Seat Bounce... Dangerous?

[AS64]

I have never really tried seat bouncing because I am scared of being bucked over the bars. I am not sure when to tell which face of a jump is suitable for a seat bounce. It would be nice to seat bounce some stuff to get a little help for clearing. Any word of advice would be helpful

[chasemotox63]

I don't reccomend seat bouncing unless it is absolutely necessary. It can hurt you way before it will help you.

If you must though, start on a small table and sit on the seat while steadily rolling on the throttle as you aproach the face of the jump. Then keep your weight back and try to keep the front end from diving. You will develop a feel for this and you will just be able to tell which jumps can and cannot be seatbounced.

[bleeding pre-mix]

First time I ever tried it, it didn't go well. I didn't wreck but my back end went up a little more than I was comfortable with, it took a while for me to get use to it. I only do it with somewhat bigger jumps coming out of turns with not too much of a run.

[motomanmike26]

You need to sit back farther, not on the rear fender but a good ways back then the general sitting position.

Sometimes depending on the jump i like to be steadily rolling the throttle on and then on the face of the jump just a blip. Sort of like your hitting a freestyle kicker.

Seat bouncing is easy, nothing to be afraid of, just start small an work your way up.

I would just find a small bump or small hillside or something before a table top an try seat bouncing that first, then go to a small table top an progress from there.

Start small, grip the bike with your legs, and sit farther back.

Another thing, i think you should be comfortable with brake tapping and i think you should have it master to know when to brake tap before you try an master seat bouncing. Most of the times i seat bounce jumps i brake tap as well. Just a thought though.

[AS64]

thank-you guys for the info, brake tapping is something I need to work on a little bit, but i will take everyones advice into consideration and it all sounds great what you guys have told me. stuff that I can try before I go big. Thanks all

[Steel Panther]

If you are worried about getting bucked over the bars I wouldnt recommend sitting back on the seat. You should get comfy on a small table and sit as far forwards as possible with a steady throttle just to get a feel for what the bike is going to do and how you can react to it in the air. Sitting forwards won't compress the rear suspension as much thus lowering the chance of endoing the first few times you try it when you don;t know what the bike is going to do. Then you can start sitting further back and rolling on the throttle and get some pop off the lip.

[chris856]

i perfected this messing around on our xr100 cause you had to seat bounce everything to clear, but just be smooth on the gas and sit more to the rear like everyone been saying, just make sure you DONT chop the throttle on the face of the jump cause that is what makes people go over, my buddy dislocated his shoulder from doing that. just take it slow try jumping normal and get a feel for your back brake first. then go on to a jump that your really confident on and try it.

[Kx450fguy]

its just like when your first starting to get air. do you hit a 50 footer the first time? no, or at least i hope not. so when you seat bounce start small. its not dangerous at all. i preload or seat bounce every jump and it helps and also gets you WAY farther. i couldnt believe the difference the first time i preloaded. i definitely recomend learning to do a standing preload before you seat bounce, easier to control. also if you know someone with a smaller bike, i would use that to learn, it will be alot easier, and then move up to a big bike

oh and by the way, my ass is on my rear fender when i jump and land, thats not dangerous once you progressively move back farther. some people are too cautios. take it easy at first and then keep doing whatever you are comfortable with

[vlad7890]

Becoming any good at seat bouncing actually takes a good deal of timing, coordination and bike control. That's why it has the reputation for being dangerous. And because of big consequences when something goes wrong, I guess.

It's really important to have good throttle and clutch control. This (controlled acceleration) along with your weight distribution gives the bike the needed pop over the takeoff.

Your weight is not all on the seat but some of it is on the footpegs to control the bike during the approach (more so when it's choppy or rutty), and all of your weight is transferred to the footpegs during takeoff. At the same time you also quickly pull on the bars towards your shoulders. This transfers even more of the weight to the rear of the bike for more shock compression, lifts the front wheel and puts you in a good position to control the bike in flight.

Once you're airborne you look at where you want to land, roll off the throttle and start moving your weight forward towards the bars. Since you're standing on the footpegs and your weight has been moving forward from the takeoff this should be easy and effortless. You just control the body motion that has already begun. Get your weight as far forward as you need to bring the front wheel to touch down on your targeted landing spot. If you really needed to gas it to get over the jump you will also need to brake tap at this time to help bring the nose down.

Right before touching down start getting on the gas again and you will shoot out of there like a rocket. Start small and don't be surprised if it takes a few months, a year or two to feel like you got it covered. To be safe you need to develop your muscle memory to be able to automatically deal with the unexpected, e.g. hitting a bump on the face of the jump you didn't see which puts you off balance or gets your bike into a swap right before takeoff.

[Gary Semics]

I have never really tried seat bouncing because I am scared of being bucked over the bars. I am not sure when to tell which face of a jump is suitable for a seat bounce. It would be nice to seat bounce some stuff to get a little help for clearing. Any word of advice would be helpful

Seat bouncing is a good technique to use when you’re approach into a jump is short and you need more height and/or distance and/or don’t have enough time to stand up for the jump. Since you’re sitting on the seat your body weight is going to go straight into the bike and therefore compress the rear suspension more, causing it to rebound harder and give you more lift (airtime) out of the jump. If you were standing your legs could absorb some of the compression and rebound, keeping you lower. When seat bouncing clutch and throttle control are very important and usually pulling back on the bars at the right time is also important for these two things are what control whether your front end is high or low. You see, you have to deliver the power to the rear wheel just right with the clutch and throttle as that rear wheel compresses into the jump and rebounds out of the jump. This is an advanced technique and even then can only be used on short approaches where you’re accelerating all the way through the compression part of the jump. The jump face also has to be smooth with no kickers in it.

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[CSMiller]

In my opinion, seat bouncing is more of a Supercross technique, usually the big outdoor tracks have so much space you don't really need to seat bounce. If you have to seat bounce just make sure to stay on the gas and be committed to it all the way through.

[311Thumper]

In my opinion, seat bouncing is more of a Supercross technique, usually the big outdoor tracks have so much space you don't really need to seat bounce. If you have to seat bounce just make sure to stay on the gas and be committed to it all the way through.

I understand where you're comming from but not all mx tracks are wide open.

I know I seat bounce quit often on an mx track. Even today on my 250f at a buddies track I was forced to seat hop two doubles out of corners. It might be mostly because his track was built with 450's in mind but seat hopping jumps is a very valuble skill to possess on an mx track. Especially when dealing with softer corners or flat corners also.?

[Honda Thumper]

Yeah, the track I ride most was designed by a 450 rider, and almost everybody who rides out there rides a 450. There is 1 table that I have to go way to the outside, rail the berm perfect, and still seatbounce to clear, but it's fun!

[WRF Woods Weapon]

If not approached properly you can be in for some back trouble.

[BWay142]

just get comfortable. make sure ur suspension is set up before you try something like this cuz if u have too much rebound the rear end will just kick up. but most people think u have to seat bounce to clear a jump when all you need is more speed. momentum is the key. hitting the jump faster is better that seat bouncing cuz it allows you to stay closer to the ground. seat bouncing will keep you up longer.