Wheelies

[Trill]

2nd gear at about 50 mph if I remember right.. haven't been able to ride lately so not certain. I just gas it till I feel the torque, let off and clutch up.

 

[Abs]

When your in 2nd put your left foot on the rear peg keep you right foot on the riders peg and while standing up on the bike clutch it up.. Get the bike back to the balance point and ride the rear brake to control the bike.. Using this technique you can do awesome 12'oclock wheelies and slow them right down.. You will also have perfect balance while in this stance.. I do alot of stunt riding and this works very well for me in doing slow wheelies..

 

[upthemaiden]

pre-load the front end. (bounce the hell out of it)with ur weight above the front end, then throttle and pull up,,,

I know this is an old thread but I'm bored at work.

This is one line that caught my eye. Make sure you're pulling back, and not up. I know it's not your first instinct, but that's the way inertia is already pulling so just go with it.

Has anyone come up with a good answer for this yet? I'm still in the market so i don't have any experience on a Buell, but I was looking at an xb9 and i'm gonna be pretty dissapointed if it's harder to wheelie than my old Triumph speed four. I never touched the clutch when I'd wheeelie, but I could do them in first just by giving it throttle and tugging on the bars sitting down, 2nd gear I had to stand up but a light bounce with throttle came right up around 65mph, and if you really wanted to throw your weight into it I could do the same in 3rd around 90mph with my feet on the normal pegs.

With this much torque I was hoping for a bike that would let me lift the front end in 2nd at least around 60mph without any clutch while I was still sitting down. Maybe I better try to find myself an XB12 instead! I'm not looking to mess around like I used to, but I still like to lift the front wheel sometimes when I leave a traffic light without having to stand up and bounce around on my bike like a monkey.

What mph does 2nd gear even top out at on an xb9/12??

 

[07Bolt]

This is one line that caught my eye. Make sure you're pulling back, and not up. I know it's not your first instinct, but that's the way inertia is already pulling so just go with it.

When ur 6'5" 250lb, u tend too look straight-down at the head lights, so its up 4 me. back 4 ya shorties

 

[taylor]

you will never ever get a xb9 to wheelie at 90 let alone 60mph. i dont remember on the xb9 but my xb12 2nd gear tops out about 80mph.

 

[Pockets]

95 so far on my XB9SX. Not wheelie mind you, but top end.

 

[taylor]

95mph top end? i was talking about 80mph in 2nd gear.

 

[taylor]

i better check that. ill rev it out later and see what i get

 

[driftingswiftly]

Has anyone ever had a back peg fold up on them when they were doing a wheelie? Its something thatis always in the back of my head and is distracting.

 

[upthemaiden]

Haha, you guys are too nice, redlining your bikes just so I can know how the gears are spaced. My friend could stand his old SRAD 600 up in 2nd gear around 80mph and take it over 100, it was pretty ridiculous. My triumph topped out around 65 in 1st, and I think around 90-95 in 2nd, and 115 in 3rd.

and yes, I'm only 5'8, 145lbs, so I can still move around pretty good and toss my weight, but as I'm sure you could assume it's not really upper body strength and pulling with my arms, I just throw my whole body back and hold on.

That folding peg thing had crossed my mind, but I don't really know that it's likely to happen. I never really messed with the back pegs, I hated the way the bike wanted to come up uneven when your feet were in different spots.

 

[buelladdicted]

The only real wheelie advantages that our buells have are the short wheel base,light front end . Its not realy how much torque.In fact, the even torque and power charictistics are things they wheelie in spite of.What matters most with power wheelies is abrupt power development.Thats why we need to clutch fan,bownce,stand up,yank etc.especially in 2nd or third.If our total torque to weight werent as good, even the weight shifting tricks wouldnt work.A non epa cam with late timing and substantial overlap would be a big power wheelie plus,even though it would slightly lower the lower rpm power output. Especially on the xb9 with its shorter over square stroke.If my xb had the cams and headwork of my sportster,It would come up in 1rst,2nd just by holding the throttle open.Being able to do that, is what gets your higher speed wheelies without the dangerous antics that can cause loss of control and then BIG OWIES!

 

[xtremelow]

Fun[up]

 

[upthemaiden]

With all this talk of the torque and way the 9 vs 12 work, I haven't heard much about the differences between the xbs and xbr. From what I've seen they're putting out the same exact numbers as far as power goes. Is there any difference between the lightning and firebolt engines, or are they exactly the same?

 

[taylor]

they have the same engine, tranny and gears.

 

[stopie20]

Yeah, my bike doesnt like to start wheelies above 60mph... I have done it a few times though in third gear with my right knee on the seat and plenty o clutch work she came up easy enough....
The bars I have are a little too wide to make typical stand ups comfortable.. [sad] but a second gear sit down can start any where from 10mph to 45mph and will cruise out nice at about 55mph as long as you like...

 

[xtremelow]

The differance between Bolts and Lightnings simply is how you sit and how that causes a weight transfer on the bike.

A bolt bars cause you to lean forward, and the lightning gives you a more upright seating postion which makes transfering your weight back much easier.

I know my GF's lightning is a hell of a lot easier to wheelie than my bolt, even before I did the swing arm swap. although the drivetrain is the same it is like getting on a completely different bike.

 

[upthemaiden]

Yeah I remember how huge the difference was when I tried to put riser bars on my Speed four with the way the bike handled. I'm sure had I given myself time to get used to it wheelies would've gotten a ton easier, but in the brief couple days I had them on there the bike just felt less stable up front, which made me less confident and actually made it harder to do wheelies, even if my weight was shifted back more.

The lack of faster wheelies is the only real downside to the xb that's stuck in the back of my head now that I've decided to start looking for one, but then I keep trying to remember that I'm not 20 anymore and would really like to behave more anyway, so I think it would be a good thing. My previous plan was to find a gsxr750, and I'm pretty sure you could easily get the front wheel off the ground on one of those with throttle alone up to 100mph with your but firmly planted on the seat.

 

[stopie20]

The newest GSXR 750 I have ridden was a 2004 and it needed the clutch to do anything in second gear @ about 50mph.

The best high speed wheelie bike I ever owned was a 2001 CBR 929 it would do stand ups in third gear @ 70mph and cruise on one @ 100mph... The zx-10 aint to shabby either, but you have to be going around 85mph just to start a third gear wheelie due to the tall gearing...

all in all I have to say I have lost the taste for the interstate warp speed wheelies, had a few friends get really hurt and had a couple very close calls myself, it was fun though at the time but now I got kids n **** to worry about.

Any of the bikes out there will wheelie at almost any speed thoug with the right technique I have a friend that used to start fourth gear wheelies on his 1994 900rr @ 20mph and ride all day at 50mph with the rpm's between 4500 and 5000, but he could jump on any bike and wheelie it at leats one gear higher than the owner... lol

 

[dustin_usmc1]

I also have a wicked wobble at 110mph. Took it to Harley, got it fixed and now a few months later it is back, WTF??

 

[stopie20]

I also have a wicked wobble at 110mph. Took it to Harley, got it fixed and now a few months later it is back, WTF??

While on a wheelie??? Or just riding?