Need help on how to do wheelies.

[imapdog]

Originally Posted by Savageman69

Will having inverted forks make it harder?

i would say easier. the compression 'point' in the fork is closer to the ground on inverted forks..
good question as im not 100% sure or if it matters

[kingofqueenz]

Originally Posted by Thebrozzanator

Anyone who says they don't like wheelies needs to sit back down in that rocking chair and read a night night story. Maybe get yourself a Prius while your at it.

Ahhhh I don't know, I'm a new rider in my 40s and I've done enough psycho crap in my life that "chillin" is the way for me. Kinda like seeing a 50 year old in a 20 something year old club...

Not judging anyone... just saying, the wheelies don't call to me.

[Thebrozzanator]

Tried to make a little something for you guys. Still learning! Bare with me I'll get better ��

[jimwildman]

Not a huge wheelie guy, but you should practice little wheelies and using your rear break to YANK the front end down from the wheelie. This is an important skill to learn FIRST.

To wheelie with the smallest effort, stand with knees bent, bounce to compress your suspension, "front and back" as it comes up gas it and yank on the bars a bit. Start small and if the bike lacks enough power add the clutch pop at the same time. Its best to figure out if the clutch is needed first unless you like a surprise.

The forks do most of the lifting here but remember it's important to compress both as otherwise the rear shock will soak up most of the energy. When the rear is preloaded the energy goes mostly toward lifting the front.

Wheelies are an important part of offroad riding when used at low speed to get the front up onto or over an obstacle, e.t.c. You should learn them for that reason.

While long high speed wheelies look cool people often get hurt. Those who have developed an instinct to use the rear break to end or even control a wheelie have an advantage in either case.

[OneLeggedRider]

Brozzanator, you might have made that hill with some momentum. In southeastern Ohio we have some seriously steep hills and they're usually pretty muddy. Cousin Jay is new to dirtbikes and on our last ride dumped it about 10 times because of trying to go slow and fight his way up the hills.

On an under powered China bike you want to pick a line up the hill and at the bottom have it in second gear bouncing off the rev limiter. Momentum does wonders for mud, obstacles and fighting gravity when hill climbing. And you wont have enough momentum to downshift on an under powered bike so pick a gear and stick with it.

On my Scrambler 400 I can come to a dead stop at the bottom of a hill and because of it's acceleration characteristics I can explode out of the gate and be at the top of a hill in mere seconds, but it's not slow or under powered, so I don't have to get a run for it.

[Thebrozzanator]

I'm definitely taking all the advice in oneleggedrider! I'm getting way more comfortable offraoding on the bike now. I'll have a redemption video of me climbing the whole thing!

[jimwildman]

Use the suspension, it is designed for this use. Power level is irrelevant. You should learn to bounce down to compress the suspension first. Followed by power on, pull up, clutch pop, etc to get the front up. It should be effortless!

Additionally learning to compress the suspension will help you to apply extra gravity to your contact point, ie traction whenever you need it. Compression helps to plant your tire. While its short lived, the moment if timed right is all thats needed.

This is the secret sauce used by all the best riders, especially in mototrials. While we all use it without thinking to some degree, if you do think about it, emphasize it. The effect is much more pronounced.

Practicing it like anything burns it into muscle memory, you learn to use it in many ways. And it can save your bacon!

Now wheely’s are a fun way to practice, and safe enough if your not going big. Im 57 and ride a hawk with a 500cc swap. I do not ride wheelies other than to practice a skill, that I have become to rely on.

I bring it up, and put it right back down, practice it at a few speeds between 0 and 15 or so. I keep it safe, but really need that skill polished, to ride at my prefered level.

[Goob]

I haven't even attempted a wheelie on my TT250. Don't care to ever try, as I ride on the street. I view wheelies as something useful when off-road to pop the wheel up to get over obstacles...at low speed.

But, I do it without trying sometimes on my Orion RXB150. I am sure if I had the inclination I could do it at will and all the way down the road (as many videos demonstrate). Plan to use this capability when I need to on my next more difficult trail ride.

Obvious difference is the power to weight ratio...13.7 HP and 160 lbs. The TT250 is 18 HP (generous) and likely 315 lbs (I have panniers, etc.).

BTW, back in the 70's my buddy and I could wheelie with our little trail bikes...an XL100 and a DT100. The DT100 was easy (2-stroke), the XL100 took some technique like others have described. I think these were about 8 HP and 180-200 lbs.

[OneLeggedRider]

My second dirtbike and first 2 stroke was an '88 YZ 80, talk about a learning experience, this little bike was vicious compared to my XR 80. All of a sudden I had 6 gears instead of 5 and it would stand up in all of them, even when you didn't want it to.

Well my buddy Don had an '86 CR 80R that was a little beat up but still slightly meaner than my YZ, and we hauled out to Tinker's Cave to spend the weekend trail riding. At this point neither of us were wheelie professionals but we came across a long straight stretch that looked to be an old access road. I looked over at Don and knew what was up, and sure enough we banged out all 6 gears carrying the front wheels in a mad dash.

Now keep in mind I knew about using the rear brake to keep the bike from going over center, from reading dirtbike magazines. But was still novice enough to forget that bit of information in the heat of the moment, and wanted to win badly.

Well side by side in 6th gear with my front wheel higher in the air than I'd ever had it before, Don cut the throttle which caused me to grin profusely. However my moment of glorious victory was short lived as I cut the throttle and the bike kept coming over to the point of no return. Thank goodness we were on hard pack and not gravel, I must have slid atleast 25 yards. After seeing that I was relatively unharmed the first words out of Don's smart a$$ mouth were "why didn't you use the brake?"

[JasonOnTheRez]

Next time you are on YouTube, look up The MX Factory. They are awesome. They have a video called Wheelie in 3 steps - Drills. They give you drills to perform, each drill taking about 2-3 hours. Follow the drills, they are fun, and will have you doing wheelies in no time - THE RIGHT WAY

[Thebrozzanator]

I believe the right way is getting out there and doing it. Not sitting home watching videos about it. Videos are great for information. Not knocking that part. The only true way to learn though is to get out there and JUST DO IT.��