Jack,

another method is to go for the "fat lads" wheelie. Put on 10 stone in weight and hang your lardy butt over the back mudguard, touch of throttle and the front will come up, balance comes from shifting the position of your backside and stomach to balance the weight.......

Jason Finn 2002

Edited January 26, 201313 yr by finny

I know its an old post, but man, how far back can a bike go without the rider hving gravel rash?

I like this topic. I'm 47 years old and still trying to wheelie like a pro

One thing I learned the hard way:

When you're wheelieing up hill and the ground suddenly becomes horizontal, your rear wheel will try to overtake the front wheel and you fall off your bike

I guess the same thing happens when you roll of a rock on the rear wheel.

As stated before, pulling the clutch-lever and/or tapping the rear brake can avoid a lot of misery when things get out off hand

The thing a lot of people do when wheelying is when the front end comes up they start to move forward on the bike

This changes the balance point

The further fwd your weight is, the more vertical the bike needs to be

So, what I am focusing on is keeping my body weight back and keeping it in the same place

If you move fore and aft you need to adjust the balance point with every change and it just not possible

Now I watch where the pros put their weight

When they hop on the back tire, the front tire is not really that far off the ground

Even when riding dirt bikes and street bikes wheelies have always been my nemesis. Once I get the trials bike here at the house I plan to practice these a lot. I have always been able to wheelie over a rock or log at speed, but riding a controlled wheelie is something I have always struggled with.

Ive done a stunt wheelie school on a bandit in the UK which was good but no use here. I think technique is easy but its the confidence that will spoil you. One good tip i was told was to get two trusty friends to lift the front with you on the bike and you get a feel for the balance point for different body positions i.e leaning back, leaning forward.

Increase your fork preload and reduce your rebound damping. Roll along in second or third gear at just above tick over. Dip the knees to compress your forks and as they unload wind the throttle on and the wheel will lift. You won't need the clutch.

If need be use a piece of 4x2 as a kicker for the wheel to rebound off as the forks decompress. Once you get small lift you'll have the feel. You can then get higher and further but just cover the rear brake in case.

Edited March 29, 201313 yr by pindie