This past Saturday I had my second MX practice on the Raptor. I can jump and clear the smaller doubles/table tops no problem, it's when I start to get more air is when I find my front end wants to drop, and no matter what I do, I can't pull it back up. It doesn't help the 660 weighs 3x's as much as I do, and I am not the strongest person there is (i'm not strong at all actually :). Plus by the 3rd "heat" of practice, I am so exhausted from trying to pull back over each jump that I end up flopping around all over the place on my landings.
Needless to say, it made me fearful of jumping anything bigger then what I know I can handle.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can keep the front end up? :3question:
This is the damage from the most recent nose dive. Luckly the Raptor doesn't even have as much as a scratch on it. :thumbsup:
it is hard to say with out really watching you jump but it sounds like you are letting off the trottle to soon on the jumps. also if you rev the bike up in the air so that your rear tires spin faster that will bring the back of the bike down bringing the front of the bike up.
Thanks for the replies.
I think your right, I don't stay on the throttle while in the air. I just sort of pull back and prepare for the landing... not thinking about giving it any gas.
Thanks guys.
well MX is crazy anyway, I would not feel comfortable jumping over doubbles and tripple that high in the air, so your just crazy!!
It's much safer to ride like I do in my races, 70mph through a cloud of dust and bushes while trying to pass someone hoping there is not a huge rock or ditch waiting for you in the dust ahead :crazy:
I have the same problem..Try to pay attention to your throttle timing in relation to where you are on the jump. Example: If you let off the throttle before the top and jump, most likely you will nose over on the landing. If you stay on the throttle too long, you will land on the back tires. Also, like others mentioned, you can throttle in air to pick the nose up, or use the back brake to nose down if your up too high in the front. Of course, the latter two of the methods are for big air jumps.. Good luck, seems like the timing thing is helping me out. :thumbsup:
Agreed, stay on the gas.
You may also try tipping your bars back a little, it'll move you farther back on the seat and move your center of gravity back.
If your brave you may find a SMALL jump and experiment how letting off the gas affects the front end.
I tried this and ended up riding the front wheels for about 10 feet rather unexpectedly. So you may not want to try this.
Throttle up drops rear front or rear brake drops front and it dont take much brake so be careful!! Sounds like you are letting off to early. I dunno about the little jumps for practicing throttle/brake control, no room for error. It took me a while to get back to where I could jump and keep her level, now its just a 'feeling' , I just know how fast and hard to hit the jump to be level but I dont race. I tried back when I was 18 and kept breaking bones so I quit, hurts too much!!( probably should not have jumped from an XR200 to a CR500 and then go right into MXing) :grin_nod:
Thanks everyone! I wish I had somewhere I could build jumps and practice, instead of testing this stuff out at the track.
But anyway, I appreicate the tips and next time I'll give them a try. :thumbsup:
Thanks again boys!
Teraflx said:
Ill be the first to say it, It looks like you got a great body. :thumbsup:
well MX is crazy anyway, I would not feel comfortable jumping over doubbles and tripple that high in the air, so your just crazy!!
It's much safer to ride like I do in my races, 70mph through a cloud of dust and bushes while trying to pass someone hoping there is not a huge rock or ditch waiting for you in the dust ahead :crazy:
At the beginning of the year I was going to start racing harescrambles... but it was too expensive (far away tracks + expensive gas = un-doable). So I had a couple MX opprotunties and went with those.
I'd still love to try some harescrambles though! The trails are where I am fastest. :thumbsup:
well MX is crazy anyway, I would not feel comfortable jumping over doubbles and tripple that high in the air, so your just crazy!!
It's much safer to ride like I do in my races, 70mph through a cloud of dust and bushes while trying to pass someone hoping there is not a huge rock or ditch waiting for you in the dust ahead :crazy:
At the beginning of the year I was going to start racing harescrambles... but it was too expensive (far away tracks + expensive gas = un-doable). So I had a couple MX opprotunties and went with those.
I'd still love to try some harescrambles though! The trails are where I am fastest. :thumbsup:
This past Saturday I had my second MX practice on the Raptor. I can jump and clear the smaller doubles/table tops no problem, it's when I start to get more air is when I find my front end wants to drop, and no matter what I do, I can't pull it back up. It doesn't help the 660 weighs 3x's as much as I do, and I am not the strongest person there is (i'm not strong at all actually :). Plus by the 3rd "heat" of practice, I am so exhausted from trying to pull back over each jump that I end up flopping around all over the place on my landings.
Needless to say, it made me fearful of jumping anything bigger then what I know I can handle.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can keep the front end up? :3question:
This is the damage from the most recent nose dive. Luckly the Raptor doesn't even have as much as a scratch on it. :thumbsup:
heres a vid clip of me at a track last weekend, didnt get much video so hard to work with, but gives you an idea how to do things, or at least try to help
these guys are right. throttle hard only the last 2 seconds that your wheels are on the ground before the jump. don't do it any sooner than that because the face of the jump will kick your rear tires up if you were too high on the powerband and don't have some more for the last 2 seconds. that is why a yfz is a better MX bike. sure it is lighter but the real reason it "feels" better in the air is because the punch of the YFZ is at the top at high RPMs giving you that last little punch to keep your quad level in the air. peak hp for a raptor is around 6700. don't get me wrong i love my raptor and i wouldn't change it for a YFZ but because it doesn't fit my needs. regardsless good luck and keep looking good.
oh and remember. it is alot easier and faster to bring the front end down than up so practice these "pro" tips that we have given you to an exagerated level, then start toning it down till you feel your style into it. i know the exagerated part sounds stupid but it really helps. our learns a lot faster what you really want it to do if you are exagerated. thanks for listening and i'll send you the bill later.
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). Plus by the 3rd "heat" of practice, I am so exhausted from trying to pull back over each jump that I end up flopping around all over the place on my landings.
