Motocross Start Technique: Dirt, Concrete and Metal Grates Are Not the Same

Vaidas Vitkūnas
Motocross Start Technique

Motocross start technique is usually taught as one set of rules: second gear, elbows up, feed the clutch. That is fine until you roll up to a concrete pad or a metal grate and find half of it works against you. What is under your rear wheel changes body position, the clutch hand and whether a holeshot device helps at all. Here is how the three surfaces differ.

The three surfaces you will start on #

Dirt is what most club and practice tracks use; concrete pads are common at permanent venues. Metal grates arrived more recently: per Motocross Action, they were first used at the 2013 Monster Energy Cup, MXGP adopted them for 2017, AMA Supercross followed in 2018, and the AMA Nationals in 2023.

Dirt: you build your own traction #

Dirt is the only surface where preparation is part of the technique. MXA’s advice is to shovel the rut straight if it is crooked or bumpy, because a small straight rut actually helps — it increases the grip area between the tyre sidewall and the edge of the rut. Pack the middle and edges down, and if the line is hard-packed, use a broom to sweep off loose dirt that would cause wheelspin. Clear any rocks or debris off your pad.

Then read the soil. Soft dirt wants an aggressive throttle; hard-pack wants finesse. Walk the line before your race and watch a few gate drops to see how others are attacking it.

On body position, MXA are specific and slightly counterintuitive: do not chase traction by sliding back on the seat. Sit in the same place every time, keep your torso erect, and hinge forward or back from the hips to move weight. On a dirt start you lean forward with elbows up.

This is also the surface where a holeshot device earns its keep. It holds the forks compressed so you can put power down without looping out, letting you stay on the throttle rather than backing off to keep the front wheel down. MXA’s mounting guidance: the drier and more hard-packed the dirt, the higher the setting; the tackier the dirt, the lower it goes. Top pros run them very low.

Concrete: think sandpaper #

MXA’s framing is the most useful thing written about concrete starts — treat each pad as a different grit of sandpaper. The finer the texture, the more weight you need over the rear wheel, the smoother the clutch has to be, and the more likely you are to spin. Coarse, brushed or grooved finishes give up traction more easily, but then you need weight further forward in case the tyre hooks up harder than you expected.

Body position flips from the dirt start. Rather than elbows forward, MXA say to sit around six inches further back but keep the torso bolt upright, hinging from the hips. You can test the grip by “chirping” the rear wheel — a false start where you let the clutch grab then pull it straight back in, finger covering the front brake so you do not jump the gate.

The clutch hand changes too. The instinct to dump it is wrong here: feed the clutch out while the rear tyre is still on the cement, then dump it once you are on dirt. MXA’s trick for slowing your own hand down is to use your three outer fingers on the lever instead of the index or middle finger, which are simply too quick.

Two concrete-specific points. Brand-new tyres are not an advantage, because the sharp square edges on fresh knobs break traction under load. And the top-fuel burnout is mostly theatre: tyre designers told MXA that heating the rear more than 45 seconds before the gate drops is wasted, since it cools again. Spinning just enough to clean and score the knobs is the point.

Finally, skip the holeshot device on concrete. MXA are blunt that it is not worth the time there — work on technique instead.

Metal grates: the great equaliser #

Grates remove the variable that dirt starts are built around. With identical traction at every gate and no deep rut to pack, MXA report that gate pick becomes a question of position relative to the first turn rather than the condition of the dirt behind the gate. Qualifying matters slightly less as a result.

The hardware moved with it. Because wheelspin is no longer the problem, start devices that used to sit 130 mm down are now set at 165 mm, and tuners can put more power into the mapping since the engine is loaded from the moment the gate drops. Starting blocks have become more popular too, even among taller riders who never needed them on dirt, because they help get your feet onto the pegs sooner.

Not everyone is happy about it. MXA note the criticism that with total traction and no ruts nobody gets separation off the line, and that some blame the grates for the first-turn crashes of the 2024 and 2025 Pro seasons. They are also used at the Motocross des Nations, which formed part of the argument for adopting them in the US — we covered that event’s format in Motocross of Nations 2026.

What does not change #

Some of it is surface-agnostic:

  • Watch the pin, not the gate. Focus on the device that releases the gate rather than the gate itself. It moves perhaps a tenth of a second earlier, and MXA rate that tenth as a real advantage.
  • Use peripheral vision. Cycle World’s version is to look ahead at the first turn and catch the gate drop out of the corner of your eye.
  • Do your homework in the race before yours. Learn how fast the gate drops and when the starter tends to pull the trigger. MXA’s tip: watch how quickly the 30-second board holder leaves the track, because nothing happens until they are clear.
  • Feet in front of the pegs. When the clutch comes out your body wants to slide backwards, and having your feet forward gives you something to brace against.
  • Squeeze with your legs, and point your toes inward once your feet are on the pegs for more leverage.
  • Second gear, nine times out of ten. MXA suggest first gear for newer riders or a 125 two-stroke, second for bigger engines, and note most 450s can start in third with a talented rider aboard. If you are weighing the two engine types generally, our 2-stroke versus 4-stroke guide covers the differences. Gearing changes the maths too — the gearing calculator shows what a sprocket change does.

Where the sources disagree #

Worth flagging rather than smoothing over, because you will hear both.

Clutch fingers. Cycle World says index and middle fingers on the lever, ring and little fingers gripping the bar. MXA’s concrete article says the opposite — three outer fingers, precisely because index and middle are too fast for their own good. The two reconcile once you notice MXA’s advice is surface-specific.

Feet. MXA’s general start article prefers both feet down for balance. Their concrete article says one leg up or two legs down does not matter, as long as you hold whatever position you chose until you are over the gate.

RPM. The Moto Academy splits it by surface in the same way: higher rpm with a slow clutch release on metal grate and dirt, lower rpm on cement, closer to what you would use riding through the pits. They also note that on a powerful bike the clutch may not be fully out until you are 50 to 100 feet down the straight.

Launch control. MXA report many AMA pros do not use it, and that the systems differ enough to matter — some let you hold it against the rev limiter, some prefer three-quarter throttle, KTM and Husqvarna systems switch off if you close the throttle more than 30 percent, and Honda does not fit one at all. None of this applies to an electric bike, which has no clutch or gearbox to manage in the first place — see our look at electric motocross bikes.

The unglamorous part #

All of the above is worth a fraction of what practice starts are worth — MXA point out the best starters in the business got there by doing thousands of them. Wet and muddy gates change the equation again, which we covered in riding motocross in mud.

Sources #

Vaidas Vitkūnas

Written by

Vaidas Vitkūnas

Vaidas is the founder of RevBorn, a motocross gear and clothing webstore for riders looking for practical equipment, protection, and riding apparel from trusted MX brands.

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