I was wondering what precautions I should take when I am jumping. I like to jump alot, but I don't want to hurt my new 2000 400ex. Also, how many feet in the air does it take to bottom out the stock suspension? (flat ground). Gabe, I visited your webpage, and saw the cool pics and the movie. Do you have stock suspension? What kind of upgrades do you have? Thanks

Ps: Nice page, car, pics, and HUGE air!!!

'00 400ex

 

4-5 feet on flat ground. A little more on a decline landing. If the timing is right, you can land 12-13footers without bottoming if you land on the downside correctly. It also depends ALOT on how your shocks are adjusted.

 

Thanks!

My suspension is stock, really the only upgrade I have on the 400 right now is aluminum bars.

Landing air without bottoming is completely dependant on your weight, form in the air, and the surface being landed upon. When landing on flat ground you will want to touch down with the rear first, if you land the front first on the flats, the rear will slap pretty violently. Also when landing, I tend to grab a lot of throttle, helps keep the rear suspension more rigid, and takes a lot of the hit away from the front.

One precaution to take when using the stock tires and doing a lot of jumping is to run about 7~8 psi in your front tires, and about 9 in the rear, this will help keep you from smashing your wheels on hard landings, although it will ride pretty rough and tend to slide a lot thru the corners.

Your weight has a big effect on things too. I generally weigh around 170~180. I have a buddy that rides about like I do, he weighs somewhere in the low 200's, he breaks a lot of stuff, you may have seen me post the list before that includes a swingarm, upper control arm, etc... I haven't broken anything yet (other than a smashed set of bars).

Height without bottoming on a flat surface, hmmm, completely flat surfaces are harsh, Hakmazter is probably about correct, but again, with the proper form and technique, possibly more. A slight decline will extend your height quite a bit, a slight incline will hurt pretty quick. We have one double that we can probably get 13 or so feet on (without overshooting the landing), if you land on the downside properly, it doesn't even feel like you got any air.

 

hey. the 400ex can land on about 7 or 8 feet flat on the ground with stock. On the 300ex you can do 6 feet flat with stock and the 400 has way better suspension

 

What are some good jump techniques?

On my Trailblazer i try to land with the back wheels first, since the front struts suck and bottom out if you land hard on them.

What is the proper way to land? and how do i get the bike in this position