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Coolbreeze

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My girlfriend and I were heading home today after a great day of cruising when a guy on an R1 comes up from behind and starts coasting with us one lane over to our left.
We both nod hello. We're cruising about 70 and he takes a good look behind him as we're cruising up 495 (the washington D.C. beltway). I'm thinking here it comes, all the fools we've heard so much about, he's one of them and he's getting ready to do something. He leans forward (I didn't know what he was going to do for a moment) and revs it as he give the bike a good pull and all the sudden he's cruising on one wheel standing up with the bike as he's increasing speed and pulling away from us on one wheel. The wheelie literally was about 10 or 12 seconds long. He just stayed up and probably got up to 80mph. Front comes down, tires smoke and then he takes off zig zagging through traffic.
That's the first time I've seen this first hand and had two thoughts. One was damn the guy knows how to handle the bike, and secondly why on the fricken highway? It's the beltway, there's lots of cars behind us and some ahead, he's not wearing leathers and has a half helmet on to boot. That's just a little bit over the line for my taste and continues to give responcible riders a bad name with antics like that. At least there was another bike riding normally that others could see too (this time) My guess is he was showing off for the V-ROD and it's riders.
Cindy wasn't impressed either. She said later what if he would have come our way? She's right. Lots of things can go wrong doing wheelies in traffic on a high speed freeway. I guess that's why we hear about so many of these people getting killed. It's a damn shame they can't stick to vacant roadways for the more zealous stunts.
Do you guys and ladies see much of this "extreme riding" on the roads?
I see the occasional biker doing the zig zagging and speeding but not the wheelies.
As a side note this guy looked old enough to know better. Maybe in his late 40's.
 
#2 ·
I was coming home yesterday, in my car, on the access road, in Plano, when this kid on a crotch rocket leans forward and bounces the front wheel twice, then stands the bike up for a good 100 yards. Noticed he seems to have low pressure in the rear tire, which probably helps. He did it again a little farther down the road. No clue as to age, but we looked to be about 150lbs soaking wet. There were cars beside him on the right, light poles on his left. I think he was showng off for someone over on the main road.
Gives all bikers a bad image, in my opinion. Where are the cops when you want them to be around?
 
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#3 ·
Yep, I've seen something like this and it really is dumb. My wife and I were heading up US 41 toward Chicago earlier this year. She was driving our '02 Camaro and was pulling along side this kid on a sport bike getting ready to pass him. We were in the left lane and going about 60 or so. About the time he was at our front bumper he pulled a wheelie and zoomed away from us about 200 yards. My wife was so shocked she slowed down and followed him for quite some time. He could have easily misjudged something, had a cross wind, had a flat rear tire, or just lost control and ended up under our car in an instant. We decided he was an idiot who, as you said, was giving other motorcyclists a bad name.

:2cents:
 
#4 ·
The most places i have seen this stuff was when i was in New England..and everytime i go into Dallas i usually see wheelies on the highway.I really cannot say much because i have been guilty of doing this in my younger days (almost 30 now)But i never did it on a crowded highway.
 
#5 ·
We have a bunch of guys in their 20's who go crazy on Route 9, which is a 6 lane road with traffic lights. It is very heavy traffic. I've seen them doing wheelies for over a mile. Sometimes they change lanes even in the heavy traffic while on one wheel. They usually travel in groups of 3 or more. Then when they come up on a red light, they do their standees all together. The first time I saw this I was impressed with their riding abilities, but common sense says they should not be doing this on public roads. These are the guys who give the rest of us a bad rep.
 
#6 ·
I don't care what anybody does.It's just the fact that there is a time and place for everything.It's gonna happen,my wife continually plays the lottery and she wins.These people that continually ride like this will...well you know.It's a shame that common sense takes too long to aquire,sometimes not soon enough.As far as a reputation I think most people see what style the bikes are that create a nusiance.




Elrod on the V-Rod
 
#7 ·
There are young guys around my house that do them up and down our country road. Last week they were doing a wheelie with a girl on the back. The bike flipped over backwards and the girl only had a skirt on. She will need to undergo many surgeries to reconstruct her back end. The guy is still in a coma as he did not have a helmet on.
 
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#8 ·
Max, along with a couple of other forum types, and I were at the HD dealer in Carrollton Sat, looking over the helmet selection, and a young salesgirl came up and tried to put a "You gotta wear helmets" pitch on us. Two of said in unison " don't start the with the helmet stuff with Max". :rofl2:

He just smiled.
 
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#9 ·
Seen two crotch rocket riders do the wheelie thing the other night in traffic and one of the riders had a girl on the back. They when about two miles and had to stop at a red light and they did stoppies. Some people have no brain when they get on a bike. :whack: :bash:
 
#10 ·
v_cruz said:
Some people have no brain when they get on a bike.
Click to expand...
How come young guys who do wheelies on sportbikes are idiots, but middle-aged guys who ride without helmets are just fine?
 
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#11 ·
Why do they do it?

CAUSE THEY CAN!!

Think about it, you've been riding for awhile, and get a little bored. You gas it up, pull a little bit, and presto, your on your rear wheel, and have done it a ton of times with no consequence to you or anyone else.

Everyone thinks that nothing will go wrong, and then it does. It is a simple as that, and showin off is only icing on the cake.

These guys practice this stuff, and when they get sort of good at it, they do it CAUSE THEY CAN. And it is the sort of, that gets them in over their head when stuff goes bad quick.

They don't care who is around them, except if it has a flashing bilue light only.

So there is really no explanation needed, THEY DO IT CAUSE THEY CAN.

Just like doing burnouts with the V-Rod, why does anyone want to waste their rear tire?

CAUSE YOU CAN.

Why does anyone want to run the V-ROD over 100 MPH?

CAUSE YOU CAN.

Maybe not a lot of folks on this forum run their V-Rods over 100 MPH, but the bike can do it with the snap of the wrist, and you are there in a few short seconds, just like pullin a yammie or whatever up on its rear wheel.

Wheelies, stoppies, Iron Cross (Indian Larries life taking feat) or what ever the trick including high speeds can kill when stuff goes wrong.

Stupid or not, whenever any of us do something out of the norm, including riding without a helmet, chance is taken for something to go wrong. And then who is to say what the norm is?? Just because riding on the rear wheel can be said to be dangerous, who is to say that rider thinks it dangerous or not? Maybe they know it is, bt feel well eough in control to pull it off. 50/50 chances are just that, and in the back of their minds they no doubt know that and think they are better than 50/50 on pulling it off.

Just how far out there do you want to go and where is the limit?

Thats the thing that each one of decides when we saddle up for a ride. Some are better at controlling their need for speed and tricks, and others are not.

Those that do wheelies, stoppies, high speed runs, racing through Deals Gap, riding at 110 MPH across a Arizona 2 lane highway (myself) or whatever are getting their yayas off, CAUSE THEY CAN!!
 
#12 ·
A fellow rider got stopped on his bike on I95 South for speeding by the VA Highway Patrol and he was let off with a warning.

The officer, explained to him that they have been instructed not to pursue the speeding bikes and to just to call it in on this stretch of highway south of Woodbridge to Stafford. Just to many escaped routes and their cars (fwd Impala) can't accelerate in order to pursue.
 
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#13 ·
We have about 4 or 5 guys in the area that are CONSTANTLY doing wheelies on the highways and even on the crowded streets in town. A week or so ago, after getting back from a volleyball game, I was waiting for my girls to get picked up by their parents and one idiot kept doing wheelies up and down the street in front of the school so I called him in on my cell phone. My husband was the shift commander that night and when no one ever showed up, I called him asking why. He said the chief has ordered that they don't chase the guys down. They have wrecked two squad cars trying to catch the idiots and haven't caught one yet. He said they cover their license plate before they do their stunts and have even gotten so bold as to pull up beside the squad cars and flip the cops off before taking off at 200mph and then doing a wheelie! He did say that if I ever see one of the crotch rockets going down the road with his license plate uncovered, to be sure and jot it down just in case he does start doing the stupid crap.
 
#15 ·
We have about a group of 10-15 riders in our area, who meet almost every weekend at the river. They all seem to be into doing stunts on their bikes. Lisa had a guy do an endo right in front of her riding on the road. Scared the #@$% out of both of us.We thought he just made a mistake and was going over the bars. They do wheelies all the time around here. Talking with them, most of the wheelies they start out in 2nd gear, standind on the pegs, roll off the throttle, push some wait as soon as they roll back on the throttle. Usually, they say, it is about 75-80 miles an hour and bring it back down around 95-100 miles an hour. I never had any buddies I rode sportbike, do any of the stunts close to what they do today.
I have to agree with Rich to, on this.
Doug
 
#16 ·
Rich has hit the proverbial nail on the head, they/we do it because they can. As he outlined, there are varying degrees of risky behavior, just depends on how far one takes it. Indian Larry was a great guy, humble, down to earth, a true biker, no "I'm a big time bike builder, I'm the man" arrogance on his part. But his "stunts" were very risky behavior, and one day, it cost him his life. Life is a risk, you want no risk, lock yourself in your house and don't step out. Don't get in any motor vehicle, don't go to work, the grocery store, ect. Riding a motorcycle in today's environment/society is a risk (just look how many on this forum lately getting hit or in accidents, or near accidents), no one has to ride a motorcycle to get on in life, we choose to do so. We accept risk. Then there are those who take that element a step beyond, defying injury or death, showing off. I'll grant you, some of the younger folks are just foolhardy, just depends how far one chooses to push their skills and/or luck. I do not condone/defend any risky, law breaking behavior, but I do participate in some sometimes. We're all show offs to some degree, we ride customized motorcycles, spend lots of money to do so. If it was just about the pleasure of the ride itself, would we put on the loud pipes, or $3000 chrome wheels, or $3000 paint schemes? Or long for more HP, the vrod stock has enough HP to get you in trouble already as is. Some long to be the king, the best, the fastest, the finest. Sure I do it for my own pleasure, but we/I like it when others look, say "wow what a nice bike", or take a long, hard look. Or post pics and say, "check out my ride/mods". We all like the attention/affirmation/notoriety, in addition to "the simple pleasure of the ride". They/we do it because we can, and get away with it, plain and simple. Its human nature at work really.
 
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#17 ·
I'm just glad that when my 10 yer old sees these lame brains, he knows how stupid they really are. Many times he has witnessed the guys from Vrodjim's post. At first he thinks "whoa, look at that!", but quickly changes to "Mom, that guy should be wearing gear." (Three of them only wear helmets.) Even he has asked the "what if?" question.
He has also been informed that HE gets caught riding like that, I'll kill him if the ride didn't.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
There's no doubt that this guy knew what he was doing. It was impressive. It just a lot of these people seem to have no reguards for themselves as well as others and you have to wonder about that. If he was wearing full protective gear it would have looked crazy but at least he prepared for the worst while expecting the best. He wasn't. The best riders in the world go down. It happens. When they do, many times they come out okay because they were prepared. If this guy goes down from a wheelie at 70 or 80 we're talking some serious skin graphs at best most likely. I think you have to start caring just a little about yourself and then maybe you'll be more aware of others and when it's best or not to demonstarte the skills you have for others on a crowded public highway.

I guess this is a debatable subject for some as since the V-ROD is a fast bike that many have done over 100 mph with maybe to the wheelie guy he feels he's just as capable of safely doing a wheelie on a highway as others are as capable of doing 100 when it's clear, I don't know. It is debatable I suppose. I'd be a hyporcrite if I said I never had some fun with the V-ROD but what I do I don't consider crazy but maybe others do.
Yet another thread with some good insite and opinions from some good people.
 
#20 ·
IMHO if you think your not gonna get hurt from doing stupid things on your bike or you think it wont happened to you cause you know how to ride.Guess what your wrong.I dont care if you have two months or ten years experiance riding it doesnt matter all it takes is just one mistake.And it dont even have to be by you.if your dumb enough to do an 80 mph wheelie then you deserve to get hurt.
 
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