MX basics

[Pittenger5]

Are there any good instructional dvds or books or anything that arent going to put me to sleep to go over the basics? I just want to learn the proper body position, the right braking (front vs rear), body position for jumping and such. Or am I simply overthinking things and I just need to go out and ride.

[csmutty]

Paging mastah Duval to the courtesy booth...

[backinthesaddle]

I'd say ride. Don't push it too hard. Stay on the pegs and off the seat. Stay loose and let your body help the suspension. Don't try to hang with faster guys. There are some guys around who run clinics as well. I did see one book at B&N, can't remember the name as it didn't impress me much.

[KB]

Go big or go home.

KB

[maxim_X]

I'm going through this right now too. I just picked up a couple of used books on amazon. One "pro mx riding techniques" has great reviews and I got another one that is a collection of a magazines riding tips. I would love to hear some more.

[Paul_E_D]

Gary Semics has the most complete instruction program.

I'm no expert, but the best advice I ever got is to always ride so that the bike is PUSHING you around the track. It should never be PULLING you. This includes off jumps, through whoops, into and out of corners, hard acceleration, etc. etc. Even in sand...

As soon as you let the bike pull you, you're headed for a bad crash. It means your body position is forward, or more forward. You need to be moving. There are times to move your butt back, or your shoulders, but never both at the same time!

[Chippertheripper]

Eyes up, elbows out, weight back, throttle open, breath.

[Paul_E_D]

Yes, except weight *forward* in my experience. The faster I get, the more forward I'm standing/leaning. Shoulders over the barpad at least.

[Kurlon]

Launch with the women's gate, better view that way.

[backinthesaddle]

Weight forward, if i recall Gary Bailey coined it the attack position in the early 80's. Also elbows up, levers down a bit. Once suspension got longer and better there was less need to hang back and unweight the front. Of course there are always exceptions. If you feel the bike is beating you up in the bumps try running a gear higher.

[Pittenger5]

What about braking? Thats my big one, obviously coming from roadracing I use a lot of front brake, but this time out I tried transitioning to the back, not sure when to use which though.

[Rada]

What about braking? Thats my big one, obviously coming from roadracing I use a lot of front brake, but this time out I tried transitioning to the back, not sure when to use which though.

Not much is different. You still use mostly the front brake. The back is used more for steering although you do get a respectable amount of braking power from the rear.

As long as your body position is right you can use HUGE amounts of front brake. Grip the bike with your legs and stay light on the bars. Just like road racing.

Paul's description of body position is spot on. Gripping the bike with your legs is important.

[Tricky Mike]

Not much is different. You still use mostly the front brake.

Wat?
Braking on an MX bike is completely different from roadracing.

[Rada]

Wat?
Braking on an MX bike is completely different from roadracing.

Other than standing up while braking what is different? You use mostly front brake. You apply the brakes in a progressive manner. The main difference that I see is steering with the rear.

[typeone]

i brake completely opposite from road to dirt. essentially swapping how each end is modulated. road, front focused, trail the rear. dirt, rear focused, trail the front (unless i need the power).

another vote for Semics here. he has an enormous library of great stuff available from novice to expert. kind of an oddball sometimes but i really like his teaching techniques. super calm, very thorough.

on the off-road side, check out Dirt Wise from Shane Watts. lots of control techniques you can use anywhere, especially around throttle and brake control.

[backinthesaddle]

I always found in MX I relied on both brakes much more so than I do road riding. Now I rode/raced 2 strokes so I didn't have as much engine breaking as the 250F/450F guys do today so maybe there is less need for rear brake than before. I believe Roger DeCoster said mx starts should have a left hand first turn so riders can use both brakes into the turn, if they have to be right turns they should be a longer start straight so that the pack will be thinner by time the turn comes up. I also find off road breaking to be more aggressive as far as technique, brake hard, slam the berm, keep the revs up, and clutch out of the turn. Again 2 stroke technique.

[Kitt]

my combination:

Weight Back on the bumps and straights, weight forward in the turns.
Brake - heavy rear leaned over, add light dragging/trailing the front when needing to scrub more speed.

[Paul_E_D]

This is where dirt riders fail to have much unity IMO. I've heard everything from no front brake to little or no rear brake.

Semics proposes that you use the front brake hard while clutchless downshifting coming into a corner. (so same as roadracing for me).

Shane watts proposes practicing with the front brake until you can do stoppied in the dirt, and lock the front without falling. He also has a drill to practice using the rear brake to slide turn.

Obviously, the pros are thiniking that the fastest way is to use the front brake hard.

I practice Watts and Semics techniques. I tend to coast into corners too much still, but I'm working on it.

[union]

This is where dirt riders fail to have much unity IMO. I've heard everything from no front brake to little or no rear brake.

Semics proposes that you use the front brake hard while clutchless downshifting coming into a corner. (so same as roadracing for me).

Shane watts proposes practicing with the front brake until you can do stoppied in the dirt, and lock the front without falling. He also has a drill to practice using the rear brake to slide turn.

Obviously, the pros are thiniking that the fastest way is to use the front brake hard.

I practice Watts and Semics techniques. I tend to coast into corners too much still, but I'm working on it.

Feel like giving a MX noob some lessons at your private track area?

[Paul_E_D]

Well, I'm not really good enough to give lessons, but you're welcome to come out anytime and I always like to talk/practice technique. We had a blast when I got 6 of us out there one day. When the place dries out in the spring, I'm sure it'll happen again.

[typeone]

group practice for Stimilon '12? i'm in

[Kurlon]

group practice for Stimilon '12? i'm in

In!

[Chippertheripper]

group practice for Stimilon '12? i'm in

[danny86]

Haven't you already been riding MX ?

At your (our age) its a lot more difficult learning new techniques than say a 10 year old starting out riding. If you look at most of the instructional videos they always have kids in them being taught.

I'm not saying its worthless to try and learn proper technique. I'm just saying come race time, proper technique runs right out the window. And then some might say ( well thats the point of learning) and to that I say, reread my first paragraph.

Just ride. Have fun.

The braking, the leaning, all that stuff will come naturally tune you and you'll fine tune it yourself once you get pass the "hanging on for dear life" stage.

[Pittenger5]

Haven't you already been riding MX ?

Not in a real sense of the word. The nice thing about my local track is they have a "baby track" thats actually fun. Nice berms, and jumps and stuff, but not all out like the big track, so I have a place to go and get comfortable before hitting the big track with the guys doing whips over my head and shit. But my main point is when I started road racing I had so many bad habits I had to break, I just dont want to start bad habits fresh then break them later.