| Author | Message | ||
     Gatlinburger |
Sunday, we spent more time on one wheel than we ever care to do again!  Wife and I were up early headin' out to Cracker Barrel for a good mountain man's breakfast. We were on the right side of a two lane turn onto the entrance ramp to I-95 from Southern Blvd. here in West Palm Beach. The turn is a tight turn, much more than 90 degrees. I had slowed down and caught 1st gear for the tight turn when I noticed a PT Cruiser coming up by us in the left lane. After the turn, the two lanes merge back into one pretty quickly. Alright ... enough background info. The reason I'm writing this is this caught me totally by surprise. In spite of how much I've read about how easy the front end comes up and how much I've experienced the front end coming up, I was totally caught off guard. BTW I'm thinkin I'll just grab some quick throttle and we'll zoom right by the PT Cruiser and onto the 10 lane interstate. I really didn't think I grabbed that much throttle, but, we came out of the turn like an airplane, the front end starting the lift off. What a helpless feeling! There is no steering control and I'm seeing us veering to the right headed for a concrete wall. Off the throttle, the front end slowly came down and we lurched to the side a bit as the front wheel grabbed pavement. We missed the wall by about six inches and I was able to keep it up. No problem passing the PT Cruiser. It all happened so fast. So ... here's the heads up; Remember, two up, tight turn, low gear, front end comes up VERY easy. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Ran in to that myself a lot this past weekend... two-up, all three cases loaded, trying to keep up with the group on mostly R or K 1200's solo ridden. Up to 110 it was pretty much OK on the open roads, above that and the front end started feeling pretty light. Going up the pass on Hwy 190 into Death Valley sucked. The road swoops very rapidly to 5000 feet, even in third/fourth gears wfo with all that weight making that climb the front tire was dancing. Makes me nervous, guess I'm a wuss... | ||
| Treadmarks |
We missed the wall by about six inches Good job on the recovery. My loving wife would still be smacking the back of my head. She is ok on gravel at 100-120, but put the front wheel in the air and all hell breaks loose. Women....go figure. | ||
| Gatlinburger |
My loving wife would still be smacking the back of my head Yeah ... I get that for doing an intersection with the light being yellow for any part of it. I know I scared the $#&@ out of both of us and none of us spoke till we were climbing off the bike at the restaurant. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
See, I could never justify putting my wife in those kinda situations with me - its one thing to put myself at risk, but I just can't bring her into the mix knowing that these bikes are so much more inherently dangerous than cars. But that's just me. . | ||
| Xbimmer |
See, I could never justify putting my wife in those kinda situations with me... I think we'd all agree there. My wife though knows I'll ride faster without her aboard, and that irritates her a bit. I will NOT pursue riders passing me if we're already making a hasty pace, no matter how many times she'll nudge me. Of course she's never done the ol' Sky-Ground-Sky-Ground like I have... | ||
| Khelton |
** Do Not** take a Tennessee ULY to Floriduh, it's in the manual. | ||
| Chris_socal |
The best way to put the front wheel back on the ground without having to really compromise your acceleration is to lightly (and I mean lightly) apply some rear break. When I feel my front end going light on me but I still want to keep the throttle buried I apply the rear break ever so lightly and it keeps the bike grounded. Also keep in mind that when you have some extra weight on the back it is easier for the front end to come up. When you accelerate both rider and passenger's weight gets shifted backward allowing the rear tire to become more of a pivot point. I had my mom on the back of the Uly a couple weeks ago and the front of the bike kept wanting to come up. There is a pretty good little tutorial on youtube about wheelies. http://youtube.com/watch?v=qncPBZ9DRRk&feature=rel ated -Chris | ||
| Oddsc |
That's also the reason for my closest call ever on a motorcycle. I was pulling out of a driveway, right turn onto a the road with passenger. The drive was ramped up onto the road + me giving a little too much gas = the bike lurching front wheel aloft across my lane almost into traffic in the far lane. Stupid, I know, but shit happens quick. I guess close calls keep us humble and teach us respect. | ||
| Karlsbad |
Cruisers and Goldwings are for two up, Luggage goes on airplanes. Ride light stay upright. | ||
| Danger_dave |
Just put your nuts on the 'tank' and lean forward as you gas it. |
