WHEELIES...how and where did you learn

dermymoto · Jan 30, 2011

Im sure this has been posted before,so apologies if its a regular question.I'd like to know how you guys learned to throw up the front wheel on your bikes and not sh!t your trunks in the process:lol:..or for that matter flip it over:damn:

I got my bike licence 2 years ago when I was 32 so its gonna have to be a case of teaching an old dog new tricks.Some of my mates are great a wheelies and can keep them going for ages but they reckon its something you have to learn yourself.
:headscrat

I'm thinking of either going to a wheelie school in England in the summer or studying this MCN video...http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/videos/2011/January/jan0611-video-how-to-wheelie/..... in fine detail and teach myself,I just have to get over the classic fear of flipping the bike.Even getting the front wheel above 12" would be nice!!:lol:

Thanks in advance for any help:thumbup:

p.s,Im getting a KTM 690smc soon and being able to wheelie it would be great

Leeland · Jan 30, 2011

I learned the hard way, and when i was a rubber people. Rubber people are kids, they bend, the scrape, but if you ain't going just under the speed of sound, any only just a little over the edge of sanity, you don't die.

Now, the only thing i can say, is find you a little XR70, a pit bike, some little pooper that at max speed runs 30 MPH, and be ready to trash it. You might look a bit funny, full grown man riding a tiny machine like that, but you would be surprised how much a little bitty bike will teach you about balance and body positioning...

Good luck and be safe !!!!

dermymoto · Jan 30, 2011

Cheers bro,I've thought about getting a wee pit bike to learn.They are pretty cheap and could do my job ok.

I'm 6' 2",so I might look a bit of a goof on a pit bike but desperate times call for desperate measures:lol:

upstateSC-rider · Jan 30, 2011

Our very own Samurai Jim, God rest his soul, made this how-to that a lot of people have used.
I still can't wheelie my way out of a paper bag but that's another story.

Vid here.

Lou.

dermymoto · Jan 30, 2011

I've watched that video a few times,Is that poor guy no longer with us??

TheGarden · Jan 30, 2011

Ya he had car pull out in front of him. Bad deal. He made some great videos.

hmontaq · Jan 30, 2011

Seen kids on scooters killing wheelies lol

Circus · Jan 30, 2011

You might also try to wheelie on a mountain bike. Yes, I know they are very different from motorcycles. I can wheelie my mountain forever by using the rear hand brake to stop me from going over backwards. I am using that rear brake constantly. The mountain bike will teach you how it feels to lean back fairly far and what it feels like to be at the balance point (center of mass directly over the rear tire).

I am teaching myself to wheelie my Husky 610SM. The key is to keep your foot on the rear brake ready to press down if you go back too far. I will go out some days and every wheelie I will make sure to press down on the rear brake to bring the front end down. You have to make it muscle memory. Each time I get the front end higher, and am trying to reach the balance point and beyond.

Adrenaline Images · Jan 30, 2011

Might also add, don't practice your wheelies in front of cops. They offer very little in the way of constructive criticism or effective technique perfection and they usually seem quite agitated when they catch up to you.

Never could figure out how a 28mph wheelie is so dangerous but some soccer mom wielding a 6,000 pound SUV yelling at her hideous offspring fighting in the back seat and talking on the celly while trying to enter the addy to the new soccer practice location into her GPS is perfectly safe and legal.

I love riding wheelies and my only two cents would be to try the mountain bike thing (helps you learn your balance points) and when you get on the moto, try starting out on slight uphills. Uphills are a little more forgiving for the novice.

I'm 37 and my supermoto was the first motorcycle I've ever ridden (got it when I was 36). If this old dog can learn a new trick, I'm sure you'll be out there on one wheel in due time. Practice, practice, practice.

Audacious Nick · Feb 11, 2011

Typically the rule is:
If it's fun, we'll find a way to make it illegal.

1is2many · Jan 30, 2011

i like most kids taught myself on bmx bikes when i was little. first motor bike that enough power that i rode i just used the power instead of my feet and arms. practice is the only real teacher in my opinion. when i got my first street legal dirt bike i took it to an old air strip out in hawaii and practiced there. once i found the right power/clutch combo it was on, from there i found what balance point was about and just kept trying. but yes, practice on something ur not worrying about dropping does help.

HPIguy · Jan 30, 2011

Leeland nailed it. I sucked at wheelies as a kid, and never learned true wheelies till I was in my thirties. A really good buddy of mine taught me in a church parking lot where we have full permission to ride, in less than an hour, with a Honda 50. Rocking a true balance point wheelie using the brake, even on a kids bike, was something I could never do all my life, and it was awesome. I bought my own 50 that summer, and still have it. The 50 is indestructable, and will teach you to be comfortable at the balance point where most people bail, and it makes covering the brake second nature so you never have to think about it.

daytonian · Jan 30, 2011

I learned on a Ninja 600r over a period of 1-1/2 months about 15 years. One night it clicked and I was able to point my wheel skyward. It helped to have 2 other riding buddies that could wheelie shame me into getting with the program. Maybe doing them at night helps lose your reference of the ground as much. I will say this - they are easy and on country roads they are a lot safer than most people think. The same principle applies for all bikes - find the balance point and adjust it with the throttle (or rear brake if your really good).

dermymoto · Jan 30, 2011

Thanks for the advice folks,very helpful indeed:thumbup:

I tried wheelying my little cousins mountain bike a few months ago and couldn't get the bloody front wheel up,i reckon it would be easier on a BMX.

I'm seriously considering getting a pit bike to learn at a local disused air strip.Until I get one Im gonna go through the first few steps from the MCN video on the Z1000...although I really dont want to bin a £8,500 bike!:headshake

Keep the advice coming peeps!!

Welcome to the forum Daytonian

RIP SAMURAI JIM

redhotz28 · Jan 31, 2011

I huge factor is rider will. I find that if I tell myself that I'm going to rip a nice long BP wheelie, I can do it over a rather wide range of speed/rpm, but if I think I'm just going to lift the front a little bit, my mind compensates and keeps the front wheel from ever getting up, or if it does, only a couple of inches.
Decide you wanna go for it, and do it. Prepare to land on your butt a couple of times though, especially if you want to learn faster. I have a great vid of me landing on my butt, getting up in time to see the bike cartwheel off to one side.

casperkc · Jan 31, 2011

I cant remember not being able to ride a wheelie...been riding for 30+ years...so here it goes...I have a crf50, xr100, xr200, and a yz450f street sumo/dirt/ice/blah blah...I personally suck at wheelies on the 50...they flip much faster than say the 200...but I can ride for miles on the bigger bikes...with that being said I would recommend a bmx/mountain bike for starters then step up to a big wheeled small bike if you can. just my $.02. Fast wheelies are easier than slow wheelies too...good luck and be safe and WEAR YOUR GEAR!

HPIguy · Feb 1, 2011

casperkc said:
I personally suck at wheelies on the 50...they flip much faster than say the 200...but I can ride for miles on the bigger bikes

See, I'm just the opposite. I guess it's because I learned to wheelie on the 50, and not big bikes. I can wheelie the big bike OK, but not at BP yet. I think it's just a mental thing, and I just need to say eff it and rock it on back. I'm sure having fun practicing though.

darksidemxer · Jan 31, 2011

i started on dirtbikes...then got my first street bike and said hmmm lets clutch it up! worked well...got my brand new 600 ninja and within a week i was riding wheelies all over town lol idk i just like popping the clutch and trying to wheelie on every bike....speedpunk knows all bout me trying this lol i did it on his bike and had it straight up at 12 o'clock lmao:rofl: im more at home riding around on 1 wheel than 2

SpeedPunk · Feb 1, 2011

Yup, but having seen him ride whoolies I wasn't worried. Like many have mentioned, get a small pit bike and have a go. BTW, I'm 6'4" and 195lbs, and while I look like a circus bear on a bicycle, its still the way to go. With very little time (and advice from youngin's that know how to rock a wheelie) you'll be up in no time...

A few of DarkSideMXer and I...

uthinkimodd · Jan 31, 2011

I learned on my KX80 on a 200' streatch in the front yard. spent many times on my back with the bike flipping through the air.
I refined my skills a little more when I got a sports bike but those things just do wheelies on their own.

WRsteveX · Feb 1, 2011

little at a time, little higher... little higher.... the tiny bikes are hard for me personally and the leter bikes are intimidating because theyre so damn expensive to crash. more power helps being able to let the wheel come down a little further and still bring it back up to a successful wheelie instead of like my bike where you clutch it up to the ballance point and if you let it too far down theres not enough power to save it. but too much power makes them uncontrolable. the best thing to learn on IMO is a small quad. something like a lt80, 250, 300, or 400ex, or a raptor 250. you can do them so slow using the rear brake you can almost stop. teaches you all the basics. rear brake coverage, and ballance point. after that its just practice. youll be wheelying everything.

1is2many · Feb 1, 2011

that's true quads do make it easy to practice...

WRsteveX · Feb 1, 2011

even old 3 wheelers...

sunofnun · Feb 1, 2011

I started when I was about 5.

Three wheelers, then trail 70's then xr80's, cr125s, etc etc..

Start small.. get a pit bike.

On a pit bike, the easiest way to start is to drag your feet like water skiing, or snow skiing. You literally use the torque of the motor vs the friction of your feet to control the front wheel coming up.. if you get scared, just pick up your feet.

Eventually you'll find a balance point.

Once you find the balance point You can then start snapping up the front. This is a combo maneuver.

Your going to compress the front forks by rocking forwards a bit, twist the throttle, and then snap backwards. The combo of the front forks un-compressing timed with the throttle response will pull the front wheel off the ground.

The amount of snap backwards (pulling on the bars) combined with the hit of the throttle will determine how far up you come.

Once you can do that, then add the clutch for a little more snap. Depending on bike/gearing/hp/overal weight you can snap a bike up with just the clutch and motor (any liter bike)

Then riding a wheelie is a combo of balance and modulating the throttle.

bla bla.. hope that makes sense.

dermymoto · Feb 1, 2011

Thanks for those great tips sunofnun,really helpful.Im gonna get a wee pit bike in a few weeks and practice in my dads fields.

Great pics speedpunk,love that one of DarksideMXer on the pit bike folowed by you (i presume) on the 690smc!:clap::thumbup:

Thanx everyone for the tips,keep 'em coming!:lol:

fstbusa · Feb 1, 2011

I learned on my dirtbike in pastures and bean fields!

Once you get the front up high enough a few times, its starts to become natural to where you need to be and can wheelie at nearly any speed. Just keep your rear brake covered and consciously use it if you feel you are going over backward. Even if you aren't going over backward its good practice. I can't tell you how many times I would have crashed a wheelie if I didn't hit the rear brake. Its definitely a required skill to ride long wheelies.

WRsteveX · Feb 1, 2011

i think the reason i suck on the 50s or even a ttr110 is im a beanpole. 6'2" 160. the ballance point is awkward. i can stand up on the rear pegs and "pogo" my wrx to BP and ride for 1-2 miles, but you cant hit the brake and one foot foreward is awkward to me too. the bike doesnt have enough power for powering it up to BP sitting down but i have been practicing slipping the clutch to get it there and have found it to be a predictable way to quickly reach BP. just have to find the sweet spot. on my particular set up its 3/4 of the way through rolling on the throttle in 2nd, on finger slip, grab 3rd, and its on. the yfz is just a simple twist of the grip in gears 1-3.
-note: SLIP the clutch. not wildly revving the motor and dumping it.

OUTsane · Feb 2, 2011

Not sure if it's been said yet, but pull with your shoulders, not with your arms. When you try to pull with your arms, half the time you pull yourself down, instead of the bike up. Think of your arms as rope. The rope is tied to the bars, and you want to use your shoulders to pull the rope. This forces you to get your weight back. That pic of SpeedPunk on the mini-bike is a prime example.

Also, learning to manual a Mountain Bike helps a lot. There's no motor, so you have to rely on technique.

BoostCrzy · Feb 2, 2011

I learned on bicycles....then dirtbikes...then sportbikes.....got in some trouble for doing them...but sometimes I cant resist....haha!!!

I dont need a lecture on the gear... :thumbup:

GROOVY2 · Feb 2, 2011

learning to wheelie going up a hill makes things Much easier-
going up a hill you are that much closer to your balance point
and when you let off the gas going up a hill will slow you down-

WRsteveX · Feb 2, 2011

tdogmason · Feb 2, 2011

I learned a great trick from my Buddy Breed77 on this forum. We used to ride together and his wheelies are perfect every time. We stopped and I asked him what the key was to these smooth Wheelies. His advice was, get the bike in second gear, clutch the bike up into a wheelie and then almost immediately shift into third gear (no clutch, just let off the throttle ever so slightly, shift with your foot and back on the gas), and then into 4th (no Clutch) when you run out of gear and then into 5th (no Clutch). This is now my every time routine and it works great. The front wheel tends to come up when you first leave the ground and then shifting into 3rd brings the wheel down and then back on the gas for third, it makes a great flow for Balance Point. After a lot of practice I began to feel the Balance Point and then its just adjusting from that point. Like everyone else has said before, always cover the rear brake and you will be good to go.

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE........ T :thumbup:

WHEELIES...how and where did you learn

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