STOPPIES

OB_scotty

Registered
We have all benefited from the members advice on wheelies. How about some techniques for stoppies. Specifically long rolling stoppies. What is the best speed to start from etc. Maybe I need to grow a set but I can only get the rear wheel a foot or so off the ground.
 
Big Ed was the first Busa Stoppie I have ever witnessed. Politicaly correct, YES.

No one feels threatened vs the loud noises of burnouts and wheelies.

The entire bus was laughing and smileing, there is little wrong with a bus load of kids having a good laugh when they get off the bus, maybe one of those kids needed a "lift" from Big Eds antics.

His friend on the R1 has a good wheelie as well. It was unfortunate that day we were undere time constraints, and after comming back from florida it is SNOWING outside, SNOWING stink'n snow and slop.
 
...nice post, RAW...most of my stoppies (and all of my wheelies) are by accident...they just sorta happen...if you just go with it, they just sorta happen more often...
 
Hey fellas,

If you ever get the chance to see Gary Rothwell in person, GO! Every year I go to Pocono just to see his show. The man is a god.

Anyhow from watching him I've noticed his trick is to grab a handful of brake. Then he releases it and uses the bounce of the suspension and the brake again to lift the back end up. It's kinda like those throttle chop wheelies, the springs do some of the work.

Is anyone going to Pocono this year (October)?


Jamie
 
Aside from the hooligan aspect I think everyone should practice this just to learn the absolute limits of your brakes and what they feel like when their there.
 
F u c k that s h i t. I've done them by accident before, but I would be way paranoid about washing out the front end. They make cool pictures, but it's just not my cup of tea.
 
I'm w/ Bear. You've got a bigger set than me, if you're practicing stoppies. I haven't had the busa long enough to do any hard braking, but I've had the rear up on other bikes. It's not for me!

Good luck to you.
 
I did an accidental one on my Honda CB360T back in high school, single front disk and all. It was fun, I admit, but I just figure I can haul it down faster if the rear wheel stays in contact with the ground...more contact area, and another caliper at work biting on a disk for you. During the time your rear wheel is off the ground you are just carrying the hardware, you can't use it. My 2 cents.
 
Stoppies are my favorite stunt. Thy are no harder to do than a wheelie and more politically correct than a burnout. I fined that if I do a stoppie at a traffic light in the middle of town I am much more likely to get a good reaction from other motorist than if I do a wheelie or a burnout. People tend to laugh hysterically when they see me approach an intersection with my rear wheal 2 or 3 feet off the ground. On the other hand a burnout or even a wheelie will many times get a disapproving glare.
The technique is simple. I started by doing small ones, lifting the rear wheel maybe a foot and coming to a complete stop. As I got more confident with the feel I would apply more brake at a higher speeds to get the wheel up sooner and then just before stopping a little more pressure to kick the rear up high before releasing.
I am not an expert by any means. This is just my experience.
PS kids in school buses are the best audience. My friend and I had a whole bus of 8 year olds going nuts one day. Ask Kawabuser he was in the car ahead of us, the kids wear cracking up.
 
I've been tempted to try a stoppie or two, but saw some footage of a guy locking the front with the backend a few feet in the air and that looked like a very painful dismount :)
 
That footage was probably the star boy's video. What happened there was he allowed the wheel to turn slightly when up. Bye bye.
The idea is to crunch down hard to loft the rear then ever so slightly release pressure to retain forward momentum. Also you need to throw your weight forward over the tank to make it lift smoothly. Just like monster wheelies its really impossible to explain because its all feel, do the above and start out practicing nailing the brakes and coming to a stop. I saw one guy do one from about 80mph and roll 100 feet. SICK!
 
Scotty
I, like many others who use this board, did my first stoppie by accident while practicing hard braking. I am actually very suprised more people don't do stoppies. On most sport bikes the rear wheel will come off the gound before the front wheel locks up if you carefully apply brake presure. I had a Katana 750, which my wife now rides, and I could at will lift the rear wheel 2-3 feet off the ground. On one occasion I had the rear wheel about two and a half feet high when I locked up the front wheel. There was no problem or crash. I simply let off the brake a little and the front wheel regained traction and the rear wheel gently settled back on the road. On another occasion I was traveling at about 115 mph on the Katana when a dog ran out into the road ahead of me. I started slowing as quickly as I could. I felt the rear wheel come off the ground and I looked at the speedometer. I was doing 90 mph. Since I was not going to be able to get stopped before I reached the dog, I let the rear wheel back down so I could steer. Had I not practiced stoppies I would have either wrecked or at least not been able to shed as much speed.

When I got my Hayabusa in January, one of the first things I tried to do were stoppies. I found it was more difficult to do a stoppie on the busa rather than on the Katana. Both have basically the same dry weight and the same wheel base, but the busa's 42 psi and lower center of gravity make it more difficult to lift the rear wheel. I am 6'1" and 245# and for me it takes a warm road and a warm front tire to be able to reliably lift the rear wheel. I also lowered the tire pressure in both wheels (35f,34r). This appears to allow them to warm up faster. Also there is more contact patch with the road which helps.

As for suggestions on learning how to do stoppies: start at 25-30mph, apply the brake smooth and quick, in the beginning brake to a complete stop, and most importantly listen to the front wheel. You can hear how much traction your tire is getting. The tire will make a slight whistle before it locks up, unless of course you just mash the brake handle in which case it will just lock up. If the front wheel locks up, and it will from time to time if you practice stoppies, immediately release the brake. I have seen people panic on motorcycles when they lock the front wheel and not let go of the brake. I have never seen anyone keep a motorcycle upright with the front wheel sliding to a stop. Once you get comfortable with doing stoppies to a stop, start doing them at 45-35mph. This gives you enough speed to lift the rear wheel nicely and still roll out of it.

I have no problems with stoppies. On the other hand, I find wheelies very difficult. I have only done a few in first gear by turning the throttle quickly. When the front wheel comes off the ground, the handle bars go limp and I fight to keep them straight. Then I release the throttle and it's over. I can't get over that limp feeling in the handle bars.
 
double post


[This message has been edited by RAW (edited 17 March 2000).]
 
Back
Top