Racing On Hard Pack With A Loose Top Layer

[RoostRM125]

Well I'm going to do my first race here in a couple of weeks and have never rode a track like this before. It's a hard pack black dirt with a thin top layer of loose dirt. I watched a race there yesterday and the bigger bikes were slidding out big time on just about all the corners. I ride a RM125 in the 125/250F open class. It's also a dirt start, so should I do a 2nd gear start and lean a little back like on a concrete start? I'm going to practice this Tuesday so any tips before now and then would be greatly appreciated.

[Blitz393]

Originally Posted by RoostRM125

Well I'm going to do my first race here in a couple of weeks and have never rode a track like this before. It's a hard pack black dirt with a thin top layer of loose dirt. I watched a race there yesterday and the bigger bikes were slidding out big time on just about all the corners. I ride a RM125 in the 125/250F open class. It's also a dirt start, so should I do a 2nd gear start and lean a little back like on a concrete start? I'm going to practice this Tuesday so any tips before now and then would be greatly appreciated.

1. hard pack and loose dirt= slippery. stay forward and on the gas, and "weight the outside peg" by pressing your knee into the gas tank as hard as you can. doesn't make sense saying it, but it works for those flat, slick corners.

2. dirt start = more traction than concrete. here with any of the bikes i've ridden, 2nd gear is good but on dirt you really want to be more forward than on a concrete starting pad, but all dirt surfaces vary. only you can make the judgement on whether or not you need to lean back or not... do a couple practice runs during... well, practice! (usually 2 or so 'sessions' before the first race)

3. Good Luck and i hope you do well... don't forget to shift

Rob

[Blitz393]

found this from MXA, great tips in here. i just re-read your post and your race isn't for a couple weeks, so you have time to implement these tips. try and get someone keep track of your lap times, and try to ride hard for 5-6 laps at a time. usually local mx tracks only have 4-6 laps per race, so it is good practice to train your body to be able to take that abuse for that amount of time. I've come to (ok... used to... lol...) ride HARD for twice the number of laps for the race you're entering. the biggest reason at least i have for not winning is running out of gas at the last minute. i've done it before, get the holeshot and lead for 4 laps only to peter out on the Fifth, and get passed. it's a good idea for you to pace someone for most of the race and wait until the last lap or 2 to pass him. anyway, enough ramble... here's the article.


TIP ONE: THE JOHN FORCE APPROACH
Too many riders patty-cake around a track. They think they are going fast, but they aren’t. How can you tell if you are a pantywaist rider? Take this simple test: When another rider tries to pass you, do you dig down deep, twist your right wrist and give it everything you’ve got? If you do, then you have been dogging it for most of the moto. You shouldn’t have any speed left in your machine, wrist or lungs to put up a fight. If you do, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Experts say that 75 percent of riders grip the throttle in such a way that they cannot twist the throttle to the locks without dropping their elbows. To fix this, hold the throttle the same way you would a door knob. And be sure that every time you turn the throttle the slide hits the stops.

TIP TWO: THINK BIG THOUGHTS
Don’t divide your local track into 15 turns and seven jumps. A track is not 22 different obstacles, but one continuous circuit. Try to string two or three straights and turns into one well-thought-out maneuver (and eventually the complete track into one integrated racing line).
Plan ahead! Look ahead. Don’t fixate on a whoop, jump or corner. Keep your head up and ignore trouble that you have already hit. Start thinking like a race car driver instead of a stunt man.

TIP THREE: TALK TO YOURSELF
You’d be surprised to find out how many AMA National riders talk to themselves during a race. It is an effective racing tool. Try it. Talk out loud! Tell yourself to turn the throttle wide open, yell for more brakes, demand a tighter inside line and don’t worry about sounding crazy—no one can hear you.
Thinking good thoughts is nice, but transferring those subconscious ideas to the conscious level (known as verbalization) is the best form of positive reinforcement around.

TIP FOUR: TEN FIRST TURNS
Every rider gives it his all in the first turn. Then, he gives about 95 percent to turn two, 90 percent to turn three and so on. Imagine how fast you could go if you thought every turn was the first turn!
Don’t fall into the trap of gradually going slower. Give every turn the first-turn treatment. Think holeshot into every turn.

TIP FIVE: IT’S A TEN-SECOND WORLD
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that your typical 15-minute moto breaks down into a few precious seconds of hard-core, head-to-head racing. Most of the 15-minutes is spent chasing, holding your own or marking time. The true-to-life racing boils down to those few second when you are passing or being passed!
If a guy chases you for six laps, you are in no danger of losing your place until he gets close enough to actually make a move. Your whole race could boil down to the ten-seconds in which he tries to pass you. If you defeat him during that ten-second period, he might never make a second attempt. Thus, a savvy rider will marshal all of his psychic power for those ten critical seconds when under attack. If you nullify your opponent’s ten-second attack, the remaining 14 minutes and 50 seconds won’t seem so tough. Fight when it counts and not until it does.

TIP SIX: DON’T TOUCH THAT SHIFTER
Your bike is faster in third gear at half throttle than wide open in second gear. Think about that! The best gear on any motocross bike is third gear. It can be lugged fairly low (with a little clutch work) and revved fairly high. Try to gear your bike so that you are in third gear most of the time.
Don’t downshift unless it can’t be avoided. Use the clutch to feather the bike out of turns in the highest gear possible. Try to carry speed—not make noise.

TIP SEVEN: WATCH AND WALK
Walking the track has fallen out of favor with lots of young riders, but it can make the difference between winning and losing. It never hurts to walk the track before practice, but it is even more important to try to walk it (and watch it) during the motos that precede yours. Never assume that the line that everyone is using is the best one. The best line may be 20 feet farther to the outside or even through the middle of the big mud hole that everyone is avoiding. How can you tell? Walk the track, kick the dirt, try to coax a rider into using your selected line and think creatively.

TIP EIGHT: WEIGHT THE OUTSIDE PEG
The hardest place to make up time is on flat, hard, dry and slippery turns. Everybody is sliding around, and, in fear of spinning out, they back off the throttle to get traction. But, you can go through flat turns faster if you know the secret—weight the outside peg.
As you enter a flat turn, concentrate on putting weight (pressure) on the outside footpeg. As the bike is leaned into the turn, your body provides counter pressure to the outside of the bike to load the suspension and flex the sidewalls. The best way to weight the outside peg is to place your knee against the tank and press down hard.
TIP NINE: GO FAST IN THE EASY PLACES
Don’t fall into the "pace" theory of racing. Too many riders set a good pace and try to hold it. But, unfortunately, pace is contagious and doesn’t differentiate between rough straights and smooth straights. Avoid pacing yourself! Go as fast as you can go on the majority of the race track and faster than you can go on the easy parts. Burn up the simple parts. Come out hard and go in hot. Push yourself beyond the limits when you aren’t in any danger (to do otherwise would be slow).
What if you burn out because you pushed too hard too soon? So what? Push even harder next week. In time you’ll get stronger, burn out later and, eventually, you’ll be in good enough shape to go flat out for the whole moto. If you don’t pour it on, you’ll never get stronger.

TIP TEN: THE CHEAPEST HORSEPOWER AVAILABLE
Before you spend your hard-earned cash on pipes, port jobs, race gas and hot ignitions, buy a sprocket. Gearing is the most effective hop-up trick known to man. Get your gearing low enough to pull a strong second gear start, tall enough to avoid being tapped out before the end of the longest straight and balanced enough that you are in third gear most of the time.
Most stock gearing is too tall (by at least one tooth and sometimes two). Try to make most of your gearing changes with the rear sprocket.
Here are some gearing tips: (1) You gear a bike "down" by adding teeth to the rear sprocket (or reducing them on the countershaft sprocket). (2) You gear "up" by reducing the number of teeth on the rear sprocket or adding them to the countershaft sprocket (as a rule of thumb, one tooth on the countershaft is equal to 3.5 teeth on the rear).


bubba stewart: wheelie over mid-size bumps instead of trying to scrub them. you stay much lower. example: the hump thing on the long rutted straight at ICR- do a stand-up wheelie and carry front wheel over it and get back on the ground quicker, and on the gas sooner. may also try on the double before the tabletop directly after that straight.

staying LOW is staying FAST! soak up the jump faces, don't bounce them unless you need the lift. you can cover the same distance at 2x the speed if you are 1/2 as high in the air. SCRRUUUUBB!!

hope that helps,

Rob

[RoostRM125]

Cool, thanks.

[crfjedi393]

Those are 10 EXCELLENT tips there, Rob! Thanks for posting them up.

[RoostRM125]

*SPROCKET?* This track is very tight and I will be in fear over jumping stuff rather than getting speed to clear a jump. My gearing is 12/49 for my RM 125 what do you think?

[Blitz393]

Originally Posted by RoostRM125

*SPROCKET?* This track is very tight and I will be in fear over jumping stuff rather than getting speed to clear a jump. My gearing is 12/49 for my RM 125 what do you think?

12/51

[RoostRM125]

I was thinking maybe a 12/52, would that be too much?

[Blitz393]

probably too much of a jump, but then again, i'm not the one riding it

i think i messed up... i ordered a 48t for mine, stock was 49 and i was wanting to gear it down. oh well, just gotta spend another fifty bucks on this thing... sigh

[TRXman86]

Good tips Got any for a quad on there LOL

Good luck with your first race. Keep your head in tight spots, don't try anything if you don't feel right about it, and if ya do, maybe try holding it WFO... well, if you see yourself coming up short. So DONT DO THAT LOL JK bro, you'll do great! Good luck out there!!!

[RoostRM125]

Well I got back from practice and came up sideways off a table and jammed my left foot down which peeled back half of my toe nail.

As for the track, I don't care for it to much, it's hard to go fast because it's so slick, I just got frustrated.

[Blitz393]

Originally Posted by RoostRM125

I just got frustrated.

that's the problem. i used to get SO p.o'd at the track, or my bike, or "the other guy" until i realized that 'slowing down to go fast' really works. when you feel the feeling of getting pssed creeping up on you, stop, slow down, or pull off to the side and clear your head. turn around and do that section again, but just roll it and think of what you did wrong. loop back around and attack at full speed again, but WITH CONTROL. smoother is faster!!

(i hope i can remember all this crap this weekend for my first race back after a 3 month haitus... )

Rob

[RoostRM125]

That's what I noticed. thanks.