tips, i need them

[mulisha_mike]

well i raced for my first time this weekend,and didnt do to horrible but not to great either. well i was wondering if you guys had some tips for the three parts i was slow at, i could out jump most every one in the my class. but i got killed in the rutted out corners, breaking bumps, and the whoops.
any tips would help
thanks

[DirtCowboy]

Well theres alot tips that people could give ya for all three of the those areas but rutted corners can be a ***** keep an eye on how deep that they get if theyre not deep you can rail them really well and it will help to slingshot you through the corner be careful not to fall out of the rut and make sure not to catch a peg when they get deeper.
Braking bumps can be a whore stay over the back of the bike so it doesnt throw you over the hangers and make sure not to shit yourself and yank on the front brake just squeeze em.
The whoops are very dependent on there spacing and their heigth some you can rythm thru and go 2 or even 3 in a hop but dont mess up you rythm or you ll be eating it. The other way thru the whoops is to stay fairly close to the back of the bike so you dont drop the nose in and you skim the tops of the whoops i know its a bit hard at first but the best way to thru them skiming is to have it pinned watch the front wheel so you drop the nose or you gonna endo it watch out for ruts in the whoop face so you dont get spat sideways other than that just hold on and hit em hard but if you not jumping thru them try not to jump in at the start as it will likely blow your rythm
So see how you go man practice hard

[twothreesix]

for the rutted burms. Try to come into the corner with out your clutch in. Then get in the rut as soon as you can. Lean into the corner with ur leg stuck right out in front, And boot it! you should be able to stay in the rut an you will fly around the corner. If ur on a 2 stroke u might wanna ride the cluth a lil bit to get more power coming out of it. Im no expert tho so if im rong, correct me.

[stavross]

in ruts. dont look at them, look past them, and hold the bike firm with your knees

[yamaha_54]

when ur coming into a rut corner come in slow and power out fast but u ned 2 be smooth. when ur 1st coming into the rut come in straight or drop in from the outside, dont slid in to the rut from the inside. thats wat they taught us at steven gall's riding school.

[Robbo66]

have your leg out, like what everyone has said, but flow through it, and look past the rut. always look ahead, and look they way you want to go. dont just drop the clutch and give it to it, flow out of the corner.

[mezza_fmx]

i need help on my starts

[mulisha_mike]

yea i could use some help on my starts too

[Shifty]

I'm by no means a racer, but I think the trick to starts is to get your head focused over the front guard and onto the start gate with your elbows pointing past 90 degrees upwards. Then hold the clutch in so far as it's only just grabbing, but still far enough in so the engine is dis-engaged.

When the gate drops don't put your feet back up on the pegs straight away, wait until halfway to the first corner to do that.
And if you want a tip to improve your concearntration and reflexes while starting try holding your breath a few seconds before the gate drops. Then just let it out once the gate has dropped.

As i said, i'm not a racer, but that's what I've learned from riding with mates and whatnot.

Probably robbo or someone could tell you better. Feel free to correct me.

Hope it helps.

[redbull_fmx]

Originally posted by Shifty


When the gate drops don't put your feet back up on the pegs straight away, wait until halfway to the first corner to do that.

that was some good advice shifty but you need to bring ya feet onto the pegs to change gears and gain more blance

[Robbo66]

depends how big the straight it!

coming out of the gates, you need to feather the clutch to keep the engine in that rev range that gives the most power. if the bike goes to wheelie, a dab of the clutch should drop her down with out loss of forward momentum and get back on the ground to control the bike.

the first thing is, getting your gate ready. if the ground is soft, compact it by jumping on it repeadly. if its already read compact, sweep the loose dirt off so the tyre wont spin when you exit the gate as much, and should hopefully get better traction. and if its contrete (very unlikely in OZ), again, get the loose dirt off the pad.

if there is already a rut in the gate, make sure its straight. dig or kick it out with your boot to make sure its nice and straight. if its to deep, put a little bit of dirt at the end of the rut so its smooth for when you get over the gate.

you shouldn't fill in a rut, because the sand/dirt will be to soft, and wont give enough traction.

when the 30/15 second board is up, focus on the board, have your chin over the handlebars, and sit your weight well forward.
if you can put both feet on the ground flat, then its a good idea, because it keeps you balanced. if not, have your left foot up so you can get ready to change gears.

once the 5 sec board has been displayed, hold the clutch in, and click it in gear. the reason you dont have it in gear during the 30 seconds board is because the clutch will heat up, and wont work as good when you need it to get out the gate. (i see so many people doing that, and theres no need)

once its in gear, slip the clutch a tad just to make sure it is in gear. hold the throttle steady at around 2/3rd open.

watch the gate mechanism. dont watch the top of the gate, its the last thing that moves! by the time you see the little tab move to drop the gates, your reaction time will be perfect.

what ever you do, dont dump the clutch. slip it, and let it flow out. dont back off the throttle. if it goes to wheelie, dab the clutch. if it bogs down, keep on slipping the clutch. maybe it bogged because you backed off.

mcgraths tip: Jeremy McGrath used a special technique in SX. he used his heel to change from 2nd to 3rd gear. depends on the track. sometimes you will have to change quickly, and maybe stand up for bumps or ruts.

random tips:
-keep your elbows high to aviod banging bars.
- dont let the other riders convince you when to brake and accelerate.
- stay strong on the gate. just because someone takes off to early, doesnt mean you have to.
- if you do get caught on someones bars, just out accelerate them. someone will go down, and if your on the throttle hard, then more then likely, they will go down.
- watch the first few races standing by the gates. watch how the gates go, how long between the 5 second board and the gates drop, is anyone getting stuck on a particular gate in a few races?

i wrote that a few days ago, but i accidently closed the window before i posted it up. so im bored, and re-wrote it.

thanks to paul broomfield for teaching me half of that!

[Robbo66]

by all means, im not pro, but here are some pictures of me leaving the gates..

[Robbo66]

another tip: start a bit further back so you can do a bit of creeping!

note: look how far back i am compared to the others.
(im #66) but you can only see 6 in the photo

[Robbo66]

you can see, 2 fingers on the clutch, chin over bars, and im towards the front of the bike.

[yamaha_54]

Originally posted by Robbo66
and if its contrete (very unlikely in OZ), again, get the loose dirt off the pad.


we use a concrete gate at mx

[Robbo66]

no. concrete starting pad. all gates are in concrete so they dont move.

[yamaha_54]

the concrete on our gate goes back so that both of ur wheels are on the concrete. is that a nomal?

[redbull_fmx]

Laidley Motocross track used to use a concrete starting pad.

There closed down now....

Anyway...................

Remember a holeshot can win a race, someone may be faster than you but if you can stop them from passing you then you will win.

I know that from experience some dude was way faster than me i got the holeshot and won.

[Robbo66]

yeah, sorry thats a concrete pad. are they common over there? all the pics i see of start gates over there, the pad is just dirt.

[yamaha_54]

only 1 of out tracks has the concrete pad

[KC#97]

We have quite a few concrete start pads here. Its a pain really cause I cant touch the ground, at least in dirt a nice rut forms that I can sit in.

Here is a good website that helps give you riding tips. http://yamaha-motor.com.au/hot_news/index.htm?rider_training.asp

Get yourself off to a riding school and to the track to practice as much as you can. Everytime a faster rider goes past you try to follow their lines and stay as close to them as you can that way you can copy their technique, then when they pull away choose the next rider that comes along and do the same.

[yamaha_54]

also at finke they hav a raised round pad il c if i can find a pic

[redbull_fmx]

Well robbo that was the only concrete pad ive seen the rest ive seen is just dirt

[Robbo66]

i didnt think they were to common.

[scobes]

Originally posted by Robbo66
yeah, sorry thats a concrete pad. are they common over there? all the pics i see of start gates over there, the pad is just dirt.

Well most MX tracks in WA had concrete pads, until a rule came in banning em, chidlow had to get rid of theres for the nats in 02, then for wanneroo and byford to be licenced in 03 they had to get rid of the concrete pad, and byford had just put a brand new pad down with there gates at a high expense and had to rip it up after only 3 months.

[yamaha_54]

why cant they hav them? i think concrete pads are heaps better than dirt

[Robbo66]

because we live in WA. lets just block them out of racing! who knows mate, they do so much crap here its unbelievable.

[stavross]

robbo. with my starts i suck ass big time... i can get my wheel in front of everybody for the first 1foot, but then i get roosted. ( im usually at least 5 last and thats if i did good) should i just rev my bike up more and dump the clutch? or will i loop out big time... i think it is mainly the clutch, once its out i think im competative...

mind you my shit starts have made me not affriad to do random lines in front of people in the few fisrt turns.. lol thanks

[scobes]

This is a pic of me starting, i have got alot of holeshots so far this year.

I have the bright yellow helmet, on the yamaha:D

[Lee_250f]

hey roboo i didnt no u had a thumper. i thought u were on a 125 and a 85? and u look as u r on the back wheel out the front there.

[scobes]

Originally posted by team_fmf_honda
hey roboo i didnt no u had a thumper. i thought u were on a 125 and a 85? and u look as u r on the back wheel out the front there.


No robbo doesn't have a thumper, but i do and thats a pic of me out in front;)

[Lee_250f]

oh shit. sorry scobes. i wasnt looking at the avatar to see who it was. go the 250f. u got the holeshot for that start eh.

[redbull_fmx]

A pic of me taking the holeshot at a race when i was on my 80.

Belive it or not i started on the outside and did a danny ham and cut across and got the holeshot.

[redbull_fmx]

And before people start having a ***** about there being a www.bikephotos.com.au logo on it. There is a guy who goes round and takes photos at all the events.