Pulling a Wheelie (Learners)

* NOTE: Wheelies are dangerous and you ARE going to fall. It is strongly recommended NOT to do them.
**Extract from http://krunkedout4life.tripod.com/id3.html
***Mushi or affiliated Sites take no liability for the information below and actions of any person or persons stupid enough to follow them...

Understanding How to Pull the Proper Wheelie

Throttle control: The heart of any good wheelie starts in a basic understanding of the influence your right hand has on the motorcycle. Too much throttle will leave you on the ground and not enough won't wheel up.

 

Clutch control: No longer will you need to worry about burning expensive clutches because the proper technique will be proven that doing it right you will be able to save your clutch.

 

Body positioning: So the bike won't come up in second? The Boyz will tell how body position influences the bike before the front wheel lifts, and the dramatic effects it has once you're rolling on the rear.

 

 

 

First of all, I learned all of this from my own experience and from the advice of others.  Following this advice won?t keep you from crashing, getting hurt, and breaking stuff; but it will, most likely, help you learn faster while crashing less often than if you figure everything out on your own.
Bike setup for wheelies

Oil: Many bikes will become oil starved when riding long wheelies, and doing 12 o-clock wheelies. Gixxers and cbr 900s ('93-'95 893cc model) are the most notorious for this. To keep the bike from becoming oil starved, either move the oil pickup in the oil pan back, or overfill the oil. Myself and some others on this forum run 1 quart over. Overfilling doesn't seem to cause any problems with hondas, but I have read of problems with gixxers as a result of this. So the best thing for a gixxer would probably be to fix the oil pickup. You can buy modified oil pickups for gixxers fromwww.stuntex.com .

Gears: For learning, gearing the bike down is unnecessary. Almost every sportbike will wheelie in first gear without any problem. Also gearing to make second gear come up easier is kind of pointless because it just becomes more like first gear with big sprockets. If it doesn?t wheelie in first gear, it isn?t the bike?s fault. For the most part, gears are unnecessary until you are ready to learn highchairs (on a weak 600), no throttle hand wheelies, and circles.

Tires: When doing high-speed wheelies make sure you have a good rear tire. A tire with a flat spot in the middle can cause wobbles. I learned wheelies on a rear tire that was almost down to the cords in the middle, and it would often wobble like crazy when doing balance point wheelies. A new tire almost completely eliminated that problem. Run the tire pressure lower than stock. For doing wheelies above 20 mph, have the tire pressure between 20 and 30psi. For doing wheelies slower than 20 mph, lower the pressure to between 12 and 20. 18-20 psi makes for a good all around psi. Lower tire pressure makes the wheelie more stable from side to side.

Tip over sensor: Most (or all, I'm not sure) bikes with fuel injection have a tip over sensor. This can cause the bike to shut off when riding wheelies high. This should be disabled. For Hondas this can be done by cutting the wires going into the sensor, connecting the two outer wires, and leaving the middle one hanging. For gixxers, that method doesn?t work. The brass ring in the sensor must be removed, or immobilized with something such as silicone.

Steering Damper: While it isn?t imperative that you have a steering damper for doing wheelies, it might save your ass. If you come down from a wheelie with the front wheel crooked, it could cause a tank slapper. This shouldn?t be a problem, though; if you make sure the front wheel is strait when you put it down.

Exhaust pipe: If learning 12s, the pipe may have to be shortened. The stock pipes on some bikes touch the ground at about the same time as the tail when doing a 12 o-clock wheelie. If the pipe hits the ground, it may cause you to crash. My friend just went down a week ago because of this. The pipe can be shortened by simply cutting a few inches off the end of the pipe, and then re-welding / re-riveting the end of the pipe back on. Short pipes can also be bought fromwww.starboyz.com.

Cage: In the process of learning to ride wheelies good, you will most likely drop your bike. Crash cages provide the best protection. All of these cages will most likely save you a lot of money if you crash, but none of them will completely protect your bike in every crash. Here is a list of some crash cage websites in no particular order.
MXD cages http://eclipsebusiness.net/mxdcages.com/
Racing 905 Cages http://www.racing905.com

Powers Cages http://www.powersbikeworx.com/
Freestyle Ingenuity Cageshttp://www.freestyleingenuity.com/

Wicked Crew Extreme Team's Cageshttp://cantcuffus.com/cages_pics.htm

12 bar: Install a 12 bar if you plan on learning 12s. There was some debate as to whether or not to learn 12s with a 12 bar. I learned 12s with a bar and didn?t have any problems. You just need to be more careful because a bar is less forgiving than plastic. However, I think tail sections cost way too much to smash on purpose. You can buy 12 bars from Racing 905 or Freestyle Ingenuity. They are also pretty simple to build yourself, at a fraction of the cost.

Protection: Wear a helmet, jacket, jeans, and gloves if you don?t want to get messed up.

Before riding wheelies on a bike
If you have access to a quad, a dirt bike, or a fiddy, learn wheelies on that first. What you learn about throttle control and the balance point will help you in learning to ride a wheelie on a bike. If you?re ready to learn on a bike then: 1. Make sure the rear brake works and adjust the lever to a comfortable height. 2. There should be 1in. of play in chain slack. A chain too tight or too loose will wear out the chain and sprockets faster than normal. 3. Make sure there are no cracks in the foot pegs, and make sure all of the bolts are tight.

Speed and riding position for learning wheeliesI recommend that beginners learn wheelies if first gear. It is easier to launch the wheelie in first gear, and there is more engine breaking in first gear. This means that you can ride a wheelie higher without the danger of looping it. It also hurts much less and breaks less stuff when you crash in first gear. For that reason i don't think it is a good idea to do highspeed wheelies until using the brake is second nature. It is also much easier to go from riding out first gear wheelies to second gear wheelies than vice versa. The only downfall to learning wheelies in first vs. seconds is that the wheelie won?t be as smooth. The throttle will feel much more sensitive. I think fifteen mph is a good speed to launch wheelies while learning; any slower and the wheelie may feel unstable to a beginner. I also recommend learning wheelies standing up with the left foot on the passenger peg, and the right foot on the front peg, covering the brake. While it may feel awkward at first to wheelie while standing, it will be easier after you get used to that part. Most people think it is easier to balance and control a wheelie standing up vs. sitting down. It is also easier to launch the wheelie from standing up.

Why clutching wheelies is the best method for launching wheeliesClutching is by far the best way to get wheelies up, regardless of whether the bike has enough power to power it up. While it does wear out clutch plates a little faster than normal, the difference is not significant. I also have never read about any major problems as the result of the extra tension on the drive train. There are many advantages to clutching wheelies vs. powering wheelies. 1. It allows you to wheelie bikes that don?t have enough power to power it up. 2. You can wheelie at lower rpm?s, and therefore slower speeds. This allows beginners to keep a wheelie up longer, with out being at the balance point. 3. The launch is more predictable. When powering a wheelie up, the front end comes up relatively slow. Then when the front end is about 3 feet off the ground, the front end jumps up very fast under full throttle, making for a scary and unpredictable launch. When clutching up wheelies right, the front jumps up close to the balance point. From there you just play with the throttle to fine adjust the height. After a little practice, clutching becomes very predictable and not frightening at all. 4. All of the pros that I know of clutch every wheelie. You want to be like them don?t you? 

How to clutch wheelies
There are a couple different methods for clutching wheelies. I prefer the second method.
Method 1: First accelerate with the clutch engaged. Then, with the throttle still opened, pull in the clutch with one finger, to the point where the clutch disengages. With the engine still under throttle, quickly let the clutch back out as the tach is rising.
Method 2: Close the throttle, and then pull the clutch in all the way, with one finger. Then twist the throttle and dump the clutch.
When learning to clutch, only rev up the engine a little bit at first before letting out the clutch. This will give you the feel for clutching. Then gradually increase the rpm?s before dumping the clutch, until the front end jumps up close to the balance point. Reduce the throttle as the front end comes up to the balance point. If it comes up too far, gently push the rear brake to bring the bike back forward. When clutching second and third gear wheelies, the bike may need extra help, depending on what bike it is. If clutching alone doesn?t get the wheelie up, then bounce at the same time. This is done by pushing down on the bike (with your arms and legs) at the same time you open the throttle, and then leaning back slightly when dropping the clutch. I is not a good idea to pull on the bars. Pulling up on the bars may cause the wheelie to come up funny and wobble.


Shifting gearsI don?t recommend shifting gears during a wheelie unless you are good at wheelies, and are able to use the clutch in the process. Otherwise, shifting during wheelies is hard on the transmission. It is also hard on the fork seals if you miss a shift. My advice is to learn to ride wheelies at a constant speed. Then there will be no need to shift.


How to set a wheelie down
When bringing down a wheelie, stay on the throttle until the front end is safely on the ground. If it is necessary to quickly bring down the front end, then close the throttle at first. Then as the front is coming down, open the throttle. In that way you will have a soft landing.

Step by step procedure to launch a wheelie for a beginner
1. Drop the tire pressure to about 15-20psi
2. Put the bike into first gear
3. Go about 15mph
4. Pull in the clutch
5. Rev up the engine a little and drop the clutch
6. Repeat step 5, increasing the rpm?s, until the front end comes up close to the balance point.
7. Reduce the throttle as the front end comes up to the balance point.
8. Cover the rear brake.
9. Stay on the throttle as it comes back down.
Balancing the wheelie from front to backBalancing front to back is controlled by using the throttle and rear brake. It is a good idea to learn this on a quad, fiddy, or dirtbike first. If the wheelie is in front of the balance point, you must increase your speed to remain at that position. To get the wheelie back to the balance point, you must compensate with more throttle. This is the same, only in reverse, when the wheelie is behind the balance point. When behind the balance point, you must use the engine breaking/ rear brake to bring it forward to the balance point. The balance point is the position of the bike in which it neither has to speed up or slow down to remain at the same position. The height of the balance point is affected mainly by the speed of the wheelie. The faster the wheelie is, the lower the balance point. The balance point is also slightly affected by the weight distribution of the bike and the position of the rider. The object of riding a balanced wheelie is to keep the bike as close as possible to the balance point. This is done by rolling on and off the throttle, and pushing the brake if needed. With practice comes the ability to ride a smooth wheelie with out playing with the throttle/brake much.

Balancing the wheelie from side to sideBalancing sided to side is done by adjusting your body position. It is a good idea to learn this on a dirtbike, bicycle, or fiddy first. When riding wheelies over about 20mph, the bike will balance itself for the most part. It is the slow wheelies that you have to consciously balance side to side. The principle is pretty simple. Quickly lean the same direction as the bike is falling. For example, if the bike is starting to fall to the left, you would quickly lean to the left. This movement would twist the bike towards the left, thereby correcting it.

Preventing / stopping wheelie wobblesFrom my experience, I think that high speed wheelie wobbles can be caused by having a squared off rear tire, not being smooth on the throttle, and/or making quick movements. Slow speed wobbles seems to be caused by high rear tire pressure, and/or not keeping the wheelie balanced from side to side.

Steering wheeliesTo steer wheelies good, you need to either be at the balance point, or behind the balance point. To steer wheelies which are over about 20mph, you simply slowly lean in the direction you want to turn. However, to turn slow wheelies, you must first make the bike lean in the direction which you want to turn. For example, if you want to turn to the right, first, slowly lean to the right. Then quickly lean a little to the left / twist the handlebars a little to the left. This will cause the bike to start to fall to the right. Then, instead of completely correcting the lean, you keep the bike leaning at that angle. This will cause the bike to turn to the right.

Using the rear brake: Slowing wheelies down / 12s
Wheelies are slowed down by riding the wheelie behind the balance point. This is one of the hardest parts of learning to wheelie, not because of skill, but because of the balls required. To learn how to use the rear brake, you basically need to grow some balls, bring the wheelie up behind the balance point, and tap the brake. Soon this process will become second nature. To slow a wheelie down, you must give the bike enough throttle to get the wheelie behind the balance point. Now if you get scared and push the rear break hard at this point, it will quickly bring the wheelie forward without slowing it down much. To slow it down, you must keep it behind the balance point by gently riding the brake. To 12, you just do the same thing, only you get off the rear break enough to allow the bike to lean back on the tail. Unless you plan on parking a 12, make sure you get back on the brake before the wheelie slows down enough to stall the engine.
Riding slow wheeliesAfter you get good at slowing down wheelies, then you should be able to ride slow wheelies out. First of all, turn up your idle. I do slow stuff with the idle at 3.5k rpm?s. The high idle allows you to ride slow wheelies much smoother. Be careful, however, when first turning up the idle, because you will have to use the rear brake, when going slow, to keep from looping. When riding slow wheelies with the idle high, with some practice, you should be able to ride the wheelie by using the brake, and only blipping the throttle if the wheelie starts to come down.
Once you have learned all of this, all of the wheelie variations will pretty much be self explanatory!

So this is 2 rides combined into 1 post but they are both to the same location (Magalies Nature Reserver). We started out from the Total on the corner of Witkoppen and Malibongwe (T1) then picked up buddies :3some: at T2 (the Total just after the N14) on Malibongwe. we kept going toward the dam and turned left at the "T" junction. :ricky:

We stayed on that road past Peacon wood all the way to Broederstroom and hit the dirt there. stick to that road. its really a nice farm road, bump in section but no tricky bits.

Hit the tar at the "T", turned right and found the next piece of dirt about 1Km up the road. turned right off that and headed toward the mountain. There are some minor turns but you just keep heading toward the mountain.

Then you get to the climb. It can be a bit challenging as the road is very bumpy and has some dongas. But if me on the 990 and Harm on the Beemer Adv can get up then most people should.
(well saying that JohnGS did dump it on one of the dongas.. nothing serious though)

at the top of the twisties there is a small path that leads up to the top. Now this piece can be tricky! loose gravel, big boulders... so walk up if in doubt.

then head back down the hill and keep to the road we were on which T off to the Rustenburg Magalies road. we headed to Mags for breakfast then off home.

there are some nice views from the top. here are some pics of the trip. the trip is about 150 -200K's depending on how many U turns you make :-)

Running in that nice new scooter

My wife always asks me:

"... sweetie, why is it that you can never get up in the morning except when you are going to ride your bike??..."

Now I don't care who you are but THAT is a "loaded" question that is gonna hurt no matter how you answer it. My tactic.. play stupid or deaf either way your gonna burn anyhow.

So the alarm goes off at 05:45 am. Here are some pointers to follow:

1. UP like a shot to kill the alarm (don't need to wake that which sleeps soundly you know!).
2. If your smart you'll have packed your bike kit out the night before into the room furtherest from the family.
3. Disable the house alarm (HEY! I stay in Johannesburg after-all!!).
4. Tip toe passed the kids room.
5. Sneak into the kitchen and make a cup of coffee (can't fire all cylinders without caffeine).
6. Change into your bike kits (Silent Velcro strips... now there would be a novel idea).
7. Quietly walk to the back of the house where the bikes are parked. (WOOF WOOF WOOF).
8. Beat the dog into submission by giving it "THE STARE, FOOT STAMP and FINGER" (some mutts need more persuasion than that!).
9. Wheel the bike out the front gate.
10. Start her up
11. Lock the house and ....
12. Shush the Mutts again... and
13. Hmph the wifes awake so kiss her goodbye... and..
14. GO GO GO..

So there we are, we are on the road again. The wide open spaces with not a care in the world....except!

You just remember that you bike is brand new and it must be "run in". Stop at the petrol station to tank up because the sales guy was nice enough to leave you only 1/2 a litre fuel in the tank (thanks guys!). Whip out the manual from under the seat and check the "run in" process.

Wow only 4000 rpm until 300K's, well you think... it can't be that bad.... right??

30km's down the road doing all of 100km/h in 6th gear with the rev limiter buzzing at 4000 rpm you want to pull your hair out! Luckily you have a helmet on so you can't do that now but will certainly consider it later!

The traffic comes buzzing by...and then the cyclists and then the guy in a wheel chair overtakes you followed shortly by an old lady with a walker.. (I may be slightly over-exaggeration but its only slightly). But as you head out towards what the bikers know as "Harties and Magalies" (I'll layout some routes there in a separate blog), you begin to notice something strange. Your fingers tips start tingling, then your knuckles. Your nose becomes distinctly numb and you start missing gear shifts because you can't contract your hand over the clutch or feel your feet against the gear selector.

Aaaah yes its winter now. Winter in South Africa is never bad says the European lot. well its bad enough I'll tell you. The ice warning on the bike comes on and stays on. The Temp registers a nice -4 degrees Celsius without the wind chill factor (even at 100km/h). Stay on a bike at that temp long enough and stuff will fall off... I guarantee it!

So me and a brave, although hesitant mate of mine are doing VERY slow laps around the Harties dam. We decide via limited hand signals to STOP and have COFFEE.. it seems that cold temperatures increases man's ability for telepathy.

here we are below enjoying a not so nice "cuppa joe". Seriously if you gonna expect bikers to come to your restaurant then you need a couple of basics:

• DARN GREAT COFFEE
• BIG PORTIONS OF OILY BREAKFAST (usually buffets work best)
• BEER... (why you ask... well you shouldn't ask !!! ) T&C we do not condone alcohol and Motorsports of any kind.

So the place we went to across from the Zoo at the dam was shocking. I now understand why all the other bikers gave us funny looks and went next door... Jeez

Anyhow here is me and me mate having bad coffee.

Wrapping up, much like in the picture, some lessons:

• Check the weather channel before you go for a ride
• Say no if you buddy asks you to accompany him if the above answer is lower than say.. 20 degrees
• DON'T ACCEPT BAD COFFEE
• Plan a better route because the same scenery at 100km/h becomes pretty boring
• If you can afford it pay someone with a Dyno to run your bike in on that rather than driving at a ridiculous pace for 4 hours and only clocking up 237 Km in total.

Laterz!

Delivery of a new Bike **SURPRISE**

So, here I am in the fortunate position of being the happy new owner of my KTM 990 Adventure R. Why did I get a new one you ask? Well... I had unfortunate incident with the tar that caused a surprising amount of damage on my old KTM. To be more exact, it caused R1000.00 more damage than the bike cost me initially...is that even possible?

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand...

I took delivery of my pretty new bike on a Thursday afternoon when they delivered it to my house on a trailer (which is hind sight was probably a good thing). The bike was standing on its center stand right in front of my doorway when I decided to ride it around the house and park it in the bike shed.

Now the way I did this on my old KTM was to get on the bike while it remained on the center stand, start it and nudge it off the stand in 1st gear and continue riding (really looks cool to the average person).

Right, so I saddle the bike, assume the standing position, start the motor, kick it into 1st gear, let it idle a few seconds (for effect), BIG nudge and.......

your expecting an "...away we go...?? I was too. The bike did get off the center stand alright, but as it's tires hit the paving WHOOOSH the handle bars folded right down against the tank!

Getting such a fright I leap off the bike, realizing at the last moment that I was letting my new shiny bike fall. Grabbing at it with all my might I saved her from hitting the deck, just.

PDI my BUTT!

The lesson here I think is a simple one. When you receive a new motorcycle, even though the salesmen assures you that all is in order and the "Pre Delivery Inspection" was done, take out the complimentary tool kit that you should get with a new bike and do a "once over" on all the nuts and bolts you can get your grubby paws onto. Also good idea to check the coolant level, brake fluid and tire pressures while your at it.

It could save you a coupla unforeseen bucks $$ Ka-Ching!!

Welcome

Well well, so I finally am starting that blog I have been talking about for years (really??). wow. The question was always what to blog about and most blogs I have seen are pretty much just useless dumps of information and situations people go through daily. Well I guess I will strive to be different (YEA RIGHT!!!)

So... I suppose the 1st question to answer is to ask HOW will this blog be different. OK so these are some of my ideas.

• I want to try communicate some real findings I make about bikes (whatever that means)
• I want to answer some questions that I have (or are submitted to me) relating to bikes or associated "stuff"
• Share some of the GREAT rides and riding places I find in Africa. (starting in South Africa due to budgetary constraints :-))

OK... lets go...

Firstly a little about little-ol-me. As stated above I'm no one special (well not in the biking world any way).

I have a small family and live in quiet suburbia in a area of Johannesburg, South Africa. I have two bikes currently:

The Suzuki GSX-R 1000 (fondled labeled the "Dame")

I should probably keep this to myself but no this in NOT a picture of my bike, rather a pic of the same "type" of bike. Why you ask? well honestly I can find a decent picture currently in mu collection that shows the bike cleanly without any of my shenanigans...

Then I have the KTM 990 Adventure R (newly named the Duck)

(Ja ja I know...)

Anyhows that all about me for now.

Laters