For 15 years, I've had one trick. Power wheely in first gear until I hit the rev limiter and slam the front end down. Pretty much any bike I've owned in that time period has been the same trick. ( OK, the DR650 I would clutch up in 2nd.)
Today I went for a solo ride on my main ride and brought along my digicam and a small tripod.
I found a straight section ( very, very abandoned back here ) and set it to video me doing some wheelies.
How vain.
Anyhow, here are some grabs from my session and a little youtube I did.
Thats cool man, thanks for the post. I'm more of a pop it up then hurry bring it back down kinda guy. Every once in a while I'll ride one out but it still makes me nervous after all these years. I've flown off the back of too many dirt bikes.
always loved how easy it is to power wheelie the 919... even with the stock 16 tooth.... with a 15 in the front its like a cake walk.
I pulled one the other day where i ran through first and second and part of third before i set it down... twords the end my ass started to pucker some.
That always seems to rob power / ease of getting it up.
Regardless, I've never gotten the feel for shifting while having it up... perhaps i'm not at the balance point or ... hell I don't know. It's fun.
ya, i notice that too.... the rich stock map and the way the ecu works with intake temps... it does like cooler temps better.... but a 15 tooth up front makes an amazing difference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rmb
Not for some( myself included) but very cool. (maybe someday)
it will come with practice... i had 10 yrs of dirbiking under my belt before i went street, so it was a natural progression haha.
The ones that scare me are when I'm hurrying through an intersection, and catch the crown just right when on the throttle hard in 2nd, and the combo gets the front wheel up more than I "figured". Or, on the throttle heavy in 4th, crest a hill in a bunch of rollers, and the front wheel keeps going up when the rest of the bike is going down the other side of the crest....and I have a 17 tooth front sprocket.
I don't think I'd like the 15 tooth at all! I save that style of riding for one of the three dual-sports I have; when I'm in the dirt....
That always seems to rob power / ease of getting it up.
Regardless, I've never gotten the feel for shifting while having it up... perhaps i'm not at the balance point or ... hell I don't know. It's fun.
Ahhhhh The weather has been near 100, last Friday it was 101 with a heat index near 118, that is the reason my bike can't heft me and the frontend up!
__________________
I Can and will ride anything!
Bikes I own:
New addition 1978 CB750Four
2006 919
1994 home built springer
1984 KLR 600
1953 Servi-car (I gotta get this put back together)
1942 WLA (Gotta finish this one as well)
1985 Honda 200M ATC
1985 Honda ATC 70
1997 Yamaha Big Bear 350 4X4 ATV
Early 1984 Ironhead Sporty (Wife has laid claim to this bike)
1986 Sporty that I am putting a ironhead engine into
YEA BIGDAA I Gotta GUN!
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Nice pics. I enjoyed them. I'm jealous. I can't wheelie worth a diddly dern. No guts.
dont feel bad, im the same way. i have no problem gettin a knee down i just never felt comfortable with that wheelie feeling. iv never really practiced so im sure that doesnt help
dont feel bad, im the same way. i have no problem gettin a knee down i just never felt comfortable with that wheelie feeling. iv never really practiced so im sure that doesnt help
LOL seriously..... i have a hard time getting a knee down... the whole hanging super far off the bike is just kinda weird... pegs a drag all the time tho... and wheeling is second nature haha.
Kinda interesting to see how high I actually am; not as high as would look awesome-er on photos, but not 2 feet either.
I had this problem too for a while. Once I got comfortable with the throttle-control "twitch" [if you will] of the 919, I could get them right into the balance point either off just snapping a power wheelie (and backing off throttle) or clutching it up at way lower speeds. Your wheelie at 0:22, in the video, was almost getting to getting the balance point. Once you're all the way up at BP, it's tough/crazy to keep on the gas as hard as you were.
It may sound silly but just getting used to leaning back a bit more really helps. You can adjust your body weight and work it with the throttle control. I've gotten into second, on-one, and took it up to just under 85mph. Was freaking exhilarating. Not sure how likely it is to get third... ...or if I want to. :)
Over the years, I've definitely noticed how important body position is.
Nuts smashed in the tank and leaning forward does not help getting her up.
Nuts off the tank, sitting straight up helps immensely.
Truth be told, I'm at the stage of my riding career where I'm not really looking to improve. Just carry on my tradition of running her into the rev-limiter and slamming back down to earth.
Oh. On my 2005 ZX10R, it would come up in 2nd. I would get to about 60mph in 2nd, then chop throttle whack throttle and it would come straight up... that would land at over 105mph. I didnt' do a lot of those. The wind *really* would fuck with you.
LOL seriously..... i have a hard time getting a knee down... the whole hanging super far off the bike is just kinda weird... pegs a drag all the time tho... and wheeling is second nature haha.
lol, ill trade you some lean angle for some tilt angle, hows that sound??
Do you guys think elevation makes that much of a difference in wheelie ability? I live in Idaho ~4800ft and I can get the wheel to pop up, but nothing like curiousmike.
Reading up on the seat position, I'll have to work on that. I haven't paid much attention, but I wasn't hugging the tank or leaning on the bars, either.
I can only get the wheel to pop in 1st gear, get her up to 4500rpm's or so, then snap down (close) the throttle to load my front suspension, then snap the throttle back open. Highest I've gotten is maybe 18 inches.
I've NEVER been able to do it just rolling on the throttle at ~5000rpms.
And I'm a lightweight @ 165lbs!
Enough of my ranting. Curiousmike, that was a sweet vid. And thanks for doing it safely, I never attempt it unless I'm way out on county roads.
Do you guys think elevation makes that much of a difference in wheelie ability? I live in Idaho ~4800ft and I can get the wheel to pop up, but nothing like curiousmike.
Reading up on the seat position, I'll have to work on that. I haven't paid much attention, but I wasn't hugging the tank or leaning on the bars, either.
I can only get the wheel to pop in 1st gear, get her up to 4500rpm's or so, then snap down (close) the throttle to load my front suspension, then snap the throttle back open. Highest I've gotten is maybe 18 inches.
I've NEVER been able to do it just rolling on the throttle at ~5000rpms.
And I'm a lightweight @ 165lbs!
Enough of my ranting. Curiousmike, that was a sweet vid. And thanks for doing it safely, I never attempt it unless I'm way out on county roads.
elevation definetly plays heavy on engine performance in anything. Me and a buddy went on a ride up hwy 2.... we normally ride at sea level to probably 1000 ft max... but hwy 2 goes from about sealevel to 8000ft... needless to say at 8k feet i couldnt powerwheelie first gear no matter how hard i tried.
I weigh less than that and have a hard time. I'm more likely to break traction in the rear than I am to get up the front, that being said my body position probably has a bit to do with it. I blame it on the suck-o-matic-slam-your-nuts-here gastank. The one time I got the wheel up just whacking the throttle was on an incline and I was warned that it was easy to do there. I've done it other times with the chop and whack, but as I wasn't planning on looking at the sky I set'm down and continued the hauling of the ass.
I have a PCIII
Sato CF slip-ons
Pair valve removed/block off plates installed
Vacuum tube removed and blocked.
Stock air filter.
Just in case someone was wondering about the performance capabilities of the bike.
I've ridden my buddies '02 919 and we're about equal; neither is any easier getting off the ground. The only thing we've found is to really stiffen up the rear shock, but that is no fun to ride casually with it at that setting.
I can only get the wheel to pop in 1st gear, get her up to 4500rpm's or so, then snap down (close) the throttle to load my front suspension, then snap the throttle back open. Highest I've gotten is maybe 18 inches.
In my video, you can tell that's exactly what I'm doing. The heat of the day robbed enough power that I couldn't do my normal "just whack it" wheely.
The bike has just enough power at 100 foot elevation to do it; your mods probably gain you an extra few HP (?) -- probably not enough to overcome the altitude.
For sure, try it in cooler weather and pay attention to how you're sitting on the bike, and are you truly committing the throttle to get it up.
In my video, you can tell that's exactly what I'm doing. The heat of the day robbed enough power that I couldn't do my normal "just whack it" wheely.
The bike has just enough power at 100 foot elevation to do it; your mods probably gain you an extra few HP (?) -- probably not enough to overcome the altitude.
For sure, try it in cooler weather and pay attention to how you're sitting on the bike, and are you truly committing the throttle to get it up.
i think its every 10k ft you loose 33% horsepower.
The ones that scare me are when I'm hurrying through an intersection, and catch the crown just right when on the throttle hard in 2nd, and the combo gets the front wheel up more than I "figured". Or, on the throttle heavy in 4th, crest a hill in a bunch of rollers, and the front wheel keeps going up when the rest of the bike is going down the other side of the crest....and I have a 17 tooth front sprocket.
I don't think I'd like the 15 tooth at all! I save that style of riding for one of the three dual-sports I have; when I'm in the dirt....
That's SICK that you can even do that. I only wish I could. I can lay on the throttle all day and never get the front off in any other gear than first, and that's only possible with a crack/whip of the throttle coming off of pre-loading the front forks.
Oh. On my 2005 ZX10R, it would come up in 2nd. I would get to about 60mph in 2nd, then chop throttle whack throttle and it would come straight up... that would land at over 105mph. I didnt' do a lot of those. The wind *really* would fuck with you.
Now that sounds like some real fun right there. :) Cool pics and video too.
That's SICK that you can even do that. I only wish I could. I can lay on the throttle all day and never get the front off in any other gear than first, and that's only possible with a crack/whip of the throttle coming off of pre-loading the front forks.
For that very reason, I want the 15 tooth setup.
15 tooth is SOOO fun.... i got one off ebay for 20 bucks shipped brand new... some chinese sprocket.... but its held up just fine... brings out the inner hooligan thats for sure.
Osiris919 (I think that's his username here) and I built it to figure out what ratio would give us more torque (now that we know that our ~5000ft altitude is killing our wheelie ability).
I think we want to be somewhere along the 15/44 setup.
I have some questions though, and I would love to add this information to the spreadsheet:
1. The stock speedo on the 919 is +- 7% fast, right? So by lowering the ratio (less torque, more top end) this gets us closer to true speed?
2. Vice Versa, if we raise the ratio, our speed gets farther off, correct?
3. I'm assuming we want chain length as close to the front of the swingarm connection as possible (with proper slack of course) to allow for adjustment as chain stretches, correct?
Gotta say, I love this site. I've learned so much and hope this helps anyone out there looking for a chain/sprocket setup.
Osiris919 (I think that's his username here) and I built it to figure out what ratio would give us more torque (now that we know that our ~5000ft altitude is killing our wheelie ability).
I think we want to be somewhere along the 15/44 setup.
I have some questions though, and I would love to add this information to the spreadsheet:
1. The stock speedo on the 919 is +- 7% fast, right? So by lowering the ratio (less torque, more top end) this gets us closer to true speed?
2. Vice Versa, if we raise the ratio, our speed gets farther off, correct?
3. I'm assuming we want chain length as close to the front of the swingarm connection as possible (with proper slack of course) to allow for adjustment as chain stretches, correct?
Gotta say, I love this site. I've learned so much and hope this helps anyone out there looking for a chain/sprocket setup.
you got it.... running a 15/43(stock rear) or 15/44 will make the speedo EVEN more off... i know my speedo with stock 16/43 gearing is 8% off... with 15/43 its anoter 6.7ish % off... running the 15/43 you gotta take up a lil slack but not much... with a 15/44 you should be pretty close to a 16/43 as far as chain adjustment.
you got it.... running a 15/43(stock rear) or 15/44 will make the speedo EVEN more off... i know my speedo with stock 16/43 gearing is 8% off... with 15/43 its anoter 6.7ish % off... running the 15/43 you gotta take up a lil slack but not much... with a 15/44 you should be pretty close to a 16/43 as far as chain adjustment.
how are your rpm's while cruising, say around 80 in 6th gear?
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