[NewbRider]

Ive been in the ODU parking lot for about an hour just going at the wheelies... i cant pull it up that high... does my bike have not enough power??? i bring it up to about 5k and cut the throttle off then bounce the front a bit and nail it... it comes up about to ones shins... what am i doing wrong??? its pissing me off... i used to be able to to them on my dirt bike like nothing.. someone teach me please

 

[ZX636Skiv]

NewbRider said:
Ive been in the ODU parking lot for about an hour just going at the wheelies... i cant pull it up that high... does my bike have not enough power??? i bring it up to about 5k and cut the throttle off then bounce the front a bit and nail it... it comes up about to ones shins... what am i doing wrong??? its pissing me off... i used to be able to to them on my dirt bike like nothing.. someone teach me please

I would say that on a Katana you will need to clutch it up, rap it up to 8 grand and pop it, might have to go to 10K, but it will come up. I have seen very few Kat's power it up. The only one that I can think of had a full D&D race system, stage 3 kit, and ported/ polished heads. Jody's Kat doesn't count....for those of you in the know.
You might want to talk to John, he seems to be the reigning master....:nanana

PS: ya might wanna watch it in ODU's lot...the campus police take their jobs very seriously...and they will call Norfolk's finest for backup.

 

[NewbRider]

jodys kat.. hmm is it a 96.. w/ a 1200 cc motor in it?? black and purple??

 

[Waynofzr]

I've seen late 80's and early 90's CBR600's pull it up with no problem. You should be able to get it up. 5K is a little low on the power-band. Try doing it at 7 to 8K. I'll bet it come up then.

 

[SkinDragger]

hmmmmmm Wheelie master say, slow down a bit, it will come in due time

 

[Griz]

GixxerJohn said:
hmmmmmm Wheelie master say, slow down a bit, it will come in due time

+1
Yep. I'd lay off the wheelies for a while.

But, if you must...
The Kat is front heavy, and without some mods, needs the clutch to come up. Clutch wheelies take more skill to bring to a balance than throttle wheelies, and have much more potential to break traction at the rear, especially on a front-heavy bike, giving you another reason to wait a while before getting in over your head.

Also, ODU cops ARE a branch of the Norfolk Police, and can and will take you to court or jail just as easy. There's a few cool ones, and a few real assholes as well. One in particular hates bikes, and would just love to see you wheelying on campus. If you must wheelie, I'd find a better spot to practice. Years of customer/employees/owners of Sport Cycle Center and Two Wheel Werks street antics in the ODU area has really got some of the ODU and Norfolk cops hating sportbikes.

One cop frequently in the ODU area has been writing exhuast tickets to anybody with a race can (especially V-twins), and you can't pre-pay that ticket either. He pulled a guy on an RC51 last summer, left him on the side of Hampton Blvd, went to Sport Cycle, and asked me if Scorpion mufflers are street-legal. I told him they were.

He then threatened Justin, telling him he has to stop selling aftermarket exhausts (um, yeah, right, OK, LOL!), and that he plans to keep ticketing. Being the smart-ass that I am, I couldn't resist the urge to mention that Harleys (including the police Harleys) are louder than 99% of sportbikes with exhausts. He replied by telling me the NPD has nothing to do with that, and that the Harley-cops modify the cop-bikes on their own time and $. :confused

After 25min. at the shop, he drove back down Hampton Blvd to the guy he left there, and wrote him a ticket. :shake

Off the top of my head, last summer, he also got a TL, and a Katana with a ZYCLONE (street-legal!!) slip-on! :rant

 

[sargeek1975]

Why are wheelies the first thing anyone wants to be able to do on a street/sport bike?

I don't get it?:confused

 

[ZX636Skiv]

sargeek1975 said:
Why are wheelies the first thing anyone wants to be able to do on a street/sport bike?

I don't get it?:confused

cuz they are cool!

Griz:One cop frequently in the ODU area has been writing exhuast tickets to anybody with a race can (especially V-twins), and you can't pre-pay that ticket either. He pulled a guy on an RC51 last summer, left him on the side of Hampton Blvd, went to Sport Cycle, and asked me if Scorpion mufflers are street-legal. I told him they were.

Griz...technically, all aftermarket exhaust is illegal for the street. The federal limit is 85 dB, and most stock exhaust is around 81 to 83 dB. The only way that he can technically give a ticket out is if he checks the decibal level when he pulls the bike over. With a little work, the tickets he has given out for exhaust can be beaten...or ya just put your stock exhaust back on for the court visit...fixit ticket! Would prolly need a lawyer to actually get out of the ticket unless you are confident in front of the judge and can show plenty of paperwork and such...mostly due to the fact that he never actually checked the sound level, so it was an improper ticket!

Other than that, I know since you have been working in shops for a while, you actually get to see the boxes that the pipes come in...not sure if I have seen one yet that doesn't say..."For Off Road Use Only"!!!

 

[Griz]

ZX636Skiv said:
technically, all aftermarket exhaust is illegal for the street...you actually get to see the boxes that the pipes come in...not sure if I have seen one yet that doesn't say..."For Off Road Use Only"!!!

I know, hence the . I was just trying to get the guy out of a ticket.

 

[Hatchman]

Dropping a tooth up front, or going up two or three in the back well help bring it up. I had an old Ninja E, and that thing was a pig to power up. Counter sprockets are cheap, about 20 bucks.

I went up two teeth in the back with the Mille, and the front end comes up much easier just rolling on the throttle. The Mille comes a little high geared from the factory, 16/42. Most people like the 16/44 setup, I know I do. What are you running Griz?

 

[ZX636Skiv]

Griz said:
I know, hence the . I was just trying to get the guy out of a ticket.

I figured that you knew, that was mostly for the others who don't....

 

[SkinDragger]

hmmm the gix 750 came stock with 17/42......that was a little to tall for my taste, I changed it.

 

[Wedge]

yeah, most exhaust says not for road use, but the Zyclone cans are supposed to be street legal. I had em on my TL when I first got it, remeber how quiet it was even though it had yosh cans on it?

anyway, I'd say wait on the wheelies, and they will come.

 

[R1Alvin]

Why wait to wheelie? I never waited-you'll never learn anything if you don't practice. And practice somewhere other than ODU. GO to Suffolk or Chesapeke. As for wheelying, I doubt that even if you did get the Katana up to a certain point, it would have enough power to ride for a long long time. Its easier to wheelie bigger bikes because they got so much power, you can compensate easily by just turning the throttle a bit. Just my 2 cents worth-

 

[skr00zloose]

kats have a really crappy bootm end, try it at a higher rpm.

 

[Griz]

Hatchman said:
Most people like the 16/44 setup, I know I do. What are you running Griz?

16/44. Works great, and drops almost 2lbs of unsprung weight with an aluminum 44tooth rear. It'll clutch up in 3rd gear anywhere from 25mph to 60mph. 1st or 2nd gear, throttle only, the clutch is just begging to throw you off.

After swapping out my ram-air duct-to-airbox snorkel for a bigger one, sealing the snorkel to the frame, and removing the small tubes in the ram-air ducts, I can now bounce it up in 3rd with a half-tank of gas or less.

Here's a pic showing the difference in snorkel size. The bigger one also doesn't have the restictive resonators, so the intake has a nice growl sound too.

 

[Hatchman]

Yep, I got the bigger snorkel when I put in the Evo race airbox and billet velocity stacks. Couldn't believe the size difference. I thought they were supposed to remove the tubes in the ram air as part of the derestricting process?