Dax

It's not just you, I believe SL was down for a couple of days.

As far as your steering, are you standing or sitting down?

KungFu954

OK,

I finally started to see some real progress day before yesterday I was out for a few hours and consistantly lobbing the front tire about 6 inches to a foot off the ground in 1st gear sit downs, then progressively started adding just a hair more gas until it was getting very smooth. Each time I would carry the front for about 40 to 50 feet starting between 25 and 40 mph and with each attempt it got smoother and smoother until I got comfortable. Of course yesterday it rained so hard I got cut off on the way home from work by a guy in a boat with tons of animals sticking out the portholes. Flooded everywhere. Today the weather is just as crappy so I had to take the frickin cage to work.
But I really feel like I finally got the boost I needed, I hope.

Props to all the high monos I've seen lately in here. Hopefully this place will dry out tomorrow or this weekend.

Dax,
That rules about the wifey. I made the mistake with mine of too much bike and stunt talk early on so now she is just not impressed by anything. The other day I PASSED her (while she was in her car) on the front wheel, like a 300 footer and she rolled her eyes,,,DAMNIT. Therefore I made up my mind to not ever again blow my own horn around her, so one day I can hoist a nice big fat wheelie while on a ride with her and blow her mind (well at least get her attention) it's my last resort she yells at me for doing burnouts and she can christ so no luck there
Well, I do have to give my wife some props, she is a graduate of M.M.I. and a phd certified motorcycle mechanic. She even has more tools than me (and that's saying a lot) and well hey she's hot too,,guess life is good.

rrmike

Standing 2nd gear.

KungFu,

Keep up the good work. Don't stop or let it slip away. Once you start to feel comfortable it will come along much quicker

KungFu954

I made a little bit more progress this weekend. I'm not bringing them all the up but I have gotten really comfortable and consistant with getting it a foot off the deck now. no throttle chopping or twitchy hand movements. Every now and then it will come up higher but for the most part just the hops still. I have noticed each time it comes up it is way smoother than ever before. No more jolting it feels like it just simply got picked up by the wind. Gonna keep at it this week.

dsj2

It took me 5 weeks to get comfortable with sitdowns where every one would come up and I could ride them out. I went out yesterday and learned standups in an afternoon. They come up so much easier than sitdowns too. I can't hit bp on either one yet but I have no problem getting the front wheel up. Now it's time to stay on the gas and work the rear brake. I've said I'll scrape before the end of September. We'll see.

blkcbr

Havent had a chance to do a lot of practicing latley. However a couple of days ago i was out and really started working on my standups. I have no problem bringing it up, but keeping it up very long is hit or miss. ( I know that sounds like a sex joke gone bad). However I found if i really focused on leaning back and smoothing out my throttle inputs I could ride it out far enough to when i came back down i was barking the front tire. Still working on getting it to balance point.

KungFu954

Sounds like your doing well!! You should get someone to snap a pic and post it here. Props meng

rrmike

Weather finally cleared up after about 5 days of crap and I went out today and got BUSY!!! It was great! Everything came together and I was rocking them forever. Had two that I seriously just got bored and set down Had one great 1st gear stander which is rare because I usually don't get them as high as 2nd because of how much twitchier they are but I had the throttle hand on auto pimp today

Everything was smooth and high. No bouncy up and down like I usually get on some wheelies. I was steering to the right like the front tire was still on the ground (well not really but pretty good) but I'm still having trouble going left when I need to. To get around this little point I just start the wheelie heading left a bit and correct from there Works like a charm. I still wanna get the left turns down don't get me wrong and I'm sure it'll work out like the right handers have. Just more practice.

Cheers everyone

KungFu954

aight,

you guys are letting this post slip, lets keep it going, it's been the best forum here I want it to stay that way.

Having said that, I had a really nice progress this weekend, I went out and just started low and wored my way up again. this time I was feeling a lot less holy ****, and a lot more in control. still in first but I did lift it at the end of the night in second and what a breeze in compairison. I'm gonna keep practicing in first for now until I really get the control down more. Back on the bike today and I'll be practicing this afternoon.

RRmike,,nice fuggin avitar, reminds me of my right hand,,,uh I mean my wife,,,ya ,,,my wife,,,

SloppyRob

Well, I've got second gear sitdowns coming up every single time. I was getting a bit aggressive with the clutch up and i realized it was coming up too fast as the bike kept jerking alot. I clutch it up a bit softer now and make sure im nice and smooth until Im about eye level with the guages. I just can't for the life of me find the damn balance point? Yesterday i was out practicing and brought it up real nice and high, was smooth on the throttle, bike was hanging up there a bit. I even rolled gently on the throttle 3 seperate times, each one bringing the bike even higher. Still didn't find it. Either im really not as high as i think (Im pretty much staring at the guages) or the BP is really high. I'll keep at it and let you guys know.

rrmike

Rob,

I can't do sitdown's for crap but I hear you're almost looking down you fork tubes to see where you're going if you don't look off to the side. Just what I've heard so don't go try it on my account but I hear the BP for sits is high.

I had another great day today. Had a little bit of backward progress from my last post but I was back on my game today. Still working on the steering. I'm pretty confident I'm getting into the BP pretty consistently but can't hold it there. It seems to start getting quieter as the revs drop a little and it wants to wobble really fast side to side all of a sudden when I pull it up that last little bit. I think I'm gonna let a little bit of air out of the back tire and see if that helps. It's at 29psi now.

Gotta get into the dealer tomorrow and order the missing mirror and a front tank bolt. I have no idea how the hell that just fell out but one of them is gone Plus I'm getting tired of being blind on my right side with that mirror broke off

KungFu,
you are guilty of letting this thread go too pal I don't have anything new to report since I can't do stoppies anymore until I get the damper. You need to quit slacking and give daily progress reports. Also get your Åss off that seat Once you get a stander or two you won't go back so why learn the sitdown's I guess they help with throttle control and are nice to have in the bag if you wanna be a good all around stunna but I just don't care right now. I wanna get the standers on lock then stoppies are next.

I did get some smooth first gear standers again today though. I gotta get a digital camera. I don't think I'd change that avitar but I'd maybe post some pics in the thread

SloppyRob

I'll admit that i haven't tried standups much at all. A few years back on a gsxr6 but other than that not much. Gotta get confortable with the positioning. What do you guys with big feet do? I have size 13's and i have to make an effort not to have my toes near the shifter when standing up on the pegs...it's damn annoying. Other than that i just gotta start popping them up a bit and get confortable. I tried just riding around with my left on the pass peg and it feels strange. I wanna get BP on the sitdowns first though.

rrmike

Learn to like the left foot on the pass peg. I used to do them both front and it's way better with one back once you get used to it. It'll help you feel how high the bike is, make your arms not get tired so fast once you start riding long ones and allow you to cover the rear brake. Don't try to bounce the bike with your legs this way just clutch it up and it'll come up straight.

Dax

The bp on the 954 is higher than looking at the gauges when doing sit downs. I have tried looking down the forks, but it's a little sketchy, I'm sure I will get it eventually.

I finally got to go out today for the first time in over a week. I had some really great rides. I just need to get used to hanging off the back of the bike, I keep trying to hump the gas tank. But today I was really concentrating on hanging out there.

I finally got an extra gas tank, vortex gas lid, and the bolts for the tank, so I should be bashing the tank in soon, and trying some spreaders and high chairs.

SloppyRob

I figured it was higher than the guages. I think ive hit it once but thought i looped it because i goosed the throttle too much, wobbled a bit as i hit what i think was the bp and it scared the **** out of me. Anything else i could use as a reference. Raining here tonight so I can't even go out and practice. GRRRRR

Dax

I run at 20 psi in the rear tire, and I get very little wobble if any.

Dax

I tried looking out the side of the bike, but I end up pulling to the side a little. I got tired of futsing around with not being able to see, so I started doing stand ups.

Sorry I couldn't be of any help. Just keep practicing, and try to get somebody to video you so you know how much further you have to go. I recommend watching the video while you are out practicing that way you can make your adjustments while you are already out there.

KungFu954

ok ok I'm guilty too,,,

So as kind of a refresher, (rrmike and Dax) your clutching up in second while standing one foot on the rear. Right? oh ya and rrmike did you say you started doing them in first gear first? to get used to it?

I am really used to the hoping the front about 6 inches off the ground. I am a badass at that,,,
I'll give the standing thing a go.
good news is I am not scared at all of the throttle anymore I'm getting more comfortable with giving it all the gas she needs but my clutch work is too slow so i gotta work on that.

My Endo's are soo rockin, rolled a nice 300+ footer the other day and promptly slid the front after that, I got off the bike and checked the front tire,,,fuggin bald the thing looks like a slick, I whiped the dirt off it and it litterally whiped away the remaining tread.. yikes. So I'm putting a new one on tomorrow.

I'll be practicing my **** off today, going up to the track for a night of good ol drag racing. but I'll be working it all the way there and all the way home,,,awww ya.

rrmike

OK here's the deal ladies! I got busy this morning on the way home from work with a 2nd gear BP stander on the freeway. Oh yes this was it for sure. Full on deceleration It was a blessed thing to experience. I rode it for quite a while and was trying to bring it a little higher to get some real slow down and got a little bobble that scared me and I let off and let it down (Kinda hard for 2nd). I had one on the way to work last night that I thought finally stopped accelerating but it was screaming in 2nd like 10 grand. The one I got this morning I brought up slower and higher and it would rev up a little and then slow a little then rev up a little then slow a little again. Until I got greedy I was there! I could have gone for a mile

KungFu: I started with 2nd gear standups, one foot back but now do both 1st and 2nd. I'm getting 1st dialed pretty good for the few times I have to practice without a good spot. If I had one I think I'd be rockin 1st all the time. 2nd is easier to learn but like Dax is doing (I think) if you can learn 1st gear standups 2nd will be a breeze and you'll get it in an hour. Plus first is less oh SHlT factor

SloppyRob

Last night i realized that clutching up at 5k in second for sitdowns was too violent. I've since found I can clutch up way lower and slower. Anywhere from 3k to 4k. Feels more stable and im riding them out longer. Need a bit more practice on holding em at BP. I also started trying standups with the staggered footing. Almost feels confortable after popping up a few. Good stuff.