Near the end of last season i had a cool experience when i let the 14 rev up quick in 1st gear. I felt the front sort of skitter very light just a bit at about 7-8K rpm with about 3/4 throttle, maybe. I've felt that same thing a few times since then in 1st and 2nd gear but no real bounce of the shocks up front so I'm sure it was not actually much more than just barely touching the ground. I have my new tires and I'm ready to do some new things. Today the front wheel took flight as I headed up my street to go home. I was doig about 40 in third gear and down shifted a couple to 1st. I decided i was going to run it good and hard but I wasn't anticipating a wheelie at all. The street was clear before and aft. I ripped that throttle half way or more and after a second of acceleration up she went, high and proud. Just wahhhwww, up it went. I suppose i rolled off on the throttle a little bit pretty quick and came down with a soft bounce. It felt just like i always thought it would. I've seen so many vids from tank cams where the front alights and comes back down softly. It really was nothing violent at all. Ive hit bumps that caused more of a shock than coming down out of that first ever, true, way up off the ground wheelie. I was so excited I rode right past my place and did a victory pass down the street. Time to check those fork clamps are tight. This might get to be a bit of a habit. I really need to start doing something other than high speed to expand my repertoire. Don't worry, a little at a time.

Think the 4-2-1 system is going to make it harder for me to wheelie?

Rook

Feels pretty darn cool, doesn't it Rook? New stickier tires, LOL!!

It was the coolest. I have not been trying to spin the tire since it's new but I can tell the grip is better in cornering. I haven't had the guts to nail the throttle in first gear until today and I think that is what made the difference.

It really feels strange when the rear wheel spins *while* the front wheel is off the ground.

-Matt

Yeah, what he said^^ lol

MattTheHat wrote:

It really feels strange when the rear wheel spins *while* the front wheel is off the ground.

Someone mentioned that last year. I'll never forget the words he used: 'laying a big fat, darky while doing a wheelie at the same time.' I think that was my fellow Wisconsinite...I can't remember his name now, damn him. Sounds wild but it will be a while before I'm up to that.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/13/2009 @ 11:44 PM *

Yup Rook, that was me.

^^^Thought it was you! We should get together and do a ride some day.

Rook hoisting the wheel up is the coolist ... when you are at that moment your a "bad ass" just remember our bikes have a flaw in that the oil drain plug is the lowest part under the bike ,and if you are not gental bringing it down you may be looking for an oil pan I,ve also heard of someone busting his going over a speed bump theese pans are cast not metal so they do not bend must just bust like glass it is a bad spot for the drain plug but thats what we have I am modifing my old one and changing the location of the plug to the side towards the back of the pan sump Just be gental man... xxx's

If I move up in rpm where I could feel any more rev's heading up the power band, we were going to go rock skipping over the bumps pretty soon. I mean, hang time torque I'm talk'inn!

Edit: I am not on a wheelie. My wheel leave are both at the same time. I am on the plush landing, so I will never case a plug on one wheel.

Between the oil plug giving you the no-no, and the wheelie straight up with that no-no, I can see you need to ride this bike on two wheels as intended.

AssFactor this bike is hug it to death. You can ride this bike or wreck it in so many points of contact/patch.

Bof fizz dis IS day way the cook key crumb balls..... BALLS is more Dick Slapping the ______ Fill in the Blank Checks!

* Last updated by: Hub on 7/14/2009 @ 1:32 PM *

hub i was just stating that a wheelie can damage the pan not that I was doing one.My pan was damaged loading my bike into trailer by hand plug caught on hing lip so light I didn't even here it just saw her blood draining from her lovely body lol I been riding for years and I know how bikes should be ridden... For pleasure Correct me if I am wrong ...xxx's

Second gear, clutch it up down low and ride it all the way to redline(almost). I haven't made it to balance point wheelies or shifting while on one wheel, but I am the man at ringing it's neck in a 2nd gear unicycle act. Be safe and cover that rear brake.

when you are at that moment your a "bad ass" just remember our bikes have a flaw in that the oil drain plug is the lowest part under the bike ,and if you are not gental bringing it down you may be looking for an oil pan

I was under the impression that only lowered 14's have this issue.

depends on how hard you come down lol

Also, those panic "get out of the wheelie fast" moments tend to cause a great amount of pain on the baby makers.. So try not to do that if its at all avoidable.

I prefer no clutch. There's plenty or torque to lift the front end in first gear, and I go 250 pounds. The shift to second and then third or fourth is easy. As mentioned, keep the rear brake covered and ready to apply. The power delivery is very smooth, though. I've never had the ZX try to get away from me. A quarter or half mile wheelie or longer is no problem once you get used to shifting with the front wheel in the air.

As far as banging the pan on re-entry, I've never had that happen, but, 1> I usually bring the front end down pretty gradually so as to be easier on the bike, and 2> I broke the tab around the drain screw off on day one whilst leaving a sidewalk parking spot.

YMMV,

-Matt

I will be tightenning up the front suspension. I've heard of a shallower aftermarket oil pan that would be the way to go if I crack this one. I don't plan on it though. I've always been as soft at riding the ninja hard as I can. Most of you heard about my stock tire marathon. 9000 miles and the brake pads look like they'll go another 9000. No, I wont be banging any oil pans on my bike. Thanks for the valuable warning though.

Good point on covering the rear brake for emergency, NC2VA.

This was an accidental wheelie, remember. Any other guys out there learning to push the bike to it's limit, this is going to happen some day so be aware of it. There was nothing tricky about having it go up or landing. I just eased back on the throttle and bump-kush, spring-kush, back on two wheels.

Thanks, Rook,

This is all good info. I have to admit that I look at power wheelies with a bit if nervous admiration - on the one hand I want all the rubber I can get on the ground when she's pulling hard. On the other hand, I remember the first time I saw someone pull a power wheelie: I was thrilled just watching and thinking about how much force it would take to do it.

I've got about 2700 miles on my baby right now - I've done a couple of long smooth pulls on the throttle up to high RPM - I love the roar she makes and the incredible torque she has under high RPM. Makes me feel like I really AM riding a fire breathing dragon.

I suppose I'll eventually get her up, but right now I'm just getting comfortable with her.

-Dennis

Just one other word of warning for those who might accidentally let the front end get too light. On re-entry, you want to make sure you have a good grip on the bars in order to wrestle down a speed wobble or two. It's never happened to me, but I saw a YouTube video of a guy who got a really bad case of speed wobbles when he sat the front back down. He didn't ride it out. He also got run over by a car once he found his way to the pavement.

I've never personally had a bike try to get away from me on re-entry, but because of all those years of dirt riding, I suppose it's possible that I keep a firmer grip on the bars than necessary.

If you find the video and watch it, you'll understand my word of caution. It's not pretty.

-Matt

Rook.....the coolest wheelies are the ones where when going from first to second gear you learn just where to shift will leaving the throttle wide open. As you hit second gear the front end rolls up to about a 45 degree angle and slowly comes down gently touching down. You look down at the speedo and it reads about 120-130 mph and that dumbass on the Hardley is a small dot in the rear view mirror. Then you get that warm fuzzy feeling inside knowing you just made some dumbass on a $50,000 piece of shit look like a idiot. I usally let them leave the stop light first, then pass them on one wheel. It's great! And if you play it right, everyone of them fall for it. They always pass me like they scare me. I'll stop just behind them at a light. I do this two or three times. Now they go. And the 14 is so much faster, I can let them get a ways out in front and they think they're actually out running me. Then I turn it in. The best part is at the next light, they either stop way behind you or turn off all together. If they do pull up behind you they all say the same thing "I Didn't Know What You Had" Like they could even take you if you were on a 600.

^^Good to hear from you Bud. You've been away for a while. I can't believe anyone on a Harley thinks they're fast. Goes to show how many Harley riders just forked over a pile of money to have a Harley because it's a Harley and it must be the best, of course. I don't know, I'd take a Harley for some relaxing touring and two up riding but it would never be the bike I was dreaming about all these years.

On the topic of tank slappers, I've never had one happen on any bike. I always hear a steering damper isn't really necessary on the 14 but I might just get one to be on the safe side. I always thought they were a cool piece of equipment anyway. If a speed wobble ever happened, I sort of have it in the back of my head that I am going to just hang on, maintain speed and resist the urge to stop the bars from wupping back and forth. I always here the 14 is long enough to overcome a speed wobble on it's own as long as you don't slow down. Maybe that was that poor dude who got run over's fatal mistake.

Matt wrote:

A quarter or half mile wheelie or longer is no problem once you get used to shifting with the front wheel in the air.

I've seen vids of such. Looks to be more adrenaline than I can handle right now. Also, saw a guy or two spin a rod bearing and bust out the side of the motor doing high wheelies for 15-20 seconds. As far as I know, the oil washes to the back of the motor and essentially your running full bore on 0 oil in the pan. At least that was suggested in a thread from a few months ago. I'd be careful, nobody said anything about the oil light going on - like anyone would notice doing a 12 o'clock wheelie at 150 mph.

your running full bore on 0 oil in the pan.

When I ride a wheelie out that long, I have to *really* feather the throttle as soon as I shift into 2nd and then 3rd gears. Otherwise, the front will climb too high. I'm guessing the load on the motor is dropping to abut 30% as soon as I shift out of first. I probably tend to run a bit more engine oil than I should, too. I just can't help erring on the side of too much oil than too little when changing the oil.

Additionally, I've never seen how high the front really goes. I suspect my longer wheelies are a lot closer to the ground that what you'd see a stunter do. That being said, I'm not sure how high the front would have to be to sling all the oil to the back of the pan. I guess I ought to spend some time and try to figure it out before I do something stupid.

-Matt

^^I always hear about too high an oil level causing oil to splash up to the valves but I know for a fact the oil goes all the way up to the airbox because I found oil on my flies when I removed them. There is a hose coming from the airbox to expel any liquid that gets in there and I see a bit of oil residue on the recepticle bottle at the bottom of the hose. If oil goes all the way to the airbox, I imagine it must be splashing the valves too. I keep my oil level right about midway between the sight glass marks and I add when it looks low. I doubt if I burn any oil and I see no sign of leakage from engine but after a lot of high rev runs, there is enough oil lost through the airbox that I need to add. It was about 3/5 of a quart in 3000 miles. This seemed to coincide with fly removal but it could just be more frequent aggressive riding in this, the second season of my bike's use.

I'd never advise a newer rider to try to wheelie the 14 via clutch. IMHO, there's a ton of torque thay can spell disaster if wheelspin rears it head, and it can easily happen.

I have found that my bike will come up in second gear smoothly and in an easily controled manner. First gear is just VIOLENT in the way it comes up and lands down.

I have had the fun of running a 10.10 @ 144mph 1/4 mile with the bike on one wheel through all of second gear.

Whata' blast !!

I don't do 12o'clocks but it isn't a ride unless the front gets off the ground here and there. Never felt the need to clutch them up just sit back in the seat roll on the throttle and up she goes. 2nd gear I just find a little rise in the road and snap open the throttle, the power comes on pretty smooth and I've had very few sketchy moments. Since I switched to the avon storms I will occasionally get some wheel spin, never been enough to worry about though.