Who says Nortons can't Wheelie?

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Motor handled it no problem whatsoever. I was truly amazed at how much heat it could belt out. Subsequent tear down some time later showed no ill effect (or is that affect). I rode it in all sorts of traffic conditions. Ran a Lockhart oil cooler. The problem was the sintered bronze clutch plates would just slip. I fixed that good with a set of Barnett clutch plates and then it began to spit out teeth in the gear box and bend layshafts etc. I learned to shift carefully. Finally experienced a sticking throttle slide leading into a chicane on a tertiary road and that was that. Something is wrong with me because I want try that Drouin again.
 
What is the point of putting a supercharger on a Commando ? - it is never going to be a Yamaha R1. The standard gearbox won't even cop the normal Commando motor if it is really given the business.
 
A 2 into 1 exhaust with a turbocharger, might be interesting ? That way the instantaneous kick would not be there.
 
acotrel said:
When the Japanese two-strokes arrived in the 1960s wheelies were common, especially at the start of races and coming out of corners. But we found that while the bike was doing the wheelie, it's acceleration in the forward direction was slower. However getting an unsupercharged Commando to wheelie is still impressive, but a waste of time during a race.
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Al, wheelies are done for fun they are not done to win races
 
My race bike wheelies effortlessly when launching off the start line with 4000 +rpm showing at the clutch dump.
Thats 52 ft lb of torque at that rpm , so an easy lift for such a light bike.
On a wet race days I tend to leave the line at 2800 rpm otherwise it goes sideways with serious wheel spin and thats with a very tall first gear with a TTI 5 speed gearbox.
Torque will get the front wheel airborne , the video posted shows that with the corresponding dyno readout.
As Fast Eddie points out, that is fun !!!
Regards Mike
 
acotrel said:
A 2 into 1 exhaust with a turbocharger, might be interesting ? That way the instantaneous kick would not be there.
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“That way the instantaneous kick would not be there.”

I see where you are coming from and believe you must be a (ahem not so firm) follower of Marshall Applewhite and Heaven’s Gate cult.
 
Clutch wheelies for big kids don't count .
My Zook 80 did those.
Gotta be a throttle wheelie to get the adrenalin going now.
Maico 490 does some beauts at speed.
So does the Thrux R with traction control off.

Glen
 
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To my mind 'fun' is when you ace-off one of the good guys who is riding a very similar bike to your own . Doing a wheelie usually makes you go slightly backwards. I once rode one of those BSA Rocket 3s, I inadvertantly wheelied it just by turning the throttle a bit too quick. It didn't do much for me - too slow. It went up instead of going forwards. There is not much which inspires me to race these days. But last week there was an historic meeting at Winton. Lyell Williamson was there with a Minnovation Seeley Commando 750. That makes believe it might be worth being there next time. Even a genuine race against only one bike is not all bad. When you race a Norton against Honda-4s and two-strokes, a win or leading the race is nice, but it doesn't mean much. In his day Lyell was a good A-grader and he is still quick. - Do I have a strange mentality ?
 
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worntorn said:
Clutch wheelies for big kids don't count .
My Zook 80 did those.
Gotta be a throttle wheelie to get the adrenalin going now.
Maico 490 does some beauts at speed.
So does the Thrux R with traction control off.

Glen
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The two times in high school that I wheelied my 1970 Fastback more than I expected to were when I was spinning the rear tire on wet pavement. Traction had nothing to do with it, it was just accelerating the mass of the rear wheel fast enough to bring the front end up.
 
A local here when I was a lad liked to show off his wheelie skills on his Z1300.

Until one day, wheelie-ing with his girlfriend on the back, for reasons never established, he kept the power on and wheelied straight into a brick wall holding back raised ground (thus, just about as immovable as you could find).

He suffered a broken back and the girlfriend died.
 
There is a crash in this video where a rider was not looking where he was going during a race and crashed into the end of a brick wall. You would think his concentration would be at the max, but it obviously wasn't.
 
You know what this forum needs? A RACING SECTION!

That way, commentary regarding street bikes not being up to racing standards (or the like), could be left in the appropriate section.

Actually, most forums have racing sections, for that very reason.

Certainly this forum has it's very fair share of racing and former racing members, and racebike owners...
 
My stock 850 will do wheelies in first/second with no difficulty at all. Admittedly, if you want to do roll-on wheelies in 4th gear...well, that's the province of modern sport bikes.
 
Riding a road bike is similar to riding a race bike, but with many more risks. In racing, the risks are minimised to a tolerable level, so you learn to ride safely at high speed. Doing wheelies without looking where you are going, is the same sort of thing which happens with some riders during races. It only takes a lapse in concentration - how often have you seen race riders looking down at their bikes ? - It happens.
 
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