On One Wheel
On One Wheel
CW EVALUATION
Learn to wheelie the safe way
MOST MEMBERS OF THE CW STAFF have a good grasp of how to loft the front wheel of a motorcycle, but we know that not everyone shares this skill. Keith Code knows it, too. His latest school, On One Wheel, is a one-day, $495 crash (oops) course in how to ride a proper wheelie. We sent Mike Monticello-associate editor at our sister magazine Road & Track and owner of a HondaCBR900RR-to a coned-off section of Southern California’s Irwindale Speedway parking lot to see if the school could improve his skills.
On One Wheel is about one-on-one instruction, lots of practice and getting used to having the front wheel high in the air. No, the goofy-looking contraption on the school’s Kawasaki ZRX1200R isn’t a wheelie bar; it’s an anti-flip device built for Code by former aeronautics engineer Ron Kessinger. The system has two sensors that detect bike angle:
One cuts two cylinders and other applies the rear brake if student gets a bit too lofty with front wheel. There are five levels oí allowable height, which lets the instructors keep students from getting too aggressive too quickly, and also makes it virtually impossible for the bike to flip over backward.
The instructions were simple: Bring the ZRX to a steady-state 23 mph in first gear, and then whack the throttle full-open. Bingo! The low torque of the big Kawi the front wheel up on Mike first try.
Getting it up is one keeping it there is Bad habits, such as leaning forward into the bike as the wheel comes up, jerking the throttle with your whole arm instead of just your wrist or allowing your butt to come off the seat, can spoil what started as a good run. The instructors point out your problems, then you take more runs and try not to make the same mistake twice. Run times are 5 minutes, spread among a maximum of eight students. It’s a workout, so the downtime and liquid refreshments provided by the school are appreciated. Plan on more than 100 passes during the day.
The downside is that students only learn the proper technique of lofting the wheel of a ZRX1200R, not that of their own bike. Full throttle at 23 mph won’t wheelie every machine; you’ll still have find that magic spot on your bike, and maybe even resort to other techniques the school doesn’t teach, such as snapping the clutch to get the front end up.
As for our wheelie rookie, his biggest accomplishment was jamming home a 1-2 shift while keeping the wheel in the air-twice during his final session. While no Wheelie King, Mike learned more in one day about body positioning and throttle control than he would have in an entire lifetime of attempting wheelies on his own. □
