Wheelie Tutorial
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Hey guys,
bet many of you have seen wheelies on video clips and pics and are facinated by them, don't ya? i am not ashamed to admit that i myself is very facinated by them and have been wanting to do them myself.
but i have no one to guide me along and have to experiment and try to do it myself with no proper assistance. i did managed to achieve "pops" on my ex-NSR150SP, meaning the front wheel gets lifted off the ground and then came back down immediately. it's not a real wheelie but for awhile i was quite satisfied with it.
but now i got my class 2A bike (CBR400RR), i want to achieve a real proper wheelie. my fren and i had been experimenting by ourselves, and now given a bigger and more powerful bike, the results are far more negative than anything else. my fren crashed his Super4Ver.S while attempting a wheelie. it was terrible... the whole tail board was gone, left foot rest was gone, clutch handle was gone, and he sustained some injury himself.
I can't seem to find anyone who would give useful and helpful advises or proper guidance. this is no good... as i end up trying out by myself which i admit is very dangerous. i am not really against anyone who wants to experiment and try out without proper guidance but all i can say is that be prepared for the consequences. it can burn a hole in ur bike as well as ur pocket.
but now i came across an article for beginners who wants to learn to do wheelies and thought i ought to post it here for people who are interested but can't get any help. a little help is better than no help at all.
i agree that the article is a little long but it is worth reading before you attempts to lift any wheels off the tarmac. -
TUTORIAL ON WHEELIES
Two points to keep in mind when learning to Wheelie:
1. Keep things simple. You only have so much attention, and itÂ’s best to keep it divided by as few things as possible. Usually, when a beginning student is overwhelmed with trying to perform too many unfamiliar actions all at the same time, he or she tends not to perform any of them properly. The following approach to learning will stress using the fewest number of control inputs necessary to accomplish our goalÂ… putting the front tire in the air.
There are, essentially, three basic factors you need to control when performing a basic wheelieÂ…
1. Acceleration (throttle control)
2. Fore/Aft weight distribution (body control)
3. Side/Side weight distribution (balance – body control)
Any late model 600+ cc sportbike that I can think of, in stock form, will easily pull the front wheel up to 12-o-clock & beyond in 1st gear if you do nothing else than keep your body motionless and slam the throttle open once in the powerband. No shit. You may think this not to be the case, but trust me – unless your bike is malfunctioning, it’s just that easy. The reason most people fail is due to the fact that they unwittingly shift their weight forward. We’ll get to that later. The point being – there’s no need to bounce it up, there’s no need to clutch it up, and there’s no need to roll off & on the throttle in 1st. Most of these techniques essentially fool the rider into committing him or herself to leaning their weight back - the rebound from the fork springs is, in my opinion, negligible. And the control that some people tout the clutch as offering you can easily be had with a well-practiced throttle hand. That means there’s a lot less to do and think about when you’re starting out, and that means you’ll be a lot more likely to succeed, and a lot less likely to get hurt. Even using these ‘other’ techniques, you’ll still need to control your throttle, your weight distribution, & your balance. There’s just no sense in adding in more complication.
2. Keep things safe. That means finding a desolate stretch of straight road with good pavement(an old airstrip or race track would be best), wearing ALL your gear (gloves, leathers, boots, HELMET, HELMET, HELMET), having friends with cages present, and pre-ride checking your bike (tire condition & pressure, chain condition & slack, brakes, shift lever & position, etc.). It also includes using your head, thinking things through, and above all, not trying to rush your progress. There’s no reason why you can’t learn to roll nice wheelies without looping it. Remember – just because you know of or have watched people walk away from similar wrecks doesn’t mean everyone does. The consequences of looping a hi-power sportbike are a serious matter.
Now – since I’m going to recommend starting out rolling first gear wheelies, let’s address a few concerns.
Gearing and Gear Selection:
To begin with – you won’t need to gear your bike down. Like mentioned above – in stock form – most any modern 600+ sportbike needs nothing more, in first gear, than for you to not use your body-weight to screw things up. So do not throw a bigger sprocket in the back or a smaller one up front if you can’t get it up in first. It’s your fault, not the bike. You’re only making things more dangerous for yourself once you finally do stifle your survival instincts long enough to let the wheel come up. Next – there’s the issue of 1st gear being too twitchy. Well – for the experienced wheelie expert, 1st gear can be rather dangerous, since the balance point (the vertical point where you have to hang the front wheel to keep the bike from accelerating), is so high, and 1st gear does offer up alot of torque. But for the beginner, who will inevitably slam the throttle shut the minute the front tire comes off the tarmac, it’s not really an issue. And trust me – even as quickly as the front wheel can come off the ground in 1st, it’s no match for your reflexes, unless you’ve just chased a few percosets down with a pint of Jack Daniels. The fact is – once you get 2nd gear & higher wheelies up past midway point (and past the point where you need a lot of torque), they want to come up and over a lot faster than 1st gear wheelies do, since the gearing is higher. Also – 1st gear offers up tons of immediate engine braking. That means that as soon as you let off of the throttle, the engine braking effect literally sucks the front wheel back down to earth. This will work for you even if you are unfortunate enough to end up going past 12-o-clock. While this effect is apparent in all gears, it is much more so in 1st, and seems to take effect ‘right away’… in 2nd, particularly, there seems to be a sort of ‘time lag’ before it kicks in. The main reason I like first gear is that it offers the power necessary to bring the bike up while doing nothing more than maintaining a static body positioning and controlling the throttle. It allows you to free your mind and allow you to concentrate on throttle control, height control, and balance. It doesn’t force you to make extreme body motions (throwing your weight back) which, when coupled with everything else, could definitely loop you quickly. In other words, I feel 1st gear to absolutely be the safest gear to learn in.
Use of the rear brake:
This is a controversial issue. Many advocate it’s use as another tool that one can use to avoid a loop (which, if used properly, it is); others doubt it’s ever going to get used by beginners until it’s too late. My feelings on the subject are mixed. Personally – I don’t use my rear brake very much at all during normal, everyday riding. Because of this, the use of the rear brake would, for me, definitely not be instinctive when trying to save a wheelie gone bad. I have, unfortunately, learned this fact the hard way when trying to save a 12-o-clock. I believe I thought of hitting the rear brake as my ass hit the pavement. On the flip side – if you do regularly use both the front & rear brakes, you might want to keep that thought in the back of your mind as a last-ditch save attempt. The thing that worries me most about the rear brake, however, is that even if it is used in time, it is very likely going to be used in panic, which could easily lead to a wreck just as bad as if the bike had simply looped over backwards. Personally – I feel that the use of engine braking (a passive safety feature) to pull down 1st gear wheelies is safer, and of course, much easier, since all you have to do is let off on the throttle. Finally, especially if you don’t use the rear brake consistently, but even if you do, keeping it ‘in mind’ does use up some concentration that could be spent elsewhere. So – think about the issue, and make your own decisions on this one.
Use of the Clutch
This has already been covered, but I want to say it again. For first gear wheelies, do not use the clutch – you don’t have to. Sure – you can use the clutch to feather the power in and control your height, but this is also something you can do equally as well with the throttle, with less wear & tear on your bike, and most importantly, while spending A LOT less concentration. The only reason I would change my opinion on this point is if you’re coming from a dirtbiking background where you’re already WAY familiar with the use of the clutch – where it’s become instinctive. Otherwise – I say don’t use it.
OK – Time to Pull Your First Wheelies!
So – with all these points in mind, you’re ready to start. You have all your gear on, you’re on a safe, modern sportbike (it could be any bike, but this tutorial only applies to modern sportbikes), you’re on a safe road, and you have buddies standing by to help you if things to awry. Start out on your bike looking down a long stretch of open highway. Sit as you normally would on it – you might want to sit a little further back on the seat if you sit WAY forward during normal riding (like I do), but you don’t have to go to any extremes. What you do want to do is to make sure to support your body with your stomach & back, rather than with your hands resting heavy on the bars. This is the way you should ride anyway, but is especially important for wheelying. You want to lock your legs down on the bike so that, as she starts to come up, you don’t pull back on the bars to ‘hold on’, which could possibly cause you to open up the gas more than you want to. Also – you need to be loose on the bars to be able to modulate the throttle (though this will come later). Essentially – you want your hands, your throttle hand especially, free to move without supporting your body weight, and this can only be accomplished, at least starting out, if you’re anchored down on your bike using your legs & torso. As you progress and gain more experience, you can always loosen up a bit on the bike later. But for starting out – stay locked down & keep your arms loose.
Now, start tooling down the road, in 1st gear, up until you reach the powerband, which will be anywhere from 4-8K, depending on your bike. I don’t look at the tach when pulling up, and you shouldn’t either. It’s just one more thing to detract your attention that could better be spent elsewhere. You’ll be able to feel the power coming in. Anyway – once you do feel yourself getting into the powerband, do only one thing – and this is important – ONLY ONE THING. Open up the throttle quickly to full blast. Do not move your upper body forward, do not move it back. Do not shift your hips. Be a robot – just move your wrist! If you’re in the meat of the powerband, and you didn’t subconciously shift your weight forward – the front wheel just came up! I guarantee it! And if it didn’t, read back through this paragraph, think about not moving your body, and try again, possibly at a slightly higher RPM. Rinse & repeat.
OK – Time to evaluate your first wheelie:
If you got the wheel up, contratulations!!!! But - you probably set it right back down. Don’t worry about it - this is natural. You probably either cut the throttle, shifted your weight forward as you felt the front end come up, or, most likely, a combination of both. But – you learned something for yourself. You learned that the bike WILL come up on it’s own. You learned that, at this point, you don’t have to do anything other than open the throttle at the right time to make it happen. Now it’s time to start thinking about how to keep the wheel up a little longer, and get it a little higher. Let’s first think about what would happen if you just kept things the way they were – you didn’t move your body, and you kept the throttle pinned. What do you think would happen? That’s right – you’d loop it! But what would it feel like? Well – It would ‘feel’ like an exponential curve… The first 3rd or so of wheel lift would proceed relatively slowly (though it won’t feel that way to you!) The second third would go quite a bit faster, and the top third will be – well – you wouldn’t know what hit you! Now – what if you kept everything else the same – kept your body stationary, but just started to roll the throttle off a bit once you got past the 1st third of travel? One of three things would happen here – you’d either roll off too much & drop back down, roll on not enough and keep ascending, or roll off just the right amount and, for a very brief time, stay put at that height. Because the bike is still accelerating (& therefore making more power), you can’t just hit this magic point at this relatively low height & hold it. But you can stay there momentarily. And you can learn, through practice and experience, to roll on/off the throttle to maintain, increase, and decrease your height. And that’s exactly what you need to go out and do now – practice holding your wheelies up a bit.
Practice adding distance
OK – You’re back out on your safe road, with your safe bike, your safe gear, & your safety net of friends. Start out first as before – just pulling up little ‘popcorn’ wheelies to get the feel of things. Once your comfy – it’s time to try to add some distance & height. There really isn’t very much to explain here – it’s mostly a matter of practice and experience. But basically, you want to try to start letting off the gas slowly, rather than slamming it shut, as the wheel comes up. Be prepared to spend a lot of time perfecting things. This is really all a matter of feel. Trust me – if you put some real time into this, you’ll learn to roll on and off the throttle in order to keep the front wheel somewhere in the air until your bike runs up against the rev limiter. Of course, how quickly your bike revs out is determined by the height of your front wheel… as you approach the balance point (described above), the engine will accelerate less quickly. If you reach the balance point, it will stop accelerating entirely. Let me state, for the record, that I DO NOT recommend trying to ride 1st gear balance point wheelies, especially just starting out. But – as your height increases, you’ll be able to ride out longer & longer wheelies. It’s just that simple. And – as you practice, you’ll find yourself getting higher and higher. It’s just a matter of gaining comfort, which will come in time. Take things very slowly, adding in, through multiple practice sessions, a little more height and a little more distance, but no more than you’re comfortable with, each time. If you’re interested in how high you’re going, it oftentimes helps to have yourself video-taped. It also helps, once you’re comfortable managing your height and have some free attention to spare, to glance down at the tach and see how fast you’re still accelerating. Remember – as your height increases, your acceleration will decrease.
I mention running up against the rev limiter a lot, only because, if you do nothing other than maintain a non-balance-point height, and you keep the wheel in the air, you will inevitably run up against it, causing you and your bike to come crashing down to earth in a bone-jarring (& sometimes bike damaging) manner. And – starting out – you’re almost guaranteed to hit it at least a few times. But – this is definitely something that you want to avoid. So – at the same time that you’re trying to modulate the throttle to bring her up controllably, you want to practice monitoring your speed (via engine noise and/or watching the tach), and attempt to start rolling off the throttle before you hit the rev limiter. You also want to start practicing rolling back into the throttle as the descent occurs in order to soften your landings. All of these things, as mentioned above, will come with time and practice. There’s no other substitute.
Advanced (for a beginner) Techniques
So – after a lot of practice and hard work, you’re now consistently pulling up first gear wheelies, to a descent height, under power alone, and holding them until just before the bike peaks out. Now where can you go from here? There are a number of things you may want to work on. You may want to work on leaning your body back now, which can help bring up your wheel quicker, at lower RPM, and therefore allow you to ride out your wheelies for longer time & distance. This is good practice for 2nd gear power wheelies, where you’ll have to use some body english to pull them up. You can practice using the clutch to pull them up… once again for the same reasons – getting them up quicker, at lower speed, and rolling them longer. Once again – this is also a good intro into 2nd gear clutch wheelies. You can continue to seek higher heights, and reach the illustrious balance point – but once again be warned – the 1st gear balance point wheelie will bite you quickly if you’re not careful. You can start trying to pull 2nd gear power and/or clutch wheelies, or try shifting up into 2nd gear from 1st. It’s all up to you. But – above all – make sure you lay down a firm, solid foundation of the basics before trying to attempt the more advanced manuevers. -
i know the above article is meant for big bikes above 600cc and i'm not sure if it'll work for smaller cc bikes.
well, for anyone who might be interested in how i did my "pops" on my NSR150SP, this was how i did it:
1) Bike is stationary. drop down to first gear.
2) clutch in, do not release it and rev the engine to around 8-9k rpm.
3) throw the clutch, meaning let go of it totally at one shot.
4) your front wheel should be off the ground.
5) close throttle and clutch in immediately and the front wheel should come back down.
some cautions to be noted is that don't rev ur engine too high or this may flip ur bike over which you dun really want it to happen. you may want to start off at 6k rpm. the front wheel may just "pop" off the ground a little. first timers may get a shock. so try it out at low rpm to get the hang of it, once u're comfortable, try it out at higher rpm and ur front wheel will be lifted off higher.
i advise to close throttle immediately because if you panic, you may open more throttle and this may cause you to flip over.
and please try it at some deserted road for your own as well as others' safety. good luck and be careful to anyone who may want to try it out. -
i feel that NSR SP is too light, making it very unstable to maintain a good wheelie. I have known and seen people flipped over on NSR SP while attempting wheelies or 'pops' and the damage can be rather serious. so when you try it outfor yourself especially during the first time, go easy on the throttle. my ex-NSR SP can easily do a 'pop' at a meer 6k rpm. most importantly, you must get a feel of it first so that you won't panic.
"Pops" are no problem at all and quite fun to do. occasionally i still try it out with frens' NSR SPs. -
Things you should do while attempting a wheelie:
1. Buy a really good life insurance and health insurnace policy.
2. MAke sure policy doesnt have any clauses pertaining to motorcycles and off road vehicles.
3. get some pillows and stick em down ur pants
4. get knee pads and elbow pads
5. get a cheap helmet you dont mind fu*%in up
6. find an open road where you wont get run over when you fall off
7. when u do fall off dont land on ur head
8. makes sure at least one other person is present witha cell phone to call 995.
last.....drive down the street and climb on your gas tank, and send us the picture of the crash for our web site.
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Points to play wheelie for your bikes
- Change to a bigger Spocket "Rear"
- Change MOB* Pipe
- Change Small Rim / Tire
-Bigger Spocket make your bikes more easy to Wheelie
-MOB* Pipe Let you more easy to Wheelie dun need to Rev RPM too High
-Small Rim / Tire of cos same as bigger spocket -
However, i don't think most sport-bikers will change those parts recommended for reasons stated below:
-Bigger spocket will also improve your pick up, but ur top end will suffer, which means you'll lose out on top speed.
-MOB* Pipe...it will increase ur compression, giving more low end power, but... errr... if get caught by TP, the fine ain't gonna be cheap.
-small rim and tires... not so good... will make ur bike a little more unstable and will be dangerous to do conering. -
Hmm ... as far as I know ... never clutch in when you are doing your wheelie ... that was what I was told ...
Only did it one time on my bike, and this was how I did mine ....
Travel first gear to about rpm 5-6 ....
Then clutch in to biting point ... increase throttle and throw the clutch ....
Dun clutch in ... if scared ... just close throttle bike will come down ...
I dun know if this is the correct method ... cos I landed real hard ... and I was so heart pain about the front fork that I never did it again ...
Heard many other people got other methods ... but I dun think I seriously eager to try it out ... balls small ...
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I have to disagree with the 2 points above...Originally posted by keratinize:5. get a cheap helmet you dont mind fu*%in up
7. when u do fall off dont land on ur head
5. When doing tricks, a person must be aware of the risk of ruining his protective gear in order to save his own body. A cheap helmet will provide minimal protection or nothing at all. If I go to Pasir Gudang for a track session, I'll wear my best helmet. I know there's a risk of falling down, and I have to accept the possibility that my helmet will be cracked, dented, etc, as long as it keeps my head intact. The same goes for tricks like wheelies, stoppies, etc.
7. Nobody can guarantee this, no matter how skillful he is. Not even Jackie Chan. If you can ensure your head won't hit anything when you fall down, you don't need to wear helmet at all, do you?
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aiya, wheelie so easy
ask WeeZer teach u lar, he always do on his kips, if u want, after wheelie, do stoppie, he can also do that, and he always do that when light turns red!!
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Wah fierce ....Originally posted by milkshake:aiya, wheelie so easy
ask WeeZer teach u lar, he always do on his kips, if u want, after wheelie, do stoppie, he can also do that, and he always do that when light turns red!!
Aye ... S4 cannot lose face ... U go and practise hard hard also ... hahahahahaha
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No la, he do finish liao add another back-fire in nia mah!Originally posted by PuRe-EviL:Wah fierce ....
Aye ... S4 cannot lose face ... U go and practise hard hard also ... hahahahahaha -
Originally posted by No_regret:No la, he do finish liao add another back-fire in nia mah!
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Ya lor... what kips can do, he can do. What he can do, kips cannot.Originally posted by No_regret:No la, he do finish liao add another back-fire in nia mah! Weezer^^ joking nia hor. And ps... noted that this is a joke. No offence to kips rider. -
cant lei, he too expert liao,s i mi sai also can do, do until the bike also dun noe hw to reactOriginally posted by PuRe-EviL:Wah fierce ....
Aye ... S4 cannot lose face ... U go and practise hard hard also ... hahahahahaha -
U Seem to noe alot...Originally posted by keratinize:i know the above article is meant for big bikes above 600cc and i'm not sure if it'll work for smaller cc bikes.
well, for anyone who might be interested in how i did my "pops" on my NSR150SP, this was how i did it:
1) Bike is stationary. drop down to first gear.
2) clutch in, do not release it and rev the engine to around 8-9k rpm.
3) throw the clutch, meaning let go of it totally at one shot.
4) your front wheel should be off the ground.
5) close throttle and clutch in immediately and the front wheel should come back down.
please try it at some deserted road for your own as well as others' safety. good luck and be careful to anyone who may want to try it out.
but I don't think this is consider a wheelie, for me I don't even think its a 'pop' and real wheelie is being able to get the balance pt and hold the bike up. I achive that but not the gear shift inbtw the the wheelie. 
Nice of u to feed so much info . -
The author of the below acticles want everyone to read this:
Before you try anything mentioned below, be informed that motorcycle stunts are very dangerous and illegal on public roads and car parks. If you really have to, then try it only if your home has a driveway as long as that of the Istana!
STOPPIE
So you wanna do a stoppie? Geezzzz....how? Actually, it's easy, if you know the secret.
And the secret is....
65 km/h stoppie = sliding the front end (front end skids)
15 km/h stoppie = easy trick. Apply the brake smoothly, not instantly!
That's what does the trick - simply trying it at 15-25 km/h. It's just because at 15 km/h, we have a lot more confidence. And it's much safer. Doing it slowly and smoothly are the most important, but there's more to it:
Try it at 15 km/h. Find an open parking lot and do a couple runs, more aggressive each time so you get comfortable with it.
You grab the front brake slowly at first and apply progressively more brake until the front end is fully loaded. On your practice runs (before you actually start doing stoppies), let go of the front brake before you stop completely - get used to keeping your balance after you release the front brake.
Loading the front forks is important, because it transfers the forces from the bike's weight onto the front before you bring the rear up. You can't just get a stoppie by instantly applying full front brake! That'll just slide the front (even at 15 km/h if you pull too fast).
Why? Without the bike's full weight on the front tire, the braking force will be greater than the tire's stopping power and it will start to slide. This is because stopping power (friction) is proportional to the force pushing the tire onto the ground (vertically). When the front end dives, the bike's full weight is holding the front tire onto the ground.
Keep going further with the brake lever each pass until the rear end comes up. Be ready to release your front brake as soon as you feel uncomfortable with how high the rear end is. It'll be a good idea to release the brake as soon as the rear tire got off the ground - better to get used to it in stages.
Don't use any rear brake and don't expect the rear brake to keep you from going over like it does with wheelies. In fact, if you apply the rear brake while the rear wheel is up in the air, it'll make it harder to balance when you come back down.
Balancing is pretty important to pull off the trick without embarassment. Usually, a fouled stoppie will simply make you put your foot down. If you are going straight when you do the stoppie, it'll be a lot easier. Even when going straight, you'll find the back end could come down as far as 30 cm (a foot) from where it'd be if it were straight.
Keep the bike in 1st gear, because you'll want to accelerate once you come down to stabilize the bike (and leave the spectators behind !).
A stoppie done right will have you in the air for a good 2-3 (or more) seconds, and landing firmly on the pegs - ready to go again! Landing a little crooked, but still perfectly balanced looks even cooler for some reason.
There are more subtle tricks like standing up on the pegs a little before braking to make it last longer, but I wouldn't try that for starters.
BURN OUT
Nobody needs a nitrous-equipped GSXR 1100 to be able to smoke a tire down to the cords. It helps, but you'll be able to do it with far less horsepower. Performing the smokiest burnouts takes more brainpower than horsepower, although most burnout artists don't have much of either!
The first step is to learn about the clutch action on your particular machine. With the rear brake on, pull in the clutch. Click the bike into first gear, slowly feed out the clutch to learn where it starts to engage. Feed the clutch out gradually. Release the rear brake and determine where the end of clutch engagement is by cruising slowly and pulling in the clutch until you hear a slight rise in engine rpm's. This total distance is your clutch action. Familiar with the action on your clutch lever, you can prepare for the first burnout.
Find a site that will allow a lot of space behind and around the bike. Stop your machine in the designated burnout area and place both feet on the ground. Pull the clutch lever all the way in, and put the bike in second gear. This will keep you burning longer and avoid possible engine damage from bouncing off the rev limiter. Holding the front brake tightly, slowly let the clutch out to the point just before engagement begins. Now rev the bike into the middle of the it's powerband (not redline, but at about 80% of the bike's rpm capability). Now feed the clutch out aggressively, but smoothly. The tire should be spinning right now.
If your tire is not spinning, you should try more rpm or feeding out the clutch faster. Real men and true idiots, of course, just ram the engine into the powerband and release the clutch. This is a good way to get hurt.
If you have a low powered bike or are still unable to smoke the rear wheel, try standing with the bike beneath you and bounce it up and down by pressing on the handlebars. When you get a good rythmn going, feed out the clutch rapidly when the front end is at the bottom of its bounce. This is the point when the weight on the rear tire is going to be at a minimum, reducing traction and thus spinning it.
Alternatively, start with the rear tire in some water or better yet, in a puddle of bleach. The latter is slippery and increases smoke.
Now that you can smoke tires down to the cords, you'll soon get bored with just making smoke right? There are several fun variations that can help you overcome this.
Try doing donuts. This is when you start a burnout and ease the rear tire around in a circle. You can also wag the rear end of the bike back and forth to create neat zig-zag designs, or try your initials. Think of the pavement as a canvas and you the artist. The possibilities are endless.
An all time favorite is to start a burnout, build up a huge pile of smoke and then push the bike backwards disappearing into the cloud. Then let go of the front brake and launch out of the cloud, straight into the waiting ambulance!
Doing it on the move will require some practice. Move off in first gear and go to about 20 km/h. On the move, stand on your foot pegs, pull in the clutch, get into second gear and rev the bike into the power band. As you feed the clutch, gently apply the front brake to maintain a constant speed of 20 km/h. The rear wheel should be smoking now. The trick here is maintaining your speed with the front brake when the clutch sends all that torque to the rear wheel in a rush. And of course, keeping the rubber side on the road!
Remember. The smoke clouds are filled with noxious and toxic gasses. These fumes are dangerous, so beware. When a tire is burning down to the cords, it throws molten chunks of rubber that can severely irritate people and dirty property. When a tire has burned enough, it comes apart throwing straps of thread and rubber. At this point you should be prepared to pull in the clutch and hang on. If the straps lock the rear tire up, you might fall over!
Now you can go to your local bike shop and make good friends with the folks that work there. You'll be wanting a discount on premium tires to replace the ones you just smoked into oblivion.
So you wanna do a wheelie? There are basically two methods of getting the front end up.
WHEELIE
Using The Clutch
First ensure that you are in first gear, and going quite slowly (the actual figures will vary from bike to bike), say around 3500rpm. Sit as far back in the seat as you can, and sit as upright as possible (this is to move as much weight as possible backwards). Roll the throttle on to maximum, as the tacho moves through 4000-4500 rpm, pull the clutch in. As engine rise rapidly, let the clutch back out quickly at around 4000rpm later.
Did the front wheel lift?
If not, you'll have to increase the RPM differential. Ideally, you should be feeding the clutch back in somewhere around peak torque or slightly higher. The larger/more powerful the bike, the less critical it is. Pulling the clutch in at lower rpm is also another option. It's all a matter of experimentation. But beware, don't wind it up to the rev limitter at a stand still and just pop the clutch on the first attempt. It is better to fail 20 times, than flip over on the first attempt!
Are you now in hospital?
If so, after you heal you could give it another go.
Is the bike a wreck?
Well, either way, at least you've learnt something. Only mechanically insensitive idiots do wheelies!
Using The Throttle
This technique requires a little more from the bike and it is actually possible that you cannot lift the front end using the throttle alone. Firstly, what your bike really needs is throttle response, because you'll be relying on the bike to load and unload the suspension quickly to help hoist the bike up. Of course, if you own a 916 or a ZZR-11 or something of that like, you can stop reading now. Just back up and do it in first gear!
The idea is to use your suspension to help loft the front wheel. You do this by accelerating hard, shutting the throttle quickly, thus loading up the front, and as the forks reach their maximum compression, pull the throttle again. Pulling back on the handle, lurching back and standing up are all optional. They may be necessary for your bike.
Now of course it is easy to say as the forks reach their maximum compression, but when you're trying to concentrate on everything else, it's all a bit much. So try remembering this. What you are dealing with here is physics. If you open the throttle at a certain rpm, close it at a certain rpm, delay a certain amount of time and then open the throttle again, what happens will be pretty much the same from one occasion to the next. What you're really trying to do is learn what these variables are, with practice you'll develop a feel for when you've got it right. -
Another interesting article about burnouts, stoppies and wheelies.
worth a read too! -
i don't really know a lot. i think i know nuts compared to some people in this forum.Originally posted by R1:U Seem to noe alot... but I don't think this is consider a wheelie, for me I don't even think its a 'pop' and real wheelie is being able to get the balance pt and hold the bike up. I achive that but not the gear shift inbtw the the wheelie. Nice of u to feed so much info .
i'm just sharing my views as well as my experiences.
just hope the info helps. -
heeehee i think for the 4 strokers better dun high rev too much or else the stationary backflip will happen hehee. ermm actually i feel that for 2 strokers if u 12 to willie u can actually tune the bike to willie at the powerband. There was once when this idiot i know change to this amzing exhaust and did to tune the bike correctly. There was this flat spot at 5K RPM so he damm #$@!@ and will pillioning his fren he try to show his fren the flat spot. So with the box and his fren behind he full throttle the bike when the RPM hit the 5K part. What happen next , the bike just wille and almost flip over. The bike was actually balancing at the apex and he move for a few metres and more if the idiot did not turn the thorttle in fright. LOL