptor are not the greatest for mx riding. While the rear shock can be adjusted to serve the purpose, it still lack in damping and adjustability for those big hits and square-edged braking bumps. The stock swingarm is also a bit short and serves for a harsh landing. The front shocks are just a joke and should not be considered for serious mx riding.

Gearing and tire selection is also important on the raptors. You want to choose the best gearing to make full use of the powerband. While the raptor has a bit of lowend grunt, dropping a tooth in the front and maybe adding some in the rear will give you excellent lowend acceleration for getting out of tight corners and clearing big jumps. As for tire size, 18 or 19 inch meats are a good choice. Twenty inchers are more for trail riding and cross country style racing.

You also have to widen the raptor for mx racing. Her cornering mannerisms are not the greatest stock. As far as overall bike setup goes, don't dump a lot of money into the engine. You already have more motor in terms of cc's than most bikes out there. Do minor improvements like a pipe, jets and filter. Spend your money on suspension parts first, then do motor improvments like a bigger radiator and a cam and piston.

I run my bike solely on mx tracks and my practice track. My setup has worked well on all sizes of tracks. It has taken me three years to dial it in, but it runs great now. Check my page for setup info. Sorry, no recent pics.

 

Raptor149 How do you like your Works shocks? Do you know of a site or anything where I can learn about setup. I get confuzed don't really understand the difference about the rebound dampening, compression dampening, preload on the shocks and how each adjustment effects the quad. Thx.

 

I have always run works on my race quads and never had a problem. I blew out a Works rear shock once, but that was my fault for improper adjustments and landing wrong on an extremely large jump. My front shocks are great, I have yet to bottom them, but they're not PEP's. I didn't have the money to go with anything better, and at the time they were a good choice. Now I would opt for something better like Custom Axis, PEP, or Elka.

You can search this site for suspension setups, there have been a lot of good threads. Always visit other forums and sites and read what they have, and don't forget to pick up motocross magazines, dirtbike and quad. You can learn a lot.

Here's a quick lesson:

Preload: The amount of compression on your shock spring or springs. Preload is adjusted by turning a large nut on top of the shock that increases or decreases the amount of tension on the shock spring. More tension on the spring equals more preload. Preload is something I use to get over jumps when I don't have the speed to carry me the distance. By literally jumping on my quad, or bouncing, on the face of a jump, I compress the springs further creating more preload. As I leave the jump face, the springs release, and the force created by this release springs or bounces me up higher in the air. Preloading your quad's suspension can be done on just the front, just the back, both, or one or the other at varying times of lift off. How much preload you use and have in your quad's springs generally varies from track to track, though a good overall setup can usually be achieved.

Compression and rebound: I addressed these in one of your other posts. PM me if you want more details, but like I said just search the site and you'll find quite a bit of info.

 

Im also a newb to the raptor as I just got mine about 3 months ago. I live by a local mx track and have been riding it frequently.

As for tips I can only share what I have learned in the recent past. First, stick to the smaller and medium size tabletops. This is where you will learn the most about jumping, body position, and how to manuever your quad in the air. I noticed other guys have said the same thing, and its true. Feel free to ride the whole track but understand that you cant just go out and start doubling or landing the big jumps! Start small. At first just get comfortable hitting the jump slow and catching just a little air. Work your way up to clearing the tabletops and landing on the downhill side. As you get more comfortable with the tabletops the other jumps will come naturally.

Also, I noticed that one of the other posts mentioned that when you get scared DONT LET OFF THE THROTTLE. When you come up the face of a jump and let off the throttle due to a little fear, you wind up casing the next landing or going nose down so hard you'll rattle your teeth loose. I learned this through personal experience. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Maintain a steady speed and burp the throttle as you go up the face. This helps me stay level in the air.

The biggest thing is to experiment and find out where you feel comfortable. Sometimes you want to lean forward as you launch, sometimes you want to stay over the center of the quad as you launch, it all depends on the jump. Study the face of the jump and how it launches you in the air i.e nose up, down and so on. This will allow you to know how you need to prepare for the jump. I think that at least 70 percent of jumping is getting your body in the right position. This way your prepared for the launch, flight, and landing. Standing up, not sitting. Knees bent, to abosorb the shock of landing along with elbows bent and chest over the bars. I learned some of my technique from watching the dirtbikes. Every person feels comfortable in slightly different postions so learn what is best for you.

As for suspension, I dont know much. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] I have just recently started learning about the importance of having a good suspension. I am about 6'1" 220-230 pounds depending on breakfast! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I tightened the preload in the rear about 3/4 of a turn and run the fronts on the second to last setting. However, I have lots of problems with bottoming out my suspension.

I hope this helps some of you fellow new mx's. Thanks to all those who are helping us newbies learn to ride!

 

Wow! Thanks for bringing a 2 year old thread alive. Raptors aren't meant for track by the way, you could make it to a MX machine but to much money needed. Been there done that, don't want to ever ride my raptor on the track!

 

it took me a 4 wrecks to learn how to jump but after that im clearing like 75 doubles to 80ft triples on my bike!! all my wrecks have been in the whoop section though coming in to hard and not letting off any the fact that it was a dirt bike whoop section did play a hudge part!! first one i went end over end tha sucked bad i got back up and went another lap around and in the same spot i did the same thing then after that time i slowed down alittle and did just fine after that i got alittle cocky and went at it hard again then i came off the back!! and bent my grab bar really bad so thats about all my wrecks on the MX/supercross tracks but i love to race just hang in there and you will get used to your bike just ride it more work your way up! to the big jumps!!

 

Would it be better with the new raptor 700 (stock + elka front shocks)?.
Not for winning ;-) but for having fun, jumping.

Is the weight the real problem?

Thanks.

 

If you crash while riding, the worst thing to do is sit around. Wether i crash in the whoops, or on a jump, and im hurting, i stay on the ground only till i know i am okay. I get riding as soon as i can even if im riding sow and do whatever i crashed on, even if i dont go fast or "jump" the jump.