Jumping

I went off my first real jump yesterday. BWAHAHAHAHAHA, awesome!!! Landing wasn't so awesome though. The area had a depression and when I came down I came down a little sideways. Must have had a death grip on the throttle because I couldn't let go, (would have been able to save it if I had). Ended up kinda doing a 180 sideways on the ground and bent the shifter.

I really wanted to do it again so the other guy could get some picks. Too tired, nervous, and my ankle hurt a little from the bike landing on it. Felt good getting some air though. I want to do it again!


*inspector REALLY sucks at dirt riding, but has SO much fun!

Congrats on your first air time. This little bike'll fly if you do it right





And yes . . . I cleared the double . . .

Sucks because I was at a MC shop before that, that had a little track with a jump next to it. Should have tried it there and gotten a little direction from people. As it was we where out in the middle of nowhere and I had no idea what I was doing.

*think I will try it again a few times then ask questions of you based on how things go.

How about a little primmer before you even get that far . . .

First things first. Your suspension needs to be set up right. Get down on the bottom of the rear shock and make sure your rebound damping is turned all the way up. According to the service manual, this is 3 clicks out. Turn the knob on the bottom of the shock clockwise until it seats, then back counterclockwise for 3 clicks. This is maximum rebound damping and what you want. **Don't skip this part - it is very important to have max rebound damping on the rear for this bike** It will tend to want to buck you over the handlebars if it isn't set right.

The rest of your settings will be personal, but I would start with everything else on the "pretty loose" side. Close to minimum, then slowly increasing them as needed. One click at a time. If you start bottoming out too hard, you might want to increase compression damping a little. Compression damping on the rear shock is set with the small brass screw on the upper left side of the shock. Maximum is 1 click out, stock is 10 clicks out, and minimum is 12 clicks out.

For the forks, the rebound damping is the small screw on the top of the forks. Max is 1 click out, stock is 10 clicks out, and minimum is 12 clicks out. The fork compression damping is adjusted on the bottom of the forks under the little rubber stopper. Max is 1 click out, stock is 10 clicks out, and minimum is 19 clicks out.


Now onto the jumping part . . .


Start slow. Really slow. Roll over the jump.

Increase your speed just a little at a time. Don't "go big" right out of the gate.

Jump 6", then 12", then, 18", etc. Gradually work your way up.

Don't try to jump 4' until you feel comfortable jumping 2'.

Really, that's about all there is to it. Work your way up slowly and you'll be able to feel when the front wants to start to come up, or drop on you and just making small jumps means you won't really get yourself in trouble until you can feel what the bike is doing and how to correct it. When you start to get more comfortable, then you can start increasing your speed a little at a time.

Cool, thanks!!

Yeah, my suspension settings is the suck right now. You know how you get the little ripples in a turn on gravel/dirt roads? I'd hit those and the rear would just skip along and I would lose speed cause no traction. Buddy adjusted something and the problem is much better.

On the jump i did...It was up hill and you couldn't see over it, so I rolled up once to take a look around. Went back down and went for broke the second time. Gunned it, hit second and flew...... Really wish I had a pic to see how much air I got (probably less then 6inches, BWahahaha)

*like i said, i suck at dirt riding

**buddy says he a least has a pic of me going up the hill, still waiting on that.

To help get rid of the rear chattering, loosen up the rear compression damping. Turn the little brass screw on the top of the rear shock all the way in until it seats, then back it out about 11-12 clicks (close to minimum compression damping), and be sure to crank the rebound damping all the way in (3 clicks out from fully seated) on the bottom of the shock.

Krabill, you sure about the rebound being up so high in the rear? Is that just for jumping? And what purpose does it serve?

I only say b/c until I turned mine BACK from stock, the bike felt and handled like crap. Now perhaps I'm just a big dude, but the concept of turning the rebound way up for a jump eludes me. You are loading the suspension at the base of the jump, and then the only unloading is from being in the air and the rebound does nothing for the landing that I can think of.

Now take all this with a grain of salt as I learned to ride dirt on a 600+ lb beast and still consider myself an extreme novice. I'm also too old and broken to be doing many 4' jumps on much of anything.

Yes, I'm sure about turning the rear rebound damping all the way up. It is the only adjustment I'd suggest for every single WRR out there. The rest can be set for personal preference.

The reasoning . . .

The rear rebound damping on this bike is too soft from the factory. Even turned all the way up, I wish there was a little more. It is flat out dangerous to have too little rear rebound damping because once the rear tire makes its way over an obstacle, it will tend to want to bounce back up too fast and that can cause (worst case) you to go over the bars. It's not just for jumps, either. Any small log or rock you encounter along the trail can cause the rear end to bounce up too fast and best case, slap you in the ass with the seat . . . worst case, throw you over the bars.

Ahhh, that makes sense to me now. Even turning mine back did not pitch me this way, but I understand and agree with the logic. I'm a little larger than the average bear which might explain why I'm not getting "pogoed" over the bars. That and I bet I've never jumped it higher than 3 feet and could count on one hand the number times I've done that (knees are shot and it hurts to land).

+100 on maximum rear rebound damping. With stock settings I hit a rock formation no more than 8" high and the tail jumped so high that I banged my knee on the bottom of the handlebar - OUCH. I really thought that I was going to do an endo. Only good news is that I can brag that I can do a "superman".

Much better now that the suspension is adjusted.

Is a "click" one full revolution?

No. You will be able to feel the clicks as it turns. Just go slow and feel it carefully. I think they're about 1/4 turn each, but you just have to feel it.

They are all measured from fully seated, which means you have to turn the adjustment screw all the way in gently until it seats. Don't force it. Once you hit bottom, count your clicks on the way back out.

K, thanks. I got confused looking at the manual and thought they where also talking about clicks with the spring. Guess not.

So I'm out with a few others today doing a dirt road with a ton of water-bars. Anyway, was in between so I gunned it. Well, I didn't see one of them coming up. I started to brake then realized that it was too late so tried to float over it. I was really impressed with how well the suspension soaked it up. Granted it was only 12 to 16 inches deep, but I thought I was in for it.

But... I had a one gallon gas can bungied (NEVER use bungies, they suck) to the tail. That bounced off to the side and knocked my turn signal and also my tool tool kit. Broke the whale tail housing all the way (it was cracked half-way around before) so it now just dangles. Luckily one of the other guys stopped and picked up my tool kit. The strap is now MIA thou. LOL.

*the guy behind me wasn't so lucky. He tried to wheelie his KLR over it and ended up shearing his foot peg bolts off of his shifter side. The worst part is that this is the second time riding with me that he has sheared these off.