Getting air?

Originally Posted by stuartyboy

Just saw this nutty. Been discussing this at work with one of the moto xers. Says whatever you do do NOT grip the tank with your knees as you run the risk of being thrown off the bike if you land hard.

You said you're not in the air long enough - what sort of speeds give you lift off? How high are you in the air?

well you are no where near as high as those guys. i am just warning you, if you dont grip the tank with your knees you will speak in a high voice. Wheels are only inches off the ground. i have managed to get both wheels off the ground only a couple of times doing about 55mph. other times only front wheel goes light. its not like you are flying thru t he air or anything. wish i hadnt said anything now, was just a friendly jokey warning. others do that road and dont lift off. saying that my ex managed to get both wheels off ground on the same road - he was riding a black bird - big heavy beast.

Originally Posted by nutty tart

wish i hadnt said anything now, was just a friendly jokey warning.

I'm glad you did say something. Much better to be prepared or at keast know what to expect.

So you'se yins are only bunny hopping then :P

If that's the case then I must've done that already. There's a long straight between Kinross and Kelty called the fish tail. Trundling along at 60 mate in front, sees him "bunny hopping", next thing I felt a bit "light" for an instant. Was over so quick I didn't know what happened.

Originally Posted by stuartyboy

I'm glad you did say something. Much better to be prepared or at keast know what to expect.

So you'se yins are only bunny hopping then :P

If that's the case then I must've done that already. There's a long straight between Kinross and Kelty called the fish tail. Trundling along at 60 mate in front, sees him "bunny hopping", next thing I felt a bit "light" for an instant. Was over so quick I didn't know what happened.

yeah, didnt realise it had specific terminology lol. its not bad or scary but fun. but grip with your knees

My 2p worth , I think Nutty is trying to say that you are liable to be caught out by the skips/hops and to protect your nuts grip the tank The other alternative is adopt the dirt bike stance for the whole length of road if you want to hash on but I bet if you do its just when you have sat back in the saddle one catches you unawares


= Squeaky voice syndrome

Originally Posted by Dr Rich

Can you ask him about body position, back or central and throttle please

He says jumping on a road bike is completely different to a dirt bike. He hasn't road biked for years but he would avoid any kind of road jumps like the plague. He's not entirely sure about throttle advice because the traction differences between road and off road are extremely different on landing.

For example when you land a road bike the grip is instantaneous on the rear tyre (unless its a wet road). Off road - the rear wheel just chews up the loose dirt and has much less traction so there's much more tolerance with throttle.

He says one thing you dont want on a road bike is any kind of height in a jump. Damping/travel just weren't meant for it. If you're caught unaware then its best to relax and let your body absorb some of the bikes upward motion as this will keep the bike low.

I know what he's talking about here - exactly the same in mountain biking. We let the bike come up into us. As the bike leaves the ramp then I'm standing off the seat a bit. When the bike gets airborne, I bend my knees and crouch at the same time allowing the bike to ease into my body so effectivley I keep it low and fast and much smoother.

He said to disregard the thing about gripping with the knees. He thought I was talking about dirt bikes . Keeping your knees gripping the tank is ok but think about how someone rides a horse. **** in the air knees gripping the hoss.

Suppose this is why I asked the question in the first place and its uncovered a few more. Two different riding positions thrown in the mix now - such as SVS and SVnaked.

Can anyone shed some light on what to do with the throttle issue and the body positioning between sports position and standard?

Try not to be accelerating or engine braking, especially if the bump is on a corner. Cruising over on a higher gear than normal is handy for this.

your m8 is prob right ,BUT if you dont grip the tank with your knees so that your rising with the bike i guarantee sore privates will happen even on a little bit of 'air '(i.e not really airborne just no load on suspension at all)will b sore if u dont grip the tank as nutty says .tell you what ,do it and dont grip the tank and we'll see whos right ,your m8 or nutty(if u can still talk )

Technique for jumping over bumps and crests?

That kind of implies that your going to do it on purpose! Its an SV not a KX250!

Doing it on purpose only happens the second time you go over them! The first time is always a surprise. Even on the second go my only technique is to grin like an idiot and accelerate towards the crest instead of slowing down. You will get more than just a wee bunny hop if the speed is high enough!

If you want all the theory (read: ******** 'cos there isn't time to put it into practice) then read on. If you've got a life or want to go to bed, ignore this blub and move onto the next reply.




It is different to a push bike, where you don't need to control the back wheel. You stop pedalling whilst in the air and the back wheel freewheels back to the correct speed on landing. On a motorbike your back wheel can be braking (engine compression) or spinning too fast depending on what you are doing with the throttle. You need to back off the throttle a bit to find a happy medium. Keep the throttle open and the engine will rev, spinning the wheel too fast as there is suddenly no load to counteract it. Land with the back wheel spinning much faster than the road surface passing underneath it, with power still going through it, and your back tyre will dig in and the bike will try to make up the bit of speed it's just lost, instantly! You'll feel the bike kick forwards against the your inertia and possibly induce a fishtailing back end, just like a powerful rear wheel drive car.

Close it completely and you just get an annoying sudden slow down effect on landing which throws your weight forward, as the engine is suddenly forced to spin faster and inertia in pistons/crank and compression give resistance. You can dip the clutch, and freewheel the landing like a push bike, but you'll not be fully in control on landing and you'll still need to match the revs before you can let clutch out smoothly, so you might as well do it right in the first place.

Originally Posted by nutty tart

he was riding a black bird - big heavy beast.

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

Managed to get some air by accident on the way back from the last ride out, on a back road a few miles from home... Forgot about a bit of the road that my car bottoms out on! The bike hit the rev limiter before i knew what was happening it was over and done with before i had a chance to think about it... Still got a bit of a fright tho