Getting air?

Originally Posted by gavhogg

I'm trying hard not to say something to that comment Nutty

not like you to hold your tongue gav lol

I'm with nutty on the tank grabing technique, upto a point though. On the road you tend not to find big air jumps like you will see in motox. I have found that when you go over a crest and get a fraction of a second of air, it's better to grip the tank because it keeps my body held to the bike, and when it lands, there is no gap between me and the seat, thus the suspension takes the impact. When i haven't gripped the tank i find the bike heads back down a lot quicker than i do, What with me being a skinny runt and not as heavy as the bike. A gap opens up the bike hits the ground and then i hit the bike, which isnt comfortable and my head comes down almost hitting the yoke/tank.

Now if i was into bigger air and had more time to balance myself and deliberately standing up on the pegs, i think would be better, using my legs to compliment the suspension. However any opertunity on the road to jump this high, is going to have a very hard landing and i dont care how good you are, your SV, your legs and your unmentionables are going to suffer. Even on hump back bridges the landing will be on level ground, unlike motox where jumpers judge their speed to to come down on the downward slope, and with a about a foot of suspension travel.

Incedently i've never seen any pictures of a road racer standing up when going over a hump back bridge.

Aviating motorsickles, used to be a speciality, I would seek out certain roads in Angus. I reccomend the humpback bridge at Alyth golf course ( may be gone now , that was 20 years ago), and a very good double as you go past old Kirkbuddo school. Watch out for the bend after the 2nd jump heading east though!

Certain bikes are better than others.
Natch, good suspension damping is a must.

My technique, know the jump, dont go big first time, gravel and subtle changes of line will ruin your day.
On take off push down on the pegs taking your weight on your feet , your **** does need to be just off the saddle , this will really smooth the landing.
Throttle must be closed a tad as the rear wheel comes up to prevent over rev..
Body position neutral, ideally the back should touch down just before the front, I cant wheely since all my insticnts are to keep the front down. Let your legs act as suspension on contact with the road to help settle the bike.
This was all learned on old brit stuff with relatively crude suspension so the SV will fly well, my favourite tool was the aptly named Ariel arrow which always flew true.

The scariest lump Ive come across is on the road from Latheron to Thurso , at the end of a particularly large straight there is a serious hump back bridge, rumour has it that a GSXR pilot was shovelled up after hitting this at 140, I hit it at the ton last week and got quite a surprise ( Shat myself), its very bumpy on the landing side, and drops off fast from the peak.
Must try the DP sometime, not a road that I know , thanks for the tip.
Cheers
Pod

hiya pod long time no see

well i have finally got that raptor that i went on about, about 3 years ago

swapped it with my bf for the SV

love it

Ho Nutty et al.
took a ride last night to review my aviating tips.
Yep you do want to grip the tank with your knees like Nutty said, just squeeze the tank and push down with your feet to take weight of yir bahookie.

Nice one with the Rap Nutty.

Get in touch with Baines racing and spend £120 on the rear suspension dog bone link. That was the best money I spent on mine , it really pins the front end down and stops headshake when accelerating out of bumpy bends.
Its a snip to fit as long as you prop up the rear end with a block ( I tied mine up to the roof beam in a shed but that was a faff).Gives a shout the next time your headin up Oban way.
i also spent around £400 getting maxton to revalve the forks , much smoother ride but the rear link made the most difference.
I agree about the O2Os , just fitted a pair, love them.
While you guys were runnin around Argyll on the 3rd I headed North tae thurso then west and down Scourie and Kinlochbervie, whit a road , keep it to yirsels though. My mates organised this a while back or I would have linked up wi you SV lot.

My rap 650 is goin strong at 30K plus miles but the paint on the ally footrest hangers is fallin off, it would be worth pullin them off and waxing the hard to get to stuff before the salt gets in, mine look really scabby now, as does the bottom yoke.
Comin apart this winter for a tart up.
Cheers
Pod