1-up problem

Francius · 08:12 PM

Okay, so my bike is now broken in (1800miles) and now I feel more comfortable hitting redlines. This means experimenting with the engine power, horses and torque.

Getting the S to wheelie:
ROLL-ON (with bounce) method - I can only loft the front wheel about a couple of pitiful inches off the ground when the tank is near empty by bouncing it and gunning the throttle to redline in 1st gear.
CLUTCH method - I have a problem with the RPM dropping low sometimes when I drop the clutch on first gear doing about 20mph with 6K RPM. In other words, with load the RPM doesn't hold steady at 6K after I drop the clutch.

What am I doing wrong? (besides what I'm trying to do, disrespecting the bike driving it like a teenage moron)

bikerfish1100 · 09-19-2004, 07:01 PM

uhh, at 1800 miles you're bike is not nearly broken in. give it till 10K, or more, then maybe it is.
what are you doing wrong on the wheelie? you didn't buy a Tuono.

DanceswPavement · 09-19-2004, 07:08 PM

Yeah, what're ya tryin' t' do, become a stunt rider for "Keep It Big" Enterprises?

Francius · 09-19-2004, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DanceswPavement
Yeah, what're ya tryin' t' do, become a stunt rider for "Keep It Big" Enterprises?

Not really. If I did I would buy a used 600RR and increase my insurance to twice the current amount.
Like I said, I am just experimenting with my bike, after all it's mine!

johnnydanger · 11:43 PM

When attempting wheelies keep the revs LOW. You don't need to be at 5K to pull it up, the low end torque really gets the job done. Though I have some mods done, I can get the front end of my bike to 'leap' off the ground with ease bike accelerating up to 3,000-3,500 rpm in 1st and then cracking it open to the stop. She comes right up. I remember when my bike was new, about 40,000 miles ago, that it was definitely a bit harder to get her up but I could still do it fairly easily. 3K-4K is the key, because up high in the revs (5K+) your not in the meat of the torque AND you run out of revs really fast too so the bike doesn't really even have a chance to come up. I still sometimes try doing little wheelies while too high in the revs and like you get only 'pitiful' little couple inch wheelies. Low revs, low revs, low revs. No clutch or bouncing is necessary. If you try too hard to get the bike up you can cause her to twist sideways a little, thanks to the engine torquing and that is always interesting. Now that I'm comfortable with it I usually can get a nice effortless straight up wheelie that I can non-chalantly carry through first gear.

PS. Really do be careful with the clutch. The one I time I've been down from my stupidity was a clutched 1st gear wheelie before I knew how things worked. Almost went all the way over backwards, but luckily just came down on the side with a sprained ankle and minimal damage considering. Also clutching just does not feel right on an S for some reason and I'm sure is quite hard on the clutch and ESPECIALLY the driveline and final drive because of all the slack in it. I did do a 2nd gear clutched wheelie once and it was sweet and just carried for what seemd like forever, but the bad mechanical sounds that emanated in doing it convinced me to not ever do it again. Plus our S do not have dry sumps so they could potentially oil starve in longer wheelie scenarios.

Jeff Williams · 09-20-2004, 07:05 AM

Francius,
All that JohnnyD said I agree with.
But... if the only thing you want to do is wheelie then soften the rear suspension and let the rear end dip when to do what JD said. The front end will bounce up because of the rear end dip and away you go.
Please be careful because softening the suspension will cause REALLY BIG wheelies,( the type that scrapes the exhaust pipes

).

cya
jeff

captainasty · 09-20-2004, 07:35 AM

You can regear the rear end and do them in second. 1st gear will scrape the pipes and second will let you power a nice one.

Francius · 09-20-2004, 07:55 AM

Thanks John and Jeff.
I will experiment with the "low revs". My suspension is always set to the softest so no change neccessary for that. I did notice the twitchy high torque on lower revs but I thought it gets better as it gets higher.
I also notice the sideway force especially at a standstill revving the engine. So I did imagine that I musn't overdo the revs with 1 wheel up.
I think the force tends to lean it to the right side so 1 time I was also "experimenting" with the lean angles and I was leaning way down on a right turn and I noticed an unexpected force which caused it to lean farther down as I was gunning the throttle.
See, experiments like these give me a sense of how my bike reacts. And in the end I benefit from it because it makes me connect with the bike better and makes me a better rider. I'm not a stunter. I do that with my mountainboard.

johnnydanger · 09-20-2004, 10:19 AM

The torquing really becomes a moot point once you learn to 'ease' it up rather than give it all you've got an really jolt it. There is a sweet spot to be sure, and once you find it you won't need to really pound it, just a little twitch is all it'll take. I find that if I'm in a state of zen I do wheelies better

Francius · 09-20-2004, 10:47 AM

Johnny D, I find your words inspirational. =)