How hard would it be to loop your SH doing a 2nd gear clutch wheelie? I know it is VERY easy to loop it attempting a 1st gear power wheelie. I know it is not impossible to loop it in second, but how much effort would it really take clutching a gnarly one up for it to loop.

I know I am gonna get flamed for asking such a jackass question, but goshdamn it wheelies are fakin cool. I cover my rear brake and can get them up but because I am so big I have to be accelerating pretty hard and slip the clutch to get them up high. Dont worry not in traffic or busy streets, and I always wear my gear too.

Alright fellas fill me in on your Superhawk hooliganism.

 

I'm interested too. Just recently on my last couple rides, I've been tryin to get the front up... well its scary as hell so far. tips? tricks?

 

In first gear a simple twist of the wrist will get it up plenty. For second gear I accelerate fairly hard and at about 5000-5500 rpm slip the clutch and it will pop right up.

At first I had the biggest problem with this cause I was not using enough throttle and it would just barley come up. Mostly due to fear of the speed you are going by cracking the throttle open and trying to wheelie. For me to really pop one up I have to grab a handful of throttle and stay on it while slipping the clutch. Thus the reason for my original question about looping it.

So far I have not felt like it was in any danger of looping, but I am sure that more knowledgeable gents on this forum with more experience on the big bird may help us out.

 

What you are doing is correct. Get the feel for the rpm's you need to get the wheel up. Once it is up, it is all about control. For me, 4000rpm, clutch in, rpms to ~6500, clutch out while keeping on the throttle so the rpms don't drop. Wheel pops right up. Now you can ride out by keeping on the throttle but not enough to loop or you can maintain the wheelie by controlling throttle and your balance point. You can loop it if you grab too many rpm on the initial or if you are too aggressive once the wheel is up. Take your time. If you have access to a dirt bike, a couple of hours of playing around is invaluable. On my hawk, I just ride out the wheelie as I have not found the balance point.

 

The balance point is just before flipping. Practice, practice and practice some more, each time raising your front tire a little higher than before. You will eventually find it and hopefully before flipping it. Just remember to keep your foot on the rear brake. Once you have it down, you can ride wheelies all the way thru 6th gear as it does not take much power to keep it up in a balanced condition. Just remember that by the time you are in 5th or 6th and it starts to come down, no amount of throttle is going to keep it from coming down pretty hard. Good luck

 

I used to do sit down wheelies and get it to the balance point then shift through the gears. One of my friends stunts and convinced me to stand up. Standing up gives me a lot more control but I can't cover the brake cause my foot just doesn't bend like that. But with the engine braking/body positioning keeping it from going to far is easy.

My longest recorded wheelie now is 6/10ths of a mile, around a turn on the interstate. Talk about adrenaline rush! Another good thing about standing up and maintaining the balance point is I'm not going 100mph when I set it back down. I can usually maintain the speed limit and when I set it down I ROLL off the throttle slightly then jam it back on just before touch down to ease the landing. MAKE SURE YOUR WHEEL IS STRAIGHT when you land. Or you will be in for a wild ride!

Last year I was on a back road and because of the crowning of the pavement was being pushed to the ditch. So I turned the wheel to compensate and wasn't able to hit BP so I was going about 100mph when I landed which resulted in a tank slapper from hell. Luckily many years of dirtbiking took over and I just gripped the bike with my legs while maintaining throttle and let the front wheel bounce and hop and it eventually stopped. I got a steering stabilizer soon after which should minimize a similar occurence should I ever forget to straighten the wheel out.

As mentioned before, get a dirtbike and practice. Doing this on the street WILL eventually wind up in disaster when you write a check your *** can't cash.

 

I'm American. I believe in liberty. If you want to do wheelies, smoke crack, wear pink panties, it's OK with me. Unless and until you get in my way I don't give a ****.

That said, I don't get the fascination with wheelies at all. To me, it's "Look Ma, No Hands!" stuff. Manufacturers and MotoGP teams spend millions to PREVENT bikes from doing wheelies. If you want to **** up your front forks, wreck your steering head bearings, risk dumping your bike and getting run over by the F150 behind you, be my guest.

If somebody invented a technology which would allow me to pin the throttle in first and second without ever doing a wheelie, and that technology cost $1000 USD, I'd write the check this afternoon. Just my opinion.
I must admit, I do enjoy watching Youtube vids of you wheelie masters crashing and burning!

PS Do I do the occasional power wheelie on my VTR? Of course I do. I'm a middle aged juvenile delinquent in my own right. I love embarrassing supercharged Mustangs, Corvettes, Turbo Carreras etc. I don't know how to max out in the first two gears without lifting the front wheel. When it seems to be about 6" off the road I ease back on the throttle or short shift to the next gear. That seems to come with the territory. If I could avoid it, I would.