transitioning..

[drog]

been riding wheelies (nothin else really except the occasional unintended stoppie) for about a year now, all sit downs. i've gotten to the point where i can pretty much carry a wheelie (approx 2o'clock, slightly ahead of balance point) more or less when i want to.

lately i've decided to switch over to doing stand ups instead of sit downs more or less for safety. generally when i ride a wheelie i end up putting it down for fear of running into something, or rather a car pulling out. when i peer around the side of my bike, i tend to lose concentration and set the bike back down so im wanting to just make the transition to standing.

now the problem i have isn't getting it up, it's putting it down. when i put it down (right now im only picking it up to ~3o'clock since im learning again) my body is wanting to basically leave my bike. i'm 6'8" and when my bike engine breaks, my body wants to keep moving. wondering if anyone has found a slight trick to counteract this. right now all i can come up with is to either use my rear brake a bit (dont like doing to bring down, rather use soley for stabilizing) or to sit down while im letting off throttle. im so tall that i cant use my knees to lock onto the tank very well, so hoping someone can suggest something i might be overlooking.

for reference, i ride an '02 gsxr1000.


oh also, since im relearning, i'm often getting failed wheelies... 2footers that go right back down... because my body is being yanked around by the bike real quickly, it makes the above situation worse... right now im just bouncing+full throttle. im wanting to know what is smoother when you get it down... bounce+clutch, clutch, or bounce+full throttle... assuming 70-80mph. (i cant get my friends to slow down anymore than that =p)

so far best i can do standing is ~1/5-1/8 of a mile. still trying to get used to having a head-light in my face.


any suggestions to keep me from being the road beneath my bike? =p

[wangsta]

when its coming down you have to give it MORE gas to help ease the engine breaking or pull in clutch.

[JackassRR]

Don't let the engine reach redline b 4 setting it down. As the front end comes down, give it gas so the front end touches down easy.

[drog]

ya, im doing that. but that initial contact is still sending me off-balance. i'll try setting down sooner before red-line. that should ease it up quite a bit. but what about failed attempts? doesnt help much there.

[snigg]

you could try sittin down as the front wheel is coming down. i sometimes sit down in the middle of stand ups just for the hell of it, and it definitely is a wierd feeling but you get used to it.

[TemtnF8]

Maybe shift your body/weight backwards as you're coming down? This will put your arms in a better position to stop your body from going over the bars. I know what you mean about not being able to grab with your knees because you're so tall. I had the same problem learning standup bar spins on my bicycle. I ended up having to reach down and grab the seat with one hand while I spun the bars with the other.

[drog]

i tried sitting down just before i chop throttle to bring it down and it felt stable enough after a few attempts. came down on the cowl once tho =p. still having trouble on failed attempts tho. any suggestion for the actual pull up? tried leaning back an exagerated amount, but i still came too far forward. friend of mine suggested 'squatting' 75% (of standing) until im near BP then just standing up. havent had a chance to try that yet.

any more suggestions?

[snigg]

Originally Posted by drog

any more suggestions?

yeh, stop being a vagina and just wheelie that bitch. shiiittt