How to Wheelie or how not to Wheelie

I love to wheelie... here's my ins and outs of getting it up...

There are two basic ways to go for wheelie stardom... by throttle only-if your
bike has the power or by a combination of throttle and clutch like on a EX500...

Hold the left grip with your little ring finger plus thumb... leaving the other
two digits free to fan the clutch...

Now blip the throttle hard and dump the clutch as the revs peak... As you dump
the clutch and I mean dump it... tug upwards on the bars and throw your body
back...

Don't worry if you only do pathetic bunny hops... that's as good as its gets for
the first few attempts...

As practice rewards with more air time and distances increase looping is a
novices biggest worry... I still carry scars on me butt and back from my first
loop... and there has been others...

If it comes up too far just give it a bit less throttle and move your body
forward... If it's pure panic close the throttle and pull in the clutch...

Wheelie aces use the back brake to bring it down... but don't worry about that
trick starting out... You won't learn to wheelie over night...

So all in all have a wheelie nice day But hold my thought... if you continue
to wheelie you will loop... it's a given... you'll might total your bike...
you might wear scars for life... I speak from experience... Warning pic is me
and it's graphic...





(IMG:http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/bigimages/WheelieCrash.JPG)

BusyLittleShop, Mar 22 2005, 06:50 PMhere's my ins and outs of getting it up...�

if you continue to wheelie you will loop...� it's a given... you'll might total your bike...
you might wear scars for life... I speak from experience... Warning pic is me
and it's graphic...

(IMG:http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/bigimages/WheelieCrash.JPG)

" here's my ins and outs of getting it up... "

Oh my, is this a porn site?....sorry couldn't resist :lol:

That's part of the reason I never intend to do "stunt" stuff.....nice butt BTW :goofy:


Good post on the pitfalls though, thanks. :thumbsup:

I hope this wasn't recent?

OUCH

Das Bone, Mar 22 2005, 01:04 PM
Oh my, is this a porn site?

nice butt BTW

Please remind me NEVER to ride in front of you! :P :lol:

Ouch!!

Hurricane249, Mar 22 2005, 07:18 PMPlease remind me NEVER to ride in front of you! :P  :lol:

[image: Attached Image] [image: Attached Image]

:lol: :beer:

Weren't wearing our protective gear were we? I hope it was a long time ago, as I see you wearing leather now. :salesman:

BusyLittleShop, Mar 22 2005, 06:50 PMI love to wheelie... here's my ins and outs of getting it up...

There are two basic ways to go for wheelie stardom... by throttle only-if your
bike has the power or by a combination of throttle and clutch like on a EX500...

Hold the left grip with your little ring finger plus thumb... leaving the other
two digits free to fan the clutch...

Now blip the throttle hard and dump the clutch as the  revs peak... As you dump
the clutch and I mean dump it... tug upwards on the bars and throw your body
back...

Don't worry if you only do pathetic bunny hops... that's as good as its gets for
the first few attempts...

As practice rewards with more air time and distances increase looping is a
novices biggest worry... I still carry scars on me butt and back from my first
loop... and there has been others...

If it comes up too far just give it a bit less throttle and move your body
forward... If it's pure panic close the throttle and pull in the clutch...

Wheelie aces use the back brake to bring it down... but don't worry about that
trick starting out... You won't learn to wheelie over night...

So all in all have a wheelie nice day But hold my thought... if you continue
to wheelie you will loop...  it's a given... you'll might total your bike...
you might wear scars for life... I speak from experience... Warning pic is me
and it's graphic...





(IMG:http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/bigimages/WheelieCrash.JPG)

Sorry, but I really have to ask this question. Could the VTEC's "legendary" 5000 RPM kick, upset some poor Interceptor rider's newbie first wheelie attempt, and should be something to be aware of before doing so??! :blink:
Just wondering. :wheel:

Beck
95 VFR

Please folks,...could we not quote the whole post,....I've seen waaaaay too much of Larry's arse already! :(

johne, Mar 22 2005, 02:55 PMPlease folks,...could we not quote the whole post,....I've seen waaaaay too much of Larry's arse already!  :(

HA HA

Das Bone, Mar 22 2005, 12:04 PM
I hope this wasn't recent?

OUCH

Not recent Das Gone... it was back in 1971...

ULEWZ, Mar 22 2005, 12:39 PM 
Weren't wearing our protective gear were we? I hope it was a long time ago, as I see you wearing leather now.  :salesman: 
 

You're right... and that's the day in 1971 that I learned Levis jeans offer no protect... in fact we went over my marks in the asphalt and found a strip of blue denim along with bits of skin and streaks of my aluminum fender...

johne, Mar 22 2005, 12:55 PM 
Please folks,...could we not quote the whole post,....I've seen waaaaay too much of Larry's arse already!  :( 
 

Johne... apologies for the arse... but you really tickled my funny bone with your comment... what to see it??? (just kidding)...

Time to change your dippers Larry ! :lol:

I'm assuming you weren't wearing leathers ?

Back when I was a young stud racing Moto-X, I used to pull up my YZ250 and run all the way to 6th gear in a wheelie.
Well I'm out on the street in front of my brother's house doing these 6 gear wheelies for 20 minutes or so when I decided to call it a day because no crowds had gathered, when I see one of my brother's neighbor walk out of his house. Not wanting to disappoint anyone I pulled it up one last time for him to enjoy and somewhere between 1st/2nd or 2nd /3rd I started to go over backwards and bailed off.
I landed on all fours sliding down the street trying to keep my torso off the pavement as I slid which I managed to do except a light drag of my hip that ground to the bone. Needless to say my palms and knees were trash . As I'm sliding down the street my bike slams into this guys truck that had just come outside !
To top off my :squid: dom, I was only wearing shorts a tennis shoes ! No helmet, gloves, shirt, nothing !!!!
Very stupid 20 year old !
I was in great pain for a very long time and cried myself dry that day !
One of my dumbest of all time, not the only, just the dumbest !
:squid:

I used to wheelie the dragster and never thought anything about it. You get to see pics of wrecked bikes all the time from this now. Which brings me to the point that I'm not a super rider and don't want to learn bad enough to become competent at this. It's something that occasionally I have the wheel up when accelerating through the gears but not on purpose. If I buy a track bike, I may pursue this some, otherwise, I'm gonna be a wuss.

Only time my front tire leaves the ground is when in power band (2nd - 4th gear) and accelerating over a rise in the road.

Here is the easy way:
1 Take a '98 R1 for a test ride.
2 Twist the throttle.
3 Yell "Holy Fucking Shit" and slam the throttle shut, because you have just power wheelied for the first time ever on a bike you don't own, and "working" for a friend who owns his own shop, and you'd really hate to make him repair a nice looking bike that you just trashed.

By the way, this all came 6 days after I rode an '04 CBR1000RR. I had to be reminded that I had indeed been on a liter bike before the R1 ride. I had completely forgotten about the CBR ride after the R1!

Beck, Mar 22 2005, 07:53 PMCould the VTEC's "legendary" 5000 RPM kick, upset some poor Interceptor rider's newbie first wheelie attempt, and should be something to be aware of before doing so??!

It's at 7k, smartarse! The much-maligned surge is at 5k... bwahaha! :lol:

Really, though... I have found coming down from wheelies a bit painful on... err... the boys, so I'm not a big fan of it.

Maybe I'm less of a fat455 than the average VFRD reader at my paltry 185#, but it'll get up and clear 12"+ under the front wheel if I am indelicate in 1st gear at a stoplight. Imagine my chagrin as I drop vs. slip the clutch at about 2500 and then twist it wide open as it comes up... only bringing it further up as I wheelie across an intersection... Major :squid: Unintended, but :squid: just the same. Stomp on the "rear"-ish brake pedal (damn LBS, be careful or that front wheel won't spin when it hits the ground) and down she goes... sending the boys into the tank at about 40mph. Yeah, I got what I deserved...

I hear a -1 countershaft sprocket makes the VTEC 1st gear pretty much useless except for such stunts.

My bike is bone stock (2003) with the rear fender removed and the mufflers gutted. Gutting the mufflers (cutting them apart and tig welding them back together) took at least 20-25 pounds off the bike and gave me a lot more low end torque. Until a couple months ago I could never get the bike up in second but in Jan when I had the bike at the local dealer they somehow fouled my plugs and pulled all four to clean them. Wow what a difference I think my plugs must have been fouled since the bike was new. The bike would always stand up in first (35 mph), right when vtec hits crack the the throttle and it will come up smoothly. Also in second (60 mph) right when Vtec hits crack the throttle and it will come right up. In second you may need to pull back on the handlebars a little to get it up. I've never clutched a bike up I always throttle it and bounce the front if it's really stubborn. I've never covered the rear brake either, although it's a good idea.
I'm to the point now where I can bring it up in second and balance the bike for a couple miles if it's not windy. The trick is getting the bike up high enough where you're balancing and not accelerating, if you can do this you'll maintain your speed at around 65 and can ride it out. If you don't get the front end high enough you'll have to accelerate to keep the bike up and you'll end up setting it down aound 90 when you run out of rpm's. Learn to set the bike down softly when you set it down, you'll have to be on the gas to do this. This is a lot easier on your bike, your wrists, etc.

There are a couple things I think are really important when you're doing this. Make sure you have all the proper safety gear to protect your butt (see pics above and my apologies for not demonstrating better riding gear in my pictures). Make sure you're comfortable with what you're doing and doing it for yourself, not doing it in front of people to show off (you'll wreck and no one will be impressed). Take little steps: I spent hours and hours in an empty parking lot by myself practicing and practicing and practicing before I got comfortable standing the bike up.

:thumbsup:

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/JoeSiedenburg/standup.jpg) (IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/JoeSiedenburg/onone.jpg)

Joe,

Even if you normally let it back down easy, you might want to keep an eye on your steering head bearings. Wheelies are hard on them. IIRC, you can replace the OEM's with tapered bearings, which handle the loads a little better.

tbzep, Mar 22 2005, 08:51 PMJoe,

Even if you normally let it back down easy, you might want to keep an eye on your steering head bearings.  Wheelies are hard on them.  IIRC, you can replace the OEM's with tapered bearings, which handle the loads a little better.

thanks for the tip, I probably need to replace mine as I brought the bike down hard a lot when I was learning.

tbzep, Mar 22 2005, 08:51 PMJoe,

Even if you normally let it back down easy, you might want to keep an eye on your steering head bearings.� Wheelies are hard on them.�  IIRC, you can replace the OEM's with tapered bearings, which handle the loads a little better.

It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the oil pressure light too. The pickup/strainer for the oil pump is just behind the crank centerline ahead of the mainshaft. I can easily imagine a prolonged wheelie causing the oil to drain away from pickup running the oil pump dry allowing you to test the effectiveness of all those neat "wear additives of last resort" that ScootR tells us about.

Back in the day I had friends who could balance Honda 450s indefinately. Their garages had boxes full of roached cam bearings to prove it.

vfrjim2002, Mar 22 2005, 09:49 PMIt wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the oil pressure light too. The pickup/strainer for the oil pump is just behind the crank centerline ahead of the mainshaft. I can easily imagine a prolonged wheelie will cause the oil to drain away from pickup running the oil pump dry and allow you to test the effectiveness of all those neat "wear additives of last resort" that ScootR tells us about.

Back in the day I had friends who could balance Honda 450s indefinately. Their garages had boxes full of roached cam bearings to prove it.

This is something I've always worried about, my friend chunked his Gixxer 1000 motor this way (oil starvation). I'm sure the Honda five year warranty probably wouldn't cover it either.

Toy800, Mar 22 2005, 09:52 PMThis is something I've always worried about, my friend chunked his Gixxer 1000 motor this way (oil starvation).  I'm sure the Honda five year warranty probably wouldn't cover it either.

Honda refusing to warranty it is probably a safe bet.

BusyLittleShop, Mar 23 2005, 07:21 AMYou're right... and that's the day in 1971.....

That's right - your arse hangs down to the ground in 2005, doesn't it Larry, alongside your goolies bag!

Toy800, Mar 22 2005, 09:41 PMMy bike is bone stock (2003) with the rear fender removed and the mufflers gutted.  Gutting the mufflers (cutting them apart and tig welding them back together) took at least 20-25 pounds off the bike and gave me a lot more low end torque.  Until a couple months ago I could never get the bike up in second but in Jan when I had the bike at the local dealer they somehow fouled my plugs and pulled all four to clean them.  Wow what a difference I think my plugs must have been fouled since the bike was new.  The bike would always stand up in first (35 mph), right when vtec hits crack the the throttle and it will come up smoothly.  Also in second (60 mph) right when Vtec hits crack the throttle and it will come right up.  In second you may need to pull back on the handlebars a little to get it up.  I've never clutched a bike up I always throttle it and bounce the front if it's really stubborn.  I've never covered the rear brake either, although it's a good idea. 
I'm to the point now where I can bring it up in second and balance the bike for a couple miles if it's not windy.  The trick is getting the bike up high enough where you're balancing and not accelerating, if you can do this you'll maintain your speed at around 65 and can ride it out.  If you don't get the front end high enough you'll have to accelerate to keep the bike up and you'll end up setting it down aound 90 when you run out of rpm's.  Learn to set the bike down softly when you set it down, you'll have to be on the gas to do this.  This is a lot easier on your bike, your wrists, etc.

There are a couple things I think are really important when you're doing this.  Make sure you have all the proper safety gear to protect your butt (see pics above and my apologies for not demonstrating better riding gear in my pictures).  Make sure you're comfortable with what you're doing and doing it for yourself, not doing it in front of people to show off (you'll wreck and no one will be impressed).  Take little steps: I spent hours and hours in an empty parking lot by myself practicing and practicing and practicing before I got comfortable standing the bike up.

:thumbsup:

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/JoeSiedenburg/standup.jpg) (IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/JoeSiedenburg/onone.jpg)

Judging from your Billy Lane-ish burnout, I gather you disabled the LBS? :blink:

JA1LER, Mar 23 2005, 10:30 AMJudging from your Billy Lane-ish burnout, I gather you disabled the LBS? :blink:

The linked brake system doesn't engage when the front wheel is locked up.

By the way, Busy Little Shop, nice thread :thumbsup: I love your bike and I read the whole story about how you came across it and bought it, pretty sweet. :)

baileyrock, Mar 22 2005, 01:59 PM 
Time to change your dippers Larry !  :lol: 
 
 
 
I'm assuming you weren't wearing leathers ? 
 
 
Very stupid 20 year old ! 
:squid: 
 

LOL... I can laugh now... but it's wasn't funny when you can't sit down for a week...

You assume right... no leathers... just Levi's toughest denim which lasted a nano second ... I might have been wearing just my BVDs for all the skin I saved...

20 year olds will not be denied the opportunity to out shine each other with acts of stupidity...

It all started when I bet a bottle of bottle of Boone Farms that I could out wheelie my buddy Lee J... I was determined to win so I got my 350 Kawasaki Bid Horn up in second gear and shifted into third on the back wheel... I rolled off the throttle a notch and had the sickening feeling of going over the balance point... I remember the sky looking so blue as I rolled around the axis point and the ground feeling so hard as I landed on my left cheek in a bone jarring impact... next I remember sliding merrily on my back and thinking this is not good so I got back on my feet... the only problem was I was still going 15 mph... luckily my Full Bore MX boots acted like skis allowing an easy slide... at about 5 mph I got antsy and tried to run... which turned in to a high stepping gallop as my feet failed to keep up... just as I started to fall forward I reached out to grab on to a wire fence... the fence bowed under my weight so much that it almost catapulted me back on to my ass again...
Before I could play back the sequence of events I was over overwhelmed as to why my ass didn't hurt... it just felt airy... that's as Mary and my brother Mike ran to my aid exclaiming "don't look it's ugly"... all they saw was shreads of Levi soaked in blood and thought it was chunks of ass meat... but it was just deep abrasions contaminated with dirt and gravel... I loaded up doggy style in the back of my brothers Volvo and we sped straight for hospital on Norton AFB... but the gate guard halted my long hair... hippy looking... anti war... draft dodging... brother and wanted to see my military ID... so my brother Mike points at raw ass and says. "there's your ID" the guard looks at the raw oozing abrasions and grimaces yelling "go go go"... After the USAF Docs scrub and picked as if I loved pain I was sent home... that's when Mary snapped the pic...

Toy800, Mar 23 2005, 10:46 AM
By the way, Busy Little Shop, nice thread  :thumbsup:  I love your bike and I read the whole story about how you came across it and bought it, pretty sweet.  :)

Thanks Toy800... welcome... I think you'll find that the members of Hispanic Slammer's VFRD site know how to multiply pleasure and divide grief...