Been reveling in the fact that my bike has been running so well since I finally got the clutch rebuilt. Riding it pretty much every day, and just enjoying the hell out of it.
Well, I recently monkeyed with the jetting on the carb, and got rid of the carb farts & coughing, although I'll have to tinker with it a little more this winter to get it precisely dialed in.
Anyway, it has been pulling like a freight train, and while riding home from work last night, I wondered if I could get the front wheel off the ground with this pup. After all, it is a strong motor, but still just an 80" with some headwork & cam.
At a couple of red lights, I launched pretty hard, and it got light, but didn't come up off the ground. I recalled the days of my 1200 conversion Sportster, which I used to wheelie like a mofo all the time, and was a little disappointed. It wasn't like I hadn't done this a hundred times before, so I knew how it is done. The bike just wasn't strong enough, I guessed.
A block or two from home, the street was deserted, so I came to a stop in the middle of the street, dropped into 1st gear, and revved the motor. I dumped the clutch, and the funniest thing happened...
The front end immediately lurched up more than 3 feet off the ground. My fat a$$ wasn't expecting it, and my reflex (of course) led me to roll on the throttle a little more, causing the front tire to point further skyward! I was now looking upward at nearly a 90-degree angle!!!! I managed to let off the gas & give a little rear brake, and the bike slammed down quickly.
The hammering action of the bike coming back to earth popped my right foot off the brake pedal, which made me lurch forward. Guess what happened? Lurching forward made me reflexively roll on the throttle again, once more yanking the front end of my FXR off the ground. At this point, I just knew I was going to lose control of the bike altogether and wipe it out. I could see the headlines:
"Seattle man, age 43, dies from terminal stupidity while cushioning his 600-pound motorcycle's fall."
I soiled myself, rolled off the throttle again, and once more the bike came down with a bang - this time, nearly toppling over sideways before I was able to catch it! I wrestled the cycle fully upright, and took a moment to catch my breath.
Finished riding home - nice & slow...
My only consolation was that nobody was there to point & laugh at me at 11pm at night, yelling "Check out Evel Kenievel!!!!"
Moral of the story: Never underestimate the power of an FXR, and always be ready for the unexpected. My name is Danny, and I'm a moron.
Linear Mode
