Wheelies?

[Australian dirtbike rider]

I use to ride an xr600 great bikes, I found that 2 gear is great if you can get it vertical, ad use you back brake ?))

[dirtjumpordie]

You can wheelie anything that has a clutch and replacable rear sprockets

[Bender-250xl]

I ride an XL 250 on the street and although it is a heavy old dirt bike it can still wheelie fairly easily with good body movement.

Non clutch technique:

accelerate in 2nd until you are in the meat of the power

roll off the gas (engine braking will help compress front forks) and as you do that compress suspension with body weight pushing down on the pegs

as suspension rebounds lean back and accelerate hard

similar body movement when using the clutch but instead of rolling off the throttle keep the throttle steady at 1/2 to 3/4 and pull in and release clutch quickly as the suspension rebounds from your pushing down on the pegs (as above)

[poconovfr]

get a 450 and just hit the gas....front end comes right up.

[Frecky B]

Watch this youtube video really breaks down step by step how you should be learning to wheelie.

[Jim Dettman]

Watch this youtube video really breaks down step by step how you should be learning to wheelie.

Personally, I think it's a bad way to learn to wheelie; you get into bad habits right from the start (no foot on the rear brake) and your balance is different because your dragging you feet.

The way I learned to wheelie is on a short steep hill.

First, ride the hill a few times to get the feel of it. Just roll up it.

One you have the feel of it, start applying a little more power each time until you can get the front wheel about 6" off the ground all the way up the hill. Practice bringing it down by tapping the rear brake.

Once you have the feel of that (front wheel off the ground/bringing it down - and BTW, you've done your first wheelie already!) then continue but take the front wheel higher and higher.

At some point, you will find you need to roll off the power, which means your almost at the balance point. Keep doing that until you can comfortable wheelie up the hill on the balance point

Now switch to flat ground.

Your only job now is to learn what it takes to get the front wheel to start coming up.

But there won't be any panic when it does because you have a feel for the throttle when it is up, know you can control it with the rear brake if it gets out of control, and where your balance point is already.

Jim.

Edited June 6, 2013 by JimDettman

[mr.whiskeythrottle]

i have the same problem i tried wheelies with my bmx and im geting pretty good at it now i can hold it for 25 feet plus on a good day, but i get a different feeling when im on my honda i feel like i cant find my balance point, maybe ill try them in my backyard for a softer fall in the grass ( just in case). my rear sprocket is like a 51-52 tooth will this give me enough torque?

[Jim Dettman]

i have the same problem i tried wheelies with my bmx and im geting pretty good at it now i can hold it for 25 feet plus on a good day, but i get a different feeling when im on my honda i feel like i cant find my balance point, maybe ill try them in my backyard for a softer fall in the grass ( just in case). my rear sprocket is like a 51-52 tooth will this give me enough torque?

The problem is that it's up further then you think and past the point where you feel like your going to tip over backwards. So you end up getting nervous and back off and never quite get there. That's why it's so important to learn to use the rear brake.

You can always fan the clutch or roll off the throttle, but once you hit the balance point or further, then neither one of those will help. Only the rear brake will.

That's why I really don't think the idea of dragging your feet is a good one. Main key to riding a bike well is always balance and control.

Jim.

[mr.whiskeythrottle]

ill take that in mind thanx

ill take that in mind thanx

[2bars]

Point of the video is learning to control the wheelie using clutch and throttle, the right way to maintain a wheelie. The brake is only to catch it and bring it down as a safety. That's what the feet hanging down are for, to catch it if you go too far back. Once you got a feel for bal. point, clutch,and throttle, you then put your right foot on the peg ready to brake if needed, finally you put both feet on the pegs and ride it out.

[Bmframe]

I recently watched a vid on this and seems logical.

"Use the clutch to bring it up. At a slow speed, keep your feet down as wheelie bars and use this clutch to engage. Then bring up your right leg after you get use to the front being up to cover the break. Eventually then bring the other leg up"

That being said it seemed to work on the 250 two stroke. But my xr650 is a little big and heavy for this at slow speeds.

Clutching it in 2nd is probably the easiest and most predictable. Bring the rpm right around the sweet spot. Quickly grab the clutch bring the rpm up what you would image 1-2k rpm and drop the clutch. Sit toward to back of the seat and commit. DON'T FORGET TO OVER YOUR BACK BREAK! However the front end will have to come up really far before something bad starts to happen. I just started practicing my wheelies here and there the pat two weeks and you quickly get he feel for it.

[Jim Dettman]

Point of the video is learning to control the wheelie using clutch and throttle, the right way to maintain a wheelie. The brake is only to catch it and bring it down as a safety. That's what the feet hanging down are for, to catch it if you go too far back. Once you got a feel for bal. point, clutch,and throttle, you then put your right foot on the peg ready to brake if needed, finally you put both feet on the pegs and ride it out.

I'd like to see how many people just learning to wheelie are going to be able to catch a bike like that given that they just messed up with the clutch/throttle. The very first thing you should learn is bringing the bike down with the brake.

More often then not from this position (feet off the pegs and dragging), the bike easily loops out and depending on speed, you either end up falling on top of it, or you fall underneath it and it falls on you.

Doesn't seem a smart way to learn to me. Bad body position and no way to properly control the bike right from the start. Even the progession is bad; bring one leg up then the other? Your still off-balance and with your foot on the brake, why should you need to drag a foot to catch the bike? And now it's even worse; what do you think the chances are of catching a bike on one foot?

I'll take my method any day hands down.

Jim.

[yamahakid88]

I wouldn't want to catch my bike with my foot, take it slow, your not going to be a pro at it in 5 minutes

[Saratj1]

A couple little tid bits about the balance point.

1. The faster you are going the lower the balance point. What I mean by this is a balance point wheelie at 10mph will require the front wheel higher off the the ground than a bp wheelie at 60mph.

2. The closer you get to balance point the more sensitive the the throttle will be. So if your tire is lower to the ground throttle inputs won't make much difference (you'll probably be at wot) as the bike nears it's bp it will be much more responsive to changes in throttle. So it's hard because when you get that "bp feeling" your natural instinct is to cut the throttle and usually you will let off the throttle too much and the front wheel will start to fall, then you will run out of power or revs to bring it back up.

I feel like if you want to master a bp wheelie you just about have to be willing to loop the bike which sucks, but skilled riders can go past bp and bring it back with the rear brake, this is how slow/circle wheelies are done. And why stunt riders relocate the rear brake to the handle bar.

[shift1313]

you can wheelie anything. Off road you don't need to be able to do a BP wheelie, you just have to get your front wheel up over obstacles that you can't roll over. You want to be standing up very neutral on the bike in 1st gear or 2nd gear depending on the bike, speed, traction etc. Go towards your obstacle(best to try without any obstacle first) and make sure you have good balance. if the bike is leaning or you are putting more pressure on one side the bike will come up crooked. As you get close you want to compress your legs and then expand backwards, slip the clutch fast and grab some throttle. this all has to happen pretty close. Just by throwing your body back you should naturally make the front end light and move the CoG of the bike back. The farther back you can get your weight when you accelerate the easier it will be BUT, and here is the big but, you have to get your body back to a neutral position right away to remain in control, always covering the rear brake.

The keys here to doing this on bikes with low torque, heavy etc is that you want to bounce the front and throw your weight back just to help the motor get the front up. Sorry for the bad quality but in the beginning of this short clip you can see me do it on my drz400. The bike was stock in the video so thats like 30hp at the crank, 310lbs and i was 210lbs. I was running 15/47 gearing i think and in 1st gear. Throw my weight back and use the clutch and throttle to get the front up. It is a lot easier standing up BUT a lot of people struggle with the body position and maintaining control over the bike. The first few times you try this i would put a little pressure on the rear brake to start and feel out the technique. You dont want to be too high in the rpms. as you get more speed and more revs the same technique applies. You want to get the front wheel light and give the clutch a little slip and dump. Not all bikes need it but the smaller motor trail bikes and bikes like the drz do.

[Greenmachine101]

Take JimDettman's advice. That's the same technique I used when I first started trying wheelies which was on a 96 ttr250 which is probably the same power to weight ratio as your bike. I don't have that problem these days with my ktm 525. Also had a 98 kx 250 that was hard to keep the front wheel on the ground, Even in top gear rolling on the throttle coming in to power band and it would pop up. I had to ride that thing with all my weight over the bars in every gear, it was damn right scary that bike!

[TTIZDABOMB]

Screw the rear brake....clutch and throttle for this one. I too think the dragging feet is shit. I learned to leave my legs there but use my knees to balance. Currently have a local that used to race teaching me to use front brake along with turning the front wheel to do turns instead of leaning. Not going well, but it's close.

Edited July 15, 2013 by 103honda

[shift1313]

Screw the rear brake....clutch and throttle for this one. I too think the dragging feet is shit. I learned to leave my legs there but use my knees to balance. Currently have a local that used to race teaching me to use front brake along with turning the front wheel to do turns instead of leaning. Not going well, but it's close.

doing a wheelie on an MX bike is completely different than on an heavy underpowered trail bike. And for off road wheelies the sit down wheelie does nothing for you. In that pic it looks like you are leaning a bit too far foward. You should be neutral with your arms slighly bent so you can easily change the BP by moving your upper body around for minor adjustments. There will be no clutch/throttle sit down wheelie on his bike. He will have to stand up and bounce it back at low rpms using his body position, clutch and throttle.

And even though i have never needed the rear brake to save a wheelie(some 2 stroke subframes disagree) you have to know where it is and how to use it for obstacles. The front wheel helps you steer a lot more if its spinning. the gyro effect from the front wheel spinning when leaned will help lean the bike over and steer. This is why doug domokos used to run electric motors in his front hubs to keep the front wheel spinning. Once you stop the front wheel you loose that and all you are doing is shifting weight around But only as much as the offset of your triple clamps. So you steer right with no wheel spinning then you have a small amount of weight shifted to the left. You are doing more by putting leverage on the steering locks. I am by no means an expert wheelie king or anything but i have been wheelieing dirt bikes for 17 years or so.

[TTIZDABOMB]

doing a wheelie on an MX bike is completely different than on an heavy underpowered trail bike. And for off road wheelies the sit down wheelie does nothing for you. In that pic it looks like you are leaning a bit too far foward. You should be neutral with your arms slighly bent so you can easily change the BP by moving your upper body around for minor adjustments. There will be no clutch/throttle sit down wheelie on his bike. He will have to stand up and bounce it back at low rpms using his body position, clutch and throttle.

And even though i have never needed the rear brake to save a wheelie(some 2 stroke subframes disagree) you have to know where it is and how to use it for obstacles. The front wheel helps you steer a lot more if its spinning. the gyro effect from the front wheel spinning when leaned will help lean the bike over and steer. This is why doug domokos used to run electric motors in his front hubs to keep the front wheel spinning. Once you stop the front wheel you loose that and all you are doing is shifting weight around But only as much as the offset of your triple clamps. So you steer right with no wheel spinning then you have a small amount of weight shifted to the left. You are doing more by putting leverage on the steering locks. I am by no means an expert wheelie king or anything but i have been wheelieing dirt bikes for 17 years or so.

It's actually a vid if you click on it...might help you see it more. My dad filmed it on his phone so quality sucks though.

Edited July 17, 2013 by 103honda

[shift1313]

It's actually a vid if you click on it...might help you see it more. My dad filmed it on his phone so quality sucks though.

I watched it, i still think you are leaning your upper body into the bike too much. you have less control that way because all you can do is lean your upper body back, which if your front goes too high will just put you on your back. Try leaning back a little more.

I am interested when you talk to this guy helping you wheelie again, his reasoning for stopping the front wheel during a wheelie to help.

Edited July 17, 2013 by shift1313