To bail or not to bail ? That is the question

sixo
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2/18/2015 9:44am Edited Date/Time 2/19/2015 9:39am
In my experience bailing off has always ended worse the holding on..
What has your experience taught you?
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theToothPerry
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2/18/2015 9:48am
I had never bailed up until about 2 years ago, when I got into a major major endo. It was weird because my body like naturally bailed. Still ended up fracturing my femur but who knows what wouldve happened if i landed straight on my face.
moscrop940
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2/18/2015 9:51am
sixo wrote:
In my experience bailing off has always ended worse the holding on..
What has your experience taught you?
It really depends on the situation in my opinion.

For me I have always been one to bail from the bike. the majority of the times I have bailed from the bike is when I cross rut on the take off. I would rather tuck and roll than get slapped to the ground by my 220lb dirt scooter. I learned that the hardway, the longest I have ever been knocked out was because of cross rutting and trying to stay with it....landed completely sideways and was out for 8 minutes.

But on the other hand you have guys like my brother who has a death grip on the bars not matter what the situation is. I have no idea how or why but he just cant let go of the bike no matter how dire the situation may be.
scott_nz
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2/18/2015 9:58am
i normally try to ride it out, but it depends, if it looks like you are going over the front and i dont want a 100kg plus dirtbike landing on me ill try to get away from it, this however got me a broken femur in 1997, however holding on while going over the bars 5th gear pinned on a KX125 was not going to end well either,

normally ill jump off the front or the back when i think the bike will go that way anyway,

The Shop

TommyZ
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2/18/2015 10:00am
Looks to me like the bike made it to the top of the next jump, not clear why he needed to bail.
Olson
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2/18/2015 10:01am
Never let go.





sixo
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2/18/2015 10:34am
I guess I should clarify ..when coming up short on a sx triple ? No over the front or eject situations, just the old fashion case scenario where you have the option of jumping off the rear and throwing the bike forward ..normally the bike ends up clearing the jump from your push off it..

enketchum
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2/18/2015 10:35am
When coming up short, never bail. When going over the bars, bail
Skerby
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2/18/2015 10:38am
I bailed on a pretty major endo, I was fine when I hit the dirt but the 450 I was riding came down and chased my elbow into the dirt pretty hard. Arm was completely exploded, very long surgery. I am pretty bummed that I didn't bail a little harder.
Falcon
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2/18/2015 11:56am
I have only ever bailed if I can land easier on my two feet than on the bike's wheels. For instance, I once came up WAAAAAY short on a cliff jump and was able to step off to the top of the cliff. My bike didn't make it and fell about 20 feet to the bottom of the hill. I would have been messed up if I had hung on.
Redrcr34
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2/18/2015 11:57am Edited Date/Time 2/18/2015 4:49pm
99.9 percent of the time I would stick with the bike, have had many tweaked wrists but I'm sure the consequences would have been far worse bailing off. Twice I can remember bailing off and tore my Achilles on one, and the other Bail off I broke my foot.
dl117
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2/18/2015 12:00pm
i had a major endo that I thought ...."ride the bitch out" and ended up dislocating both shoulders and a spiral fracture in my humerous.....I think if i bailed it would have been worse.
Samuel
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2/18/2015 12:07pm Edited Date/Time 2/18/2015 12:09pm
I don't think I've bailed on the motorcycle. I've bailed quite a few times on mtb. I wish I was better at bailing because I think it would have been beneficial a few times. I have a friend that grew up riding freestyle bmx. He is the best at bailing I've ever seen. It doesn't even surprise me when he throws the motorcycle anymore. He is pretty good at jumping through the bars and slinding down a landing on his butt or throwing the bike forward and bailing off the back. A lot of these bails have come on 90 foot + booters out in the hills. He's been hurt a few times, but I've been amazed at the stuff he's walked away from after a bail. I've been in some situations where bailing may have been the best option, but when I panic, I stay glued to the pegs and either tap the brake or rev to the moon.
IWreckALot
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2/18/2015 12:20pm
sixo wrote:
I guess I should clarify ..when coming up short on a sx triple ? No over the front or eject situations, just the old fashion case...
I guess I should clarify ..when coming up short on a sx triple ? No over the front or eject situations, just the old fashion case scenario where you have the option of jumping off the rear and throwing the bike forward ..normally the bike ends up clearing the jump from your push off it..

I'd say that one is situational. If you're nose heavy, and the front tire isn't set to clear the landing but your body can clear the landing, then it's time to bail. If your body or your bike can't clear the landing, then you should try to position your bike to absorb the blow.

Me personally, I've always held on to the bike. The worst case I ever had was I went for a blind double that was further than I judged. It was probably an 80' double and I made it 70', you know the sweet spot where it's much worse than a flat landing. I hit right into the face of the landing. It happened in slow motion too. I remember reading somewhere that you should take your feet slightly off the pegs, let the bike hit and rebound a bit then you hit the pegs and let the suspension reabsorb your momentum. That's what I did and ended up with some sore nuts, a black eye and a bruised feeling body. Other than that, no major injury. I had never felt more fortunate. Ha.
IWreckALot
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2/18/2015 12:20pm
Olson wrote:
Never let go. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2015/02/18/80812/s1200_6_50881.jpg[/img]
Never let go.





That was the first race that I realized I was a Dungey fan. Ha.
IWreckALot
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2/18/2015 12:21pm
Samuel wrote:
I don't think I've bailed on the motorcycle. I've bailed quite a few times on mtb. I wish I was better at bailing because I think...
I don't think I've bailed on the motorcycle. I've bailed quite a few times on mtb. I wish I was better at bailing because I think it would have been beneficial a few times. I have a friend that grew up riding freestyle bmx. He is the best at bailing I've ever seen. It doesn't even surprise me when he throws the motorcycle anymore. He is pretty good at jumping through the bars and slinding down a landing on his butt or throwing the bike forward and bailing off the back. A lot of these bails have come on 90 foot + booters out in the hills. He's been hurt a few times, but I've been amazed at the stuff he's walked away from after a bail. I've been in some situations where bailing may have been the best option, but when I panic, I stay glued to the pegs and either tap the brake or rev to the moon.
Bowers bailed similarly this season already didn't he?
Skerby
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2/18/2015 12:50pm
Bowers bail was textbook perfect. awesome to watch.
BD233
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2/18/2015 12:51pm
Does this have to do with Tracy's get off at Arlington?
Anyway, when coming up short I've always tried to brace and get the front end up as high as I could. I try to be on the gas as well. If you guys saw Tracy's crash in qualifying, I think bailing was the right choice as that case would have been nasty.
I've bailed off more times than I can count and it usually ends up OK. Endo...always bail...always!
2/18/2015 1:43pm
Seems like anytime you’re in the air and in a hard endo or loop out it's not a bad idea to bail. With that being said, you're probably going with whatever your instinct is anyway. Not much time to figure it out.
Camp332
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2/18/2015 1:50pm
I have no experience with bailing off while hitting a SX triple. Therefore I can't answer the question.

bonseff
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2/18/2015 2:05pm
If you are Vanilla Ice hopefully you make bail - haha
wildbill
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2/18/2015 2:17pm
It's definitely situational. The old "when in doubt, gas it" usually works nine times out of ten, though you're never quit sure what you're going to pinball off of. I've noticed that trees usually hurt worse than competitors. Pinch
I've endo'd and remember pushing my bike sideways to, hopefully, not get pulverized. It worked that time. Dizzy
ktm300hater
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Stephenville, TX US
2/18/2015 2:41pm
This is my kid getting cross rutted at Loretta's in 05. He hung onto it till the end. Got a little banged up but got up and finished. Who knows what might have happened had he let it go

TeamPumpin
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2/18/2015 2:47pm


Kenny Bell tried to bail... Didn't end well.
Olson
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2/18/2015 3:12pm
This is my kid getting cross rutted at Loretta's in 05. He hung onto it till the end. Got a little banged up but got up...
This is my kid getting cross rutted at Loretta's in 05. He hung onto it till the end. Got a little banged up but got up and finished. Who knows what might have happened had he let it go

Woah! Thougt it was Tomac at first. Tough kid.



BigAl
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2/18/2015 3:59pm
Did Knievel ever bail?
Trav138
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2/18/2015 4:30pm
enketchum wrote:
When coming up short, never bail. When going over the bars, bail
Wrong imo i think it really depends on the situation and what kind of jump/ projection, landing. Some landings are softer and some are like concrete that have been there for years and are so freaking hard.
I 've had good outcomes by staying on the bike for the most part. But you never know i stayed on and came up way short on a high speed jump and ended up losing a leg and having a triple arthrodesis fusion on the other foot, so you just don't know.
Try to get on your arches when coming up short, protects your ankles more.

What Bowers did the other week was pretty cool and got away with it, that took some skill lol
mark_swart
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Chapin, SC US
2/18/2015 4:59pm
If this question has to do with the wreck last weekend, after watching it a few times I have to think that if he had stayed with it, it would have been very simliar to Roczen's come-up-short wreck the other week. It definitely worked out better for Ken to stay with the bike, but Morgan may have already been coming off the bike to the point where he couldn't stay with it.

Terrifying wreck.

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