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Do I need to learn wheelies before moving up to a b***** bike?

7K views 37 replies 17 participants last post by  2old2race 
#1 ·
So I was just thinking about this today. I have been riding around 12 years now, but aside from a couple of scary incidents my first year, I have never gone near doing wheelies. I've been content to keep it on the ground as I didn't like the experience.

Currently I ride an F800R and I was pondering getting an S1000R in a year or two. Now that bike does have traction control to keep it from bringing the front off the ground for too long, but with TCS off I think with that amount of torque it would power wheelie like nobody's business. That makes me a bit nervous as I think perhaps I may have stunted myself avoiding them all this time as while I never want to do them intentionally I don't really have any muscle memory built up for aborting one if it happens.

Should I be trying to learn them on a dirtbike or something to get practice before I grab something in the liter area?
 
#3 ·
Yes!

You need to learn wheelies, stoppies, and evasive tactics for eluding the cops before getting a b***** bike. And if you're still wearing a helmet and gear, now is the time to wean yourself.
 
#4 ·
I wasn't really asking for a snarky response. I realize you are used to nubs coming in here asking tarded questions about stunting and things of that nature.

I am simply asking if it would be to my benefit to learn how to react if the front wheel came up inadvertantly on a more powerful motorcycle if I plan on moving to one.

I have zero desire to perform said maneuver on the street but I haven't ever owned a motorcycle that is bursting with enough of a torque curve to yank the wheel up at will the way I ride. Since I have never actually acted like a tard on the street and tried to do them I have no experience reacting to them.

I am quite content riding with both wheels on the ground as I do now. I am simply asking for advice on whether it would be prudent to build muscle memory on reacting to bringing it back down in case something occurs when I move to a bike with that much power. Ideally TCS and wheelie control will minimize the need to do that but I kind of limit myself and my options by only including bikes with said features.

Doesn't seem like you really read my post all the way through or perhaps I worded it poorly?
 
#6 ·
Lol Jesus. I see it was probably a mistake to ask for any sort of legitimate advice on here.

I'm not some noob squid asking how to wheelie. I don't like wheelies. I don't want to wheelie. I am asking if people think it's a necessary skill to have to be able to manage them on a bike where the front end pulls up with little effort. I have never owned a large displacement sportbike. All bikes I have owned required use of the clutch to do them. I never wanted to do them and still don't so I never have. I would like to think after 12 years I have the necessary throttle control skills to avoid them but I have never ridden a sportbike or anything with a forward riding position with more than an 800cc motor and most of the larger ones have been parralel twins or older Duc twins without the oomph to teally worry about the front pulling up from giving it a bit more throttle.
 
#8 ·
Indeed it does which is why it's first on my list.
More asking if I considered going with a Speed Triple or Monster 1200 (which I believe don't have wheelie control per se correct?) or if I got an S1000R and kept it forever and decided at some point to turn it off if I was comfortable on the track with it on.
 
#11 ·
Step 1: Take some time to think about whether I am comfortable with my current skillset taking on a more dangerous machine.
Step 2: Think about the fact that I have intentionally avoided engaging in a maneuver that more dangerous machines can easily do without intending to.
Step 3: Make the mistake of asking for other peoples' opinions.
Step 4: Wade through a bunch of snarky posts from people acting like you asked if being able to do stunts is a literal prerequisite for owning a liter bike instead of asking if it would be prudent to know how to react in the event of an unintentional scenario where the front comes up a tad.

You shouldn't feel like you NEED to do wheelies. But don't be afraid to try a few. Just floating it a tad is hard to mess up, and you probably won't 12 oclock on accident
It isn't that I want to know if I should wheelie on a bike I'm just asking if people think I should get some sort of practice off-road with aborting wheelies in the event the front end pulls up on a more powerful street bike before I decide to move up to one. Thanks for not being a douche in your response. :smile2:
 
#13 · (Edited)
First off, the s1000rr does NOT have wheelie control, it's a function of traction control. Even if you floor it in first without the traction control on, it won't suddenly loop on you, unless of course you don't know how to chop the power in about 2 seconds. If you dump the clutch yeah..it will. With traction control on, and you just floor it in sport mode, it will buck up and down progressively higher. If you can't throttle down buy the 4th bounce, yeah, you can loop it. This happens because each time the wheel comes down it is spinning faster. A s1000rr is very tame and managable yet if you unleash the beast, all I can say is HOLY SH%!

*edit* just noticed you said s1000r, I was speaking of the RR. My bad yet the same applies. Just less hp and more midrange.
 
#20 ·
This.

You should get comfortable enough with your current bike so that you can control that type of situation.. You don't have to set out to learn how to wheelie, but rather should be comfortable with knowing when you can accelerate out of a turn, as well as controlling the bikes weight on the front end. When accelerating the nose is light, cut the throttle weight starts shifting to the nose, add front brake and the weight shifts to the nose.

This is assuming you don't want to be pulling wheelies all day long. If that's the case you should get a supremoto or dirt bike play with that..
 
#16 ·
awwww, did mrphotoman finally manage to successfully troll someone? awwwwww

Give him a couple thousand more tries and a few more years and he might even be able to replicate his success.

Anyway, OP you don't need to learn to wheelie just to buy a liter bike.

But that is no excuse not to, playing on a dirt bike is fun, wheelies, turns, drifting, jumps, whatever. Plus none of it will be negative for your riding ability, In fact it will greatly improve your ability to respond in "oh, shit" moments.

Go, play, have fun, move up to a liter bike, or not.
 
#19 ·
I'd be more worried about harmonic vibrations in the fore quarter. Never came close to bringing the front wheel up on my liter sport bike, but had to learn throttle control in turns to keep the vibrations at bay. The bike in question might have a dampener to smooth that out.
 
#25 ·
I personally view throttle control more important since proper throttle control would prevent you from ever being in a situation to pop a wheelie by mistake, unless you are being a a spontaneous daredevil and try it out for the hell of it. The few times i ever even lifted the front tire was being in a bad mood and not caring about my surroundings, and even then i juse let off the throttle, kept balance and the front tire came down as easy as it came up. Tried not to make that mistake again even in bad moods while riding.
 
#27 ·
If you're worried about it, gear your current bike down and ride it a while.
Wheelies only really throw you off when you're trying to change direction. I've gone to pass someone before and hammered it before I was 100% straight, front wheel comes up and of course steering inputs are null and void. You can steer a wheelying bike, but its different and not something your brain snaps too immediately. Just make sure the wheel is neutral before you touch down again too.
 
#29 ·
I'm in the same spot as you, never intentionally done a wheelie, but I've owned liter bikes, including the wheelie machine known as the Aprilia Tuono. Never had an issue, As long as you're not whacking the throttle open like a dick you're not going to loop yourself, you'll just float the front a bit. Roll the throttle open smoothly and you'll be fine. I actually rode an S1000R this week and went pretty hard on it and it never looped me off, barely lifted the front, the electronics work great.
 
#31 ·
Rode the S1000R and R1200R today for about an hour each.

R1200 is a bit more of a tourer and has that boxer twin which was smooth as hell. I can definitely see using one to tour around the state with the wife. It was so comfortable and dat torque....











This thing was the gnarliest bike I have ever ridden. So fast and that quickshifter was awesome. The throttle response was probably the smoothest I have ever experienced and the bike always felt really well sorted out. Didn't bother using rain mode, rode it in sport mode with normal suspension mode on. I felt like I was on the bridge of the Enterprise going warp 9.









My worries have dissipated quite a bit. I had the latter pinned for a while and while the front got a bit light it never pulled up.
 
#36 ·
I would definitely keep it local then. It seems going to a European motorcycle dealer is a whole different experience than a Japanese dealer. My "local" BMW dealer also has Ducati, Triumph, Vespa, and had EBR. I know I can walk in and ride pretty much anything I wanted. None of the Japanese bike dealers would do that, you either bought it or you didn't, they do not give 2 shits about customer service or getting you on the correct bike for your needs.
 
#37 ·
Yeah. I am not going to buy a bike without riding it ever again. Sucks for them cause I was interested in the Z1000 and the GSX-S 1000 that's coming out but I just can't buy anything without riding it.

The Duc and Triumph dealer let me ride some monsters and would have let me roll on a triple if I wanted.

I don't get what's up with the Japanese dealers.
 
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