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Wheelies - How do YOU do them?

Joined
Apr 8, 2004
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Location
Springfield, MO
Okay, I know that being able to do wheelies is not all that important and not the safest thing to do. But I would like to get some advice from all of you and see how you would suggest I learn how to do one.

I am 5'8" and 140 lbs. I've been riding my VFR for a couple of years now and think it's time to learn how to do a wheelie. ;-) I thought I'd see how you guys do them since most of you ride a VFR. It's a little different with the VFR than the other bikes, from what I've been told.

Okay, shoot all your suggestions and ideas my way ... and please don't tell me to "just don't do them" because I already know the risks involved. Thanks! :chug:
 
How about........

Keith Code's Wheelie school? I'd love to go out and do that one. :shock:
 
Wheelie

I personally do not do them, I accidentally did one a while ago and it scared the crap out of me :oops: . I cannot imagine that it is all that different to do them on different bikes along as your bike has enough torque.

Here is a link to a posting on another site.

Wheelie

Have fun and be careful
Chris :chug:
 
I've been told it is a bit different due to the weight of the bike. Don't know but I'd still love to hear how other people successfully do them on a VFR. Anybody out there that does them on a VFR?
 
Now, I don't go around pulling wheelies in traffic, you understand, but I've spent my fair share of time on the race track and after winning a race now and then I like to celebrate with an in your face wheelie occasionally, LOL. I beat Logan Youngs distance last TMGP race, but he got me for style with a nice stand up on his ttr.. :eek:

Bikes are different. Some will just wheelie on power, known oddly enough as a power wheelie. You just stay in the gas in a lower gear and it'll climb on its own. My SV will occasionally do that in first and did it a couple of times in second going up hill on a cool day. It runs better in cool air. Usually, I sit forward on it I can stay in the gas and keep the wheel down. Liter bikes are your medicine if all you wanna do is wheelie, especially a naked bike that'll let you get weight back on the seat. Then, too, for lower speed power wheelies, it's hard to beat a big DP thumper or motard 500-600cc bike. The 600cc sport stuff will power wheelie first.

Now then, there is the roll on wheelie. On the SV, I can get it up to about 5K and then slam the throttle open in first and it'll pick the wheel up. If you yank the bars a little it helps. You can clutch the thing up anytime you want, just a little slip of the clutch, not much, and boom, instant unicycle. Once you get used to having it up near the balance point, you can walk first, get it coming back up toward the balance point and do a quick clutchless shift to second and keep it up through second. If you''re good you could balance it all the way up through third or fourth I guess, but that's not on my list of to dos. You don't really wanna get near the balance point if you're not used to it. I've clutched it up in second on the SV a couple of times just to see if it'd do it, walked it all the way into third. That's at around 70 mph. I don't go around doing that. ****, I don't wheelie at all unless I'm out on a fun ride and there's no one around and I just feel like it. Got a couple of tickets in my younger years being an idiot when I didn't think there was a cop around. :roll:

So, now days, I like to wheelie the KX when I'm practiciing at Katy and get tired of going for lap tiime. It will power wheelie, like any good two stroke with an expansion chamber exhaust. At TWS, there is "wheelie hill". My RS125 would hit that just as it was coming on the pipe good and boom, you were wheelieing at 100 mph! WOOHOO, LOL, not bad for a 125! One race it did that over wheelie hill, there was a north wind blowing hard and a gust caught me mid wheelie, I over corrected before I could get the wheel down, went off track and hit a cone which kicked up into Emmett Dibbles face barely missing him and I got back on the track as Emmett and Chris Newhouse got by, only lost two positions, but it was a rather high pucker factor experience.

Heck, you can clutch about anything into a wheelie. I can even wheelie my Gold Wing, done it a couple of times just to see.
 
With your weight, or lack there of, you probably are flirting with a wheelie anytime you accellerate hard from a stand still. I know I have accidently wheelied my VFR on at least 3 occaisions. Not high or far, but definitely enough to get a ticket.

My suggestions would be to start on someone's borrowed dirt bike. In a pasture or field. Get the feeling for lifting the front wheel in a controlled manner and setting it down softly. Chopping the throttle after you get the front end airborn on a VFR can't be too good for the head set or steering bearings.

When you are ready to try it on your VFR, take off from a stop, get the revvs up to about 6-7k. Then just yank on the throttle. If the wheel does not lift, move your weight back a couple of inches. If that doesn't work, just tug on the handle bars a little when you gas it.

Like I said, set it down softly. It will come down on it's own when you run out of power in that gear or gently ease off on the throttle and it will come down. After you get the hang of that, you can do like a guy I saw at lunch, he entered the freeway on I-10 going East and used the springs on his 600 to pop the front wheel up. Then rode off weaving through traffic while holding the wheelie.

I would not reccommend this, but it was cool to watch.
 
Buy a Suzuki Bandit, boost the HP and torque 30% then just twist the throttle. Seriously, it involves sitting back in the seat, taking the pressure off the bars in a low gear rolling slightly off the throttle and then smoothly rolling back on. If you shift the weight far enough back by scooting back as far as you can over the rear tire, it doesn't require a whole lot of power.
 
Heed Chris' advice about learning how to wheelie off-road on a dirt bike first. Your VFR is not the machine to start with. Since you don't have any previous experience at this, the size, weight and somewhat peaky power delivery of your bike makes it very treacherous. You might get lucky and start out with a couple of easy little wheelies, but the first time it gets a little squirrely (and sooner or later it will) I wouldn't put very high odds on a complete and safe recovery.

Despite the apparent ease with which some guys can lift the front wheel, it's not kid stuff. Sorry if I'm coming across too negatively, but I'd hate to eventually hear how you hurt yourself and trashed your nice bike.

(P.S. - If you must do this anyway, keep the rear brake lever covered in case it starts to loop over backwards on you. Just a very, very light tap is all you need to bring the front end back down; hit the brake too hard and you're likely to lose control when the bike slams down.)
 
Can't help with the VFR but when I do one with the shopping cart at Wal-Mart I just make sure the heavy stuff like the dog food is at the back. Makes it easier to get it up. :mrgreen:
 
Can't help with the VFR but when I do one with the shopping cart at Wal-Mart I just make sure the heavy stuff like the dog food is at the back. Makes it easier to get it up.

he he..now let's do a stoppie..

I'm not too familiar with Viffers, but you could try doing this in a desolated road....

Start moving on first and revvit to about 6k rpm...you'll be going at about 30 mph (am I right Scott?) and then chop the throttle..that is close it and then open it at about three quarters....doing this will load the front end and when you open the gas, it will bounce and get lighter....you may have to chop the gas two or three times, becuase everytime you do it, the front end gets lighter and lighter. Thats the way I sometimes do it with my zx 7 (thats a pig of a bike :-| )...you can also start moving and at about 15 mph, pull the cluth and revvit at about 7-8k rpm, and release the clutch in a controlled way, just do it kinda fast and the front end will come up...just be prepared, it WILL scare you silly and you WILL release the gas..it's just a matter of getting used to it.

Don't forget all you gear.

dang, I can't believe I'm actually trying to show someone to pop a wheelie. :-?
 
I used to have a '99 VFR and as Chris said, sometimes you will get up on accident. The most important thing to remember is to have the back brake covered imo. Also the VFR is fairly heavy and doesn't like to land hard(I learned the hard way).

VFRs are fairly stable but if you want to play it safe, buy a steering damper.

If you take the time to register at this site, there is a fairly good video of why you should get a damper.
http://www.fireblades.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10820&highlight=tankslapper hope that link works...
 
Wheelie School rocks!!!

Yes I was at the first one in Texas...which rained out at lunch.

Anyway, if you can afford it, it's well worth it. It's really nice to have the security of the extra hardware to keep you from flipping. That takes away a lot of the fear.

You'll really want a Speed Triple by the end of class.

The biggest things I had to unlearn was that its the opposite of road racing - you need to be abrupt on the throttle instead of smooth.

The next thing was to fight the urge to lean forward as the front end comes up. This shifts your weight forward, and the front end will come down. Keeping your back straight and letting your head just float back is kind of scary... Once I could put those two together big un's were easy.

Anyway, May 15th is the next weekend in Texas, and I may be there to finish up my class :twisted:

Otherwise, beg, borrow or buy an XR100. Use second gear, the bodywork is a lot cheaper ;-)

Daryl
 
uberhawk said:
Wheelie School rocks!!!
Anyway, May 15th is the next weekend in Texas, and I may be there to finish up my class :twisted:

Would you happen to have any info on where to sign up? :-D

--Will
 
Here's the site.. hit the "Sign Up" option for the, umm, sign up. :)

On One Wheel

Well.. this is the one that I know about.. and they are the same that are doing the May 14,15,16 school at Texas Motor Speedway. Perhaps there are other groups too.

Mustang
 
Save your money on wheelie school and get a dirt bike. Spend your school money on something important like a race school or something. A good one I wanna do is the American Supercamp dirt track school. Learning to wheelie won't save your neck in traffic. Learning bike control will. JMHO.

Now, for a wheelie bike, my vote goes to the Aprilia Tuono. For a cheap wheelie bike try one of the big tards like the KTM Duke or some of their competition tards or a good big DP like a DRz400 or a XR650L. Or go out and find an OLD XL600R. Mine would roll on second just fine. If you throw it away, you ain't throwing away so much. Of course, you might wanna worry about yourself if you loop it in front of a woman in a Suburban on a cell phone with five kids and a TV going while she's reading the paper.... :roll:
 
I have only done one wheely, and that was by accident, on my previous bike, a 98 FXD Dyna. Wasn't MUCH of a wheely, but, ****, I didn't even know you COULD wheely a Harley at the time... Anyway, now Im on a Bandit 600. Anyone know if that can put it up? I'm leaning toward no, at least with my 190#'s on board. Anyone done it? Or know someone who has?
TR
Brady TX
 
Anyone know if that can put it up?

The clutch, scoot back on the seat, clutch it up and maybe a yank on the bars. But, you can clutch about anything up. There's a guy older CMRA racer name's Larry Locklear. That guy can wheelie anything with a motor or pedals. Watched him on a little Derbie 50cc walking a wheelie while taking his left hand off the bar to take a drag on his cigarette. He was helmetless and in shorts! Guy's nuts, but he's very good. This was at a little parking lot get together we had in Dallas this past winter. Larry probably weighs 220, the bike probably weighs 140 and makes maybe 7 horsepower. Rider weight can help if you can get your butt far enough back on the seat or just stand on the pegs and lean back to get your weight high and to the rear. I've wheelied my GL1100 Aspencade a couple of times. If I can do that you can wheelie a Bandit.

To answer the question, I was going to say a naked woman, but I decided not to be cute... :lol:
 
BTW, did anyone see that bike on the dyno contraption they had on Two Wheel Tuesday on Speed TV last week? It's set up on a trailer. It teaches you to wheelie without you having to risk your hide to do it. Bike's strapped down at the rear of the dyno and you're wheelieing in place on the rollers.
 
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