When you’ve become a solid rider and navigating through the muddiest hell of a surface becomes a piece of cake, you reach for an even crazier spike of adrenaline. After a while you start practising jumps and wondering about the next riding level – smooth whips that steal the breath of the spectators and look fucking awesome on pictures. Here are few simple confidence tips that might be useful to whip a dirt bike.
Whip is practised in a high jump when a rider pushes the dirt bike to the side while still being on the bike and then landing the jump when it’s done. Sounds awesome, right? And it truly is, if done precisely and smoothly which certainly will become a reality if you practise – A LOT – and follow the right technique. The most crucial thing truly required to whip a dirt bike is training – that’s how the pro riders are able to flip the bike multiple times in a row.
1 Start With the Basics
The key elements is having a proper form, finding the right jump and having loads of confidence to do everything right. Don’t rush into repeating the jump as high and fast like pros do – take your time to practice your jumps then try carving off the face of the jump and only then try whipping. Ensure that your dirt bike is in proper order (oh, and customise it with a nice custom graphics kit so it looks stunning in the pictures afterwards – you can thank us later!).
2 Go Slow
We will never stop repeating it – have fun but stay safe! That’s why this trick is best practised not in a full speed – you don’t have the experience to handle the dirt bike in this specific situation. It is recommended to go into at least second if not third gear. Also you don’t have to touch the sky and jump super high – of course, it looks amazing when pros do it, but that’s only because they have practised it for decades. But at the same time the jump cannot be too low as you can end up scraping along the ground. Ouch.
3 The Right Setup
Doing a whip requires a lot of curving, as you have to push the bike, then turn the handlebars and curve it into the sky with the front tire. If you’re a beginner, don’t rush into standing up – you can practice the first jumps while sitting on the bike and get used to turning the bike a little bit while in the air. When going into a whip, riders should be on the balls of the feet and be lifted a little off of their seat. Coming up the face of the jump you want to start carving or turning even before you take off. Once you have left the ground and the bike is beginning to curve from your inside leg, the bike starts to turn sideways, forming a S shape for just a split second before the rear tire becomes to come forward slightly.
4 The Perfect Landing
The last thing you’d want when reaching the land, is to be parallel or even perpendicular with the ground as this brings a lot of pain (and no gain). If the bike is tilted in any way, the rider will skid along the ground – that’s why it’s very crucial to straighten the bike when landing. Keep the bike steady and bring the rear tire down as it is the first thing to touch the ground.
Send us some crazy pics of how you whip a dirt bike of yours!