• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Never understood the wheelie thing...

thankfully he seemed to be wearing gear.

other than dopiness, what phenomenon did we see in that video, and if our bikes ever do it, what's the proper way to prevent the crash. (not doing wheelies obviously, but i'm talking about the wiggle his bike developed.)

might as well try to learn from the dude.
 
i'm into bmw's specifically for their lack of wheeling ability. that telelever front end does a good job of keeping the front wheel down. i've only managed to get mine up a little and very rarely. i rode a speed tripple last summer and i couldn't accelerate without the wheel comming up......................
 
BubbaZanetti said:
i'm into bmw's specifically for their lack of wheeling ability. that telelever front end does a good job of keeping the front wheel down. i've only managed to get mine up a little and very rarely. i rode a speed tripple last summer and i couldn't accelerate without the wheel comming up......................
Click to expand...

Better stay away from the R12GS then.
 
I rode the K12R at the national last summer and was very impressed that I could romp on the gas and it just took off with the front down. I never could do a wheelie on a bicycle. Definitely don't want one on a motorcycle.
 
username said:
thankfully he seemed to be wearing gear.

what's the proper way to prevent the crash. (not doing wheelies obviously, but i'm talking about the wiggle his bike developed.)

might as well try to learn from the dude.
Click to expand...

That bike might be lacking a steering damper, plus when that occilation occures
you're suppose to relax your arms and go with it and not try to man handle it as if to correct it. I'm told trying to correct it makes it worse.
 
Does the thrill justify the risk?

My 2002 R1150RT will do wheelies, but the power train is too weak to make a habit of it. After replacing the drive shaft once, it seemed like a good time to quit.

There was an incident in Kansas City a few weeks back where a wheelie lead into a tank slapper. The rider was killed when he was shucked off and hit the curb.
 
The advice I've heard is to give it a good solid twist of the throttle when a wobble develops, and then once you've accelerated out of it you can calmly slow down.
 
good stuff rtrandy and the veg - but contradictory?

i guess i need to find some time to re-scan my david hough books and see if he makes any comment.

was that a "tank slapper?"
 
Sure looked like one to me, although I managed to keep mine up until it slammed hard into the tank.

Offhand, it looks like the problem there was twofold... rear tire wasn't aligned properly, and he had one fork without air pressure or *some* kind of imbalance between the front forks in their damping ability. Perhaps a bent fork... It doesn't start until he gets it down, and when it does start, the back aggravates it. Maybe he broke/bent a tripleclamp when he slammed it down...

Doesn't take a wheelie to make that happen, all it takes is a few ruts in the road. That's exactly what happenned to me, right there, at 45 in a corner.... and I wasn't screwing around at all, as I was on my buddy's bike.
 
:laugh :laugh :laugh

That is so kewl, I wish that happend to every squid who thinks riding high-speed wheelies on public roads is what you are supposed to do.

I'm not against having fun and riding wheelies, but that joker got his own medicine. No I don't feel bad for this rider, if he wants to pull off stupid stunts for the camera, he got everything coming to him. I'm happy he'll be fixing his bike, while I'm sad that my insurance just went up for his stupidity.

Nothing wrong with that bike, I suspect, just the lose nut behind the handlebars.

:laugh :laugh :laugh :sick
 
Wobbles are indeed odd mysteries sometimes, and wheelies only add to it. The R12GS I test-rode at Lima slightly wobbled it's front-end during a wheelie (don't tell BMW I did that...) but it stabilised before coming back down and was never any less than rock-solid when on the ground.
In October I go to test-ride a friend's /6 that was pretty much a worst-case bike for wobbles. The Great Duane Ausherman had just test-ridden it and gone white in the face at how easily he was able to induce a wobble (which all present could see and HEAR from the side of the road). When I tried it, I gently got to probaly 30 MPH then gave the right grip a bump with the heel of my hand and a very distinct wobble happened instantly. This bike had sacked-out fork springs and a large handlebar-mounted Wixom fairing. It was easy to stabilise though and I got it back in one piece. The husband of the bike's owner (he did all the maintenance) was not happy to hear how dangerous his wife's bike was.
 
The Veg said:
The advice I've heard is to give it a good solid twist of the throttle when a wobble develops, and then once you've accelerated out of it you can calmly slow down.
Click to expand...

It's always been the Riders way out..."when in doubt...GAS IT" :evil
 
riderR1150GSAdv said:
Stupid is, as stupid does..... :brow
Click to expand...

Not that they all use their skill at the right place and time. But you have to admit a lot of those guy's and Girl's are VERY talented. The crazy ones in Orlando are a blast to watch! Good and Bad.
 
I see them on Sunday's on US 27 down here too and some are good. The problem is that they do it on public roads filled with idiots in cages too. The kid in the vid was lucky not to get run over. The other bad thing is that they give all motorcyclists a bad reputation regardless of what we ride. When they crash, all other 'bikers' are put in a bad light as the media are completly misinformed and blow everything out of proportion. When my friends found out I ride a bike, I was put in the same catagory as the 'bikers' :sick . I resent that as I feel I am a motorcyclist and not a 'biker'/poser.
Most non riders see just the dangers and not the pleasures riding brings with it. The only time 'we' get good press is when we show up for a X-Mas toyrun.... :banghead
 
Tank slappers... ugh.

My experience tells me that Veg and RT Randy are both right... relax your grip and accelerate, and try not to poop your pants. :p

Ian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Moonshiner 28
Replies
0
Views
248
mjfink420
M
9
Another scam, by phone this time
Replies
4
Views
706
collingsbob
collingsbob
S
Trying to find the first owner
Replies
2
Views
1K
simonak3000
S
F
Radical Tall-Geared /2 Transmission
Replies
10
Views
1K
20774
20774
K
Sad news...looking forward the value of a late friends '06 R1200RT
Replies
7
Views
735
DavidR8
DavidR8
Back
Top