Wheelies.

[Lee1170]

Thanks to the Irish weather I brought over the Motocross track was washed out today so i was left with a day by myself and the bike.

I took a run up the road in search of somewhere off road to ride and managed to find a large flat grass area at the International Watersports Centre. No one was about so i went in to play.

Since I have been old enough to ride on the road i have been lucky to own alot of nice bikes, so nice infact that i was always scared to bin them. This fact has contributed myself to be still in one piece but has meant that I have never tried to master the wheelie.

Today I had no excusse, perfect place with the perfect bike. The Husaberg comes up on the throttle in 1st or 2nd but fuc me! I cant keep it up! I must of spent over an hour doing the same thing over and over, the front end went up, I freaked out, wheel went down resulting in 500+ 3sec wheelies. Yes, I will admit it, I'm scared, but really keen to pull a huge one by the end of the summer

Does anyone fancy learning with me or giving me a few tips?

[ZuluFoot]

Lee, dont try and rush it, you will notice you probably started losing strength in your arms after so many attemps and thats when things go wrong.

You need to be relaxed and the only way you can do that is by not rushing it, practice, practice, practice, even if its 10 minutes a weekend, you will be surprised at how quickly you gain confidence.

Just remember that it aint easy and with a bit of practice it starts falling into place...my experience is that no amount of advice compares to practice.

Of course you could flip it a few times to know where the balace point is, but its an expensive and uncomfortable option ;)

[Muzzard]

Next time I come to Melbourne, (you lucky bastard its this weekend) I will bring my bike and show you how if you like. I am not at all keen on going to the outlaws, so I bring my bike and ride... Anyone up for a blast Saturday night? :twisted:

[Wobbly]

I'm likely to be either changing my wheels over or putting cams in :?

[Muzzard]

Jeez Neil, You can bring the Aprilia and show us some then!
Or you can just do the wheels and the cams next week

[Wobbly]

Ash was talking about a dirt ride on saturday, but your right, the cams could wait :-k

[Flash]

Muzz I'm trying to convince a mate who should have his new (wait for it Neil)....... DRZ to come along. he'll be running it in but I'm sure hell enjoy watching you mono and back it in, plus me high siding it everywhere.
Neil I'll give you a hand in the morning early to change the wheels if you want. Let me know

[Wobbly]

Woohoo - yeah baby! :up:

Everybody knows you should run a new bike in HARD anyway :D

All right, all right, just don't get me arrested :lol:

[Muzzard]

I have started another thread in the motard rides forum for Saturday 's ride.
I dont think I am going to see Melbourne until late afternoon/early evening and unloading in Blackburn. Where do you want to meet, Neils? Fairly central except for Lee, Are you coming along mate?

[Muzzard]

To get back on subject Lee, You will find the quicker you are going the easier it is to keep the balance.
Your Berger should pull up easy in 3rd, but start in second and throttle it up, no clutch, and as it climbs slump your shoulders, hang off the bike and relax then start rolling off. Once you have got the relax bit mate it will all make sense to you. You need to slump back to allow yourself enough room to pull forward on the bars if it gets too high.
Keep gentle pressure on the rear brake pedal and once you get used to it apply more pressure and get into the throttle, that will keep it where you want it height wise... I understand the bummer aspect of having to bin it backwards mate having done so myself at very high speed :shock: which is a good party trick, but only funny once! [-X
Once all this comes together for you, rear wheel steering is a snack!
Practice, Practice, Practice...

[Flash]

Whoops I read it as Friday night. I have to work Sunday in hanging rock 7.30am so I'll have to be in bed nice and early. Fuck it I'll come anyway I just wont stay all night. You still bringing your bike the following week Muzz?

[Muzzard]

Where I go, so does the bike Ash! :D

[Wobbly]

Here's Neil's fool-proof guide to popping wheelies:

1. Take off from the line, extra points for a bit of wobbling
2. Once the clutch is out give the right hand twisty thing a good yankin
3. Wait until the front starts coming up and take note of the position of the velocitator
4. Shit yourself
5. Fumble around for the rear brake
6. Chop the throttle in a blind state of panic
7. Bang the front end down on the ground, further stressing the poor front fork seals
8. Think to self "woohoo, what a wheelie - geez I must look cool!"

:lol: :lol:

[dicky]

Neil, have you been reading my notes?
I was going to publish them and make $$$.

dicky.

[Flash]

I agree with Neil :lol:
There is also the - get the bike rolling, pin it then grab the clutch quickly as the front goes up at lightning speed snap the throttle shut take both legs off and then try to regain you composure and make it look as though you were doing a no footed wheelie. (of sorts).

If you listen to Muzz he's the king (I seen him do em)you can't go wrong!
Remember you learn best from your mistakes ;)

[Sibbo]

My wheelie advice.

Listen to Muz, cos it is good advice. Also somehting that helped me was looking at the mud guard to judge height.

At first you will think you are high and panic, and mabey see a bit of front guard in your vision. As you improve, you will be able to have that guard constantly in your vision. then you move to having more and more of the guard in your vision. This allows you to judge the height of the wheelie and give some sort of consistancy to the height of the wheelie.

Once you can see bar pad, i think that is near balance. Cos last year i was doing some 1st gear wheelies on dirt and my boot sliped off the break (very important) and i ended up slipping off the bike and was running behing the bike holding the bars with the bike pointing at the sky. the bike eventually came over backwards and to the side. That was with the bar pad in my vision.

[Wobbly]

:shock: :shock:

[Lee1170]

Went out the next day (Sunday) and started from were i left off, didn't improve alot in quality though i felt a bit more in control?
Practice Practice....

Thanks for the invite for the ride on Sat, I've the off road tires on at the mo, and plan to do some dirt at the Frankston track (if its opened again?) but as soon as yez can confirm the arrangements I will try and get em changed for the evening.

Braaaaaappppp!