1st and/or 2nd Gear Power Wheelie

[ddog]

With thoughts of safety in mind I would like to argue that safely and responsibly expanding any aspect of your riding ability will improve all other areas of your riding to varying degrees.
 
By learning to wheelie one gains a greater understanding of throttle control, traction, ability to accelerate, etc. If you know how to get the front wheel off the ground on purpose it won't be such a big deal when you do it by accident.
 
That being said, a new rider has fewer points of concentration in the reserves than an experienced rider. If you have to think about how you're sitting on the bike, how you release clutch, how you shift up and down, and you have to do all that while riding normally, then you probably shouldn't be going out and expanding your horizons into stunting or track riding just yet. But if those things start to feel natural, you start implementing more and more intricate riding principles, and you start to feel at home on two wheels, then you might just be ready to shake things up a bit.
 
I've never crashed doing a wheelie, but both of my buddies who learned at the same time as me have. I'm not saying I never will, but I definitely do things a little differently than they do and I think that's why I haven't crashed yet.
 
I move on to the next step more slowly than they do. I tend to do that with any riding principle I try to learn. With wheelies I made it my goal to be able to hop the front wheel off of the ground. Once I could do it I made sure I could do it every time before I moved on. I practiced until it became second nature, until I was almost bored of doing it and anxious to move on. Because then it was comfortable. It was like turning or shifting; I just had it down.
 
Whatever you do please wear proper gear, don't bite off more than you can chew, and keep the rubber side down.

[Cruizin]

With thoughts of safety in mind I would like to argue that safely and responsibly expanding any aspect of your riding ability will improve all other areas of your riding to varying degrees. 
By learning to wheelie one gains a greater understanding of throttle control, traction, ability to accelerate, etc. If you know how to get the front wheel off the ground on purpose it won't be such a big deal when you do it by accident.
 
That being said, a new rider has fewer points of concentration in the reserves than an experienced rider. If you have to think about how you're sitting on the bike, how you release clutch, how you shift up and down, and you have to do all that while riding normally, then you probably shouldn't be going out and expanding your horizons into stunting or track riding just yet. But if those things start to feel natural, you start implementing more and more intricate riding principles, and you start to feel at home on two wheels, then you might just be ready to shake things up a bit.
 
I've never crashed doing a wheelie, but both of my buddies who learned at the same time as me have. I'm not saying I never will, but I definitely do things a little differently than they do and I think that's why I haven't crashed yet.
 
I move on to the next step more slowly than they do. I tend to do that with any riding principle I try to learn. With wheelies I made it my goal to be able to hop the front wheel off of the ground. Once I could do it I made sure I could do it every time before I moved on. I practiced until it became second nature, until I was almost bored of doing it and anxious to move on. Because then it was comfortable. It was like turning or shifting; I just had it down.
 
Whatever you do please wear proper gear, don't bite off more than you can chew, and keep the rubber side down.

 
With safety in mind, street wheelies should never be mentioned in the same sentence with safety. Especially to new riders, man. I did street wheelies when I was like 17-22 years old to show off, bakc when showing off was important to me. Spent the rest of my life perfecting "how not to wheelie" so that I was faster then anyone else when launching.
 
To me, on the street, it's all about traction at all times. This has allowed me great benefits on the track and on crazy mountain loop rides that I don't dare post here. lol.
 
There are new riders who read this stuff. Therefore the stuff we type influences them. My local riding group lost a new rider who wiped out doing a wheelie and slid headfirst into a parked bike on an empty street dead end in front of all of his friends who were "teaching him". Snapped his neck, it was a horrible thing. And a weird freak accident.
 
For new riders, we owe it to them and the reputation of this forum to talk safety the very same way that riding instructors and even racing schools teach. No disrespect intended to those who like to street wheelie, but to tell the truth, it's kinda boring and squid like to me. Just my personal opinion there.
 

[ddog]

@admin I completely agree that there is no "safe" way to wheelie. It is inherently dangerous and foolish, no doubt about it. I just like doing it.
 
But you're also correct in saying that they get boring. At a certain point you can just ride them out indefinitely and it's no longer challenging. And it is a bit of a squid thing to do, but I still find it fun. Now if I had to choose between never doing a wheelie again or never riding a track again, it's a no-brainer. Bikes were made for the track (and street twisties) and it is so much more fun and you have so many skills to develop, and there's no limit to how much you can improve. I love track riding, but I still like wheelies.
 
Freak accidents happen. You could be killed going 25 and riding perfectly safely, it happens. I'm not saying doing wheelies won't increase the odds of crashing, but the propensity for a crash from a wheelie to end worse than a crash at the same speed riding normally is minimal at best. Is there data for that? Maybe I'm completely full of it, who knows?
 
The point I'm trying to make is to be maximally safe we should realistically be in cars. Motorcycles are dangerous. Who am I to say what should or should not be attempted? All I want to do is help people who are going to take the plunge do so as "safely" as possible. Your best bet is to not do wheelies at all.
 
 

[Cruizin]

@admin I completely agree that there is no "safe" way to wheelie. It is inherently dangerous and foolish, no doubt about it. I just like doing it.  
But you're also correct in saying that they get boring. At a certain point you can just ride them out indefinitely and it's no longer challenging. And it is a bit of a squid thing to do, but I still find it fun. Now if I had to choose between never doing a wheelie again or never riding a track again, it's a no-brainer. Bikes were made for the track (and street twisties) and it is so much more fun and you have so many skills to develop, and there's no limit to how much you can improve. I love track riding, but I still like wheelies.
 
Freak accidents happen. You could be killed going 25 and riding perfectly safely, it happens. I'm not saying doing wheelies won't increase the odds of crashing, but the propensity for a crash from a wheelie to end worse than a crash at the same speed riding normally is minimal at best. Is there data for that? Maybe I'm completely full of it, who knows?
 
The point I'm trying to make is to be maximally safe we should realistically be in cars. Motorcycles are dangerous. Who am I to say what should or should not be attempted? All I want to do is help people who are going to take the plunge do so as "safely" as possible. Your best bet is to not do wheelies at all.
 

 
Or again, do em on dirt. Where u also learn how to slide back tire around corners, how to react when a slide happens without high siding, how to balance in ways no street bike can teach you, on and on.
 

[ddog]

@admin I completely agree that there is no "safe" way to wheelie. It is inherently dangerous and foolish, no doubt about it. I just like doing it.  
But you're also correct in saying that they get boring. At a certain point you can just ride them out indefinitely and it's no longer challenging. And it is a bit of a squid thing to do, but I still find it fun. Now if I had to choose between never doing a wheelie again or never riding a track again, it's a no-brainer. Bikes were made for the track (and street twisties) and it is so much more fun and you have so many skills to develop, and there's no limit to how much you can improve. I love track riding, but I still like wheelies.
 
Freak accidents happen. You could be killed going 25 and riding perfectly safely, it happens. I'm not saying doing wheelies won't increase the odds of crashing, but the propensity for a crash from a wheelie to end worse than a crash at the same speed riding normally is minimal at best. Is there data for that? Maybe I'm completely full of it, who knows?
 
The point I'm trying to make is to be maximally safe we should realistically be in cars. Motorcycles are dangerous. Who am I to say what should or should not be attempted? All I want to do is help people who are going to take the plunge do so as "safely" as possible. Your best bet is to not do wheelies at all.
 

Or again, do em on dirt. Where u also learn how to slide back tire around corners, how to react when a slide happens without high siding, how to balance in ways no street bike can teach you, on and on.

 
I'm actually taking a 2-day flat track course through the American Supercamp next month to learn exactly that. We must always strive to improve our ability!

[Beemer]

Its not about others, its about you and the bike. If you are new at riding you have by far yet to experience other scenerios or have fast reaction (brain memory) to deal with? The times the front end came up on mine (not on purpose) scared the shet out of me. Not to mention the nasty wobble i got when it hit the ground. To me that was a reality check, but good luck you may have better result!  
 

All I see in that video is unusually bright people. One going extremely slow in the slow lane and focused more on a person practicing wheelies than traffic around themselves while wheelie boy in pink leotards could easily have went left when he goofed and ran right in front of others coming right at them in other lanes at high speed. Where do these geniuses come from?  

[Guest 2wheeler]

Its not about others, its about you and the bike. If you are new at riding you have by far yet to experience other scenerios or have fast reaction (brain memory) to deal with? The times the front end came up on mine (not on purpose) scared the shet out of me. Not to mention the nasty wobble i got when it hit the ground. To me that was a reality check, but good luck you may have better result!  
 

All I see in that video is unusually bright people. One going extremely slow in the slow lane and focused more on a person practicing wheelies than traffic around themself. Wheelie bouy in pink leotards could easily have went left when he goofed and ran right in front of others coming right at them in other lanes at high speed. Where do these geniuses come from?

Coming from an extensive dirt bike background, I know there are definitely times where knowing how to do a wheelie is advantageous, such as going over logs,  rocks, and going through water. 
I am trying to rack my brain as to where there could be a reason for a wheelie with a street bike, and the only thing that comes to mind are obstacles in the road such as potholes. The catch is that with those, all you need to do is get your front wheel up about a foot.
 
Everybody seems to be always trying for that perfect balance point wheelie. What people forget, or don't realize, is that there is a K-hair difference between cool and crash.
 
Be safe and smart people! Don't be one of those folks who has to pay to play.
 
 

[pitapola]

I honestly don't see what's everybody's problem here. The guy said he's not doing it on public roads. I'm guessing he's an adult. I really don't see why some people have to act all high and mighty in every thread where wheelies are mentioned. You don't need a higher reason to do wheelies. No obstacles, no logs, no street monsters. They are fun, simple as that. I thought riding is about having fun, even though you know that every time you get on that bike you're basically putting your life at risk. OP never asked for anybody's opinion on whether he should do wheelies or not. He asked for tips, simple as that.
 
You honestly sound like cagers who ask me why I ride a bike and risk getting killed. God damn it people, chill out.
 
I've personally had two crashes in my riding life, both on the track. Maybe I should stop going to the track because that's dangerous? Maybe I should sell my bike and sit on my couch for the rest of my life? (that's a rhetorical question, I hope nobody actually answers that)

[Cruizin]

I honestly don't see what's everybody's problem here. The guy said he's not doing it on public roads. I'm guessing he's an adult. I really don't see why some people have to act all high and mighty in every thread where wheelies are mentioned. You don't need a higher reason to do wheelies. No obstacles, no logs, no street monsters. They are fun, simple as that. I thought riding is about having fun, even though you know that every time you get on that bike you're basically putting your life at risk. OP never asked for anybody's opinion on whether he should do wheelies or not. He asked for tips, simple as that. 
You honestly sound like cagers who ask me why I ride a bike and risk getting killed. God damn it people, chill out.
 
I've personally had two crashes in my riding life, both on the track. Maybe I should stop going to the track because that's dangerous? Maybe I should sell my bike and sit on my couch for the rest of my life? (that's a rhetorical question, I hope nobody actually answers that)

 
Absolutely nobody in this thread said anything bad about going to the track. But I own this forum, and I feel a responsibility to post responsibly to new riders and street wheelies are for squids. Sorry, but that's just the truth. Street wheelies are not what new riders need to be practicing. That's the stance I take when someone who expresses that they are a new rider and starts asking about wheelies. And that's the stance that any of my forums will take.
 
I ride fast. Very fast. I don't post videos of my mountain runs because I don't want anyone else to see me taking 35 mph corners at 80 mph and go get killed trying to do it themselves.
 
I have also lost 7 people close to me to motorcycle accidents in my lifetime. So the importance of of talking like a riding instructor or even a racing school instructor, is very important because what I/we type will be read by thousands for years to come. And alot of new riders get their advice on forums, unfortunately.
 
Off road, if you just gotta wheelie on a street bike, than fine. Off legal roads is where that kinda stuff belongs. I do it on dirtbikes, where wheelies are actually needed due to terrain.
 
But ask even a racing school instructor about street wheelies and I promise you won't like their reply on that subject either.

[pitapola]

@admin
 
I get what you're saying but this is literally the first thing the OP wrote:
 
"I want to preface this with saying that everything and anything of this nature which I try on my bike is done OFF public roads, and on my own property. This way if anything does go wrong it will only be my own stuff, or myself getting messed up. I don't get crazy out on the public roads and put people in danger with my stupidity. "
 
Anyways, your opinion is obviously more important than mine or anybody else's for that matter, so I don't see a point in this. Cheers.
 

[ddog]

@Cruizin 
I get what you're saying but this is literally the first thing the OP wrote:
 
"I want to preface this with saying that everything and anything of this nature which I try on my bike is done OFF public roads, and on my own property. This way if anything does go wrong it will only be my own stuff, or myself getting messed up. I don't get crazy out on the public roads and put people in danger with my stupidity. "
 
Anyways, your opinion is obviously more important than mine or anybody else's for that matter, so I don't see a point in this. Cheers.

 
 
To tag cruizin use @"admin" without the quotes obviously.

[Beemer]

All I see in that video is unusually bright people. One going extremely slow in the slow lane and focused more on a person practicing wheelies than traffic around themself. Wheelie bouy in pink leotards could easily have went left when he goofed and ran right in front of others coming right at them in other lanes at high speed. Where do these geniuses come from?

Coming from an extensive dirt bike background, I know there are definitely times where knowing how to do a wheelie is advantageous, such as going over logs,  rocks, and going through water. 
I am trying to rack my brain as to where there could be a reason for a wheelie with a street bike, and the only thing that comes to mind are obstacles in the road such as potholes. The catch is that with those, all you need to do is get your front wheel up about a foot.
 
Everybody seems to be always trying for that perfect balance point wheelie. What people forget, or don't realize, is that there is a K-hair difference between cool and crash.
 
Be safe and smart people! Don't be one of those folks who has to pay to play.
 

IKR! That spot between cool and crash is what I call the sweet spot and practicing wheelies with a stock FZ-07's twitchy throttle you're just asking for new parts and pain. 

[Guest 2wheeler]

IKR! That spot between cool and crash is what I call the sweet spot and practicing wheelies with a stock FZ-07's twitchy throttle you're just asking for new parts and pain.

Funny you mention that as doing wheelies on the FZ became a heck of a lot easier/safer after the flash. 

[Beemer]

IKR! That spot between cool and crash is what I call the sweet spot and practicing wheelies with a stock FZ-07's twitchy throttle you're just asking for new parts and pain.

Funny you mention that as doing wheelies on the FZ became a heck of a lot easier/safer after the flash.

I believe that, it was that way for me, too! Agreed about the reasons for wheelies on the street also and on rare occasions I stand on the pegs and wheelie over speed bumps that have no paint on them and are hard to see.  

[SkH]

I honestly don't see what's everybody's problem here. The guy said he's not doing it on public roads. I'm guessing he's an adult. I really don't see why some people have to act all high and mighty in every thread where wheelies are mentioned. You don't need a higher reason to do wheelies. No obstacles, no logs, no street monsters. They are fun, simple as that. I thought riding is about having fun, even though you know that every time you get on that bike you're basically putting your life at risk. OP never asked for anybody's opinion on whether he should do wheelies or not. He asked for tips, simple as that. 
You honestly sound like cagers who ask me why I ride a bike and risk getting killed. God damn it people, chill out.
 
I've personally had two crashes in my riding life, both on the track. Maybe I should stop going to the track because that's dangerous? Maybe I should sell my bike and sit on my couch for the rest of my life? (that's a rhetorical question, I hope nobody actually answers that)

High and Mighty?  Nothing about what I posted or anyone else thinking this was a bad idea was high and mighty.  It is absolutely sane, logical, sound ADVICE. 
Let me ask you something, depending on your age, let's say you have a brother- or SON telling you, hey bro, hey dad, I just got my motorcycle, passed my MSF course.  I now want to learn how to wheelie!!!  How would you react to them.  Is your honest response:  You are an adult, do whatever you want!  If you get hurt, its your own problem!
 
Hell no.  That's not what you will say to them.  Is it wrong telling the same thing to a stranger.  No.  Its a stupid idea for any logically sane person.  The difference is I would berate and insult the crap out of my own blood.
 
Look, if TC has been riding for a year, I wouldn't have responded to this topic at all.  Look around, there are many, many wheelie topics and YOU WON'T FIND A REPLY BY ME IN ANY OF THEM.  But this one is different.  He's learning to ride a street bike and he wants to wheelie?  I don't care who you are, that is stupid.  There is no other word for it.  Sorry TC, I'm not trying to insult you or make you feel bad, but its the truth.  The truth is harsh but its the truth.  You will hurt yourself and that isn't good. 
 
Are you the kind of person who whoops and enjoys seeing someone crash on a motorcycle?  I AM NOT.  I feel horribly for anyone who posts a crash topic.  I don't wish to see that happen to anyone at all, even strangers on the internet.  People telling you its a bad idea- they have one agenda and only one agenda.  YOUR SAFETY.  Anyone trying to spit out the high and mighty card needs to look in a mirror.  You just might be a horrible person for encouraging a terrible idea or treating strangers on the internet like non-humans for your own personal enjoyment.
 

[Cruizin]

@admin 
I get what you're saying but this is literally the first thing the OP wrote:
 
"I want to preface this with saying that everything and anything of this nature which I try on my bike is done OFF public roads, and on my own property. This way if anything does go wrong it will only be my own stuff, or myself getting messed up. I don't get crazy out on the public roads and put people in danger with my stupidity. "
 
Anyways, your opinion is obviously more important than mine or anybody else's for that matter, so I don't see a point in this. Cheers.

 
Look, this is the new riders section and yes, I take great care in the advice that is posted for new riders. You just seem to want to start shet or argue or prove your point no matter the risk.
 
New riders, wheelies are fun but don't do it on the streets. There is so many other things you should be learning as a new rider. Plus, some of us don't want to look like squids.
 
Be safe, have fun and stay upright.