Walking pace wheelies

[Casper250]

There was a thread on this a while ago but I have another question about doing a walking pace wheelie. My problem is that when I pop the front wheel up at such a slow speed, my bike tends to want to flop over to the left or right. I've tried adjusting my position of the seat but it doesn't seem to have much effect.

Also, when you pop up the front tire, do you still keep your body perpendicular to the ground or do you lean back with the bike?

 

[Patman]

I just sort of lean back and use a little throttle instead of using a bunch of right grip or clutch to make it come up. This helps make it smoother so ya' don't flop to one side as much. I also try to use pressure on the footpegs more than upper body movement to adjust things.

 

[Shig]

Slow wheelies are harder than fast ones because when the front wheel stops spinning its harder to keep your left/right balance. "Wheelie King" Doug Domokos had a cable-driven gear to his front wheel to keep it spinning. I use body english and the throttle to straighten out slow wheelies. You can practice by trying to get the wheel up and straighten the bike out while you are turning.

I sit in the same position as on flat ground, which is slightly leaned back with the wheel up. Use the back brake alot for slow wheelies. Coaster wheelies on a bicycle also help you learn to rely on the back brake. It helps to squeeze the bike between your knees and steer with your butt. This allows you to let go with your left hand for style points. Another style trick is to pull yourself up from a seated position to a standing fender-kiss position.

 

[Casper250]

OK, what I have been doing is sitting pretty far back on the seat and my shin is perpendicular to the ground. This helps me with covering the back brake and sitting that far back helps getting the front wheel up. Should I move up more on the seat? Also, do you ride the back brake slightly for stability or just swap between throttle and brake?

It seems like as soon as I bring the front end up, it starts to fall to one side. I can ride fast wheelies fine, but I want to lean the slow ones cause it shows some skills!

 

[Shig]

Stay in the same position on the seat. If you move forward, then the balance point will be higher. You should strive to use only throttle control to keep the bike balanced in the sweet spot. In the meantime, be as smooth as possible going from throttle to brake. Mostly, the back brake is your safety net. When you first bring the wheel up, make sure you are going perfectly straight, not favoring one peg, and not jerking hard on the bars. Steer from the pegs and seat by clamping the bike between your legs and moving your torso from side to side at your rib cage. Steering this way is most effective when you are at the balance point.