50 small things to help you win…

1. Over gripping your throttle into left handed corners so your outside elbows stays up while you are hard on gas coming out.
2. Always watch the pin holding the gate up, not the gate!
3. Walk the track after the race. That helps to see how lines developed over the course of the race. That way you know what to expect next time.
4. Eat between races. Your body is like your bike, it wont run without fuel
5. Look ahead at the middle of the corner. That gives you precious extra seconds to setup for a jump outta the corner
6. Improper chain maintenance can cost you up to 4 horsepower. A dirty rusty chain has friction. Friction is the enemy of horsepower.
7. Always bleed your forks of air after every session. Air tends to cause fork seal leakage and deflection of forks off of square edge type bumps.
8. Move around as you ride. Your balance points changes as you gas or brake. So should your body to stay in correct position
9. Never look behind you during the race. Nothing behind you will ever beat you. It’s always the guy in front of you who is kicking your butt! Focus on him instead of who’s behind you.
10. NO FEAR! Fear causes hesitation, that is what gets riders hurt. It’s ok to be cautious even reserved to some point. But if all you are thinking of is that fear. Then maybe you need to find another sport to try.
11. Bike care is an important part of every race routine. The last thing you want is to be laying in the E.R. room because you failed to change a $3 sparkplug. Your life depend son that machine working correctly at all times
12. Using a dab of grease on the forks is good way to mark travel of your suspension to ensure your getting the most travel you can on any given track.
13. Soft drinks are arm pump in a can! Drink water or sports drinks to help combat that feeling. Bananas are another excellent way to do that.
14. Every time you have a practice day, set aside 30 mins for starts. Most riders’ fail to practice starts enough. Starts are the most important part of any race.
15. Goggle selection is like tires. Make them suit the conditions. Yellow lens for overcast muddy days and smoke or gray tint for bright sunny days. The yellow brightens everything up while the other cuts down on glare so rider don’t have to squint to see lines
16. Spend 15 mins alone before your moto to prepare your mind. Having the right mindset is important to giving 110% during the race. Clear your mind and your body will follow.
17. Always try to practice with riders slightly faster than you. That way your skill will improve faster.
18. Learn to ride with reaction more than thought. Reaction will always be faster than thought
19. Always try to run two classes if you can. By running a second class you often can use it as a second practice to dial in lines or jumps for your main race
20. A good sneaky move that nearly always works on rookies is to come up behind them and pull clutch in and rev bike to moon while yelling “LOOK OUT!! LOOK OUT!! I AM GOING TO HIT YA!” he will turn around to look, and first thing he will do is let off gas, that’s when you dump clutch and fly by him! You be amazed how many times in a row that will work on the same rider.
21. Always keep a nickels width of free play in your clutch lever. That is to insure that your not riding around with a slipping clutch
22. Stopwatches don’t lie! Sometimes what feels fast by seat of pants is actually slower
23. Stretching out before you ride will cut down on a lot of muscle type injuries that you will get during your sessions. A loose rider is a fluid rider
24. Never use more than 3-4 tear-offs at one time. If you load more they tend to get a milky haze to them and its hard to see
25. Rain-x on goggle lens during a rain race will help keep the water and mud from hindering your vision
26. Always practice in at least 30 min sessions. That way a 5-6 moto will be nothing for you to race in. it be more like a sprint and endurance will not be an issue.
27. The guy on the inside of the corner controls the corner. You can always push someone out in a corner but it’s near impossible to push someone inside. The natural energy of the corner always flows to the outside
28. Study other classes between races. Watch how lines are used and which ones work best for certain situations. Look at where they begin to gas and brake. See if you can improve there any.
29. Have your suspension set for your weight. Your machine may do 100 mph but if your suspension will only allow you to get to 25 mph, then 25 mph is as fast as you will go
30. Don’t buy engine mods till you can get the most out of your stock machine. If you cannot hold a stock bike wide open thru the corners then you will never hold a mod bike the same way
31. Make your last lap time as fast or faster than your first lap time. That way your attacking the track the entire race instead of attacking for 3 laps then surviving for 3 laps
32. Rubbing is racing. Sometimes you got to get a little physical to get by someone. Just draw the line at hurting them or crashing them out. The point is to stop their forward movement for a split second to gain an advantage over them. Not to punt them into next zip code!
33. Use video to help you training. Its excellent way to see your mistakes and correct them
34. Practice the roughest knarliest tracks you can find. The rut’s and braking bumps will help simulate the conditions of race day much better than a groomed prepped track will
35. Spray your bike down with Wesson or Pam cooking oil before a nasty muddy race. Its help the mud to fall off more easily and don’t weight the bike down as much
36. Don’t follow! You can never ever pass someone when you follow. You also tend to run their pace which may be a lot slower than yours
37. Don’t over warm your bike in staging and starting gate. A cold engine produces more horsepower than a warm or hot one will.
38. When racing in sand, try to sweep all the corners as much as you can. When you try to square them off you will hit the ground.
39. Try to not look at the ruts. It throws you off and you get loose when you focus on them. Once your lined up and into it then look beyond at the next obstacle and power thru them
40. Stay low over the jumps. By staying low your able to get back on the power faster than the next guy
41. Landing hard on the throttle will help absorb over jumping as well chop valuable time off your lap times.
42. Spend small amount of every days practice session with some play riding. Wheelies, stopples, figure 8’s and little things like that help reinforce the basic techniques of riding and also helps to ingrain the smooth and fluid use of all 5 of the basic controls
43. Winners never quit and quitters never win! Nuff said?
44. Good use of sponsor deals can cut up to 50% off of your total yearly parts if done correctly
45. When in set of rocker type whoops remember to row the boat with your arms. It help to keep your body in the right position at the right times
46. Roll riders bars forward so they are in straight line with the angle of the forks. This will help in keeping a forward elbows position when he rides to help with stability and control.
47. Learn to pull tear offs in the air. Its best time to take hand off without bars jerking to one side unexpectedly
48. Roll throttle as far forward as you can. Helps with the throttle coming in faster as well as keeping a good elbows up position
49. Taking out the air screen on the air filter of a 4 stroke and replacing filter with a flame retardant one will increase your horsepower by1-2h.p.

Never ever underestimate how hard your competition is training. Every moment you spend not riding or training. Somewhere out there someone is still hard at it. He is tired and dirty; this is the life he chooses for himself. This is the guy who is going to be smoking fast and near impossible to beat