Hey, lets hear about this topic, we loved the cornering. I hate doubles because I can't judge distance vs speed well enough to be confident and the last 45ft double I tried cost me a foot/ankle/knee injury and a bent swingarm bolt, bent axle, broken airbox and broken taillight. Yep, smacked all four into the face of the landing ramp (3 ft short)and the Works shocks didn't save me this time, but then of course, what would have?

 

I ussaully only try the bigger doubles when I am practicing.Not on race day though when I just go to the track to mess around.when I am racing I only do the doubles I know I can do.Like maybe 50 ft being the biggest.If I am not confident I don't try it.that is a good way to get hurt!


moded out 86 trx250r
97 300ex
90 blaster

 

To me, the mental side of jumping is the hardest part. My quad is definately capable of big doubles, triples, etc. But i dont have the confidence in myself to try it. The biggest thing i have done is about a 50 ft. table top. I know its not much, but its good enough. I jump 30-35 foot doubles easily, and am fully confident. This next race year, i am gonna go ***** out and try not to think as much. I wanna jump bigger, but i have to prepare myself. I really like this topic, as well as the cornering topic.

 

I am glad someone has posted this!!! I am i wuss when it comes to BIG doubles! I can do huge table tops and step ups all day long. But once you take out the middle...I'm suckered!!! There have even been ppl willing to PAY me to do them...And I still can't!! Don't get me wrong....I can do all up to about 40 ft or alittle more. and I can do rhythm sections out the wazoo...just not BIG doubles!!

 

To me jumping is all about practise, but here are some basic tips I've picked up; start with small jumps at low speeds-most cases,a neutral body position works best, stand on take-off, in air, and landing-adjust your body accordingly in the air to control the quad-use your knees and elbows to absorb the landing-land with the gas on (rigid suspension absorbs landings better)-land on downslopes-do not land with brakes on unless absolutely neccesary-rev the motor to avoid stalling in the air if your taking extended flights-use the brake and throttle to help adjust nose altitude-land with front tires 6-8 inches higher than rear tires-beware of cutting the throttle on 4-strokes when jumping (just like hitting the brakes in the air)
When learning to jump try everything; front and rear wheel landings (at slow speeds)different body positions, more or less throttle, pre-loading, etc, etc,, then when your comfortabe increase your speeds and size of jumps,,you should only start jumping big when you have a good idea how your quad will react to all the different types of jump faces,landings, terrain, and type of dirt,,,and most important look before you leap!

 

Hey sexymxlady! THere is a arenacross race in Waco Friday and Saturday. I am going to the Saturday event because wife works on Fridays. Tell all the quad racers over there to come. It should be a lot of fun. You can see the flyers at my web page for info. And on the plus side we dont have to pay twice. We only have to pay to race. We dont have to pay to enter the arena. But our wifes,and friends and stuff have to pay 15$ to get in. Hope to see some of you there!

 

My mental problem is height. When I get in front of a jump that seems vertical...I say "whoooooo, let's calm down!!!". For the doubles, I HATE the smaller ones, the ones that you can hardly practice the take off without already landing in the upgoing part. Tabletops are piece of cake..but small (and giant, of course) doubles are pretty scary. There's also the exterior factor. When I ride "alone" I hardly ever try big things, when we're a bunch, I just go for it. It has always truned well for now. All this was for MX bikes. I'm waiting for the snow to go away, then I'll go to a place with nice double, curious to go for some real jumping with the shee.

 

Id like to get into racing, the way I look at it.. when they take the pictures of you they take them while you are in the air, they dont take pictures of the landing he,he,he..

 

Walk the jumps... Look them over thoroughly.. Visualize you and your quad hitting them & the speed that will be required to do it.

Personally after doing this at a new track, I will make several laps at a very low speed, looking things over, feeling the faces, examining landings from the top of the jump, etc. Then I'll start hitting the smaller ones for warm up.

One of the biggest things is being very familiar with your machine, it's power, it's suspension, it's gearing. If you change something, make sure to make several practice laps feeling out your changes before doing something stupid.

On the bigger jumps, especially the ones where you can't see the landing until in the air, I like to pick out one and figure it out before moving to the next. I'll run up on the face at a speed that feels right, then just before the moment of no return I'll slow to almost a stop, look at the landing and judge what speed is going to be required to clear it. I may do this several times before I feel comfortable airing it out.

After figuring out the jumps then I will start hitting all of the ones on the track in sequence and finding my rhythm...

The more you do, the more familiar you will become and the better you will be able to judge. Before long you will be able to tell people what gear you will be in, what RPM range, and where you will land just by looking at a jump.

It's really funny when I go to a new track, people see me go out and ride and assume I am a newbie slow guy at first, because I'll ride many slow practice laps, look things over, and watch others. Then I'll start stepping things up a bit and start nailing the big stuff, pull off the track and nail it again, practicing and making sure it's right. Then when returning to the pits guys will come over and say the funniest things....

Practicing the big air at the sand dunes helps to take away some of the fear and familiarize you with the flight characteristics of your machine.

I have been mostly racing cross country lately and am going thru big-air withdrawls. Hope this weather straightens up soon, I need to get out to the MX track....

 

I am just learning to hit doubles (15-20ft) and I think it is scary.I've been riding for years but have only been to the track 3 times,I have been watching the other riders and I am going to try the rythem which will be double, double, double, single.They are very steep but not tall (3ft).I think it is going to be a very strong lesson for me when it's over. I need to keep my front end up incase I come up short but need to keep it down for the landing.Well whatever happens I will learn from it.I will let you know how it turns out.Later