Moto Tips | Over The Wall

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A recent visit to Millsaps Training Facility gave us a chance to watch the elite of riders, a group that includes longtime MTF resident/Fire Power Parts Honda rider Jordon Smith, go through part of their daily routine. Smith has learned plenty in his decade-plus at the southern Georgia training spot, and after the moto, we asked him to guide us through a assortment of topics, including the technique of going up and over a wall jump.

How you will hit a wall all depends on what is after it. At the MTF track, it’s a 90-degree turn and then a rhythm section, but you don’t need a ton of speed. That means we don’t have to hammer down the backside of the wall; we can charge up to it, get over the top, and let the bike soak the jump up.

You always want to land rear-wheel first off a wall jump. If you land front-wheel first, you’re always waiting for the bike to settle. It’s best to land rear-wheel first so that you can get on the gas and try to keep the bike as straight and forward as possible. You don’t want to land, have the suspension unload, and then load it again when under power. That’s where you lose time on the wall jumps.

If the obstacle after the wall jump is something you need a really good drive to hit, like a turn or a bigger jump, you should charge up to the wall and use it as a brake or speed check. If you accelerate up to it, time it right, and then brake really hard at the base, you should be able to coast up and over it. This is important on the steeper faces.

If you are rolling the wall, then you need to think about the dirt. If it’s tacky clay and you get the front wheel down, you can get on the throttle immediately. If it’s sandy, like the soft type they use in Supercross, you can get a lot of wheelspin, and then it’s better to be a gear higher or at half-throttle. That way, you can apply it gradually and stay in control. The steep backsides are nice because you can get the power down.

I made ten passes over a wall jump at one Supercross race. Everyone was taking the inside line in the turn before and spinning their wheels, which made it bumpy. I went to the outside line and could charge out, square them up, then race to the single. Braking into the face of the wall would help me get beside them or get a wheel ahead, and they were stuck on the outside of the next turn.