Landing front wheel high

[clairealynn]

Been riding on & off for 8yrs & am a solid B-class female rider, but still have SO much to work on. Since day 1 I've had a problem with getting and/or keeping my weight forward on take-off, in the air, and at landing, and pretty much always land or take off back-wheel first & front wheel high. So much so that I am completely used to it and it doesn't freak me out at all, but it looks terrible & like I have no idea what I'm doing.

I know the technical things I'm supposed to do to fix this "ride in attack position, weight over tank, able to see # plates, maintain speed out of corner, accelerate & be at the right speed before takeoff so not over-accelerating in the air", etc.... but all this time I haven't been able to apply any of that and get it right.

I ride in attack position on straights, and am slowly getting the hang of it through turns, but always feel like I am being pulled backwards by gravity off jumps, and no matter what I do CAN'T pull my body forward.

So, HOW exactly do you do it? I ride a crf250 which is stock, and I am 115lb, so springs are a bit of the problem I think, but I have always had this problem, no matter the bike. I'm also only 5'3", so body position is a bit different to hang on.

Thanks!!

[SealDEC]

I think one of your main problems with feeling like your falling back is gripping with your legs. Im not much taller than you so looking over the front plate is more of a stretch for me also but with leg grip i can pretty much float the bars in my hands and not feel like im falling back. Maybe get a video of you hitting a jump? It has to be something your doing, not doing, or doing wrong. Also make sure your not accidently giving it more gas as you get to the top or anything.

Something to help you grip the bike, at hardware stores they sell grip tape, pick up some and cut it to fit your frame from your pegs up to the points wehre you cant grip anymore. Made the world of difference on my KTM and my buddies CRF250R

If you want to experiment maybe try backing off slightly (NOT all the way off) once your front tire gets just to the top of the jump, should make your front end dive a little. I dont really suggest this as its not the proper or safe way of doing it.

[temporarily_locked]

if you can get someone to stand off to the side and video you it would be much easier to give you advice. Until then its pretty much just guessing blindly what you may be doing.

break tapping is a good skill to learn, but if there are fundamental flaws in your jumping technique you are better off learning to control the bike properly then trying to cover up improper technique.

Controlling the bike in the air starts on the face of the jump. The two main things to control are body position and throttle. You sound like you understand constant throttle up the face, so i don't think that is the problem. It sounds to me like your not in attack position.

Under heavy acceleration on flat ground do you still feel like you are being pulled off the bike? Find a strait away, stand up on the bike like you are about to hit a jump (attack position) and pin it down the strait. Are you really having to use your hands to stay on the bike? ideally in attack position your should be positioned low and forward so that you really have all your weight into your pegs, and can hold loosely with your hands. What this will do is have the bike 'push' through your feet legs and rest of your body. This is much better then having to hold onto the bars and being 'pulled' by the bike.

if you got pictures of your self jumping i would bet your torso would be more upright then it should be. Its much easier to critique form in person. Start with bending your knees more, which will make your butt lower and further back, which makes your upper body have to bend down to reach the bars, which should bring your head further down, forward, and more over the bars.

hopefully this helps, this is just the most common thing i see when people are consistently nose high jumping.

[Toughie29]

I have the same problem, but only on jumps with small snappy take offs, which they all seem to be here in the uk as they cant make jumps properly. With all other jumps i can take off and land fine, So i dont want to be leaning more forward on the bike and end up going over the bars on these other jumps i am fine on.

[clairealynn]

[quote=Die_trying;10492907

Under heavy acceleration on flat ground do you still feel like you are being pulled off the bike?

-- If I'm on flat ground, pinning it in attack position, then no, I don't feel like I am being pulled by the bike & too far back. Only on take offs & in the air. Like I can't compensate for gravity pushing me back by getting my body forward.

Was at the track today & hit my chest against the crossbar a few times (so I know that part of me was forward), but still taking off & landing nose high.

[race250r]

Bike orientation in the air has a lot to do with throttle position. You do not want to blip the throttle at take off with these four strokes. Maintain the same throttle position throughout the take off and you may see a change in the way your bike behaves after take off.

Just my two cents.

Chris

[Gary Semics]

Been riding on & off for 8yrs & am a solid B-class female rider, but still have SO much to work on. Since day 1 I've had a problem with getting and/or keeping my weight forward on take-off, in the air, and at landing, and pretty much always land or take off back-wheel first & front wheel high. So much so that I am completely used to it and it doesn't freak me out at all, but it looks terrible & like I have no idea what I'm doing.

I know the technical things I'm supposed to do to fix this "ride in attack position, weight over tank, able to see # plates, maintain speed out of corner, accelerate & be at the right speed before takeoff so not over-accelerating in the air", etc.... but all this time I haven't been able to apply any of that and get it right.

I ride in attack position on straights, and am slowly getting the hang of it through turns, but always feel like I am being pulled backwards by gravity off jumps, and no matter what I do CAN'T pull my body forward.

So, HOW exactly do you do it? I ride a crf250 which is stock, and I am 115lb, so springs are a bit of the problem I think, but I have always had this problem, no matter the bike. I'm also only 5'3", so body position is a bit different to hang on.

Thanks!!

You may think you know all the proper techniques for jumping but you may be surprised that there are a few things you didn't realize. The most important part of the jump is where the bike actually leaves the ground, where you have the compression and rebound part of the jump. What gives you control at this critical part of the jump is your body movements and throttle control. Along with this body movement and throttle control is timing. The timing is so critical that the body movement and throttle control has to be an automatic reflex reaction. This is why it takes so much time and practice to learn to jump well. Key into the compressing and rebound part of the jump, move your body back a little as the rear wheel kicks up and blip the throttle a little at the same time. This will cause the front wheel to stay level or come up a little. If the front wheel is too high don’t move back as much or give it as much throttle. If you want the front end lower it’s just the opposite; don’t blip the throttle as much and don’t move back as much. When you want to accelerate after the landing it’s best to land with the throttle on. I have 2 Technique DVDs that cover Jumping and Whoops. You can see a free video preview of these and many others at: www.gsmxs.com or you can visit www.mxraceschool.com for complete DVD downloads.

[clairealynn]

You may think you know all the proper techniques for jumping but you may be surprised that there are a few things you didn't realize. The most important part of the jump is where the bike actually leaves the ground, where you have the compression and rebound part of the jump. What gives you control at this critical part of the jump is your body movements and throttle control. Along with this body movement and throttle control is timing. The timing is so critical that the body movement and throttle control has to be an automatic reflex reaction. This is why it takes so much time and practice to learn to jump well. Key into the compressing and rebound part of the jump, move your body back a little as the rear wheel kicks up and blip the throttle a little at the same time. This will cause the front wheel to stay level or come up a little. If the front wheel is too high don’t move back as much or give it as much throttle. If you want the front end lower it’s just the opposite; don’t blip the throttle as much and don’t move back as much. When you want to accelerate after the landing it’s best to land with the throttle on. I have 2 Technique DVDs that cover Jumping and Whoops. You can see a free video preview of these and many others at: www.gsmxs.com or you can visit www.mxraceschool.com for complete DVD downloads.

thx! I think I need to slow down and pay attention to the bike more in order to get the technique down!!

[robsgt]

Have you checked your race sag? Too little can have an effect on jumping front wheel high.

[ray_ray]

There are plenty of good ideas given here and I'd like to add a couple also ... I'm probably the least here qualified as I have only been jumping ~2 yrs but am slowly having success...

When I started, I realized a bike will go over a jump just about 100% correct all by its self .... Next, add myself to the bike and if I don't screw it up, the bike will fly just about 100% correct....

At take-off time which is most critical, I did nothing really, just let it happen... worked OK but some force threw me back towards the very end of the bike ...

So then I started with all the body movements explained here and it helped greatly but not 100% as I got faster and faster ...

I started imagining the ski-jumpers guys on the snow ...They must move their weight forward over the skis at takeoff time ... Be sure you are not just frozen in the attack position at lift-off and you are actually moving weight forward on the bike slightly at take-off time... don't fall over the front fender though ... use the throttle as always ... For what ever reason, it seems you must make a concentrated effort to fly with the bike at take off time or the body seems to be left behind and pulled along with the bike as it flies..

Next, be sure not to pull up on the bars before landing ... Just let it happen... REV the throttle maybe to pick the tire up a little in mid air ...

There is also the chance the front suspension is kicking the bike up over the lip but try all the body movements first ... You are not bouncing on the pegs on the face of the jump, correct?

PS -- I'm lucky enough to have access to tracks alone or just a few riders ... I'll go through sections of a track over and over slowly just to get all the movement correct ... Sort of like the boxer guys doing movements slowly to implement the punches in their muscle memory ... Then I add speed to the section

[cantwait]

One thing I see alot of at track when a rider is jumping front end high is that they straighten their legs once in the air, effectively pushing the back of the bike down and resulting in a boner air. This may seem simple, but I figured I would throw in something a little less complicated than what some of the others have suggested. All good advice though!

[clairealynn]

Have you checked your race sag? Too little can have an effect on jumping front wheel high.

Last time I set sag I was 150lbs, now am 115lbs w/ same sag -- could that be a big part of the problem?

Also am riding a 2010 crf250 w/ stock suspension (set for 150ish-lbs I think) - is that messing me up?

If so, can I compensate for that w/ rebound/compression settings?

[Gary Semics]

Last time I set sag I was 150lbs, now am 115lbs w/ same sag -- could that be a big part of the problem?

Also am riding a 2010 crf250 w/ stock suspension (set for 150ish-lbs I think) - is that messing me up?

If so, can I compensate for that w/ rebound/compression settings?

No, having your rider sag too stiff would do the opposit, if anything. It will not make your front end high. It's in your technique. Your body position is too far back when you take off.