I'm roadtripping to Mobile next week for the Holiday so last night I put my EXL tail and saddle bags on the bike. Rode it to work today to make sure I had it put together about right. So, anyway, sprinting down 295 and a check in the mirror shows my left side bag shaking a little. So, I pulled over to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. Hope back on, check the traffic, see a decent sized spot and vroom, vroom! Well, I'm on the gas, looking over my left shoulder when I realize that I really shouldn't be looking at the ground in this position. So, focus forward and see that my front wheel is about three feet in the air! I could not believe how quickly and easily it came up! I was so startled that I held it there long enough to pull into traffic before dumping the gas and slamming back down. Other than racking myself against the tank, no problems. My bags are EMPTY. How the hell did I do that? Surprised the S$%# outta me, but at the same time, I laughed all the way home....
Anyway, I just thought I would share. ;)
NOTHING wrong with a controlled wheelie now and then!! Traffic on the highway isn't the best place to start doing them(even if it adds a kick to your morning commute lol), so that why I always say it's best to parctice a few when there is no traffic and no one to run in to you! Just another way to understand how your bike works and how it feels on one wheel in a safer enviroment, then if it happens to you in traffic accidentally! You know, been there, done that...
The 6th gens will do it in second gear....around 7grand with some on/off/on the gas action....better with an empty gas tank.!! Just use good judgement.
Seb can stunt pretty good because he's always practicing (even on the job.) For those of you that don't know, Seb operates a bulldozer and the other day when he was on his break, this co-worker of his pulled out his camcorder and started taping Seb practicing stoppies while on his lunch break:
Assuming you're serious, yes. My bike is bone stock and when Seb and I swapped bikes for a short ride, he rode a wheelie on mine. The front wheel was way up there.
[image: View Post]KeystoneVFR, on Nov 21 2008, 01:03 PM, said:
Assuming you're serious, yes. My bike is bone stock and when Seb and I swapped bikes for a short ride, he rode a wheelie on mine. The front wheel was way up there.
Well, I was kinda half kidding. I've seen people doing wheelies on them (on movies on youtube and such, never in person), but I'm not a good enough rider to even imagine I could do one. Tried to open the throttle wide open many times, but never felt the front wheel wanting to get off the ground. Maybe I can get private lessons from a fellow rider one day. More seriously, I'm surprised that someone would open the throttle enough to wheelie (original post) and not notice that the front wheel is off the ground. I mean that is there that much power in them?
[image: View Post]PolarBear, on Nov 21 2008, 04:10 PM, said:
More seriously, I'm surprised that someone would open the throttle enough to wheelie (original post) and not notice that the front wheel is off the ground. I mean that is there that much power in them?
PPM
Yeap, often loft it (oopsie) when exiting a slow sharp corner in 1st gear at 7k and whacking the throttle.
[image: View Post]y2kvfr, on Nov 21 2008, 05:33 PM, said:
[image: View Post]PolarBear, on Nov 21 2008, 04:10 PM, said:
More seriously, I'm surprised that someone would open the throttle enough to wheelie (original post) and not notice that the front wheel is off the ground. I mean that is there that much power in them?
PPM
Yeap, often loft it (oopsie) when exiting a slow sharp corner in 1st gear at 7k and whacking the throttle.
It happens ... a lot. :biggrin:
Sounds like you need to run that corner faster & in 2nd! :cool: :laugh:
Over the summer I went skydiving for the first time. When anyone asks "How was it?" I answer "It's great; like a thousand wheelies all rolled into one".
And then I see their faces as they ponder what a wheelie feels like...
If I could wheelie a bike out the back of a cargo plane from 11k feet, I'd likely die of overstimulation. But I'd die happy.
[image: View Post]PolarBear, on Nov 21 2008, 05:10 PM, said:
[image: View Post]KeystoneVFR, on Nov 21 2008, 01:03 PM, said:
Assuming you're serious, yes. My bike is bone stock and when Seb and I swapped bikes for a short ride, he rode a wheelie on mine. The front wheel was way up there.
Well, I was kinda half kidding. I've seen people doing wheelies on them (on movies on youtube and such, never in person), but I'm not a good enough rider to even imagine I could do one. Tried to open the throttle wide open many times, but never felt the front wheel wanting to get off the ground. Maybe I can get private lessons from a fellow rider one day. More seriously, I'm surprised that someone would open the throttle enough to wheelie (original post) and not notice that the front wheel is off the ground. I mean that is there that much power in them?
PPM
The first time I rode my VFR with a passenger I accidentally wheelied (didn't realize how easy it was with rear weight) At the time it seems like I got darn near 90 degrees straight up, of course, I was freaked out by it, so it would seem like a bigger wheelie than it was.