How to Ride a Wheelie
When you are riding a motorcycle, it is dangerous. That is no secret. Most riders relish the danger that a motorcycle can give. For some people, the simple act of riding is not enough, they want more. Doing tricks or stunts on a motorcycle gives a person that extra shot of adrenaline that they desire.
One of these tricks you can do is a wheelie. What is that you may ask? Simply put, it is riding the motorcycle with the front tire off the ground. Since the rear wheel is the wheel that provides power, you are still able to move forward even though your front wheel is in the air.
Now that the basics are covered, it should be stated that riding wheelies are extremely dangerous. If you are not a person that would usually wear a helmet, this is a really good time to start. This is not something for beginners to try just to show off. Even professionals will wreck on a regular basis doing this.Remember, with the front wheel off the ground, you only have half the traction, half the brakes, and none of the steering. To sum it up, it is dangerous. You will probably lay the bike down the first couple of times that you try it.
There are 2 basic ways that you can ride a wheelie. More to the point, there are 2 ways that you can start to ride the wheelie or pop a wheelie.
You can start from a standstill with the clutch engaged and the motorcycle in 1st gear. Rev the engine up to higher than normal RPMs (not red lining it). “Dump the clutch” (releasing the clutch lever instantly). The bike may have a tendency to “break loose” and do a burn out. This is where practice comes in. You have to find the happy medium that you have enough immediate torque going to the back wheel that it will lift up the front end with out loosing traction. You can do a few burn outs and heat up the tire to get the extra traction but this is more of a track thing. You can also let air out of the rear tire. With lower psi you will grab traction better (but this method is even more dangerous because you are now riding on 1 under inflated wheel). The best route is practice if you feel you must ride a wheelie.
The other way you can ride is a wheelie is popping the wheelie while you are already moving. This is the more common type. You have probably seen it happen, a motorcycle screams pass you and the rider “seemingly” just lifts the front wheel off the ground and rides by. This makes it look deceptively simple.
To do this you still need to have a lot of torque at the rear wheel on demand. You can either get this by having a very powerful bike or (and more common) down shifting so the rpm’s shoot up. This will give you the same basic idea of dumping the clutch as stated earlier.
Riding a wheelie like this has it’s own set of dangers. When you do it from a standstill you may flip the motorcycle over backwards or fall to one side or the other. When you “pop the wheelie” to ride it when you are already moving, it is still possible to flip it backwards or fall to one side or the other, but that isn’t the really dangerous part.
When the wheelie is preformed when you are already moving, if something goes wrong, you don’t just get your pride hurt. A full fledged motorcycle wreck happens. Even if it happens at a slow speed it can be catastrophic, if it is done at high speeds, it can very easily be fatal.
When it is all said and done, riding a wheelie isn’t that difficult. You already have the balance (or you wouldn't be riding in the first place), an adjustment of your center of gravity may be needed. The motor sits on the front 1/3 of the bike, shifting your weight farther back will help to get the front tire off the ground. It is then necessary to keep the motorcycle at an angle that is stable. In a perfect world this would be an exact angle like 37 degrees (not the real angle, it is just for example) but it doesn't work that way. Your weight, the weight of the bike, the speed you are moving, and where you are sitting on the seat will all effect how high you need the front wheel to keep the wheelie stable (the angle). Too far back and you can flip backwards, too far forward and you won’t keep the wheelie up to ride it.
Once your are riding the wheelie, you just want to keep it balanced where it is and continue. Most of the time gravity decides when you are done and the front wheel will drop. No matter how it drops, you need to be ready for it. Think about airliners when they land (on a smaller scale). You are moving at X MPH, the wheel at 0 MPH. As soon as it hits the pavement it is forced to accelerate to the bikes speed. You need to be prepared for this to happen. It can jolt the bike and all kinds of unpleasantries in general can happen.
With all the technical information out of the way, and remembering the danger involved, riding a wheelie is easy. It does however, pose some issues that have to be addressed. The front wheel must leave the ground. Many people will try to muscle the front of the bike into the air. While this is possible, there is no need. The motor and drive train will provide all the power that is needed to get the front end into the air.
Balance is important. You have to keep the balance on several different axis. Front to back, side to side, as well as any other angle the bike may decide to go. Another thing that is often overlooked is acceleration. You don’t have to continually go faster but maintaining the speed is crucial. Unless you are an expert, any change in your speed (faster or slower) will raise or lower the front of the motorcycle . So what you need to do is get the torque of the rear wheel to lift the front tire without breaking loose the traction. Once you get the wheel up, balance and steady throttle. This is not something you will pull off the 1st time. It takes practice. While you may get better at riding the wheelie with practice, the danger is still there. On the first one or the one hundredth attempt you may crash. This is something that will happen, barring not doing the wheelies, it is paramount that you wear safety gear. Even if you don’t at any other time, while doing tricks, protective gear is a must.
If extra adrenaline is your thing, riding wheelies may be the ticket.
