Shifting gears in a wheelie...

[Nate_450R]

yeah so i can find the balancing point, and keep it going for a while. the problem is that i run out of gear. so i have had people tell me they ride strait through all 5 or 6 gears depending on what they ride. anyways, my question is...how? i cant seem to be able to get out of 1st (or 2nd if thats what i start in). any suggestions? how does the quad react when shifting while up? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[jdenny400ex]

man i ride a 400 and if you have found the balance point you shouldnt be running it out in 1st or 2nd, you should be able to just play with the throttle and keep it right on balance, but if you want to shift gears u need to find that balance point and go a little past it and then shift in time enough so the front end wont come down on you. man try riding a wheelie up an incline, not a very big one but it is easier that way, i think, it easier to balance it. then when you get that down you should be able to do them on a flat area no problem.

if you are in the ballance point you can shift easy but i dont you got it if you cant shift


just go back alittle farther and do a quick shift

you will get it ;)

[csimp3]

hey, im not sayin your not a bp (balance point), but if you are you should be able to keep it at one speed, maybe rock it back a little further and walk it with the rear brake, but if you go just past bp and use the brake, you should be able to slow a wheelie down to whatever speed you want, or even a stop, practice practice practice, oh and i dont know of your sitting, but if you put your left foot on the grab bar it makes it alot easier to learn bp, but you cant shift from there, but you will get alot more comfortable with the feeling of being at bp, and try to 12 o'clock it a couple times, then youll know exactly how far you can go

[krt400ex]

Originally posted by Kickstarts_Suck
if you are in the ballance point you can shift easy but i dont you got it if you cant shift


just go back alittle farther and do a quick shift

you will get it ;)

ya without the clutch...it takes too long if u use the clutch...i can go from 2nd all the way to 5th with my front end off the ground

Originally posted by krt400ex
ya without the clutch...it takes too long if u use the clutch...i can go from 2nd all the way to 5th with my front end off the ground


i use the clutch, you just have to be fast with it;) i start in 2nd and go to 5th

[krt400ex]

Originally posted by Kickstarts_Suck
i use the clutch, you just have to be fast with it;) i start in 2nd and go to 5th


wow, ur good...i can't do it with the clutch...

Originally posted by krt400ex
wow, ur good...i can't do it with the clutch...

just keep trying you can do it

[400exfan19]

ya, its takes alot of practice to shift in a wheelie with the clutch. i just stay in 1st or 2nd

[Nate_450R]

ok so i have no classes or work tomarrow so you know what im gonna be doing. practice practice practice. so nobody ever explained what the bike does when you do shift. does it raise back up further? or stay or go down? and whats a 12 o'clock?

Originally posted by Nate_450R
ok so i have no classes or work tomarrow so you know what im gonna be doing. practice practice practice. so nobody ever explained what the bike does when you do shift. does it raise back up further? or stay or go down? and whats a 12 o'clock?

depends on how much gas you give it after the shift, you have to practice to know

a 12 o clock is just going all the way back and hitting the grab bar

[Nate_450R]

alright sounds good...im gonna have this down by tomarrow evening. im not trying to make excuses but another thing thats giving me trouble is the twist throttle. its like riding a whole new quad. im getting it changed back to the thumb throttle ASAP. but im starting to get the hang of the twist. its just a little harder to hold on withought twisting when your pulled up in a wheelie. but im gonna get it.

Originally posted by Nate_450R
alright sounds good...im gonna have this down by tomarrow evening. im not trying to make excuses but another thing thats giving me trouble is the twist throttle. its like riding a whole new quad. im getting it changed back to the thumb throttle ASAP. but im starting to get the hang of the twist. its just a little harder to hold on withought twisting when your pulled up in a wheelie. but im gonna get it.

yea i take my twist off when i do alot a "stuntin"

[Nate_450R]

it was on there when i bought it and the previous owner still has the thumb throttle for it. he works on the river boat and is suppossed to be getting back any day now. then im hoping he will get it dropped off. are they hard to switch back and forth between twist and thumb? i really like the twist when im just out riding on flat ground. but i was thinking about selling it. if you know anyone who wants one.

Originally posted by Nate_450R
it was on there when i bought it and the previous owner still has the thumb throttle for it. he works on the river boat and is suppossed to be getting back any day now. then im hoping he will get it dropped off. are they hard to switch back and forth between twist and thumb? i really like the twist when im just out riding on flat ground. but i was thinking about selling it. if you know anyone who wants one.

no its really easy to switch them around

just loosen it off the bars and unsrew it from your carb

[csimp3]

the power change wont be overwelming when you shift, it may go up or down, youll just have to compensate with either gas or brakes, and since it kinda sound like your new to this, remember one thing, the rear brake is your best friend when doing wheelies, but for me 12 o'clocking my quad a couple fo times gave me such a good feeling about how far back i could go, and its really easy to do with a foot in the grab bar, good luck!

[Nate_450R]

yeah i have been riding 4-wheelers since i could walk but this is my first sport quad. im not too bad with my foot in the grab bar. ill go out tomarrow and try it out. i appreciate the help. thanks.

[pit/wood]

High-speed wheelies are a blast.

In my opinion you have to be up on the pegs to have control at speed.

You can practice a clutchless shift with all your wheels on the ground, by simply accelerating in first gear and preloading the shifter upward(put pressure on it only while accecerating) all you have to do is blip the throttle(let off it and then peg it) and you are the next gear. The same works for a down shift. To decellerate using the engine for a brake,push down on the shifter after letting off the throttle,blip it once or twice to get to the lower gear you want then peg it.

When my wheels are up I try to use only the lower end of my rpm range,you have better control off the engines torque there,that is what keeps you up. That means you are sort of shifting early compared to flat ground acceleration.

The exception is when you get up to speed, 45 -55 or so I guess, being up on the pegs your body becomes a sail at that speed. I found that if I push alot more wind in carharts than ridin gear. if you reach those speeds you will feel it and you can wind out the rpm,s a bit then.

Have fun with that guys.

[rooster_20]

Yea I agree fifth gear wheelies are awesome! I love it when the wind keeps you up its great. You can feel it pushing under your quad, on a windy day it can get crazy when you wheelie by coal trucks!

[Kaleigh]

it took me awhile to learn to shift gear while doin wheelies.. I find once the front end is high enough(when you feel it getting light) then you can shift.. be careful not to give it to much gas when after you shift.. I find if you at around MID level in the power band it is the best point any higher I found its hard for me to shift.. when you get good enough you can downshift too ^_^/// keep practicing and you might be as good as me.. hahah just kidding.. im not good at all..

but I hope you get it..

[jd450]

i love doing combos. like starting off w/ a sitdown wheelie, then shifting all the way to 5th gear then doing a foot in bar-seat stander-spreader. 5th gear spreaders are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kaleigh]

my favorite combo.. sit down.. then a right side SpecialK to a highchair to a left side specialK to a one handed no footer.. I kinda cheat on the last one cause I rest my legs on the rear fenders..^_^

[jd450]

yeah combo's are great. i never tried ''one foot, one handed'' wheelies! and that combos sounds good, lol. working your way around the quad! after my wreck, SS-sitdown scared me a little, hahaha

[Kaleigh]

one handed sitdowns are so easy.. when your doing a wheelie do like a spreader but rest you legs on the fender.. then let go of you clutch hand.. lol.. looks kinda funny though.. ^_^... JD450.. to bad you got rid of the quad.. atleast youre not giving up stunting.. ^_^

[jd450]

''not giving up stunting''? im getting a streetbike by my intentions ARENT to stunt it. i've been wanting one for the longest time to cruise around on and enjoy the nice weather.

[Kaleigh]

sorry JD.. i must have miss understood from quadstuntz.. cheers on the bike though.. you should stunt a miniquad ^_^

[Nate_450R]

just a little update... im shifting through 1st-3rd with no problem now. i would go further but i dont have room in the yard withought hitting fields and it getting too rough to keep up. i havent been able to stand up and ride them yet only because i still have the twist throttle on and i cant seem to hang on with all my weight pulling backwords and still be able to controll the throttle correctly. but im working on that. thanks again guys for the help.
Nate

[staysblazed]

Put the bike in the air at around close to 12 oclock, a little higher than 11. Squeeze the clutch, shift and give it gas. When you shift, you will hear the click. The bike will drop down for a second, but you wont let that happen by giving it gas. If you give it too much gas ease onto the bak brake to bring you down a bit. I was confused many years ago how it was done...now its second nature. I whellie for blocks now. How many blocks you got?????

[Nate_450R]

yeah i dont have any blocks, i dont live in town. all i have are fields and gravel roads. the roads are too curvy to go real far on and the fields can get a little rough. but oh well.

[Kaleigh]

when you shift through gears.. if you're not at a high rpm its easier to shift.. and if you're at the balance point its even easier.. I usually shift like I was going for a nice smooth cruise to the trails..

if your rpm is to high it makes it hard to shift.. so you go past the balance point and do a coaster then shift while in a coaster.. Coasters are great for downshifting..

[exrider2001red]

i think its so much easier just to stand on the pegs and start off in fourth but shifting trought the gears is fun just put it up to the balance point and shift

[JLanphear]

Bring it to the higher part of the balance point, and while it's on it's way up pull in the clutch, and shift as you normally would. Release the clutch rather quickly, but smoothly while providing a little bit of throttle.

Use the clutch....it wouldn't be there if you weren't supposed to.

[tgreenz400]

i just tried that this week and its pretty easy,if you can ride slow wheelies.since i have a z with out motor mods...and i dont weigh much i cant wheelie past 3rd, so i just do one in 2nd...find a good balance point with low rpms then slowly go thru the gears all the way to 5;)

[Nate_450R]

yeah its no problem now. what 6 months since my last post on this thread and its just second nature now. but, this standing up thing gets me. i just have a hard time holding it while standing. more of a personal thing. i know where i need it and i can get it there but i just cant make myself keep it up there...ill have to work on that. it helps to have a buddy riding with you showing you up day after day...it seems to constantly push you a little further each time.

[csr250r]

i never use the clutch, best thing is to find your balance point in a low as gear as u can and kinda rock it by pressing the throttle slightly and letting off till you are about out of rpms then shift and do the same until you feel uncofortable or run out of gears haha, if u start doin long wheelies make sure ur tire pressure is the same in the rears haha dont wanna end up in the ditch.

if u have enough power u can pull up while standing up at a higher rate of speed and practically never find the balance point as long as u keep shifting and dont run out of rpms.
(keep in mind that i ride 2 stroke)

[wideopen4life]

im ridin a 93 300ex and i can go 1st through 5th gear you just have to get it right below the balancing point when you shift or it will pop you back on the grab bar. i did that goin into 5th gear from 4th tapped on the gravel road and slammed the grab bar into the dirt. scary stuff...

[kfxracer]

yeah I use the clutch, but don't pull it in all the way. It ain't nothing for me to rev out in 5th gear in a wheelie! I scare the sh*t out of my dad when we go ridin. We'll be cruisin along in 2nd, then all the sudden I pull it up and take off leaving him in my dust through all 5 gears! LOL Once, you learn to do it, it's like instinct, but does differ from quad to quad!

[Drewltr450]

on my ltr i can go from1st to 5th i just use one finger on the clutch and once i get it up in 1st and i run out of gear i shift normally and by the time the quad is at about 10 o'clock im out of gear again once i get it into fifth i can ride for as long as i want unless i let it to far down in the front and dont have enough torgue to bring it back up