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Gary Semics Riding Tip Of The Month
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Foot Position - February 2010
I am really surprised how many people are interested about the technique of riding on the balls of the feet or riding on the arches. I’ll tell you right up front that being comfortable riding on the balls of the feet takes a lot of practice. But when a rider does become comfortable with this technique there are three benefits to it. #1 you have more body travel, #2 you won’t hit the shifter or rear brake by accident and #3 you won’t get your feet ripped off the foot pegs from your toe hitting the dirt. As I said, for this technique to become natural its takes a lot of the correct type of practice. So don’t throw it out the window if it feels awkward at first.
It’s kind of like down hill skiing. It’s easier to keep your feet farther apart when you are a beginner but the pros keep their skis closer together. One place motocross pros are always on the balls of their feet is through the whoops. If it can be done through the whoops it can be done anywhere on the track. The only acceptation is if you're going to land hard from a jump or even case a jump. In this case you would want to be on the arches of your feet so you don't sprain your ankles. Just make sure you have your toes pointed out a little so you don't hit the shifter or rear brake by accident. It all comes with knowing the correct techniques and a lot of quality practice time. For all the correct techniques in an affordable easy to understand format check out my Motocross Practice Manual on the DVD ordering page of my website.
For free MX Technique DVD previews, MX School Schedules and much more visit www.garysemics.com
I am really surprised how many people are interested about the technique of riding on the balls of the feet or riding on the arches. I’ll tell you right up front that being comfortable riding on the balls of the feet takes a lot of practice. But when a rider does become comfortable with this technique there are three benefits to it. #1 you have more body travel, #2 you won’t hit the shifter or rear brake by accident and #3 you won’t get your feet ripped off the foot pegs from your toe hitting the dirt. As I said, for this technique to become natural its takes a lot of the correct type of practice. So don’t throw it out the window if it feels awkward at first.
It’s kind of like down hill skiing. It’s easier to keep your feet farther apart when you are a beginner but the pros keep their skis closer together. One place motocross pros are always on the balls of their feet is through the whoops. If it can be done through the whoops it can be done anywhere on the track. The only acceptation is if you're going to land hard from a jump or even case a jump. In this case you would want to be on the arches of your feet so you don't sprain your ankles. Just make sure you have your toes pointed out a little so you don't hit the shifter or rear brake by accident. It all comes with knowing the correct techniques and a lot of quality practice time. For all the correct techniques in an affordable easy to understand format check out my Motocross Practice Manual on the DVD ordering page of my website.
For free MX Technique DVD previews, MX School Schedules and much more visit www.garysemics.com
Jumping - January 2010
The most important part of the jump is where the bike actually leaves the ground, where you have the compression and rebound part of the jump. What gives you control at this critical part of the jump is your body movements and throttle control. Along with this body movement and throttle control is timing. The timing is so critical that the body movement and throttle control has to be an automatic reflex reaction. This is why it takes so much time and practice to learn to jump well. Key into the compressing and rebound part of the jump, move your body back a little as the rear wheel kicks up and blip the throttle a little at the same time. This will cause the front wheel to stay level or come up a little. If the front wheel is too high don’t move back as much or give it as much throttle. If you want the front end lower it’s just the opposite; don’t blip the throttle as much and don’t move back as much. When you want to accelerate after the landing it’s best to land with the throttle on.
For free MX Technique DVD previews, MX School Schedules and much more visit www.garysemics.com
The most important part of the jump is where the bike actually leaves the ground, where you have the compression and rebound part of the jump. What gives you control at this critical part of the jump is your body movements and throttle control. Along with this body movement and throttle control is timing. The timing is so critical that the body movement and throttle control has to be an automatic reflex reaction. This is why it takes so much time and practice to learn to jump well. Key into the compressing and rebound part of the jump, move your body back a little as the rear wheel kicks up and blip the throttle a little at the same time. This will cause the front wheel to stay level or come up a little. If the front wheel is too high don’t move back as much or give it as much throttle. If you want the front end lower it’s just the opposite; don’t blip the throttle as much and don’t move back as much. When you want to accelerate after the landing it’s best to land with the throttle on.
For free MX Technique DVD previews, MX School Schedules and much more visit www.garysemics.com
The Art of Cornering - April 2010Cornering is an art form. To get really good at it you have to have a lot of talent, know all the techniques inside and out and then practice it frequently in many ways over a long period of time.
There’s much more to cornering than just leaning over and going through the turn. There are things like the angle of the corners, whether they’re banked or off-camber, sharp or sweeping, and the conditions of the track. Then there are the techniques of cornering between the rider and motorcycle. There are even techniques that affect the handling of the motorcycle in the corner. These techniques make the motorcycle either hold the track or brake loose and pivot, slide through the corner.
In order to do a corner fast you need to carry as much speed as possible and as long as possible into the corner, slow yourself down just enough to still have control at the exit dex, (the exit dex is where you go from braking to accelerating) and then get on the gas as soon and as hard as possible. In order to carry a lot of speed into the corners, you need to have a fast and late approach dex (the approach dex is where you go from accelerating to braking). With this in mind, we can understand that a very important part of cornering is braking. To be good at cornering, you have to be good at braking.
Of course, all through the corner, you have to maintain complete relaxed control. Tightness and mistakes will only make you tired and slow you down, if not make you crash. Remember, you can only try as hard, and go as fast, as you can do the basic techniques correctly and maintain relaxed control. So, if you’re tight or making mistakes, you will benefit by slowing down, which in turn will allow you to learn how to go faster.
In others words, it takes much more finesse than just charging into the turns at full speed and hoping you’ll be able to make it when you get in there. You have to constantly anticipate exactly what is going to happen just before it happens. You have to know the exact line that you want to be on. That line should take you to the best possible traction for the exit dex. You see, it’s very important to know exactly where your front tire is going, so you can find the best traction at the most critical part of the turn. This is where you’re going to be turning the most, at the exit dex. Again, make sure your front tire is going exactly where you want it to go. If you’re doing the techniques correctly, the back tire will also go exactly where you want it to go. For much more in-depth cornering info check out my DVD #7 (All about Cornering) on sale now at http://www.gsmxs.com/catalog/catalog_detail.asp?CID=176&CI=2915&PI=25681 . For video downloads www.mxraceschool.com for free DVD previews www.gsmxs.com
Clutch in or out while braking - May 2010The rule of the track here is to leave the clutch out while braking so the engine helps slow you down and helps control the braking process. It’s kind of like anti lock brakes. The best stopping power is just before the rear wheel locks up and that’s just what leaving the clutch out will help you with. This is done when you’re still carrying some speed into the corner. If it’s a tight corner where you’re going to be slowing down to a slow speed in the middle of the corner and/or if you’re going to do a brake slide than you have to pull the clutch in so you don’t kill the engine.
I’ve seen this technique of leaving the clutch out while braking misused and abused by a lot of beginner riders. Every time they apply the back brake they put the clutch in. They do this because they don’t have good braking control and by stabbing the rear brake on they would stall the engine. Sometimes making it stall even easier by being in too high of a gear.
It’s really the same technique for 2 strokes and 4 strokes. It’s also the same when exiting a corner with 2 or 4 strokes. The 2 stroke does depend on the clutch more than the 4 stroke but if you’re pulling a high gear out of the corner even the torquey 4 strokes can use a little help from the clutch when exiting the corner.
A good rider can make his bike drift slide into a corner real pretty like by leaving that low end lever out (the clutch). When a rider pulls the clutch in while braking at speed he’s taking a chance of locking up the rear wheel and sliding out too much, then his automatic reaction is to let up on the rear brake too. This causes the bike to straiten up and then he hits the rear brake again and so on and so on. This is especially the case on a high speed slippery approach to a corner. Learn to feather those controls or lock them up and every thing between. It takes a fine feel to go fast.
My All About Cornering DVD has all the important braking and cornering techniques. You can see free previews of all my Technique DVD and everything is 50 and 60% off right now at www.garysemics.com If you want to learn how to get the most out of your practice come to one of my 2 Day Motocross School classes this summer. Get 50.00 off and a free DVD of your choice. Register at http://www.gsmxs.com/schedule.htm
Work hard and ride smart,
Gary Semics
Holeshots - June 2010Starts are sort of like gun fighting. A gun fighter has to be quick on the draw but at the same time he has to be smooth and have a good aim in order to hit the target before the target hits him. In motocross you also have to be quick and at the same time you have to be smooth with your clutch and throttle control and your body movements. If you mess up at least you won’t get shot but you may get run over in the first corner.
There are three important aspects of the start. The single most important aspect of the start is the clutch. Excellent clutch control is the key. The other two aspects are throttle control and body movements. Let’s look at each one separately and all the detailed techniques that go with them.
Following are all the techniques that go into clutch control.
You have to hold onto the grip and control the clutch independently. This is true for when you’re riding on the track as well, but for the start clutch control is even more important then when riding on the track. Therefore you should use your three outside fingers on the clutch while you hold onto the grip with your index finger. This way your three outside fingers will allow you to have good strong clutch control while your index finger can pull your body position forward as you shoot out of the gate. It’s also okay to use your two inside fingers on the clutch and of course your other two fingers to hold onto the grip. If you didn’t use any fingers on the grip you couldn’t pull and hold yourself forward. Or if you only used one finger on the clutch you wouldn’t have good strong clutch control for a perfect start.
With your three outside fingers on the clutch pull the clutch in and select first or second gear. Then let the clutch out until it just starts to engage. Then pull it back in just the slightest bit under engagement. This is where you want to hold the clutch. This way it will begin to engage as soon as you start letting it out. With this clutch setting technique you will know that the bike is in gear and your clutch will be set and ready, not too far out and not too far in, but just right for the real thing hole shot. It’s very important to control the clutch all the way out. Don’t just start slipping it out then let it go. And don’t release the clutch in a jerky motion. When done correctly it’s just one controlled smooth release all the way out. You are pretty much holding the throttle in one position according to traction and feeding the power to the rear wheel with the clutch. You see, when you feed the power to the rear wheel with the clutch the response is instant. If you rely on the throttle the power has to go through the carburetor and the response at the rear wheel can be delayed and not as actuate, even after you are pretty far out of the gate, if the front wheel starts to raise slip the clutch a bit to bring it back down. Control the clutch all the way out at all times during the start.
There are usually ruts behind and in front of the gate. Make sure you are lined up straight in the rut. If you are a little crocked or the rear wheel is not all the way down in the center of the rut you are going to get sideways and loose a lot of time right from the get go. It helps to prepare the rut before you set your bike in there. Kick the dirt around and make it smooth and packed. Build up a little ramp at the front of the rut where it meets the gate so you get better traction as you spin over the gate.
While seated in the proper position, grab the handlebars with a lot of over grip. This is important so you can keep your upper body open and work from over the handlebars not behind them. This will allow you to get more of your body weight up and over the front of the bike enabling you to keep the front end down more effectively. This open body position will also give you better leverage for moving your body position from side to side across the handlebars, which will give you the control to keep the bike going straight out of the start. This body position will also give you better leverage factors between your body and the motorcycle. If you fail to do this and start with a low grip you will have less control.
If you want the entire scenario check out my Vol II DVD # 2 (How To Win Starts). It has all the starting techniques in it. www.gsmxs.com is the place to find it.
Work Hard and ride smart,
Gary Semics
Jumping - July 2010In motocross there are 6 ways to jump.
1. Launch it
2. Absorb on the throttle
3. Absorb on the decel
4. Seat Bounce
5. Whip
6. Scrub
# 1 Launch it means - to get more height and distance.
# 2 Absorb on the throttle means - to absorb the jump in order to stay low but still get good distance.
# 3 Absorb on the decel - means to absorb the jump as you are slowing down in order to stay lower and get back on the ground fast.
# 4 Seat bounce means - to jump as you are sitting on the bike.
# 5 Whip means - to throw the bike sideways off the jump.
# 6 Scrub means - to slide the front wheel off the top of the jump.
For an in depth look into all the jumping techniques check out my Techniques Vol I DVD # 3 (The Art of Jumping and Whoops) or Vol II DVD # 3 (All About Jumps and Whoops) and/or my Motocross Practice Manual. Free MX Technique DVD Previews at: www.gsmxs.com. Make sure and check back here next month for how to jumping techniques.
L = aunch
T = hrottle
D = ecel
S = eat
W = hip
S = crub
T = hrottle
D = ecel
S = eat
W = hip
S = crub