Topic: Can You Do This?

[Rosinante]

Come to a complete stop, like at a stop light, and I mean COMPLETE stop, then go again without touching the ground.

I rode one of these things as my only vehicle for a few years in my early twenties and I swear I could make that bike dance.

[jlh3rd]

eh..49 years and 30 lbs ago, yeah....

[jgger]

Only if the wind isn't blowing very hard.

[HondaMan]

Only if the wind isn't blowing very hard.

Yeah, that's the issue here, too...

[70CB750]

I do it at stop signs. The key is the clutch.

[newday777]

I do it on my K5 often and also on my 08 goldwing. Your balance equilibrium is a big factor. As we get older it fades away.

[Don R]

 I try a lot, I like to touch a toe down even if the bike is rolling a tiny bit. I might be successful once in a while.

[rotortiller]

Yup, but only in short bursts lol, unless it's a dirtbike.

[MauiK3]

I'm chicken, I always have the left toe or foot down.

[Rosinante]

Back in the day I could ride a 750 almost like a trials bike.  I could stay, almost still, feet on pegs, while traffic clears.  But now I put both feet down every time.  I'm old.

[brianc]

A guy I worked with (quite some years back) did this regularly. He got pinged by a cop one day for not stopping at a STOP sign.
Err - yes I did says mate.  Err- no you didn't, your feet didn't touch the ground so you couldn't have stopped, says he.
So a demonstration took place - and guess what, no ticket. Love it.

[Deltarider]

In the 80s I had the opportunity to have the same training, motorcycle cops have to undergo. I've learned a lot there: manoevring at ultra low speeds, acrobatics and what not. Also I was drilled where to look and what braking technique is best. Lessons learned there, are practiced by me ever since.

[seanbarney41]

yup...it just happens every once in a while...cb750 is one top heavy mofo.  Gotta do it all the time on the dirt bike.

[HondaMan]

I should probably mention: in Colorado there is an actual requirement that you touch down with at least one foot for a stop.
So, I seldom actually stop, but the left foot pretends like I did!

[Tracksnblades1]

Come to a complete stop, like at a stop light, and I mean COMPLETE stop, then go again without touching the ground.

I rode one of these things as my only vehicle for a few years in my early twenties and I swear I could make that bike dance.

Bet this guy can…?

[jonda500]

Yes, not for long though! I often pull up at red lights without putting my feet down and see if I can balance until the light changes - I only remember pulling it off once though when the light changed just after I stopped.

Here's another challenge something I discovered wasn't hard to do on my 400-4 in the eighties and is still easy to do now-

With the bike on the center stand, engine running, both feet on the pegs, use your weight to rock the bike back and then launch off the center stand without touching the ground.
John

[Duanob]

A complete stop my be arguable but I do it all the time if I don't have to wait on another vehicle.

[HondaMan]

With the bike on the center stand, engine running, both feet on the pegs, use your weight to rock the bike back and then launch off the center stand without touching the ground.

This just reminded me of something my brother did with his CB500 SOHC4 once. This goes back to before Wal-Mart escaped Missouri: it was then a discount chain store, and he bought a discount rear tire (of mysterious brand) for his Honda. When he got it mounted it was almost 1/8" out-of-true (high-to-low, measured with a ruler being pushed back from the tire as he rotated it) and the issue was in the body of the tire. He surmised this was why the tire was REALLY cheap (like $15 in 1973 cheap), but he was a broke college kid, so he decided to 'make it round enough'. He got it up on the centerstand and ran it up to 3rd gear, almost wide-open, then leaned back ever-so-gently until the tire started hitting the garage floor. He ended up in 5th gear at 5000 RPM doing this, until the smoke rolling out of the garage got grandma out of the house to go see why the garage "was burning down", she thought: he ended up with a giant black mark on the floor under the bike and tire debris all the way out of the garage door before the tire showed wear marks over more than 50% of the circumference. The smoke filled the garage so much he couldn't see grandma coming in, and she started waving her arms while standing alongside him to ask what he was doing?

The next day he rode back to college (170 miles) on it, and rode on it until the low spot on the tire started showing cord (the next Spring). He said it was a nightmare to corner it on high-speed roads (which abound in Missouri) because he couldn't predict where it was going to go as he entered each turn.

 

[70CB750]

I should probably mention: in Colorado there is an actual requirement that you touch down with at least one foot for a stop.
So, I seldom actually stop, but the left foot pretends like I did!

Interesting.  I have no idea what Virginia requires but I done the balancing act with a cop near or behind me quite few times.