'On One Wheel' Locations & Press

[Captain_Rat]

I didn't realize that the On One Wheel schools were located anywhere other than Florida and California. A friend of mine pointed out that there was an article about one in Montegomery, NY in the NY Times today.

Here's THE LINK but you'll need to register to read it (if you haven't already).

Of course as I looked around a bit more about this school I find THIS OTHER STORY about a woman who died at the same school 3 days ago.

Capt.

[kuhlka]

Well that sucks. The anti-flip device doesn't protect you if you bring the bike up awkward and slam it down off-center. It only protects against looping it. I'd have to think she brought it up either way too fast so that there was enough force to throw her before the anti-flip device killed the motor or she flopped to one side and tumbled that way.

I've been doing wheelies for just under a year now and make a point of doing at least one every time I go out (usually quite a bit more than one, lol). I've never been unlucky enough to go into a tank slapper, loop it, or any other craziness. Its all about throttle control and working yourself up progressively to the balance point. A lot of people grab a fist full of throttle and end up dead. The best way is to just add bit by bit of more and more throttle each time until you get comfortable then work your way up gradually to whatever point you want to stop at whether it be just the balance point or all the way to 12 O'clock (11 O'clock in the case of Kevin Carmichael on the 05, lol).

June 3rd BABY!!!

All signed up and ready to go...OH YEAH and tehy use an 04 S3!!!

[ped]

I took that class last Summer and I thought it sucked. Too little actual instruction (nearly none), with far too little time on what was for me an unfamiliar bike. If you already do some small wheelies and simply want to perfect that technique then it's an OK thing to do (but expensive), but if you're intention is to start from scratch and learn all you're likely to get out of it is to become more comfortable with the front wheel coming up.

[ped]

On 2005-05-27 19:12, Rhinologic wrote:
June 3rd BABY!!!

All signed up and ready to go...OH YEAH and tehy use an 04 S3!!!

Good luck with it - I hope you learn more from it than I did.

[kuhlka]

Shiiiit. I'm going to the StarBoyz wheelie school sometime this summer to master my clutching and stand-ups. They go through everything step-by-step from the mechanical/physical aspects of how a wheelie works to bike setup, then to an actual 600cc bike you can whack on for a good part of the day to get a feel for what they just taught in the classroom and demonstrated that morning. They don't don't have the same wheelie safety device as OOW, but they use 12 bars and teach THROTTLE CONTROL as the main point just like most other good stunters out there repeat over and over.

I recommend getting the Level X 'How to Wheelie' video for its insight and comedic relief. The XXXtremes are some great guys and while the DVD alone won't teach you how to get a feel for whacking the throttle proper, it'll give you a better idea of how to keep from killing yourself.

Just started doing a little clutching today and I think with some more practice, I should be able to pop the front end up pretty easily. I think I'm going to chop my levers though so my left hand doesn't get bound up and I'll be able to use one finger to slip the clutch a lot easier.

My best advice for screwing around with 'stunts' is practice practice practice, stay out of town on a long straight smooth rural road to avoid any legal trouble, and start small and work your way up. That ethos has kept me free of road rash and tickets since I first started riding. Personally, I like my skin and would rather not end up an early organ donor, lol. Oh yeah, and wear your gear! Bare minimum wear a helmet. I had a buddy rip his knuckles open a few weeks back after slipping the bike on some gravel while doing a slow turn and another friend of a friend knocked his head really nicely the ONE DAY he didn't wear his helmet after months of wearing it religiously. He's lucky he only spent a week in the hospital. It could have been a LOT worse. Sad to see his SE Duc all messed up...