04-12-2012, 10:47 PM
Quick squid disclaimer: I've never tried bunny hops on a sport bike... BUT I've managed to be able to do them on just about any two wheeled contraption I HAVE tried it on, and once my bike is together I'll definitely be trying on that, too!
The concept is simple from a physics point of view: You need to rotate the front up from the back, and then shift your center of rotation forward and rotate the back end up. Put a pencil on your desk and pinch it on both ends. Lift one end up, that's your wheelie, then lift the other end up, that's your bunny hop!simple eh?... now try it with a 400 pound pike! not so simple anymore!
On small light things, like a bicycle it is really easy to learn and you might want to try it on that first. You want to lean back, bring the front up, then roll forward and lift your feet with the bike while you push the bars down. It's kind of hard to describe, but think of going over a barrel with a ramp on each side while keeping balance. It's essentially the same.
With a light vehicle you can do them without any throttle or brake input. On my bicycle, XR50, 150 pound trials bike, and even on my 230 pound YZ250F I can bunny hop at a stand still if I do the body movements right! It's easiest on the bicycle obviously and a good stand still hop for me is about a foot. On the XR50, maybe 6-8", on the trials bike-- which is sort of cheating with it's pogo stick suspension, it's probably about the same height (150 pound bike!) and I can get an inch or two on the YZ from a stand still...
Again, I've never done it on a sport bike, but I would say from my experience with other things that the body movement is key to getting high bunny hops! Then once you have the "you" part down, once you add engine input, and suspension rebound you can do much higher hops!
Use the throttle/clutch to get the front up a little. Your hop won't go higher than the front wheel, but you probably won't be able to hop from 12 either so feel it out. As the front comes up, bring your weight back and down into a squat. Again, this is all based on timing and feel. Bringing your weight down and back will preload your shock. Once you've loaded the shock, you need to "jump" off the pegs and go FORWARD, pushing the bars forward and slightly down. It is ALL IN THE TIMING! You need to work with the suspension and engine, not against it. Think of jumping off the rear shock like a trampoline or pogo stick, work WITH it!
I have heard of guys on street bikes using the rear brake to do the hop. It's hard to say for sure without having done it, but I can't see it as being useful and I have never had to do it on anything else. Again, think of it from a physics perspective. With the front up, using the rear brake will pivot it around the back wheel and just bring the front straight down. The "hop" using this method is only caused by pogoing off the shock. If you are hoping this way, I would be interested if you can get a better hop form a bigger jump off the shock and body movements I described above and not using the rear brake.
Sorry for being long winded, but I hope this helps. I can't wait to try this on my 636 and see exactly what tweaks need to be done to do it, but I'm thinking it will be very similar...
The concept is simple from a physics point of view: You need to rotate the front up from the back, and then shift your center of rotation forward and rotate the back end up. Put a pencil on your desk and pinch it on both ends. Lift one end up, that's your wheelie, then lift the other end up, that's your bunny hop!simple eh?... now try it with a 400 pound pike! not so simple anymore!
On small light things, like a bicycle it is really easy to learn and you might want to try it on that first. You want to lean back, bring the front up, then roll forward and lift your feet with the bike while you push the bars down. It's kind of hard to describe, but think of going over a barrel with a ramp on each side while keeping balance. It's essentially the same.
With a light vehicle you can do them without any throttle or brake input. On my bicycle, XR50, 150 pound trials bike, and even on my 230 pound YZ250F I can bunny hop at a stand still if I do the body movements right! It's easiest on the bicycle obviously and a good stand still hop for me is about a foot. On the XR50, maybe 6-8", on the trials bike-- which is sort of cheating with it's pogo stick suspension, it's probably about the same height (150 pound bike!) and I can get an inch or two on the YZ from a stand still...
Again, I've never done it on a sport bike, but I would say from my experience with other things that the body movement is key to getting high bunny hops! Then once you have the "you" part down, once you add engine input, and suspension rebound you can do much higher hops!
Use the throttle/clutch to get the front up a little. Your hop won't go higher than the front wheel, but you probably won't be able to hop from 12 either so feel it out. As the front comes up, bring your weight back and down into a squat. Again, this is all based on timing and feel. Bringing your weight down and back will preload your shock. Once you've loaded the shock, you need to "jump" off the pegs and go FORWARD, pushing the bars forward and slightly down. It is ALL IN THE TIMING! You need to work with the suspension and engine, not against it. Think of jumping off the rear shock like a trampoline or pogo stick, work WITH it!
I have heard of guys on street bikes using the rear brake to do the hop. It's hard to say for sure without having done it, but I can't see it as being useful and I have never had to do it on anything else. Again, think of it from a physics perspective. With the front up, using the rear brake will pivot it around the back wheel and just bring the front straight down. The "hop" using this method is only caused by pogoing off the shock. If you are hoping this way, I would be interested if you can get a better hop form a bigger jump off the shock and body movements I described above and not using the rear brake.
Sorry for being long winded, but I hope this helps. I can't wait to try this on my 636 and see exactly what tweaks need to be done to do it, but I'm thinking it will be very similar...
Originally Posted by Adroit707
Damn, I really need the get my 636 together so I can actually try this stuff on it!
