'kicker' jumps

[kingjason]

some of the guys that ride there were trying to convince me that *prep* is normally better there.

I had my doubts considering we were basically parked in a fucking junkyard and they said that is the ONLY place to park. Even when it's busy , ppl just park in the middle. I was like WTF? the middle ? what fucking middle?

The last few years they have really been working on the track. It use to have kick ups on all the jumps. They usually occur becuase of people blasting the throttle off the top removing a little bit of dirt every time. If it is not tended to it becomes a problem. If you are tlaking about the big table top on the front stretch it was better over the last years then I have seen it in a while. I have not been out there in a month or so and a lot can change in that amount of time. If it is on the doubles in the middle then I would say just pick a new line. I go around them or gentle plop thru them when I ride. I air it out on the tables in the back and the one on the front. Thats why I was asking which jump it was. They added some mounds in the middle causing that section to become pretty technical, but before you could just hammer thru it. They also made the steps over the big hill bigger so you could clear the top better but you either make it or you go a little slower now. Its not a great track but it is really close and fun to screw around on. Now the other shit going on in the back drop out there who only knows. lol

I have been riding out there a longgggg time and only came off my bike once screwing around on a corner and just walked off of it. Well that and doing donuts on my four wheeler and it catching and laying on its side. When the track is showing wear I just pick another line or go slower as I dont heal near as well as I did as a kid. You can get seriously injured any where at anytime on a dirtbike. Hell Nicks track was pretty well set up but is really technical on the south side and you could break your neck there at any time. My scariest moment at Shady was when there was a step in the big table and I was going just left or right of it. My ass went just right a little much and ended up landing on the east face. LOL I made it but said screw that and backed off a little.

[futant]

the one he went down on was what i would call the first jump
after the fast section (after the big table top + little jump)
so go through fast section (wide right, wide left , wide right)
that first jump back in the far corner

that one was kicking the most obvious. Of course I m a puss, so when I find a nasty one like that i barely even get any air of it and i just focus on the others.
only getting a few feet on air on it set me on the front tire at least three times that day .

[kingjason]

the one he went down on was what i would call the first jump
after the fast section (after the big table top + little jump)
so go through fast section (wide right, wide left , wide right)
that first jump back in the far corner

that one was kicking the most obvious. Of course I m a puss, so when I find a nasty one like that i barely even get any air of it and i just focus on the others.
only getting a few feet on air on it set me on the front tire at least three times that day .

Ahhhhh yeah them two tabletops have been that way for a while. I wouldnt really call that a kick up as much as I would just say they have a lip at the top. Just add a hair of throttle at the top as you are coming off and you will not have a problem. They did not have it the first few years out there but then added the little lip the last few years. If you let off at all or even maintain throttle they will throw the but up on your bike. Them are two of my favorites but you have to get use to them. Try doing them on a KFX700. LOL You have to lay on the gas pretty good to keep the nose up.

[futant]

hmmm maybe a bit of a description of the difference between a kicker and a lip would help me here...

so on a lip - which I agree makes you feel like your butt/back of the bike pops up higher
would I gas harder right at the very end of the face of the jump , like the last split second ? thinking right about when front tire is going come off....

[Txstang1]

I havent rode out there in 10-11 years, I really liked it though until I got hurt and took an ambulance ride.

Then later after I sold my bike and kinda quit riding, I went out the with Demon (board member) and his new KX.

We unloaded, he took off for his first lap and never came out of the back section. Long story short, he wadded it up on the double in the back coming out of the right hand turn (same stretch where the whoops are). He snapped his tibia right at the base of his knee, it was fucking nasty. I almost barfed getting him into the bed of the truck. form the knee down, it was just flopping around.

One of the other riders called 911 , but this BAD MOTHERFUCKER would not take the ambulance ride because he didnt want to pay the money it would have cost him. He rode all the way to parkland in the bed of the truck with the bottom part of his leg hanging by skin and muscle and a buddy holding his leg propped up on his helmet !!!

So yea, that was my first time back out since my crash, and then with what happened to Demon, I was done riding dirt and a few years later got a CBR. But I bought an 08 crf250r a couple weeks ago. Went out to Muenster last Monday, and then we went to The Pit in Terrell yesterday and I am loving it. I dont know if I will go back out to Shady grove , but you never know. I just assumed that 10 years later that place would be all run down and not worth a shit, but it sounds like they have been keeping it up somewhat.

[lowthreeohz]

Futant i learned to go up the face of the jump at about 80% of your intended speed, and give that last little 20% blip as you go up to the lip.

[kingjason]

Kick up means the front is wore out at the top so there is a divit right before the top which makes it very unstable jumping. Them two table tops kinda arch a little and have about a 6 inch mound at the top above the flat area to help with lift off. Just keep the gear kinda high and when you reach the top add a little.80/20 not a bad rate.. If you keep the gear one higher then when your were accelerating it will keep it from jerking the wheel up.

[AnotherRedHead]

Kickers happen because riders are going too fast or too slow. Slow riders love to haul ass to the face and then chop the throttle, causing a braking bump to form on the top of the jump face. Kickers also happen because riders are going really fast and are braking up jump faces when you simply cant "scrub" enough speed off. Fast riders can either go real fast and scrub before they get to the kicker or just take a different line or whatever. Some jumps are just soft and develope kickers no matter what, you just gotta be on the gas over those sections esp when your rear of the machine is crossing the area. You know what happens when you hit a bump of that size on flat ground, well the same thing happens at an upward angle, along with gravity and a host of other factors.



I endoed at River Valley a month before I broke my navicular. I was hauling this one jump that was steep and everyone was slowing for the "kick" and I was turning the bike down so hard I was passing loads of people on that one jump all day long. I had been taking the left side of the face bc the outside line I was railing in the downhill before took me over there since the corner before was all sand I could hold waaaay more speed around the outside. A lapper got in my way in the sand section so I hit the step down to the right, race to the right side of the jump I had been killing all day and throw it hard to the right, I can hear about 3 seconds of yami 450s super fast rev limiter and then crunching plastic lol. It kicked me so fast I didnt have time to panic. I tried to jump over the bars when I realized it wasnt gonna be a front wheel pogo dance save and my boots caught the bar and the bike just body slammed me. Broke some ribs, punctured my lung, broke and arai helmet(no concussion btw), and I was riding a week later. Fall down going 2 mph on my wrist and Im still sitting here jacking off with my left hand. I want to fucking ride.

[AnotherRedHead]

80/20 idea is good for getting people thinking about what we are talking about. But it just varies from jump to jump. Learning to throw whips teaches you everything you need to know about jump physics and how fast/slow/sitting down/standing up...etc etc etc. I can hit a jump fast 3rd gear standing up, soak up a bit of the kick with body language and land just where Im supposed to. I can hit the same jump 2nd gear super slow sitting down giving it the gas at the last second up the jump face. Option A is the fast line, option B will get you more air and is obviously slower.

More food for thought, its IMPOSSIBLE to "consciously" think about these things when riding. Imagine 30 more bikes around you screaming and you have to make these life altering decisions amongst all that chaos. I say IMPOSSIBLE bc it will all come to you guys. It wont be something where you go " oh kicker, pull clutch, hit gas, throw crip sign", it will be an automatic reaction and as soon as the bike starts to do something your body will correct it. Learning the techniques on paper sound so easy, but put it to reality and its a whole new ball game. I used to be Frankenstein when I got in the air until I landed. I had to tell myself pull the clutch and hit the back brake on nearly every jump even when I didnt need to. Eventually, it just comes. And as much as it will "come" as per my story above we are humans, shit is gonna happen.