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My Little Practice Section, & My Poor Technique


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sounds like we are in similar situations jimmie. i've been dirt riding for years but only got into the trials a year ago. it's completely changed the way we ride our dirt bikes now, we spend most of the time in first or second gear looking for logs, ledges, drop offs or just balancing at a standstill (or attempting to....).

re: hitting that log in a precise spot, reminds me of a tough hill climb yesterday i hadn't been able to climb without dabbing then suddenly realized if i hit the 250exc's front wheel in a precise spot on the rock wall i could do a floater turn to line up for the worst part of the climb. fantastic stuff if and when it all comes together on either the dirt bike or the trials bike!

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Okay, here's some more ammo for public humiliation. We did this drill at a school our club had last year. I found the tight circle they had there a challenge on the flat, smooth lawn we did it on there, and my lumpy, bumpy, slightly bigger (actually 12 feet in diameter) is still hard for a squid like myself. But that's the whole point; it shows me where I need to spend my practice time...... It can be done in a really limited area. It can be made harder by tightening up the circle, adding junk in it that the wheels have to track over, stopping & balancing, done on a hill, or all of that, I suppose.

I guess my deal here is to show folks "what NOT to do in these vids, hee hee. Hopefully, other folks will be able to use this concept at their own practice areas......

Jimmie

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Inside arm needs to be straight,step down on inside peg to initiate the turn,keep your body over the contact patch of the tires,lean bike and let the camber of the wheels force the turn as much as possible as opposed to "steering" the front wheel which causes it to push out. Exaggerate everything until it feels like you are goon riding. Now if I could just manage to not forget all that myself when I'm riding bike not computer...

http://trialstrainingcenter.com/how-to-ride-motorcycle-trials/basic-turns/

watch the video,pay attention to rider more than bike.

Man,we have this freakin' off camber turn at our practice area I just can't even seem to get close to makin'.I think I'll watch it myself and go to my tiny backyard and practice!

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Really good advice & help, Htrdoug! Thank you, many times over. I appreciate that!

It's funny..... When I was being "recorded", I thought I had the the bike leaned over really far. As I watched that last turning video, I noticed the bike is actually pretty straight/vertical. :huh: I keep forgetting Ryan Young's "balance" example he gives in his video, about "if 100 pounds of bike are leaning one way, then you need 100 pounds of your weight counter-balancing it."....... And yeah, my arms are way outta position from where they should be. That's probably one of the (many) things that made me dab on my last little circle while turning left?

One other thing here that has always kinda puzzled me.... The rider's inside leg when turning.... I have a video called "Trials Training With the Champs", with Tommi Avahla & Mark Manniko. In that vid, when teaching the art of turning, Tommi A. pretty much has no pressure at all on the inside peg. I think Mark Manniko even mentioned that all the pressure was on the outside peg, and the inside leg was "simply along for the ride"..... He mentions having the outside foot out far enough for the end of the peg to kinda "poke" into the bottom of the boot as the bike rolls over. I'm sorry, but that feels really weird to me..... I have to have the pressure on the inside peg to initiate the turn, and pretty much hold it there throughout the turn. Is this wrong???

Jimmie

Edited by mr neutron
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Jimmie,

I do straight ahead with the bike leant over as far as possible... keep the bike straight as you can, follow a bit of rope on the ground 10 or more yards long, tensioned and staked. Harder than you think and great deposit in the "balance" bank!

It gets you really comfortable with leaning the bike... then do the slow turns.

You can eventually get the bike over so far in a straight line that the foot you lean towards slips off the peg!!!

Mags

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... Exaggerate everything until it feels like you are goon riding. Now if I could just manage to not forget all that myself when I'm riding bike not computer.....

+1 look at james, our big dude of trials riding at 55 secs into the vid below. i thought he was just stuffing around but i've seen him lean like this on nasty uphill off camber corners and it works a treat... he keeps full traction while i'm sliding back down the hill into the creek.

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It's funny..... When I was being "recorded", I thought I had the the bike leaned over really far. As I watched that last turning video, I noticed the bike is actually pretty straight/vertical. :huh:

Thats right where I'm at. I was surprised at how upright I looked in my video (great tool video isn't it!)

As Sherconoob's great advise says, I also really need to exaggerate everything.

I think your doing great by the way Jimmie, and are an inspiration to my progress :)

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  • 2 months later...

I know this thread is somewhat aged, but my question is... Are you making it over that stump yet!?

I've no experience at all but I might just have enough YouTube credits for a phd. It seems like the more advanced riders are a bit more aggressive with body english and throttle.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ahhh, the thread is somewhat aged, and the rider even more so, hee hee.... Which stump are you talking about, tahoebrian5?

I have a "plethora" of stumps on my little 2+ acre chunk 'o' dirt....... I have some that I can clear, and more than a few I can't get over.......

Jimmie

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