Wheelie Questions?

your rear brake is your friend.... if you feel yourself going back tap the rear brake. good luck, sorry about your crash.

you mean that you all use the clutch to pull wheelies? that's cheating. you just gotta find that sweet spot in your speed in first if your stock, second for most of us, adn rip the throttle and pull back. if you want to hold it longer, the trick is to shift gears without using the clutch.

The one thing I'm havin a hard time understanding is in 1st gear wheelies, I get up and try and work the throttle. But its so jerky from no gas to some. Should i be easing the clutch and throttle at the same time? should I always be giving it some gas and try and work the back brake? I feel like it wouldn't do enough to bring it down then. My practice spot just got busted today, luckily I new the cop so I'm ok.

Crazy Monkey wrote:

you mean that you all use the clutch to pull wheelies? that's cheating. you just gotta find that sweet spot in your speed in first if your stock, second for most of us, adn rip the throttle and pull back. if you want to hold it longer, the trick is to shift gears without using the clutch.

really?!?!? point me out one pro stunter that does throttle wheelies. They are inconsistant, you have to be higher in the RPMs, and the front tire comes up way too slow meaning you have to pull back on the throttle harder. Oh, and if you want to hold it longer bring the front tire past the balance point and feather the throttle and rear brake. no need to upshift if you do them right.

Braaaaap.

Thanks, Imma get a 12 tooth soon, that should help too I'm hearing. I remember when I first rode this bike (my first ever motorcycle ride) and thinkin, this is serious, I'll never try wheelies. Now I cant even go for a quick ride without practicing atleast a couple.....so addicting.

i put a 12tooth on the front of mine i found made a huge diffrence to the bike completly, made it alot more snappier and wasnt bogging down so much when riding super tight twisty things like cycle paths.
As for wheelies i started tryin to pop it up in first but was finding it came up to quick and would catch me by suprise before i was 100% ready. Now i can clutch up in 2nd gear, i find it alot more predictable and comes up just a little bit slower and just gives me a split second longer to relax and not panic that i'm going straight over backwards.

Now i can lift the front when ever i try in 2nd but am now workin on chagning gears as i'm not getting high enough to just balance in 2nd and ride it

Some people just aren't wheelie people. (Yes, there's an echo in here).

So I know nothing about "Stunting". I never considered "Wheeling" a stunt, but moreso a strategic maneuver to negotiate over terrain.

People ask me how I do it when and where and as long as I want, and make it look easy and frankly I can't answer. I never thought about it.

I would suggest however if you want to learn, with lower risk of injury, this would be my suggestion ( none of this technique has any relation to "Stunting" as far as I know):

- Find a slight incline (one you will not accelerate up without actually trying).

- Start in first gear and without clutch, get to the powerband and use the power to lift the wheel (this is so you learn to use power vs the clutch to lift the front end and find the balance point)

- After you learn to get the front end up, learn how to use the centripetal motion of the front wheel to steer the bike (turn right the bike goes left, and left it goes right).

- After mastering that, learn when to shift the bike (The gears don't matter, the estimation of engine speed and relative change in power to the rear wheel is the key here). Shift too early in the RPM range and the front end drops, shift later and the front end may lift further - so the key is to estimate the power and elevation relative to the RPMs)

- Use the same training spot ( or reasonable facsimile) and continue to try lifting by starting in second and then perhaps third gear ( perhaps on a less steep location - one you still are working the bike UPHILL).

- Covering the rear brake is a must to learn to preclude a bad headache ( and bike damage). Stopping the front wheel from spinning has the same, but less immediate effect. (however when you stop the front wheel from spinning it's MUCH more difficult to steer the bike in a desirable direction).

If you can't wheelie a bicycle, it's not likely you will EVER become proficient at wheeling a motorcycle.

It's more than just a balancing act. You've got to know your bike as well as you know your self "Grasshopper".

P.S.: Gearing isn't a solution to learning to wheelie. I have five bikes all with different displacement and gearing, I can wheelie them all just the same (including the girl's WRR with stock gearing).

X-Racer wrote:

P.S.: Gearing isn't a solution to learning to wheelie. I have five bikes all with different displacement and gearing, I can wheelie them all just the same (including the girl's WRR with stock gearing). [/i]

If you have mastered wheelies already, it will be a lot easier for you to transfer the previously gained knowledge, muscle memory and skill to harder circumstances/ bikes. So the fact you can wheelie just about anything is no surprise.

I believe the key to wheelies all boils down to Practice, Practice, Practice. Tip on here have helped me al ot, but it all comes down to learning with time behind the bars, learning from trial and failures. If you are not willing to fall, don't try them, simple as that. Don't write checks your ass can't cash.

When I first sat on a motorcycle 2 months ago (this exact bike), I never thought I'd try a wheelie. Now I'm addicted, I can't stop. I know I should ride normal and careful, keep the bike on the ground, not swoop through traffic, but what can I say, thats just who I am.

MikeChicago wrote:

I believe the key to wheelies all boils down to Practice, Practice, Practice.

Also: If you have mastered wheelies already, it will be
a lot easier for you to transfer the previously gained knowledge,
muscle memory and skill to harder circumstances/ bikes.

Absolutely.. The back of my head is flat from landing on it. Swy I got dain bramage.

Another good point. Once you can get to where I described above, with practice, you can move the learned (throttle/balance and power application behavior to any bike, anywhere.

X-Racer wrote:

Another good point. Once you can get to where I described above, with practice, you can move the learned (throttle/balance and power application behavior to any bike, anywhere.

Just remember what size displacement bike you're riding. i jumped off the WRR a few days ago and hoped on to my litre sportbike. Hahaha... the front wheels comes up a whole lot easier.

but ya, once you learn how to wheelie you can wheelie pretty much everything. I've pulled the front wheel up on my dad's Goldwing and damn near 12 o'clocked my girl's ninja 250 (she wasn't too pleased, or it might have been the stoppie, lol).

plain and simple.... practice, practice, practice. but practice in a safe environment and not down the middle of a major street.

Well, crap. I'm embarrassed to admit that I suck at this. I rode out to a secluded road today for the specific purpose of learning how to get the front wheel up. I can kinda do it in first gear, but I can't get it to do crap in second gear.

Do you guys start the wheelies while barely moving, or can you do them with the bike already up in the RPM range in a specific gear? Also, do you tug on the bars? Lean back? Pray? Seriously.. I don't get it.

With throttle alone (and stock gearing), my R won't do shit. At all. I have to use the clutch to get any sort of maybe-it-will-go-up feeling. In second gear I have yet to have anything happen. In first, it comes up a bit, but then falls right back down.

Am I missing the obvious?

Also, for those who use the clutch.. how do you modulate the clutch AND hang on the the left grip while trying to get the nose up?

Mr.Metal wrote:

Do you guys start the wheelies while barely moving, or can you do them with the bike already up in the RPM range in a specific gear? Also, do you tug on the bars? Lean back? Pray? Seriously.. I don't get it.


Also, for those who use the clutch.. how do you modulate the clutch AND hang on the the left grip while trying to get the nose up?

for 1st gear wheelies, i usually clutch it up at maybe 5 or 10 mph. for 2nd gear ones, pretty much any speed above 15 mph. but..... you don't want to be too high in the rpm range more the middle. No tugging on the bars needed. from what i've read in other posts you're a bigger guy. well you might want to press down on the bars as you clutch it up. use the compression from the front springs to your gain.

as for your second question. try using only one or two fingers to slip the clutch.

good luck.. remember it hurts when you loop or crash. wheeling ain't for everyone.

Thank you for the explanation. I feel pretty stupid even asking these questions, but this is one of those things they don't teach at the M.S.F. courses

I am a bigger guy and I have stock gearing. I blamed both things for my lack of wheelies. However, my buddy weighs the same as me and wheelied my WRR in front of me. Talk about getting kicked while you're down. So, it's not the bike, it's me.

I know wheelies aren't for everyone, but I spent the past 4 years on two wheels (yes, every day). So, I figure it's about time to try something new. I'm not going to do anything I'm not comfortable with, but I can't start getting comfortable with finding the balance point if I can't even get the wheel up

In any case, I'll keep trying!

Some once told me on here, The WR Stcok is an anti wheelie machine....and although i started to get em up stock, It was a WHOLE new experience after my 1st mods. FMF Q4, FMF EFI programmer, and flapper and ais removal. Its rediculous the difference in control and feeling gettin em up. I havent master the wheelie by far.. but i'm puttin in work.

P.S. Watch out for where you may accidently go to, other cars parked or moving, ditches walls. And be ready to fall off the back, the second time i still held on the bars, jammed the clutch and hopped up and on ridin out lookin like a flyin superman....minus the cape

Mr.metal i done similar to you i just couldnt get the front wheel to come up no matter how hard i tried so one day i went to a quiet back street and just practised tryin to lift the front in 1st at verly low speed. Actually ended up feeling motion sick from the constant forward backwards luching motion. Eventually i was able to lift the front wheel a bit in first, from then on any oppertunity i get i try clutch up in 2nd taken me a week or so of about an hours practise each day but i can lift the front when ever i want now just cant keep it going.
I found sitting further back on the seat helped and not pulling the clutch all the way to the bar, just in enough disengage it. no need to pull back on the bars.
All just comes down to timing, its hard to explain but you wanna be around 1/4 throttle, then quickly pop the clutch, as u release the clutch wrap the throttle on and the front will come up easy.
Its all down to timing.
One thing that worked for me was just practise popping the clutch in and out, not trying to lift the front just getting a feel for where the lever is when the clutch actually bites and how the bikes sounds. Then once u have that sussed can work on adding more throttle to get the wheel skyward.

bonjour, il doit etre plus facile de faire wheelies avec wrr que wrx je pense .

rvb wrote:

bonjour, il doit etre plus facile de faire wheelies avec wrr que wrx je pense .

Google translates to: hello, it should be easier to do wheelies with wrr wrx that I think

I will try to speak english :
it must be easier to do wheelies with WRR that WRX ?

rvb wrote:

I will try to speak english :
it must be easier to do wheelies with WRR that WRX ?

yes and no....

the lighter wheels and tires give the R the advantage, however the stiffer suspension gives the X the advantage.


it's all about the timing.

This may not be on topic but some of the posts have made me curious... Is it just me or is there some odd fascination with wheelies these days? I remember being bored of them early in life as a dirt bike rider, and they always bored me when Evel did them to build up suspense before his next death defying crash. I wasn't aware until recently that there was a street bike subculture built around a so-called stunt that anyone who ever raced has to smirk at.

So... I know they're fun, I do them too. I've done them on every bike I have ever owned but I have never sat around practicing it. Perhaps I'm not hardcore, but I feel I have missed something. Is it really a big pat yourself on the back deal to do a wheelie?

I remember watching Doug Domokos back in the day as he rode a wheelie around a super cross track. It was cool, but not nearly as cool as Johnny O' Mara's no footed whip AFTER he wheelied, jumped, and carved the fastest line around the track that night. Heats, semis, main, tabletops, doubles, triples, as fast as possible, and a no footed whip jump at the end... Isn't that the "bike control," the wheelie subculture proclaims to be all about?

Any general thoughts on wheelie madness?

I cant speak for anyone else but i love doin wheelies. I dont do them to try and impress anyone, I actually prefer to practice in a hidden spot. I think its the balancing aspect of it. Its so fun to try and work the gas and brake and keep it up, plus the added feeling of almost falling some times. Just plane ol fun for me. 1st gear wheelies are the best too cause its all about that prcise actions to balance. I can get really long ones in 2nd, but 1st is where the funs at!

Yeah they are fun. I guess at my ripe age I'm not as demonstrative on a bike. I look around to make sure no one is looking before I do one... and I didn't admit to ever doing a wheelie just now. I'll deny it.

2 questions:

1) Who out there can actually pull a power wheelie (no clutch use) with their WR?

2) What mods/setup do you have that you feel contribute to this?

I'm interested in power wheelies because it's kind of a representation of the bike's power and snappiness. I'd like my WRR to BE ABLE to pull wheelies without the use of the clutch. I'm not really looking to practice them or even to do them much other than a little for bringing the front tire over obstacles when off-roading. I know this bike is not really a power monster, but with the mods I've done already (airbox/flapper, FMF programmer) it's improving. I keep my suspension pretty soft (as per ChadX's specs) for off-roading so I realize this soaks up some of the snap. Nevertheless....

I test rode a 2010 KTM 530 last fall (kinda wish I hadn't), and I had to fight it to keep the front tire down. Pretty wild. I know that's not what this bike is at all, but I just want it to run at it's full snappiest potential....whatever that may be.

Sproat Sport wrote:

2 questions:

1) Who out there can actually pull a power wheelie (no clutch use) with their WR?

2) What mods/setup do you have that you feel contribute to this?

I'm interested in power wheelies because it's kind of a representation of the bike's power and snappiness. I'd like my WRR to BE ABLE to pull wheelies without the use of the clutch. I'm not really looking to practice them or even to do them much other than a little for bringing the front tire over obstacles when off-roading. I know this bike is not really a power monster, but with the mods I've done already (airbox/flapper, FMF programmer) it's improving. I keep my suspension pretty soft (as per ChadX's specs) for off-roading so I realize this soaks up some of the snap. Nevertheless....

I test rode a 2010 KTM 530 last fall (kinda wish I hadn't), and I had to fight it to keep the front tire down. Pretty wild. I know that's not what this bike is at all, but I just want it to run at it's full snappiest potential....whatever that may be.

click me

Most people use clutch. More control from what I hear.

Your best bet, other than proper body positioning to help get the front wheel up, is to gear the bike down like a dirt bike would be.
Stock, it's geared to the moon, much taller than it should be.