joeshow750

Well I haven't had many chances to safely (relative) race my Z but I did catch this Z06 coming home from a friend's house tonight, so I figured I'd just post it here. It's about 2 a.m., and there's nobody around, as I'm leaving my friend's house and I pull up to a stop light. A Z06 pulls up right next to me and I look over at it and nod my head. I couldn't see in the windows because they were darkly tinted, I could only make out the silhouette of a passenger. He didn't rev his engine or roll down his window or anything so I figured he's just minding his own business. Light turns green and I pull off first, just chillin', I hear his engine roaring and he flies by me. I roll on the throttle just as his bumper is at the front of my bike, chop then roll and slight tug, passed him on one wheel, and set it down at the top of first. I ran through the gears up to about 170mph. He's pretty far back. I slowed down and stopped at the stop sign and waited for him to pull up. He pulls up and I look over, he doesn't roll down his window or rev or anything, just sits there. I take off just thinking he was done for the night and I hear him revving and he's up beside me. I pull it up again, and this time I click second while on one wheel and ride second out...tried to click third, but didn't get it. He's not far behind when I set the wheelie down. I run through the gears again and wait for him at the next light. He pulls up behind me and I take a right onto a four-lane road. He pulls up next to me, and so I obliged and pulled up another wheelie, first and second, missed third again, with him right behind me. I set it down and slowed down and he made a u-turn and headed the other way. I don't really think he was really trying to race, just kinda having fun.

BriGuyMax

iTrader: (4)

I wish the viper I pulled up Next to today on my R6 was half as fun as that Z06 was....I would have given him a good show

importriders

You need to tug on your 750 to pop it up in first?!? How much to you weigh?

joeshow750

Well, I don't "need" to tug, but at low rpms (around 5 grand), I assume from your avatar you know, the gsxr isn't really in the power yet. So I tug/shift weight back to get the front wheel up faster, that way I can ride it longer since I didn't use as many rpms to get to the balance point. At higher rpms...no need at all to tug, let alone chop, comes up like a stallion. Also, I've lost a bit on my low-end anyway with the full-race Akrapovic, and my power-commander tuned more for high-end hp. BTW, I only weigh about 160lbs...gotta keep the weight down to horse jockey levels to be competitive at the track .

importriders

What I have noticed is that its all about balance and throttle control when holding a wheelie. On my 01 600 I never needed to tug on my bike, even at 3 grand, and I weigh 200 pounds. Actually it is easier to bring it up at lower rpms because you have more torque. Try chopping at 3 grand and see what happens. I rode with a guy that can hold a wheelie in first forever and stay at the same speed by balancing and throttle control. He could hold a wheelie at like 30mph. Heres some pics of him:

http://www.socalrider.com/2003Pictur...2SoCal001.html

Notice, how you can still see the spokes on his wheels. That means hes going really slow. He could hold it as long as there is road to hold it. Anyways, sorry if I sound like I'm calling you out, but I just found it odd that you have to tug on your 750.

Note: hes on a 600 too. Also, power wheelie's are bad. You should learn how to clutch it up. Less likelyhood of flipping it.

joeshow750

WOW! There's not too many people in the world that can hold a balance point that high. That guy is GOOD! I mean those are some of the best pics I've ever seen. Does he have a video?

There's no way I could bring it up at 3 grand without a tug or clutching it up. I have stock sprockets though, maybe it might be possible if I went one down it front 2 up in back, I don't know, but I know my bike needs tug or clutch at that low of an rpm. I used to clutch everything up but I hardly ever ride on the street anymore...thanks to an "exhibition of speed" ticket for doing a wheelie out in the middle of nowhere. At the track I'm always trying to powerwheelie out of every 1st gear corner. I'm not worried about flipping it at all...I don't ride the powerwheelies long, just long enough to get a get pic or video of it, and I would never do one on purpose in a race...only powerwheelie on track days.

Just one more thing, I'm curious about what made you think that my bike makes more toque at 3 grand? Here's a dyno chart.
Gixxer 750 dyno

joeshow750

Here's another dyno chart of the Akrapovic exhaust losing power to the wheels before hitting 5400 rpms. It does make good gains in the high-end though...well worth the low-end loss.

importriders

Those charts don't show torque only hp, but I'll take your word for it. Regardless, you should be able to power it up in first in any rpm without tugging, except maybe the last couple of thousand. I know this as a fact because I have personally power wheelied an 01 750 in SECOND gear.

Anyways, yeah they got a video. Here's the link:

http://www.socalrpm.com/Store/store.html

It was a joint thing done with socalrpm. You should really see how we do it here in socal. Most of the guys here are avid track guys and do tricks on top of that. They do it all. We do have allot of squids too though. But thats expected.

joeshow750

My bad on the link to the dyno here is the one for you to look at.

joeshow750

I can do chop and roll wheelies at about 8 or 9 grand in 2nd, but not powerwheelies. When you say powerwheelie, you mean just rolling on the throttle as opposed to chopping then rolling? I'm thinking you mean simply rolling on the throttle with no chop first?

importriders

Yeah, I call all non clutching wheelies, powerwheelies. Thats probably where the confusion is. You can chop a wheelie pretty much anywhere in the powerband. The only bike that I know where you can power it up just by rolling(anytime) is the gixxer 1000. I've had personal experience with that too. I've power wheelied out of turns also on my 600 but all the planets have to be aligned for that to happen. Basically not very often.

joeshow750

Hahahaha, yeah, we have our fair share here too. Some of them just try too hard. So what track do you Socal guys do your trackdays at? I hardly ever go anywhere but Firebird East and West. We used to run at Phoenix International Raceway on the infield, but some dude about died in the banking so we can't do trackdays there anymore . I've thought about making the trip to Leguna for a trackday for the past couple of years...if just for posterity...I mean, I'd be willing to pay the bucks, but I'm just too lazy to organize a trip.

dj el run

Just want to say I see you socalriders all the time. Even been on the freeway coming back from PB at just the right time to see you fools do some crazy ****

My buddy just worked on some of your bikes too. But I don't really follow the motorcycle stuff anymore since my buddy crashed his R1 and obliterated his ankle at the track.

importriders

We usually hit up willow springs for track days.

Hey dj, sucks about your buddy. Actually, my buddies and I had a crew called "Import Riders" (hence my screen name) that use to ride with SoCalRiders every now and then. But we died out 2 years ago, but I'm keeping the name alive. I'm more into cars now and track my Z(due to the increase in the local squid population causing an increase in insurance rates and cop harrassment). But one day I will return on a new gixxer 1000. As soon as all the squids kill themselves.

Rob Nance

I quit riding on the street because of to many squids. I, like you all, loved to loft the front wheel, and the occasional stoppie, and spent quite a bit of time at the track. In my opinion a lot of that stuff is going a bit to far on the street, and I am a big proponent of helmets all the time, but hey, at least you all were doing it in an industrial area that looked like zero traffic.

I'm more curious about the comment about coming out of a turn powering it up on a 600. My first bike was brand new purple/yellow 97 F3 (damn I miss that bike, it was gorgeous). I bought it in Virginia and it turned out to be a Cali bike. With a D&D slip on it had like 85hp on the dyno. Needless to say it was pretty underpowered. My point is not to say it couldn't wheelie, it could wheelie up to the triple digits and frequently did for miles. HP is not a req for wheeling, you all know that. My question is if anyone knows what that phenomenon is that lets you loft the front wheel up coming out of a hard lean at full throttle? I have always wondered about this. I too have done this on that F3 and we always figured it had to do with the fact that the tire was not as tall on the edge so transitioning onto the main part of the tire off of the sidewall gave a fast increase in speed and resulted in the front tire being lofted up. It makes sense, and I just always assumed this was the reason, anyone else wondered/know about this?

StoneSilverTrack350z

In addition to the gsx-r 1000, you can pretty much power wheelie an R-1 out of any Rpm, and pretty much any speed... for better or worse.

Those south cal riders are nice. Thanks for posting that site.

Being on the east coast here, I deal mostly with kids out of Miami. The fad out here is Fur. Most of the bikes south of Ft lauderdale are covered in animal skins / furs / pelts / prints. Some of them look rediculous, some of it looks ok.

The new Gsx-r's are a lot different from the first new models back in 96. I had a 96 750. Probably would still have it if I didnt get assed out by a ford f-250 who blew a red. I remember though having trouble doing power wheelies unless I was way.. and i mean WAY up in the rpms. Anything else needed to be chopped or clutched. I bought a 99 R-1 after the Gsx'r was considered totalled. The torque on that was a world apart from the gsx-r.... Chopping or clutching wheelie in first is a recipie for disaster if you didnt have a feel for the bike.

~AJ

joeshow750

Rob,
Have you ever noticed that you can accelerate faster in a straight line at WOT than you can exiting a corner at WOT (this is also very noticable in cars). Take the high bank at PIR (Phoenix International Raceway) for instance, this corner is taken at about 10 grand in 4th gear, right in the powerband. About the last 1/4 of the turn I'm at WOT, but I hardly accelerate at all until the bike straightens up. Reason, there's more resistance due to the extra load or G-force exerted on the tire by the lean angel or lateral G's. These lateral G's effectively make the bike heavier and they are working against the acceleration. Also, momentum plays a part. As I'm exiting a corner, the more quickly I go from max lean to straight up and down, the better my chances to power wheelie from WOT. The reason is momentum. Have you ever been through a set of esses and made a really fast transition from left to right? Did you notice how light you were on the seat when you were in between turns? Kind of like being thrown slightly in the air? Ever watched a race and in the esses everybody wheelies in the transition? This point can also be demonstrated by a high side. In a high side the bike goes from leaned to straight up and down (for a split second before slamming onto the ground). This action causes the rider to be thrown in the air and in some extreme cases the whole back becomes airborn while straight up and down (I've seen some great pics of these). Anyway, when you straighten the bike up quickly, you build some momentum causing the front end to become light under WOT, making it much easier to bring the front up without even trying to. If you gradually decrease lean angle you will find it much harder to bring the front wheel up simply from WOT.

joeshow750

I always thought the fur was a decent looking way to cover up dents ? We got some fur guys too, and unless it's a Starboy, they usually can't ride (dangerous to everyone riding with them).

importriders

LOL...fur...I know what your talking about. I've seen some vids of guys in Florida with furred out bikes. Forgot there name though. They were pretty famous in the bike scene though, kinda like Las Vegas Xtreme. Anyways, my 01 gixxer 600 had 102hp bone stock, then I got the Yosh duplex full race exhaust and a PCIII, and thats all I needed to keep up with the big boys. I could roll on it in first and the front wheel would lift, not a wheelie, but small lift. I've ridden my buddies 00 R-1 and I couldn't get it to wheelie by rolling on the throttle. He can chop it in second and bring it up, but not just by rolling. The gixxer 1000 is the only bike that I know of that if you just roll, not chop, on the throttle it will do a full blown wheelie. I did this on my uncles 1000 in second gear. That bike requires a gentle hand.

Any of you guys a member of www.gixxer.com ? Cool gixxer site.

importriders

Starboyz...thats what they were called. I remember an interview with them. It was one of those European mags, and they showed them how a bike should really be ridden(knee draggin, exhaust scrappin), and the Starboyz guys said THEY were crazy.