Silly question... - Ducati.ms

Traveller · Jul 10th, 2007, 12:50 pm

Hey gyus...
This maybe a silly question, but please bear with me: does the 999 wheelie in 1st or 2nd gear on WOT alone?

On a few occasions that I tried to get it up in 1st gear by giving it full throttle in 1st I failed miserably!

What I did was this: I sat back in the seat, put the bike in 1st, started rolling leasurly and at about 3,500 RPM I gave it the beans. The bike launched forward REALLY quickly, but... no lift off. The front was kind of "bouncing" up and down, but nothing more.

I don't understand what is going on. Maybe I'm just crap at wheelies...

I know this is stupid, and I know that there is absolutely no point in wheelies, but to be honest I wanted to experience it on the odd occasion. I would have expected more oomph from a litre V2 superbike!

cheech · Jul 10th, 2007, 1:09 pm

try changing the gearing.

Farmer-Ted · Jul 10th, 2007, 1:34 pm

Mine wheelied fine in 1st with stock gearing.

46Fan · Jul 10th, 2007, 1:56 pm

Can't help you there, i'm a big wuss and won't try

i can tell you my R1 would do it without a problem

bowhunt · Jul 10th, 2007, 2:04 pm

Get rolling steady about 10 to 15 mph roll off the gas and get right back into it and she will come up. Be very carefull.

Traveller · Jul 10th, 2007, 2:15 pm

I can get it up just fine by doing the old rolling off-rolling on trick, but I was thinking that maybe it would come up on full throttle by itself (being a powerful bike and all).

It just kind of bugs me to read about how GSXRs and the like lift off on 1st, 2nd and 3rd just by gassing it....

opinion914 · Jul 10th, 2007, 3:51 pm

do the same thing you are, but at 5500 rpm instead of 3500 and again, be careful...

DukeDesmo · Jul 10th, 2007, 4:12 pm

Never ridden a 999 but I'd be disapointed if it couldn't hook one up off the throttle in 1st.........

Dylan · Jul 10th, 2007, 4:22 pm

I used to own an R1 and you can in dead do a wheelie on comand in 1st. 2nd you still need to role off and back on like in 1st with the duc. the thing that you cant do on the duc as i did on the R1 was a wheelie at 100 in 3rd. The 999 just doesnt have the top end. I can do a 2nd on the 999 but it will be a bounce and clutch in 2nd. I dont think i have ever tried to get it up by just going WOT from a role. Gives me somthing to do later

tye1138 · Jul 10th, 2007, 5:14 pm

I've been able to get the front wheel on my duc to come off the ground several times when coming out of corners and opening up the throttle, even in 3rd gear! BUT I too have not been able to "wheely" straight up when I want too. Its probably nerves and my wrist being completely unwilling to FULLY open the throttle or drop the clutch to see what happens. I'm not a "see what happens" type of person, I'd rather do research on the subject and get taught by a pro before I attempt it on MY bike. It would be pretty embarrassing to attempt a wheely on the highway and get a ticket! lol

thats my bloody luck!

How to wheely:
Sit back in the seat, hold on for dear life. From a dead stop, get up to speed (20mph or so) and then pull the clutch in, rev it up (whilst moving) and drop the clutch. The front end will pop off the ground for a sec. Repeat that action several times over again and you'll start to get comfortable with how the bike reacts to the clutch drop, then its all about control. Dropping the clutch is a very important thing to time correctly with the throttle. Once you figure that out, you'll be able to control the wheely more and hopefully not fall off. GSXR1000's and R1's can literally wheely on command.