Whether you’ve purchased your first bike with hopes of developing the perfect trick, or are content to just watch others, freestyle motocross is an exhilarating sport. The beauty of freestyle motocross is the blend of power, speed and agility to perform tricks that don’t seem possible with such a large machine. But, when you’re new to the sport, it may be difficult to know a Can Can from a Nac Nac, much less be able to recognize them when you’ve seen them. It’s easy to spot “cool” but it may take some time to know that you’ve just seen backflip-Superman-seatgrab-indian-air combo.
The following is a list of common tricks that are commonly performed in freestyle motocross. They may be done in an arena with a ramp, or over natural jumps. All of the following tricks are performed as a rider goes over a jump and is airborne.
Can Can: The rider takes one foot off of the foot peg and brings it over the seat so that it extends in front of the other leg.
Lazy Boy: The rider extends his legs straight, under the handlebars, while lying back against the seat and extending his arms back.
Double Grab: The rider grabs the back of the bike with both hands while extending his body off the back of the bike.
Nac Nac: As the rider leaves the jump, he whips the bike sideways, removes the front leg and swings it over the back of the bike while looking back.
Superman: The rider removes both feet from the foot pegs and kicks them straight back.
No Footer: The rider removes both feet from the pegs when landing.
Indian Air: The rider extends and crosses his legs in a scissors motion.
Cliffhanger: The rider stands up straight, with his toes on the underside of the handlebars. His hands are held over his head, as if riding a roller coaster.
Kiss of Death: While airborne with the bike as vertical as possible the rider points his legs straight up so that his head is over and near the center of the bars.
Nothing: The rider lands with neither hands nor feet touching the bike.
If you still have trouble identifying the tricks check out the Internet. There are plenty of resources available, both amateur and professional videos and clips that will show you how the tricks look when performed. If you’re learning to do the tricks yourself, make sure that you have solid riding skills, quality safety gear and that you aren’t practicing alone.
