i tried a few 2nd power ups today, probably gonna stick with them, whatever i do it will be gradual, but i wanna learn those quick chirps, they soudns cool :YEAH

 

I'm not the wheelie guru by any means but I do have some advice for my 954 buddies that just occurred to me today. I went out to warm my chain up a little with a quick jaunt around the neighborhood so I could oil it (the chain). Well there are only a few deserted roads around here with no long straights so I started goofing around with some 1st gear standup action (which I usually don't do because it's too twitchy and I feel like I'm gonna get tossed over the windscreen if I chop one and it comes down hard). The left foot back thing helps me feel more stable and lower on the bike with more weight back so it wasn't bad.

Well what occurred to me was that when I was trying to learn 2nd gear I got to where I could get it up but kinda quit progressing for a little while. I was frustrated so I went back to doing 1st gear sit down's (which was the first thing I learned). After an hour or so of that my 2nd gear stuff started coming along better. For a while there I would do a few 1st gear wheelies every day before I did any 2nd gear ones to kinda get warmed up at low speed and with lots of compression to save me since I hadn't learned to cover the rear brake.

The point is that I think 1st gear is good for getting throttle control and that's what I think got me over that little hump when I first started riding. I went back to having to be smooth with the gas to keep the 1st gear wheelies up for very long and when I went back to 2nd it seemed easier because I'd been doing only 2nd gear and being way too ham-fisted with the gas grip.

The reason all of this occurred to me today was after I lubed the chain I went for a quick ride to run it in and got to a good stretch of road and tried a quick 2nd gear standup and it was like butter! Usually it takes me a couple of them to get warmed up but the first (and only) two I did were both right up by the BP and rode out until I had to set them down for lack of room.

So if you're stuck with 2nd gear try some 1st again to get the basics (throttle control) down some more because we all know throttle control is what it's all about

 

Sounds good...keep us posted on your progress. And keep a look out for the My buddy got pinched on his gixxer 1k last weekend on one wheel and has quite a few points added to his auto insurance.

 

sup fellas? update on my progress, lately all my wheelies have been going to the left, i get the wheel up and the bike goes left. i dont know why the **** its doing it, but it's hampering my progress. if i could ride it straight i could probably balance it, but they are going left, wtf? anyone have any opinions? tire pressure is around 28psi...and i dont think its my body positioning.

 

I had that problem, but I was going to the right, maybe you're just too much of a Democrat Just Kidding. For me it ended up being a brand new tire that I had on my bike. Luckily I had a spare rim and tried that and everything sorted out for me.

Have you changed out your tire recently?

But I have noticed a bit of a drift sometimes, I usually drop the rear tire pressure to sub 25 psi, but I don't ride the highways, I usually keep it on the back roads. And I make sure not to go under 20 psi. I know some guys go down to 15 psi, but I think they are doing really slow stuff.

Good Luck.

 

[QUOTE=snigg]sup fellas? update on my progress, lately all my wheelies have been going to the left.


Hey snigg...are you doing sitdowns or standups? Rather than wait for your reply I'll tell you what happened to me when I was drifting. Weight distribution on the foot pegs. Even when I was sitting down...I found myself putting a different amount of weight on the pegs trying to cover the rear brake. As I'm sure you already know on the 954 covering that little safety net can be a royal pain in the ****. Check your weight on the pegs and if you are looking to the side like I do....I favor looking left for some reason, you may be drifting to the side you're looking. If I don't peek out to the left I can't see where the hell I'm going in a sit down. Later, bladerunner.

 

Allrighty Then,
Yesterday I think,,,I hope,,,,Ya I'm pretty sure i made some pretty big steps. I got a really good case of the "Fug Its", got those rpms up there and had a good ol time. Nothing really severe but I did manage to catch it and ride one for just a few seconds. I think the frustration is ending!!!

Anywhoo, I am writing an offer on my first house today and the MILE HIGH TOP FUEL NATIONAL DRAG RACES are in town and I am fugging going!!!
for anyone who has not ever been,,,I highly recommend it, it ain't like on TV. Believe me I used to be a Cannoneer in the Marine Corps so it takes a ton of volume for me to say it's loud,,,and IT"S SUPER LOUD. nothing like 6700 horsepower nitro methane cars,,,ya 6700 horsepower!!
Sorry,,guess I'm really pumped. So if you guys don't hear from me in the next few days it's cause Im having a frickin blast.
And I'll be riding all weekend.
,,have fun,,,make some progress,,,be safe.

(ridiing off into the distance singing))""Ohhhh Ohhhh" "Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting,,,those cats were fast as lightning,,,,it was a little bit frightning,,,but they did it with expert timing"""
Oohhhh ohhhhh

 

... Lay off the caffeine, and crackpipe.

 

Have fun Kung Fu! I have a buddy that goes to the NW Nationals almost every year and I keep meaning to go. He says the same thing about how awesome it is :YEAH

 

I've been working on clutching 1st for almost two weeks now taking it one step at a time and last night I rode out about 80-90% of them instead of chopping the throttle and dropping the front tire. I plan on finding the balance point this weekend because I feel really comfortable with the front tire up and I always have the rear brake covered and on my mind. Wish me luck.

Oh yea, who holds the clutch in and gets to the right rpm before dumping the clutch to wheelie and who just dips the clutch as your rolling on the throttle? I just roll on to about half throttle and dip the clutch as I start to roll on. Comes up very predictably most every time. Now I just gotta grow some bizallz.

 

I dip the clutch, and I like it over revving and dropping for these reasons:

1. You already have sufficient throttle to pull the wheel up instead of dropping the clutch and trying to give it throttle at the same time.
2. You don't have to look at the tach or try to hear what you're doing to get a smooth and predictable wheelie every time.
3. You don't sound like an idiot revving your bike up for 2 seconds before you actually drop the clutch.
4. You have forward momentum which lightens your front end and helps bring it up easier.

 

I still don't clutch standups but sitdowns I just dip it like you say for 1st. (It will come right up with or without the clutch anyway so it's not like you need to rev the **** out of it or anything) 2nd though requires you to let the revs build a little bit especially at slow speed. Two different thing for me.

Oh yeah be careful in your search for the BP. Trying to find it "this weekend" after just learning to "ride out" your wheelies most of the time may be pushing it. I've been riding mine out for a long time and just recently got 1 BP wheelie and haven't gotten one quite all the way since. But everybody learns at their own pace. You may be a prodigy. Just be careful and if you fail to get the BP don't be discouraged. You have high goals!

 

you suck at wheelies, who are you to give advice? anyway, i think i got the driftin issue settled, last night i rode some real nice ones, 1/4 to 1/2 mile long...im hittin BP here and there but not holding it at bp for a long time, but i can tell cuz my wheelies are slowing down a lot and that front wheel is floating. ill have some pics soon, hopefully.

 

How do you know if I suck or not? I already said the one in the pic wasn't at BP. I'm not giving "advice" either I'm stating facts.

Btw you'll know if you're at BP because when you roll off the throttle it takes longer to set the wheel down.

 

Kung Fu: I got busy with some stoppies today! None were any good of course but after trying to remember as much of your write up as I could I figured I'd try some. I was out practicing wheelies but was alone so I wasn't getting busy for fear of crashing in the middle of nowhere alone. So I thought I'd try some baby stoppies since I wasn't making any great breakthroughs with the wheelies. (about normal or a little off today)

Anyway I still have stock pressure in the front but had a good rough road (not too rough but no black shiny patches). Just got going about 45-50 and did just like you said and gave the front a little squeeze to compress the forks and then just squeeze until it lifts. I noticed a huge difference since you talked about keeping your body still!! and preloading the forks. I made way more progress today in 15 minutes than I had ever before (although I don't do them often because I sucked) Now I can get almost every one to come up and some pretty good by my newb standards (6" LOL). On some the tail drifts out to the side and I let it down before it goes too far but it doesn't scare me it's kinda cool as long as I don't let it get too far out there.

Anyway now I have something to do between straight stretches

BTW: Do you do a ton of them back to back? I think I got my brakes hot I was doing them one after another for about 10 or 15 in a row like stoppie, let clutch out accelerate to 50, stoppie, rinse repeat. After I caught a whiff of brake smell I calmed down

 

i saw your post's with your wheelie pics. and that video you posted too, little pop can wheelies. go home junior

 

Hey RRMike.

I'm glad I could help! Sounds like your doing awesome!!! Congrats.
About back to back stoppies, I wouldn't worry too much about them. As long as you use stock brake pads or very similer compound you should be fine. Just make sure you check them from time to time. Do you know how to check your brake pads? if not post back to me and I'll tell ya,,It's really simple. The rotors cool down pretty quick, if you feel uneasy about it just ride for a miniute without heavy breaking and they will cool way down and you'll be ready for the next round.
Don't forget what I said, endos are really wierd, for a while it will feel like an inch is a foot and then one day,,,all of the sudden, it will reverse and a foot will feel like an inch so have someone take some pics of you or video. If you can't find anyone here is a really good trick, ride in the afternoon and ride so you can see your shadow without turning your head,,that helps too (not quite as much as pictures just don't forget to pay attention to what your doing.
You'll have em up high in no time, the hardest part is getting that first few inches and setting them down without putting your feet down,,,after that it goes pretty quick.
Right on RRmike, be safe and have fun.

on some other notes, The National Top Fuel drags were baddass!!! get this I watched two track records back to back. the first was 4.9 sec and the next racer hit 4.8 (keep in mind I live in Colorado and our track is about 6000ft above sea level. 310mph,,,I think. Couple wrecks up there, John force was tearing it up as useual. Some killer street cars, including an incredible 67 camero running in the 9s. they had some great displays set up by suzuki. That new chrysler super car was there. A really fugging fast Hyabusa running 7.1, awesome greasy mystery food, it was a blast for any motorhead, if you guys ever get a chance to go,,,I highly recomend It. It was sweet. Great day to celebrate getting my first house under contract.

back to the wheelies,
I had an awesome morning, I brought one up in first using the clutch at about 40mph nice and smooth and rode it out for a few seconds, I know not far but it felt awesome.
I also bounced one up in second with my left foot on the rear peg, that was pretty wierd but not too scary. I pulled off a few off over the weekend that just feel so much more natural. Think I'm finally getting the hang of it!! Bout frickin time, it only took me 17000 miles thus far. I spend a lot less time just jolting the bike forward and a lot more time hoisting it.
I had just got back to the apartment on sunday from the store when my father in law (one of my best friends believe it or not) rode by my garage doing a christ on a 96 Harley Low rider. How about that! talk about ballz. you should see that guys bike, I would put it up against any "custom" chopper any day, he has built that bike well. From time to time we race together at Bandimere and he almost always wastes me to the 30 foot mark. After that well, we all know what our bikes can do. but that's pretty impressive I must have raced at least 40 different american V-twins and I never get touched. It just goes to show you that once you really know your machine there is hardly anything you can't do with it.

Anywhoo,, Talk at you fellas later.

 

More and more practice!! It's coming along. Any day now I should be riding them all the way out.
Ahhh yeah

 

I wanna see some video

 

Ordered new chain and sprockets (-1+1) a stand and some other assorted goodies yesterday. My chain is junk and riding it (especially doing high speed wheelies) makes me nervous. I guess I didn't lube it often enough but it's got "tight spots" in it now and makes noise.

So nothing good to report. I may go out today and work on some stoppies but we'll see what time I have to be to work.

Keep at the wheelies KungFu. You'll be happy when it all starts to click! Just don't get frustrated if things aren't going well at some point and try to do too much. That's how I always got hurt on my dirt bike. Bad day/people watching and you get mad and go hurt yourself by overriding your internal "this is a bad idea" voice. Just stay in your comfort level and have fun and the wheelies will get taller and longer all on their own