Posts
506
Joined
7/15/2015
Location
North Las Vegas, NV
US
Fantasy
1865th
A loose shift lever resulted in rounded out splines and upshifting became almost impossible.
I still wanted to ride so i worked the bike into third gear and took the lever off.
It was an illuminating experience that taught me i didnt need to shift as often as i normally would. I also ended up carrying way more speed into and out of corners in an effort to minimize the amount of abuse the clutch had to endure. That single day of riding resulted in the greatest increase of riding ability ive ever had.
Ive heard stories of riders losing their rear brake and being forced to learn better front brake technique and Big James taking the seat off to force more standing.
Just wondering if anyone else has a similar story of some type of malfunction leading to overall improvement.
I still wanted to ride so i worked the bike into third gear and took the lever off.
It was an illuminating experience that taught me i didnt need to shift as often as i normally would. I also ended up carrying way more speed into and out of corners in an effort to minimize the amount of abuse the clutch had to endure. That single day of riding resulted in the greatest increase of riding ability ive ever had.
Ive heard stories of riders losing their rear brake and being forced to learn better front brake technique and Big James taking the seat off to force more standing.
Just wondering if anyone else has a similar story of some type of malfunction leading to overall improvement.
I raced the MTA 2 stroke championships this year on my 04 KX125. After practice i decided to change my lever position, and while doing so must have gotten distracted. In Moto 1 I quickly realized i hadn't tightened my front brake master cylinder down all the way. I reached the top of Mount St Helen's on lap 1 and my front brake master cylinder + lever was flopped straight downwards out of reach. I went flying down Mount St Helens with only my rear brake to use and somehow made the corner at the bottom by just laying the bike over. Probably the quickest turn i've ever made on that bike. I spent the rest of the moto without a front brake.
In moto 2 i found myself not using my front brake nearly as much as i usually do and carried my speed down the hills into corners much better, and my lap times were noticeably improved because of it.
Now i seem to carry my speed much better into corners overall.
My dad always tells me the story of him racing 125 novice at Ascot. Someone slammed him into a guard rail and it wrapped his shifter around to the foot peg so he couldn't shift. Bike was stuck in 3rd gear and he said it was the fastest he had ever gone there. Last to 2nd if I remember correctly and was right on the leader at the finish.
Worked from 10th to 5th by the time it was done, and my lap times were better than they were in practice....not having a rear brake forced me commit to my lines and carry my momentum.
Still wouldn't recommend, had a couple hairy moments going down that hill
The Shop
So easy sx style stuff. I will also add that I almost never jumped anything first. Always followed someone better that I trusted when learning new jumps. If I only had money for good suspension back when I had younger balls....
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