Controlled Front‑End Lifts

The front wheel steers and the front wheel stops. When it hits a square edge — a log, a rock step, the far side of a hole — it either climbs it or it stops the bike dead and throws you forward. The rear wheel is different: it's driving, and the rear suspension is built to take a hit. So nearly every obstacle in hard enduro is crossed the same way: lift the front onto or over it, then let the rear follow.

Where you'll use it:

• Logs. The front goes onto the top of the log so the rear can climb up behind it. The logs and rocks lesson takes it from there.
• Rock steps and ledges. Same idea: place the front on top, then drive the rear up.
• Holes, washouts and ruts. A short lift carries the front over the gap so it can't drop in.
• Roots and small edges. A few centimetres of lift stops the front deflecting sideways on a wet root.
• Climbs. On a rocky hill, a small lift over each ledge keeps you crawling instead of stalling. Australasian Dirt Bike (ADB) editor Mitch Lees describes popping the front "10cm" on a climb, then squeezing the clutch "in ever so slightly" to bring it down and keep crawling.

The key is control. A lift that goes too high, too early or in the wrong place is worse than no lift at all.

Three things lift the front wheel. Get them working together and it takes very little effort.

1. Preload. Dip your body by bending your knees and let your weight push the bike into its suspension. When you stop pushing, the fork springs back and the front wants to rise. The Trials Training Center, describing Bruce and Brent LeRiche's technique, puts it precisely: "The body comes down and forward with a dip of the knees, keeping the head and upper body still."

2. Drive. A short, sharp burst of drive to the rear tyre pushes the bike forward under you and rotates the front up. At walking pace that burst comes from the clutch: throttle held a little above idle, clutch pulled in, then let out quickly but only a short way. ADB's log article describes the same move: "Use the clutch to bring up the engine speed and then quickly engage it to get maximum drive to the rear wheel".

3. Timing. The drive must arrive as the fork is rebounding, not while it's still compressing. Too early and you're fighting your own weight. Too late and the rebound has gone. Sam King, a professional trials and off-road rider, describes the clutch version in RidersWest: "briefly pull the clutch in and then out again as the suspension rebounds."

And the brake. The rear brake is the height control. ADB's advice is to "cover the rear brake so that you can control how high your front wheel goes without killing the engine". A tap brings the front down immediately. Pulling the clutch in slightly lowers it more gently.

Set up. Stand in your normal stance: knees and hips bent, balls of your feet on the pegs, head over the bars, eyes on the top of the obstacle. One finger on the clutch. Right foot over the rear brake pedal. The body positioning lesson covers this stance.

Dip. Bend at the knees to compress the bike. Keep your head and upper body quiet. Dipping your chest to pull on the bars is the most common mistake: the Trials Training Center names it and warns against using "too much arms to try to pull the bike up".

Extend. As the clutch bites, push with your legs against the pegs. Your arms stay bent and simply let the bars come towards you. The bike rises under you instead of you hauling it up.

Front up. Let your hips move back a little as the front rises, so you stay balanced over the bike, not behind it. At speed on small logs, Transmoto's Josh Green adds a hard pull on the bars and moves his weight well back. That's the fast version. At walking pace, legs and suspension do the work.

Front down. As soon as the front is on the obstacle, bring your weight forward over the bars again. That unloads the rear so it can climb. Cody Webb describes leaning forward "to kind of unweight the bike" as the rear hits a log.

On a low log or step, aim to put the front tyre on top. Transmoto's log guide says: "You want to lift the front wheel up so it comes into contact with the top half of the log".

On bigger logs and steps the aim changes. You drive the front into the upper part of the face and use the fork's rebound to help lift the rear. Transmoto's guide aims "about two-thirds of the way up" on big logs, and Webb aims for "just right in front of the top of the log, to get that rebound effect". On slippery or slanted logs, Fahringer warns that "if you push down too hard on the log, the front wheel will slide down the face of it."

Either way, once the rear tyre reaches the obstacle, ease off the drive. ADB's uphill log guide: "Once you feel the rear hit the log you should cut the throttle so the wheel just crawls over." Driving hard with the rear tyre on a log face just spins it.

Start on flat, grippy ground with nothing to hit. Do each step until it's boring. Before you begin, make sure you can do the small lift in the clutch control lesson and the "rise, tap, settle" drill in the rear brake lesson.

Always cover the rear brake. Every lift, every time. Your foot sits over the pedal before the front leaves the ground. If the front comes up further than you meant, one tap brings it down. This is the habit that stops a small lift turning into a loop-out.

Give the clutch time to cool. Each lift is a hard, short slip of the clutch, and a practice session is dozens of them. KTM's owner's manual for its 250 and 300 two-strokes warns that frequent, long clutch slipping heats the gear oil, engine and cooling system. Rest every ten minutes, and if the bite point moves or you smell the clutch, stop.

Build height slowly. Add height only when the smaller version is consistent. Practise on flat ground with no one near your line, and in full protective gear.

Flat, grippy ground, plus a low kerb or log. Rest two minutes every ten.