folding frame

[dangerousdana]

The other day I was doing a wheelie. Did a pretty long one on pavement. When I finally set the front wheel down, the speedometer jumped from zero to 75mph. That seems like pretty rough treatment for the tire and possibly the frame. But probably not as bad as the abuse the bike would take on a rough trail or from a full on hard stop from speed. I was just thinking that if the front wheel folded under the frame when I set it down at that speed, it would probably hurt. Any opinions of the risk of any serious breakage to occur from repeated high speed wheelie landings?

[dangerousdana]

47 views and not one opinion. What's up with that?

[Dutch]

I have never heard of that happening, don't think the stress is as bad as a motocross track would be. I have seen snapped speedo cables from landing the front wheel at high speed,(90 MPH puts a 6 foot black mark down!).

[Dodger]

Ummm, well, they've been building bikes for years that can handle massive jumps, as well as repeated abuse from rocks and roots and what not on the trail.

The force exerted on a stopped front tire on impact with the ground from a wheelie is minimal compared to everything else we put these bikes through, it's kinda what the forks were designed to handle............Seems to me, the only way you would EVER even come close to folding your front wheel under, would to bring that "fast wheelie" down with the front break firmly engaged!

Concern is never a bad thing, just don't think you have anything to worry about here................

Peace

Dodger ?

[jwriott]

Have you ever watched Moto GP or World Superbike? Those guys pull 150 mph wheelies and those bikes don't fold under.

I used to ride with a guy on the street who would pull up on his CBR900RR and ride a wheelie for 2-3 miles. He'd set down at 130 mph and white smoke would pour off the front wheel because at that point the front isn't rotating.

I'd be more concerned with the oil pickup location in the engine. If it's in the front of the engine, you could have problems if you are riding long wheelies.

John