AUTOMOTIVE MOTORCYCLE

One thing I hate the most about the second moto or main (for you flat track guys) is that the race groove is worn in the track causing it to become a one line affair. This makes it extremely difficult to make passes in a timely manner. This often causes you to reach deep into your bags of tricks to find the best areas and techniques to make passes. You will usually find some techniques that may be considered dirty or aggressive to some riders but they are necessary in order for you to get the win. I am going to share a few of my techniques I have used during races.

The first is more common than you think and I use it often in flat track racing: block passing. This technique requires you to be an aggressive rider and it also requires a high level of commitment to perform. You will need to “set up” the other rider a few turns prior to the turn you want to perform the block pass in. This involves putting pressure on him by showing a wheel and running right on his rear tires in order to intimidate him a little so that he is more forgiving when you execute the block pass. As you approach your desired corner, you want be on the inside and you will need to stay on the gas a second longer than the other rider does.

As you go into the corner start to push the rider towards the outside (don’t make contact). As you get into the apex slow down almost to a stop, this forces the other rider to check up and lose all of their momentum in the turn. Once you accomplish that square up the turn and motor out of it. You have just made a clean block pass and have a little room to spare as the other rider has to shake it off and get his momentum back up. This technique becomes dirty if you run into the other rider as you make the pass. A little contact is ok but deliberately hitting a rider will get you into trouble.

Building motocross tracks can actually be a lot of fun, especially when you’re building it for your level of riding in mind. The great thing about that is you can begin with smaller jumps and tabletops and gradually build them up as you gain confidence on your new track. There are however a couple of things to consider before you begin building that dream track of yours.

1) Property Location: You need to think about your surroundings and who will be affected by a bunch of noisy dirt bike riders tearing around your track on any given day. If you ignore this point you may just find that you will only get a couple of rides in before the local council closes you down or even fines you. You’ll probably create a few enemies in the process as well.

2) Track Maintenance: After it’s built, you will need access to a dirt moving machine of some sort to maintain the track. Obviously your bikes will tear it up but the wet winter months will also degrade your smooth playground pretty quickly. If you can’t maintain it, your dream may be short lived.

If you’ve got those issues sorted, then it’s time to begin building your motocross track. As the shape and layout of your track will depend on the land area you are building it on there is no set design, so rather I will offer you some simple steps to get started.

1) Mark out the flow of the track from start to finish using marker pegs so you have the layout sorted.

2) Figure out where you will position jumps and whoops – then build them using a bobcat, tractor or earth-mover. Berks are easy as they are usually found on tight corners, they are also a lot of fun so make sure you put in a few of these. Tip: Don’t place jumps too far down a straight as you risk hitting it with too much speed. A good motocross track will have you accelerating towards jumps rather than stepping on the brakes before hand.

3) Think about the angles and slope of the track. If it rains where will the water gather? You don’t want it pooling in the middle of your track so ensure you build it with a gentle slope that directs the water off and away to the side. You may need to install some drainage pipes in certain low areas to direct it away.