Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Please put my name down :-) Thanks! Regards, Corné

Include me in you beauty! Website Administrator [http://honeybadger.net Honey Badger IT Services]

I would love to join as well!

Put me down, i'm interested 2008 F800GS 2006 R1200S 2007 F800ST(Cindy) 2005 F650GS(Cindy) Motorcycle Rider Training http://www.twowheels.co.za

Also interrested - Getting tired of the ohh-s..t moments with a accidental wheelie! Jaco Marais

Me too.

Yes please!

There seems to be some interest and this may cause some riders to go out and try to wheelie so here is some reading info before you do This will not stop you from crashing and breaking stuff but may slow things down a little. Please dont try any of this on a public road you are entirely responsible for your own actions and all the other legal issues. I recommend waiting and attending a wheelie class it is free. This was written by a member of the stuntlife.com forum a few years ago and has helped thousands of bigginers learn to wheelie. Speed and riding position for learning wheelies I recommend that beginners learn wheelies in first gear. It is easier to launch the wheelie in first gear, and there is more engine breaking in first gear. This means that you can ride a wheelie higher without the danger of looping it. It also hurts much less and breaks less stuff when you crash in first gear. For that reason i don't think it is a good idea to do highspeed wheelies until using the brake is second nature. It is also much easier to go from riding out first gear wheelies to second gear wheelies than vice versa. The only downfall to learning wheelies in first vs. seconds is that the wheelie won’t be as smooth. The throttle will feel much more sensitive. I think 10 kph is a good speed to launch wheelies while learning; any slower and the wheelie may feel unstable to a beginner. I also recommend learning wheelies standing up with the left foot on the passenger peg, and the right foot on the front peg, covering the brake. While it may feel awkward at first to wheelie while standing, it will be easier after you get used to that part. Most people think it is easier to balance and control a wheelie standing up vs. sitting down. It is also easier to launch the wheelie from standing up. Why clutching wheelies is the best method for launching wheelies Clutching is by far the best way to get wheelies up, regardless of whether the bike has enough power to power it up. While it does wear out clutch plates a little faster than normal, the difference is not significant. I also have never read about any major problems as the result of the extra tension on the drive train. There are many advantages to clutching wheelies vs. powering wheelies. 1. It allows you to wheelie bikes that don’t have enough power to power it up. 2. You can wheelie at lower rpm’s, and therefore slower speeds. This allows beginners to keep a wheelie up longer, with out being at the balance point. 3. The launch is more predictable. When powering a wheelie up, the front end comes up relatively slow. Then when the front end is about 3 feet off the ground, the front end jumps up very fast under full throttle, making for a scary and unpredictable launch. When clutching up wheelies right, the front jumps up close to the balance point. From there you just play with the throttle to fine adjust the height. After a little practice, clutching becomes very predictable and not frightening at all. 4. All of the pros that I know of clutch every wheelie. You want to be like them don’t you? How to clutch wheelies There are a couple different methods for clutching wheelies. I prefer the second method. Method 1: First accelerate with the clutch engaged. Then, with the throttle still opened, pull in the clutch with one finger, to the point where the clutch disengages. With the engine still under throttle, quickly let the clutch back out as the tach is rising. Method 2: Close the throttle, and then pull the clutch in all the way, with one finger. Then twist the throttle and dump the clutch. When learning to clutch, only rev up the engine a little bit at first before letting out the clutch. This will give you the feel for clutching. Then gradually increase the rpm’s before dumping the clutch, until the front end jumps up close to the balance point. Reduce the throttle as the front end comes up to the balance point. If it comes up too far, gently push the rear brake to bring the bike back forward. When clutching second and third gear wheelies, the bike may need extra help, depending on what bike it is. If clutching alone doesn’t get the wheelie up, then bounce at the same time. This is done by pushing down on the bike (with your arms and legs) at the same time you open the throttle, and then leaning back slightly when dropping the clutch. I is not a good idea to pull on the bars. Pulling up on the bars may cause the wheelie to come up funny and wobble. Shifting gears I don’t recommend shifting gears during a wheelie unless you are good at wheelies, and are able to use the clutch in the process. Otherwise, shifting during wheelies is hard on the transmission. It is also hard on the fork seals if you miss a shift. My advice is to learn to ride wheelies at a constant speed. Then there will be no need to shift. How to set a wheelie down When bringing down a wheelie, stay on the throttle until the front end is safely on the ground. If it is necessary to quickly bring down the front end, then close the throttle at first. Then as the front is coming down, open the throttle. In that way you will have a soft landing. Step by step procedure to launch a wheelie for a beginner 1. Drop the tire pressure to about 15-20psi 2. Put the bike into first gear 3. Go about 10 kph 4. Pull in the clutch 5. Rev up the engine a LITTLE 2500 rpm and drop the clutch 6. Repeat step 5, increasing the rpm’s, until the front end comes up 7. Reduce the throttle as the front end comes up. 8. Cover the rear brake. 9. Stay on the throttle as it comes back down. Balancing the wheelie from front to back Balancing front to back is controlled by using the throttle and rear brake. It is a good idea to learn this on a quad, fiddy, or dirtbike first. If the wheelie is in front of the balance point, you must increase your speed to remain at that position. To get the wheelie back to the balance point, you must compensate with more throttle. This is the same, only in reverse, when the wheelie is behind the balance point. When behind the balance point, you must use the engine breaking/ rear brake to bring it forward to the balance point. The balance point is the position of the bike in which it neither has to speed up or slow down to remain at the same position. The height of the balance point is affected mainly by the speed of the wheelie. The faster the wheelie is, the lower the balance point. The balance point is also slightly affected by the weight distribution of the bike and the position of the rider. The object of riding a balanced wheelie is to keep the bike as close as possible to the balance point. This is done by rolling on and off the throttle, and pushing the brake if needed. With practice comes the ability to ride a smooth wheelie with out playing with the throttle/brake much. Balancing the wheelie from side to side Balancing sided to side is done by adjusting your body position. It is a good idea to learn this on a dirtbike, bicycle, or fiddy first. When riding wheelies over about 20mph, the bike will balance itself for the most part. It is the slow wheelies that you have to consciously balance side to side. The principle is pretty simple. Quickly lean the same direction as the bike is falling. For example, if the bike is starting to fall to the left, you would quickly lean to the left. This movement would twist the bike towards the left, thereby correcting it. Preventing / stopping wheelie wobbles From my experience, I think that high speed wheelie wobbles can be caused by having a squared off rear tire, not being smooth on the throttle, and/or making quick movements. Slow speed wobbles seems to be caused by high rear tire pressure, and/or not keeping the wheelie balanced from side to side. Steering wheelies To steer wheelies good, you need to either be at the balance point, or behind the balance point. To steer wheelies which are over about 20mph, you simply slowly lean in the direction you want to turn. However, to turn slow wheelies, you must first make the bike lean in the direction which you want to turn. For example, if you want to turn to the right, first, slowly lean to the right. Then quickly lean a little to the left / twist the handlebars a little to the left. This will cause the bike to start to fall to the right. Then, instead of completely correcting the lean, you keep the bike leaning at that angle. This will cause the bike to turn to the right. Using the rear brake: Slowing wheelies down / 12s Wheelies are slowed down by riding the wheelie behind the balance point. This is one of the hardest parts of learning to wheelie, not because of skill, but because of the balls required. To learn how to use the rear brake, you basically need to grow some balls, bring the wheelie up behind the balance point, and tap the brake. Soon this process will become second nature. To slow a wheelie down, you must give the bike enough throttle to get the wheelie behind the balance point. Now if you get scared and push the rear break hard at this point, it will quickly bring the wheelie forward without slowing it down much. To slow it down, you must keep it behind the balance point by gently riding the brake. To 12, you just do the same thing, only you get off the rear break enough to allow the bike to lean back on the tail. Unless you plan on parking a 12, make sure you get back on the brake before the wheelie slows down enough to stall the engine. Riding slow wheelies After you get good at slowing down wheelies, then you should be able to ride slow wheelies out. First of all, turn up your idle. I do slow stuff with the idle at 3.5k rpm’s. The high idle allows you to ride slow wheelies much smoother. Be careful, however, when first turning up the idle, because you will have to use the rear brake, when going slow, to keep from looping. When riding slow wheelies with the idle high, with some practice, you should be able to ride the wheelie by using the brake, and only blipping the throttle if the wheelie starts to come down. Once you have learned all of this, all of the wheelie variations will pretty much be self explanatory.

Sounds like Fun - i am also keen to give it a go

me too, great you also going Tanya , we will have fun :) ''"4 wheels move the body,'' ''2 wheels move the soul"''

Flipper put me on that list please? Johan de Jager "It's all about the ride, nothing else"

The bike being used looks similar to this one. . We will have an indemnity form set up for each participant. Classes are free but if you manage to break something on the stuntbike a voluntary contribution will be appreciated. Parts for the bike are reasonable (a clutch lever costing about R 40.00. All practice is done at low speeds, there is still some risk in what you will be doing, its just the way it is. Any questions contact Flipper or Freak. RIDE,RACE,PLAY! I RIDE THEREFORE I AM!

One day when I learn to ride properly I may start to understand the fetish about wanting to wheelie???? Thankfully I am at least 30 years away from this stage!!!!

Does that mean you will be there Geoff? RIDE,RACE,PLAY! I RIDE THEREFORE I AM!

Thanks but no thanks Freak. "Respect" for those who can but I still don't see the point of it.

Geoff, I want to learn to be at ease with my front wheel off the ground for those moments in off road conditions that I need to lift the front for gaining more clearance (i hope :-) ) Regards, Corné

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/videos/2007/august/au... Regards, Corné

To wheelie a bike is like balancing an egg on your head (easy when you get used to it) but at some time the egg WILL fall and if you are lucky you will catch it and simply put it back on your head. But the longer you walk with the egg balance on your head the less you hold your hands in the air to catch it and when the egg one day falls it catches you of guard and it will break ;) Good luck to those serious about trying, it is one of the most exhilarating things to do on a bike. (my egg has finally broken I hope) :)

I don't have a fetish about wheelies . I would like to have more control over my bike , and in case I see something lying in the road I want to know how to lift my front wheel over it. I can't even ride up a pavement, and that's no good :) ''"4 wheels move the body,'' ''2 wheels move the soul"''

Exactly how I feel... Thanks for organizing this Flipper and Freak! Regards, Corné

There are some situations where popping the front wheel off the ground is the best method of clearing an obstacle (like the trench at Klipbokkop). An example is a sudden washaway or step when you are going too fast to avoid it... It's not for nothing that they teach you to 'whee' (lift the front momentarily) on the weekend course at Klipbokkop. Even the official BMW offroad instructors see the need for this skill. Being able to wheelie confidently is just one more arrow in my quiver of options for dealing with situations. Website Administrator [http://honeybadger.net Honey Badger IT Services]

That and the chicks dig it! ;)

Yup its a must have skill especially for dirt riding. On the other hand ask Rynet what it looks like when a Cherrybomb comes past you on the back wheel on the Westcoast road at 100+ LOL. RIDE,RACE,PLAY! I RIDE THEREFORE I AM!

There is wheelieing and there is wheelieing. If you are going, as some of you say, to learn to lift the front wheel in an emergency I say go for it and it is a good "arrow to have in your quiver" as stated above. However this is not really wheelieing. This is just good rider practice. The course being offered, as I see it, is to teach you to pick the front wheel up and go tootling down the road on your back wheel. As I said, "respect" for those that can do it but while trying to learn this "unnecessary" practice you stand a good chance of hurting yourself and or damaging your bike. Good luck to those attending!

I agree with Martiz. The chicks dig it. And if you happen to get a few scars in the process no worries - chicks dig those too.

Ha, ha............On second thoughts if the chicks dig it.........Chicks do you dig it??????? Reviewing my decision!!

Only if we are the ones on the bikes!

Beware of certain 'chicks' on this site. They are not what they appear to be, and so therefore not to be trusted.

Please tell us more Cloud...

Cloud If she has a 'adams apple' step away slowly and make a fast exit. Trust me! ;)

Step away slowly? Are you mad? Run! Run for your life! The one with stripper pants is likely to lose her... er... his pants, and so you should get away easily. The other can be distracted by anything pink, preferably in the salmon hue of the spectrum.

I was told they react to sudden movements so thanks for the tip. Remember, like a lion you just have to out run the slowest oke! :D

Damn. That's usually me.

Nope thats me, blikbeen kan nie hardloop nie. RIDE,RACE,PLAY! I RIDE THEREFORE I AM!

Ok I'm going to do the course, would hate to have 2 "chicks"(Lovely Ladies) wheelieing better than me. Just think how it would feel if Rynet and Tanya come past on their back wheels and you are not able to join the lovely ladies! Lets Ride!!!

Geoff I have read your comments and must agree with you, is this a case of men in mid life crisis if so would you call the female version meno something? Ignore opinions, heed facts. Feet on the pegs, always.

I've been practicing and can wheelie my KDX200 for about 30 meters at the moment. I can also get the front wheel on my Dakar into the air when I want to, but I wouldn't really call that a wheelie, it is really just the front wheel coming off the ground for a short period of time. I actually wouldn't want to wheelie my Dakar. Leon taught some of us the front wheel thing on the beginners course while riding to different exercises. Just basically a power wheelie while jumping on the front forks. But as Geoff and Red Adventure have pointed out, the egg will eventually break i.o.w you will probably flip at some stage if you are serious about wheelies and push that limit. It takes along time to become as proficient as Flipper and Freak. When I was 18 odd I wheelied my XT200 all over the place, I flipped that 5 times, the last time in front of the whole school showing off. It cost a lot of money to repair. I have already flipped my KDX 3 times, but apart from the ego, there was no damage to the bike at all. What I am trying to get at is I don't have to tell anyone what flipping a GS would cost. And would your insurance pay out, it's not hard to see that a bike has been flipped. So yes, it's fun and good to learn to wheelie, but do it on your old bush bike, because usually when a bike is flipped, the damage to the bike and yourself can be disastrous. We all know how much them BMW parts cost.

Thanks Geoff , Cheesy and Warren for the warnings , much appreciated , I will be extra careful and not use my own bike . Ps Daniel I promise to not attempt to out-wheelie you ( as if I could :) ), but then you must undertake to not overtake me in a corner at Killarney again 8) ''"4 wheels move the body,'' ''2 wheels move the soul"''

Thanks all for the comments and interest. To put things in perspective it takes about 5 to 6 years to ride pro like Chriss at that level crashing is a daily occurance you can't learn a new trick without crashing. I crash a few times a day before most people even wake up for breakfast. However that is not what this is about as Charles put it this is to teach you to lift the front wheel in a controlled manner whenever you want to. We will be staying well away from balance point wheelies for some time and off the street. I have over the last 2 years taught somebody to trick wheelie like a pro he has never ever fallen. The emphasis will be on safety and control, I believe this will make you a better rider. That said if you want to go pro and rip up the streets on your back wheel we do that also just not on BMW's and you have no idea how much the chicks dig it or how much it is going to hurt learning to ride at that level.Girl proflipper flipping again

I can't wait to get started! Flipper/Freak, it seems we already have enough interest to setup a first training group? when can we get started? I'm willing to remunerate you for your time and bike usage. Regards, Corné ckloppers@gmail.com

I'm also keen, when's it happening

Nommer, rang en Naam mail to biketique@motorlease.co.za 1st group +- 10 max You must be wearing full protective gear, bring your own elastoplast! . RIDE,RACE,PLAY! I RIDE THEREFORE I AM!

Lets get started. Can everyone who is interested suggest one place were to have the first session. We need a empty parking lot away from houses and public. I usaully train in the industrial areas before and after hours. also lets have an idea of what day suits most people. Any of these will work abondoned roads open parking lots empty warehouses loading docks private space with permision is better than public space.

1)Charles 2)Vlokkie 3)John 4)Neil 5)Renette 6)Cloudgazer 8)Shade 9)Tania 10)Charlatan I am going to pop in at two local schools and Wingfield base, all have what we want, now to try get permission. RIDE,RACE,PLAY! I RIDE THEREFORE I AM!

Don't mention wheelies call it skills training and I have a liability waver form to allow them to understand that even though it is their property they are not responsible for us

Put my name down please

Marius me too please, Thanks.

We have a large warehouse here in Bellville South (opposite the UWC hostel entrance, same yard as Macsteel) with a flat concrete loading yard probably slightly smaller than a rugby field, it also has two sets of gently sloping ramps where the containers reverse into. During weekends there is no one here except security. There is an outside toilet, shade (carports)along the edge and access to water. If you cannot find a place, I could try my luck and see if my boss would mind it being used for this purpose, but as I said, it would only work on weekends as there is activity here on weekdays till quite late. Let me know and I'll ask.

Put me down too please.

Put me down. If it's not for the next week or two I should be fine for the fun - I hope.