Didn't see that coming...

[mr72]

Went on a bit of a ride finally Saturday with my dad, a few hill country back roads.

On the way home I had a bit of a wheelie coming off a stop light. Not even sure why or how it happened. Probably got two inches of air under the front tire, not trying.

I didn't think the old girl would wheelie. Guess I was wrong.

[J_Walker]

not this again....

[cbrfxr67]

[ShowBizWolf]

Cool!!!!

[Suzuki Stevo]

Lets see...480cc's making something like 39 Hp..you got lucky 

[qcbaker]

I have tried to do clutch ups in 2nd just to see if I could, but i can never get the front wheel off the ground. I think if I dumped the clutch from a stop then maybe I'd have the same results as you. But that's the least safe way to wheelie lol.

[mr72]

Lets see...480cc's making something like 39 Hp..you got lucky 

Agreed. But it's closer to 490cc, if you are going to round it

[mr72]

I have tried to do clutch ups in 2nd just to see if I could, but i can never get the front wheel off the ground. I think if I dumped the clutch from a stop then maybe I'd have the same results as you. But that's the least safe way to wheelie lol.

This wasn't a case of trying. It was a case of poor throttle and clutch control.

Seems there's a magic combination of revs, throttle and clutch where it "just" lifted the front wheel right as I came all the way off the clutch. Like I say, maybe 1-2".

I do think front spring rate has as much to do with it as anything. It's no surprise that my bike has 25% stiffer springs up front, which means essentially there's less upward travel of the fork before it tops out and the tire can get pulled up.

I doubt if I could repeat it even if I wanted to. And BTW, I don't want to.

I did lots of wheelies on my little DT80 when I was a kid. Crashed a lot too. It's one thing to crash doing a wheelie in a grassy field with a 130lb motorcycle going under 10mph. Quite another in traffic, on pavement with a 400lb bike going 30+ mph. No thanks.

[qcbaker]

This wasn't a case of trying. It was a case of poor throttle and clutch control.

Seems there's a magic combination of revs, throttle and clutch where it "just" lifted the front wheel right as I came all the way off the clutch. Like I say, maybe 1-2".

I do think front spring rate has as much to do with it as anything. It's no surprise that my bike has 25% stiffer springs up front, which means essentially there's less upward travel of the fork before it tops out and the tire can get pulled up.

You may be right about that. I hadn't thought about the forks as a factor at all.

I doubt if I could repeat it even if I wanted to. And BTW, I don't want to.

I did lots of wheelies on my little DT80 when I was a kid. Crashed a lot too. It's one thing to crash doing a wheelie in a grassy field with a 130lb motorcycle going under 10mph. Quite another in traffic, on pavement with a 400lb bike going 30+ mph. No thanks.

I should specify that I've only tried in an empty parking lot, not in the actual street around any other vehicles. I have no real desire to wheelie while actually riding on the street, I was just curious about my abilities and the bike's limits. I think that while it is dangerous to attempt wheelies/stunts at all, I don't think its necessarily a bad to explore your (and your bike's) limits in a relatively controlled environment. I feel like knowing what bike inputs get the front end in the air can often help you avoid accidentally doing so when riding.

When I was younger and riding dirt bikes every summer, I learned to wheelie as a practical skill, not as a stunt. Sometimes when trail riding, you'll want to pull the front wheel up to clear a small obstacle (downed tree, rock in the way, etc.) I'm sure you've done the same while mountain biking, correct?

[cbrfxr67]

"Sometimes when trail riding, you'll want to pull the front wheel up to clear a small obstacle (downed tree, rock in the way, etc.) I'm sure you've done the same while mountain biking, correct?"

,.....dead possums, empty 40oz glass beer containers, lawn care maintenance debris that falls out of their crappy trailers, cardboard anything, diamond hard concrete splatters from concrete trucks that drip blobs behind them,....hmm what else, pick a fast food name bags of trash people throw out of their windows,.....  This is from mtb'ing houston streets everyday.  lol

[mr72]

Sometimes when trail riding, you'll want to pull the front wheel up to clear a small obstacle (downed tree, rock in the way, etc.) I'm sure you've done the same while mountain biking, correct?

Oh yeah. Constantly. I mean, this kind of manipulation of the bike either front or rear is super common and a required skill mountain biking. Just as often you loft the rear wheel and position it either to clear an obstacle or make an impossibly-tight turn. Not to mention you ordinarily have to sort of wheelie up ledges on climbs, which are pretty common around here on trails. Of course on a bicycle, 90% of the weight is the rider, so essentially you have to do all of this mostly with moving the bike relative to your body's CoG. Whole different skill set. I think it comes closer to overlapping the skill set of trials riding on a motorcycle.

[qcbaker]

Oh yeah. Constantly. I mean, this kind of manipulation of the bike either front or rear is super common and a required skill mountain biking. Just as often you loft the rear wheel and position it either to clear an obstacle or make an impossibly-tight turn. Not to mention you ordinarily have to sort of wheelie up ledges on climbs, which are pretty common around here on trails. Of course on a bicycle, 90% of the weight is the rider, so essentially you have to do all of this mostly with moving the bike relative to your body's CoG. Whole different skill set. I think it comes closer to overlapping the skill set of trials riding on a motorcycle.

You're right that it's a different skillset on a bicycle, I was just making the point that wheelies aren't necessarily just a stunt, they do have practical applications for some types of riding.

On another note, I have always been curious about trials riding. If I could get a cheap old gas-gas or other trials bike off craigslist for less than $500 bucks, it'd be tempting to pick up just to play around with.

[mr72]

On another note, I have always been curious about trials riding. If I could get a cheap old gas-gas or other trials bike off craigslist for less than $500 bucks, it'd be tempting to pick up just to play around with.

Yeah same here. One of my coworkers recently got a Montessa and has been riding it a lot instead of his mountain bike. Sounds like a lot of fun but I have way too many hobbies as it is.

We are going to the Harvest Classic motorcycle show in Luckenbach (gonna ride there, about 2 hrs through the gorgeous hill country each way from my house) which features a classic and European motorcycle show as well as a trials competition. Went last year and the trials was a trip to watch. There are little kids with electric trials bikes that are kind of unbelievable to watch. Folks riding all over the whole place on trials bikes the entire time because it's pretty much the only motorcycle folks bring that they can ride like a pedestrian throughout the park/show.

[Joolstacho]

qc, see if you can track down a Yamaha TY 175 or 250 - air cooled.
Great little trials bikes, parts easy and cheap, lots around so not hard to find and not expensive.
An old gasser would be more problematic for parts and more costly to buy.

[gruntle]

I get bunny hops pretty much every day, maybe my clutch is just mightily bighty?
dunno what the beef is tbh, 'tis a sprightly bike 'n' wants to get up 'n' go - what's the prob?