Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Answer: Screwing up your leg attempting a stoppie on a moped.

Long story short(er) I just got the express legal for town so I had it out at lunch. Front brakes were kind of touchy so I joked that I could do a stoppie with it. Of course I was dared to attempt it by my friends, and you can't back down from a double dog dare, so I gave it a go. First couple were kinda lame, could feel the back getting light but nothing really visual going on. I had a short section of grippy pavement (<6 feet) and that wasn't helping any. Brakes were getting hot fast so the last attempt I gave it all I had. Bad idea. Had I not shifted my weight sideways halfway into it and caught myself with my leg, I would have flipped it clean over forwards. I landed on my leg right as my knee was locking, I can't explain it but I'm sure others have done it. Hurt like *. The back of the scooter went down pretty hard, I handed it to a buddy as I tried to walk it off and catch my breath from laughing so hard. I have never before been in a situation where I wanted to scream in pain but couldn't because I was laughing too hard. They were asking me if I was ok and the first words I could work out were "Totally. Worth it."

So as I limped through the rest of the day they just kept laughing at me saying "Totally. Worth it." Wish I had it on video. Probably won't attempt it again, as it's too hard on the scooter.

Just thought i'd share.
bob

boostedbuick wrote:
"Totally. Worth it." Wish I had it on video. Probably won't attempt it again, as it's too hard on the scooter.

Just thought i'd share.
bob

Confuscious say:

"He who cheats traction and crutches is most likely younger than I."

CaptDan>

Wow and LOL

They were asking me if I was ok and the first words I could work out were "Totally. Worth it."

That one brought a smile to my face!

do it again and video it, I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU

haha nice story

Well I laid in bed last night thinking about the physics of a stoppie, things like weight transfer over a fulcrum point, brake modulation, etc. and decided that a true, moving stoppie like you see crotch rockets doing in rap videos and on youtube is just not possible with my scooter. I proved without a doubt that I can get the back wheel up, and with a bit of practice I could roll up to any gathering of people and do a noticeable stoppie in totally dorky fashion. But the rolling ones are largely a fuction of brake modulation, something that I have virtually none of with a 2.5" diameter drum brake in the front hub. Also I have the original rock hard 1978 front tire. Crotch rockets have nice wide grippy tires and a big disc brake. Not sure if a heavier bike is a good thing or not. Currently I have 200 Lbs. of person on 100 lbs. of scooter. I guess I could add some ballast in the front basket to make it less sensitive to my weight transfer. The difference in weight transfer requirements between no stoppie at all and doing a complete forward flip, as it turns out, is not very much at all. Once you get her going, she really wants to go. Over.

Anyway, my leg is better today. Still haven't told the wife, she's a registered nurse and has seen the results of motorcycle crashes firsthand. I assured her when I bought the scooter that the low speed combined with excellent agility and braking is enough to ensure my safety. I think that's all she needs to know, especially with our second baby due any day now.

bob
(yes I am still in my twenties with nice, flexible bones)

30 year old tires aren't exactly safe...

Aw *, they're safe enough for 25 mph. Truthfully they look pretty good yet, they have less than 1000 miles on them. I'd replace them but I don't want to kill the originality of the scooter.

And to think I'm one of the guys in support of new tires every 5 or 6 years on the turbo buick forums.

Did someone say stoppie? I prefer the term "Chinese Wheelie"...

I've got those pretty much down on the Ol' Motard. Rolling and All
To bad I haven't made it into any "rap videos"... Maybe I should place a call to DMX ?


Can't really do it to well on my newer/nicer scooters, that cantilevered suspension makes it a pain.

But it can be done on the trusty old Elite E... "Fork" front suspension makes it WAY easier, but even then I can only barely "roll with it". But be careful, as this thing isn't as robust as you might think, and it did make quick work of the mounting tab on the polini exhaust that I had fab'd to fit on there.

See my previous post for my answer: http://www.hondaspree.net/phpBB3/viewto ... =+driveway

Attempting to skid into my driveway to show off for the kids. This is when I was new to scoots.

As you may or may not know, the rear brake control for a scoot is on the left hand but for a bicycle, it is on the RIGHT. Yep, due to my years of bicycle training, I squeezed the right.....HARD....

"YAAAAAYYY! DO IT AGAIN DADDY!!"

this one results from a newb experimenting with carb cleaning...

So i took apart my carb and air filter and everything, replaced the reeds, gaskets on the intake, etc. Did a pull-down, cleaned everything * and span and put the engine components back together. Needing to get it cranked again before final re-assembly, I took it off my porch for a bit and set it up and ran it. As you can imagine, it smoked like the * once i got it started. so I took it off the porch and moved it further away from my building as to not annoy the people I live with.

I took it further into the parking lot, and, standing off to the side, started it up. It started right up, and with the air filter still unattached, started SCREAMING (very, very lean). unfortunately, I had neglected to put the kickstand down after moving it (probably because I was breathing carb cleaner for an hour or so) and the tires were on the pavement. So obviously the bike tried to take off forwards, i kept holding on to it for dear life. The bike had 2 airborne hops before i even realized I was stupid. I hit the kill switch and the agony was over. Luckily, no nearby cars were injured, my shoulder was a bit sore but otherwise I was fine, and the bike was stripped to the frame so no panels were damaged.

My neighbors peeked out their windows and saw a portly gentleman in shorts and a t-shirt, suffering from obvious carb-cleaner intoxication, laughing hysterically at his own stupidity.