76 replies to this topic

[EXxrldtgnow300dtg TT Titanium Member]

hedwards79 said:

Thanks for the easy explanation. Now to just take that info and use it withouth busting my a#*

No pain, no gain:lol:

I pulled my first wheelie down on 1st street in Jacksonville FL  on a 1986 Honda 500 shadow back in 1987.  I told the two guys I was riding with, hey watch this, as I popped the clutch in 1st and stood the bike straight up and rode it for two blocks......purely accidental.  When the front end came down, I pulled into a parking and my legs were shaing so bad, I had toruble getting the kickstand down.  Everybody on the sidewlaks was yelling do it again, then the two guys I was riding with said wow man how'd ya do that?  I told them truthfully, I froze when the front wheel went skyward and just leaned a little to steer.  THe next night, a car at a stop sign tried to beat me at an intersection and totalled that bike and put me in the hospital.

I've only popped little wheelies ever since.

[matt3357 TT Bronze Member]

Anyone got any tips in regard to throttle control while WOT and standing at the same time to bounce the front?  

Meaning when I come back down I can't fully close the throttle without letting go of the grip, which results in erratic landings, anyone else have this problem?

[krazyinski TT Platinum Member]

loosen your grip, sounds obvious ? you are out of balance with your weight distribution and body position if your hanging on that tight. kinda like me in the Geritol forums asking I cant walk with out my hand on the wall.

[matt3357 TT Bronze Member]

Na I mean I literally cant close the throttle, I don't have a death grip or anything like that.  It's a problem I have in general made worse when I try getting the front wheel over something...

[hedwards79 TT Bronze Member]

XRLDTG said:

No pain, no gain:lol:

I pulled my first wheelie down on 1st street in Jacksonville FL  on a 1986 Honda 500 shadow back in 1987.  I told the two guys I was riding with, hey watch this, as I popped the clutch in 1st and stood the bike straight up and rode it for two blocks......purely accidental.  When the front end came down, I pulled into a parking and my legs were shaing so bad, I had toruble getting the kickstand down.  Everybody on the sidewlaks was yelling do it again, then the two guys I was riding with said wow man how'd ya do that?  I told them truthfully, I froze when the front wheel went skyward and just leaned a little to steer.  THe next night, a car at a stop sign tried to beat me at an intersection and totalled that bike and put me in the hospital.

I've only popped little wheelies ever since.

Wow, I would have loved to see you walk it two blocks accidentally. I bet that was helarious.

[hedwards79 TT Bronze Member]

Yesterday I was off of work so me and the son were outside riding our bikes and for the first time I was able to get the front wheel up.
Not up 2 or 3 inches but really up. So far that I had to use the rear bake to keep me from flipping. I have never gotten the wheel that high and was able to ride it for about 100 yards before letting it down.
My wife flipped out    because she just new I was going to crash but the excitement I felt I cant explain in words. It was an awesome feeling. Thanks for the help.  

[EXxrldtgnow300dtg TT Titanium Member]

hedwards79 said:

Wow, I would have loved to see you walk it two blocks accidentally. I bet that was helarious.

The people that saw it were in awe, as for myself, I just about crapped my pants!!!!  I wish I could pull that at will.

[hedwards79 TT Bronze Member]

XRLDTG said:

The people that saw it were in awe, as for myself, I just about crapped my pants!!!!  I wish I could pull that at will.

  Hahahaha. Dont we all. I guess with practice makes perfect. But there in lies the problem. Its hard to get up the nerve to practice.

[EXxrldtgnow300dtg TT Titanium Member]

hedwards79 said:

  Hahahaha. Dont we all. I guess with practice makes perfect. But there in lies the problem. Its hard to get up the nerve to practice.

If only we all had some extra scratch laying around for a total POS bike that ran well enough to practice on!!! I'm having trouble getting the nerve up on my 08 XR650L, although I can pull them about 1-2' off the ground for short spurts with a handlefull of throttle in 1st gear, anything over that and I get nervous.

[hedwards79 TT Bronze Member]

That is what scared me on my 08 CRF250X. I didnt want to mess it up. So I went to an area were the fall wouldnt hurt the bike so bad and practiced there. So far I havent flipped but I know if I keep playing like that I eventially will lay it down.

[byebi TT Bronze Member]

Thanks!

[byebi TT Bronze Member]

Thanks! Great Post!

[matthew trachsler TT Silver Member]

good advice thanks bud

[pwoiks TT Bronze Member]

how far down does everybody lower their rear brake pedal? ive lowerd mine down as far as it will go on my 2005 wr250f and it still isnt low enough. when im sitting down i have to strain my ankle to lift my foot on the brake while keeping it in contact with the peg and its to uncomftable to have controll of the rear brake that way.
one option would be to grind the threaded bar that comes from the master cylinder. has anyone had to do this on their bike before?

i have been practasing wheelies while out riding but i havent got the confidence knowing i might not get on the rear brake comfortabley?
thanks
rich

[chuckc4 TT Bronze Member]

My goal this year is to learn how to do wheelies - I am 42 and never could do them at all. After I learn how to do them, I will probably stop riding so maybe I shouldn't learn how to do them after all???

Great post though, thanks.

[turbo250x TT Bronze Member]

Practice, Practice, Practice. I started riding one year ago. Now I can ride half mile wheelies in fourth gear on my 250x. I can go from standing to sitting or sitting to standing. I can slow walk them it first gear. Although i haven't got down the circle wheelie yet, but its coming.. I've only had my 250x since september. b4 that i was ridding a ttr230. I used to slow walk it around in 2nd gear. I'm 18 and 5'7' 135 so im still nimble and limber. I still can't figure out how to use the rear brake when riding a wheelie. If its starts coming over when im goin slow i just hop of then hop back on. lol I guess i need to learn how to use it

[road_toad666 TT Silver Member]

XRLDTG said:

If only we all had some extra scratch laying around for a total POS bike that ran well enough to practice on!!! I'm having trouble getting the nerve up on my 08 XR650L, although I can pull them about 1-2' off the ground for short spurts with a handlefull of throttle in 1st gear, anything over that and I get nervous.

I have the same bike- ('08 XRL..) I don't think that i have ever ridden a bike that is more well balanced for wheelies that this one. It can feel intimidating at first due to the fact that the bike is so big and heavy, and torquey. What really helped me is changing out the front sprocket from the stock 15 tooth to a 13 tooth- with the stock rear sprocket still in place. What this accomplished for me is a great medium- with the stock gearing, first was the most ideal wheelie gear, but the bike was not moving fast enough to stay very well balanced, and second gear it just ran out of steam too fast to be of much good.

Now, second is the perfect gear for riding wheels, because the bike has enough speed to where the gyroscopic force has built to where side-to-side balance is comfortable, and there is still plenty of gear and rpm's left to work with to keep the front end in the air. By gyroscopic force, I mean the type of force that you feel when you take, say- a bicycle wheel, hold it by the axles, and spin it, and then try to turn it side to side? That force you feel is gyroscopic, it constantly pulls the wheel back to straight. Imagine the amount of force that a small, lightweight bicycle wheel generates, even at a slow spinning speed, and magnify that by dozens, and you get the type of force you are dealing with when your motorcycle front wheel is running at speed!

That's why the experienced wheelie guys you see will turn the handlebars in mid-wheelie to correct the side to side leaning, to keep the bike balanced. It takes some practice, but it is the key to keeping your bike pointed in the direction you want it to go when you are sailing on down the road on one wheel.

Once you get a feel for it on the L, it is unbeleivably easy to carry it for a long ways on one wheel. You just have to fight against what nature gave you naturally, and that is your equilibrium telling you that something is amiss.

What a few days of hanging out with these guys could do for us, uh?!?!! They have found that "sweet spot" of the forks being parallel to the ground, just like the starting poster had said.



    

[Techteach TT Member]

Thanks, good info. Always had trouble with wheelies as a kid. Even on a
rm125. A few minutes out on the husky 250 and I'm already getting the hang of it. Practice is key though.

[Chillwabbitt TT Silver Member]

road_toad666 said:

That's why the experienced wheelie guys you see will turn the handlebars in mid-wheelie to correct the side to side leaning, to keep the bike balanced. It takes some practice, but it is the key to keeping your bike pointed in the direction you want it to go when you are sailing on down the road on one wheel.

OK Sorry got to pipe in here again.
Yes the experienced guys can correct mid pull, however this is usually due to an incorrect balance pick up (usually) or a strong cross wind.

I'm going back to "love the skin you in" if you put it down at an angle you going to pay for it trust me I have first hand experience with this as do allot of my mates.

Good luck chaps, I'm glad to hear that some are making headway out of this post and no one so far has taken a trip to the ER.

You guys making some head way: why not post a picture or two of you in action practising...

Later Chilli

[cheeseclip TT Member]

on a mountain bike i can pull a wheelie at like walking pace for about 50 to 100 metres. i can do a few bike trials moves like balancing on the back wheel and hopping round on it and jumping onto stuff. im not too bad at bike trials but i wouldnt be able to pull a 20 power wheelie on my yzf450 to save my life. should some of my balance on my mountain bike help a bit?