A skilled MX rider has the the same 3 axis control over his
flight as and aircraft does: "pitch, roll & yaw".
Pitch (nose up or down): how? throttle on
OR rear brake on. You know that anyway !! lol
Roll (flat like Bubba in the pic below): how?
throw your weight off the front side of the bike (on the ramp) and then
EXTEND your arm to push it flat once you are airborne.
Yaw (flopping the read wheel off to the side like Pat in the pic
above, but keeping bike vertical): how? push your heal against the side of the swingarm
when in flight or turn the bike slightly as it leaves the ramp.
Do I really need to learn any of
this? Because I don't care about showing off. I only care about going fast:
1. An advanced "whip enabled rider" can use the face of a ramp, as if it were a berm,
enabling the motocrosser to "steer" on the ramp itself and actually pick his
landing spot on the other side. Tell me more about this
2. An advanced rider is always confident
jumping big air. Tell me more about this
3. A really advanced rider can scrub
off speed on ramp faces and will do it more effectively than if he had just
slammed on the brakes Tell me more about this
4. An advanced rider rarely complains
about jumps having "no run up" to them because they don't need a straight
shot at a ramp in order to take advantage of the ground between them and the end
of the lip. Tell me more about this
5. Even a moderately thown whip
can point your bike in the exact direction and attitude you want it to take even if you
couldn't make a decision until you were in mid air (and could finally see the
mini boulder ruining your favorite line). Tell me more this
In this pic Bubba is pushing his bike flat with his left
arm full extended jamming that handlebar
straight down to mother earth. That is the secret of the flat whip ("ROLL"
control in aircraft terms).
INITIATING THE WHIP
In order for you to better understand the videos
(that you are going to step through frame by frame) we want to take a moment to say that
whips are complex animals. There are many ways to initiate them and many ways to
land them. So I will just list out a few facts here. Advanced riders (which
you are about to see) do not use ONE input.
- Let's start easy. An important
aspect of bike control in the air involves its pitch.
Chances are you can do that already. That is the "nose down" or
"nose up" attitude of the bike that you initiate with the throttle and/or the
rear brake in mid air. If you can't do that you really should not even be concerned
about this entire article you are reading now. Get that nailed down first and then
come back.
- Second type of control you need is over
the bike's yaw.
That is when the bike is kept perfectly vertical but the tail wags out
to the left or the right. (note the pic at the very top where Pat
demonstrates a radical YAW whip). This move can be initated in one of 3 ways:
ONE: Pushing
on the swingarm with the heel of your boot, in mid air, while simultaneously resisting
with the handlebars (its kind of a push-push motion: push the swingarm with the heal of
your boot while you twist the handlebar gently away (and down" from the boot you are
pushing on the swingarm with.
TWO: A simple slight flick of the handlebars, while still on the takeoff ramp, will
certainly cause the rear of the bike to pitch out sideways once the bike goes airborne.
THREE: Or even a kind of "wormy" twist of the handlebars , in
mid air, will cause the back of the bike to whip out to the side.
(( Wormy = turn the bars BUT push down on the inside bar and pull up on
outside bar as you turn. The goal here is to force the whole steering
head off its vertical alignment. This will induce a GYRO effect
(from the spinning wheels) into the bike and cause the tail to swap out.
))
All of these things will can cause the bike of the
back to "pitch out" sideways but they require much practice to get them to work
for you, let alone master. But here is a good way to explain this last force (using
the handlebars alone): get on a bicycle and face it
straight into a wall. Hop off the seat and put your legs on the ground. Now
push the bike's wheel into the wall so the rear wheel comes off the ground. Now
using the handlebars alone swing the back of the bike (without your body touching
it) to the left and to the right. Feel that "wormy" sensation as you
flick the handlebars to move the rear wheel left and right? That is the same feeling
you should get from your handlebars when you are whipping and de-whipping a bike in mid
air. It is a turn of the handlebars (as probably a million people have told you) but
its more complex than meets the eye. As you turn the handlebars it seems that you
must alter the axis that the steering head is rotating on. Otherwise the
handlebars will just flick easily side to side and do absolutely nothing for the bike's
attitude in the air. In the air on the bike you may find that you can control the
bike's whip with the handlebars alone by turning the bars but at the same time
pushing down on one side while pulling up on the other. That should give you
that"wormy" feel in the bars (and it will change the axis the handlebars are
rotating on) and the back of the bike will respond immediately to it without you even
having to give the bike a nudge with your boot. Watch freestylists closely.
Their body and legs can be flying far above the bike's seat yet with just the
handlebars yet they can make the bike whip and de-whip dramatically. This is the
method they are using to achieve that movement.
- Third type of control you need is over
the bike's roll. This is the ability to "throw
it flat" like Bubba up there. Basically this seems to come from two movements: throwing your
weight forward and off to the side of the bike (practically as if you
are diving off to the front side of the bike) while you are on the ramp. And once your body has arrived at
the location (and you are in the air), you just heave it and extend your
inside arm which will now deliver the "flattening" force to the bike.
Combine all 3 of the movements you see above
(using the many techniques available to initiate each one) and you have a radical, layed
out, flat whip. By far, the easiest thing (and safest thing) to begin with is the
"swingarm" push with the heel of your boot on a modest jump.
Practicing this is a great way to start and when combined with a slight
turn of the handlebars on the ramp and you are on your way !
UNWHIPPING WHAT YOU STARTED!
Remember that the whip is only half the picture.
You must now "de-whip" the bike in order to survive the landing.
Simply said just reverse whatever you did to initiate the whip to undo the whip (minus the
handlebar "flick" on he ramp, of course!). But all this is easier said
than done. And its easy to lose your nerve on a really big jump, freeze and not be
able to pull it back. So be careful! A bike does not come back
"automatically". It must be brought back by YOU. And
we have probably all seen the
best fail to pull the bike back in time for a safe landing (while showing off for the crowd
on the victory lap). So this is a real risk and it must be managed wisely at all
times by riders of all skill levels.
Did you know that there is a way to land a whip
without bringing it back ?! Tell me more about this
Lastly, tapping the rear
break or revving the engine (pitching the bike) in the middle of the whip
will enhance the whips style. The rear brake will make the whip more
radical. And an engine rev will help you bring it back.
DEMO WHIP VIDEOS
and INTERVIEWS
donated by Pat
Mahan #200 and Mike Leavitt #213 to the riders of the MSC.
Mike:
"You must be committed when
you approach the ramp. When I approach a ramp I ALREADY KNOW that the bike
is going sideways. I really can't stress enough how important this
is".
Pat:
"You cannot stop a whip once it has
begun. If you get scared and try to stop it you will crash.
Once the bike begins to swing out you must let it go out, expend its
energy, and only then can you attempt to bring it back."
Author's note:
"Because the videos are not as
clear as we would like you have to pay careful attention to see the elbow contractions and
extensions that are so important when trying to lay the bike out flat. Also watch
carefully for "which leg goes light on the peg" on any given whip. Its
usually the outside for big showoff whips and the inside for get-down-to-business scrub
speed whips. And always use the "slow motion" buttons on the right of the
video screen or you will miss all of what we are trying to show you here."
Movie 32:
((
the above movie,
#32, is really the best here for illustration purposes. Note how
Mike throws his weight to the front and side of the bike while still on
the ramp. While throwing his weight notice that he allows his right elbow
to FOLD UP. Now, note that as soon as he is in the air he takes
advantage of this body position by extending that same elbow. That drives
the bike FLAT. If you learn nothing else, from all that is presented
on this website, remember that ONE THING !! It is
golden. ))
Movie40:
Mike / Murphy's (looks back at the camera in the flagging tower)
Movie41:
Pat / Murphy's (Pat doing a big "left" on this table with a "right
handed" landing)
Movie35:
Mike / Murphy's (camera is now on landing ramp side)
Move26: Pat / stepup (first 12 frames of this movie demonstrate how important arm movement is to
recovering a bike from a FLAT whip).
RIDER
INTERVIEWS ==>
Movie44 Interview
/ Pat Mahan explaining whip type #1
Movie45: Interview
/ Pat finishing up whip type #1
Movie46: Interview
/ Pat explaining whip type #2
Movie57: Interview
/ Mike Leavitt explaining, in detail, how to throw a big
"showoff whip"
Movie58: Interview
/ Mike talking about being committed
NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK. I
MUST BE TOO OLD. HELP ME !!
Remember, if you
are not whipping your bike at all NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY, then, don't
fret. Forget everything else presented here and concentrate on one
single thing: getting some side to side movement out of the bike,
someday, somehow. Do this in an easy rocker section. Each time
you double a rocker try to move the bike sideways. Do it by turning
slightly up the face of the rocker and by pushing on the swingarm slightly
with the heel of your boot. Try and try and TRY until one day the
bike finally moves a smidgen. From that small beginning you will now
be able to progress rapidly. Trust me, this will
work for you.
==>
beginner
rocker whips movie <==
And never forget that the hardest part is that FIRST movement, that first
whip. Even if its so small no one but you noticed it.
After that your learning curve will be all upward since the hardest part
is now behind you !
Disclaimer: Needless to say; this is the sport of motocross and all of
these maneuvers are, by nature, highly dangerous and require a great deal of skill
and respect for the tremendous forces involved. So be forewarned: never ride
alone and be patient because it should take years to acquire these skills. And
remember "nothing gets acquired when you are sidelined with another season ending
injury". So be cool with the ideas that you have seen presented to you
here.
Kevin Windham has some
closing thoughts for you !!!!!!!
