I want to know everything about designing a wheelie bar.
Streetfighterz.com has three different bar lengths available, the shorter "expert" bar allows full 12:00 wheelies, and the longer "intermediate" and longer still "beginner" bars limit the wheelie at positions less than 12:00. Sounds like a good idea to me, since me just starting out I'd probably bail off before a short bar ever hit the ground. What is your experience with these and other, possibly custom, wheelie bars? What physical angle do you like your bike to hit the bar at for a given skill level? And those of you that ride without any bar at all, what are your reasons?

Another concern that has been raised is that of tweaking your subframe when you use the wheelie bar. Does anyone out there have a padded or spring loaded or shock-absorbing wheelie bar on their bike? Please post pictures if you do. Are there other methods, such as subframe reinforcement, that minimize subframe damage?

One more question is shape. All the wheelie bars I've see sit flat on the ground. Does this cause problems if you scrape the bar on a surface that is not level or while you're leaned over doing a circle wheelie? It seems like the drag being off-center may cause problems, so let me know, does it? Anybody have a rounded-off wheelie bar on their bike? Anybody have actual wheels on their wheelie bar?

Does anyone have plans or drawings of a wheelie bar that they have made?

Hmm, did I miss anything?

 

People generally don't drag the tail doing circle wheelies, so I don't think that's even a necesarry consideration. If you are dragging the *** doing a circle, you're about to go over anyway, so it doesn't matter.

That spring loaded idea is cool, though. But I imagine the amount of stiffness it would require would negate it's absorbancy. I don't think you'd want something that's spongy feeling.

I think you're just SOL. Suck it up and buy some spare subframes on e-bay.

 

If you go with the longer bar, it is going to give you a false sence of distance when pulling a 12. Also, as far as making a skid bar, the design is only as good as the welds holding it together. I'll just tell ya to buy one that will just protect your tail. (i.e. 3" off of light) I make my own, and thats the length I use. You might want to look on Ebay for used sub's like smb123 said before, would not hurt........Much.......

 

You'll like mine. Its adjustable length. When I started it was 8 or 10 inches off the tail. I kept going shorter and shorter untill i actually had to remove the lense to fit it in. Its now about a 1/4 inch shorter than the stock tail was. The roller is 3 inch pvc with a few rollerblade wheels inside, and a 5/16 threaded rod Sittin in 1 1/2 inch angle steel. Since its plastic, its real forgiving on rougher pavement or if i dont hit perfectly flat because it doesnt catch on anything. And since it rolls, it hasnt shown any signs of wearing out. The only drawback so far is parking on the tail, it just rolls for ever unless I get off the bike while its still moving and pull. I also wish I made it wider. Its 8 1/2 inches wide and isnt very stable when I try drag tricks. Most people here are going with 12-14 inch wide bars. I built a prototype with two mini bike shocks and a simple 4 link pivot system, but it sucked. The bike wouldn't stay up because shocks would allow it to easily lean over to one side or the other.

 

It would help if i posted the pic

 

that crazy.i will call that the tar roller bar.hot

 

Mike M,

That's very professional looking. What size angle iron are you using?

To shorten did you just drill two new holes closer to the bike and then cut off the excess?

What is your opinion of the "start out long, then shorten as you get better" method of learning wheelies?

If I do go with a wider bar, say 14 inches wide or so, will I have problems with my feet catching on it when I drop my legs?

 

Mike:

I like the engenuity behind that.

If you want something that doesn't roll so much, you might find a material like Delrin that you can put in there. Delrin is just a type of plastic that is used for things such as frame sliders. It should be pretty damned cheap, and easy enough to work with. Granted, it will wear out quickly... but if you need something that's forgiving and more controllable insofar as the motion of the bike is concerned, it might be a good option.

I'm not really sure where you can find it, but I'm sure a search online will yield results. Any basic machine shops around your area should also be able to help you out. If you have a saw and a drill, I see no reason why you can't fashion one on your own.

Similarly, if you're any good at geometry, you might try a 'dual' bar. In other words, something with two contact surfaces. They would have to be angled so they both hit at the same time. Perhaps the one closest to the wheel would be a shorter piece of delrin just for the impact absorbancy, and the one above it would be a piece of wider steel for the stability you need.

 

Originally posted by Rational
Mike M,

That's very professional looking. What size angle iron are you using?

1 and a half inch

To shorten did you just drill two new holes closer to the bike and then cut off the excess?

Exactly

What is your opinion of the "start out long, then shorten as you get better" method of learning wheelies?

Until I tried parking I never crashed

If I do go with a wider bar, say 14 inches wide or so, will I have problems with my feet catching on it when I drop my legs?

I don't know. If you're worried, just stay on until the ride stops.

 

The problem with it rolling forever is because of the weight distribution of my bike, it has a very low center of gravity. When its perfectly balanced the tail is only 3 of 4 inches off the ground. I don't use the break any more for scraping, it just falls lightly onto the bar. I'm probably gonna cut down my subframe so the bike leans back farther. That way I can use more brake to stop it.

 

By perfectly balanced do you mean the CG is direcly over the rear tire? Is this with you on or off the bike?

 

How is it stunting on a long, low bike? I've got an FJ600 I don't know whether to gear down for stunts or just get rid of it and save up for a dual-sport or something.

 

Yes to the first part, and it doesnt matter if its running or not because I dont wheelie fast enough for air resistance or anything similar to be a factor.

The learning curve is real slow. If it had enough hp to make up for the weight it would be great, nut it doesn't.

 

I was brainstorming the other day about making a custom bar

for my bike . I have not tried to do 12vs on porpose but have had

some close calls on accident .

I was looking at my skateboard and thought of using the

wheels or even the trucks to. Its to dam cold here right now to

even try to start this job.

Nice job man , glad to see a finished product.


mike

 

I just made a 12 bar with skateboard wheels, no bearings, made it 11 1/2 inches wide, and used sqaure steal tubing, with 4 mounting points on each side of the subframe, oh and a threaded rod to go through the wheels, and tubing, I havnt tried it yet, and have never done a 12 except on the 400ex...sorry no pics right now...but i think it might work good

 

We're getting plans together for a new scrape bar. It will include:

• 3/4" dependent suspension travel (like a swing arm) at an angle of 45 degrees from horizontal
• 2" diameter round cross section stainless scraper bar, 18" long
• Adjustable extension by the "cut some off and drill new holes" method
• Supports that run inside the subframe tubes instead of alongside.

We hope to have it built in a couple weeks. I thought I had a picture of the drawing file here, but I left it at work.:twelve

 

Watch out with the skateboard wheels. If you dont touch the pavement perfectly straight. a skateboard wheel will have enough traction to throw the bike sideways. Thats why I have the pvc tube on mine.