The How to Wheelie Thread!

[jhwalker]

I think wheelies are fun, and although I did end up putting a hinge on the back fender of the Bultaco Pursang back in the mid-60s after I looped it a couple of times, I just started being a hair more cautious. I also learned on a Honda 50 and it was fun to try to ride it like a unicycle around the neighborhood. My original wheelies were always on a mountain bike, which added the fun of pedaling to the balance point fun. My excuse was to be able to handle that fallen tree which it turned out I never encountered. Practicing hitting an object with the front end up led me to learn the endo, and even doing a front roll while my bike shoes were clipped into the pegs. Not pretty and pretty painful All unintentionally, of course. Motorcycles were much easier, and as I might have said before, holding a tall wheelie during a gear shift is one of the great pleasures in life. It was not easy, but fun.

Oops, drifting away down memory lane... I had a nice ride on the DRZ S today to pick up quesadillas and gorditas for the trabajadores. I have a little backpack designed to hold six 12oz cans of anything without leaking and it is a nice food carrier.

[Tetge]

...... I had a nice ride on the DRZ S today to pick up quesadillas and gorditas for the trabajadores............

No doubt you rode the back wheel all the way there and back. Sometimes I really think that I am the only person who rides that can not pull a wheelie at will and bang a few gears while holding the wheelie. You all are so much more skilled. And now I learn that if I encounter a tree down across the road, I will be toast since a wheelie is how one handles this event. It is enough to drive me to drink.

[Brakelate]

And now I learn that if I encounter a tree down across the road, I will be toast since a wheelie is how one handles this event.

Go for a "Frank" mountain ride! I was doing this all day long. Though, for the most part, not even clutching it up, but more like shifting my weight back, with a well timed handful of throttle and a quick bounce on the front end to get it up and over. * You can see from the pic grab that the clutch lever was never touched.

Check the video at 5:01 and 5:06. But, the real trick was at 2:15. It comes up quick, so watch for it. Poor stock DRZ-SM was really struggling with the steep climb, at high altitude, especially with the tall first gear and being "ballpark" jetted. But, the Ol'Gal just soaks up everything I threw at it, all weekend long! Amazing bike.

Then again, I was not packing BellBeefers for the Labor crew either, so that I am sure was a plus!

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[jhwalker]

And now I learn that if I encounter a tree down across the road, I will be toast since a wheelie is how one handles this event.

Go for a "Frank" mountain ride! I was doing this all day long. Though, for the most part, not even clutching it up, but more like shifting my weight back, with a well timed handful of throttle and a quick bounce on the front end to get it up and over. * You can see from the pic grab that the clutch lever was never touched.

Check the video at 5:01 and 5:06. But, the real trick was at 2:15. It comes up quick, so watch for it. Poor stock DRZ-SM was really struggling with the steep climb, at high altitude, especially with the tall first gear and being "ballpark" jetted. But, the Ol'Gal just soaks up everything I threw at it, all weekend long! Amazing bike.

Then again, I was not packing BellBeefers for the Labor crew either, so that I am sure was a plus!

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That might have been fun to ride, but gave me the creeps to watch. What the hell was that around 3:00? A ledge to fall off? I will watch it again later after consuming some "medicine" to calm my nerves. Jeesh.

[Brakelate]

In typical GoPro fashion, you cannot appreciate the steep, loose hillside and the over three foot ledge drop off at 6:30, but that was one of the more intense sections. But, a lot of that higher altitude stuff was loose, shale, sharp ass rocks.

[xbacksideslider]

It's true, I was there that day. The gopro lens just doesn't capture steepness or dimension or depth perception.

When Brakelate stops to survey a hill or dropoff or narrow gap ahead, it's one of those "gulp, how we gonna do this?" moments.

For instance, near the end of the clip, the last few minutes of fireroad, Brakelate's DRZ is trying to keep up with me on my old '79 Yamaha and you can't see, due to the GoPro's poor depth perception, how that Yammie just walks off leaves Brakelate's late model four stroke.

[Brakelate]

It's true, I was there that day. ... you can't see how that Yammie just walks off leaves Brakelate's late model four stroke.

That anomaly was fully explained in the following documentary. It was discovered the Yamaha rider was a "Ringer", on a ultra rare factory experimental ISDE Six Days machine. Poor DRZ simply didn't have a chance.

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[Tetge]

That is a pretty nicely maintained dirt road that you were on considering that it apparently is in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps it stays in fairly good condition due to lack of traffic? As for that Yamaha? The road was so close to being a paved road he rode straight up and down and never stood on his pegs and I only saw him sort of stick out his leg once and he did not plant a foot and flat track at all. Also, I did not see any wheelies. So, it is obvious that you were just toying with him.

[Brakelate]

Three words to describe those conditions; Slick, Slick & Slick. Especially on the same road tires I had been touring the entire area on for the three days leading up to this. With the hard packed clay base, covered with a fine sand and talc dust, my main challenge was simply keeping the bike under me. Amazingly, I managed to accomplish that, and never went down all weekend on the pavement, or otherwise.

If there way any playing, it was clearly being done by the Yamaha pilot, as it appeared to never put a foot wrong and was sticking nicely on those soft endure/trials tires he was running. I am sure he will chime in shortly and confirm all of this.