Wheelie Balance Point

[ButtonFly]

I have been aggresively practicing my balance wheelies for a few weeks now, and am getting VERY close. I can usually ride a wheelie 50 or 60 yards, which is far enough to look like I know what I am doing, but that is barely before the balance point, and slowly revving up... I can ride a wheelie on a quad all day long, and then some. My usual technique has been leaning WAY back, with full extension of the arms to the bars, and counterbalancing with the body. Lately though I have been wheelieing it up, then pulling the bars closer to me (chest protector maybe 6" or so off the tank) and riding them with the bike more vertical. This seems to be easier to hold up, but it also tips over backwards more easily. Any advanced tips for zoning in on the balance point in temrs of body position and bike position? In terms of control use? I usually don't clutch into wheelies, rather power up, and then throttle control them. I love SLOOOOW wheelies since nobody seems to be able to do them, and I feel like they require more skill in a lot of cases, and would like to practice going slow. I am riding my WR400...

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[TexKDX]

BF, I'm no good at them (yet) but do have one pointer. Regardless of your position, sitting, standing, etc. be sure and cover BOTH the brakes. Grabbing the front will let you recover once as the stopping of the front wheel will make you go forward. Tapping of the rear will do the same, and you can do it more than once.

The nat'l level trials rider who was trying to help me could do slow ones with his weight way back, arms extended, and using power/braking/using power/braking to maintain the balance point at a walking pace. He could do them sitting on the fender and standing up.

There's a pic on our website of how far over these guys can go without flipping = check it out:
http://www.werks4me.com/hatt/images/HomePic1.jpg

Hope this helps.

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TexKDX

 

[ButtonFly]

I watched Biaggi do that in a 500 GP race win one time... going REALLY fast. Awesome. Too bad he is such a pain in the... Go Rossi. Thanks for the tips.


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[woody51]

I think this may be the wheelie that ButtonFly is talking about
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jargyros/isumc/videos/biaggi.asf
if so I think Biaggi might have gotten just a little overzealous and had to save it at the last minute. All I know is that if I did something like that I would probably have to change my shorts.

 

[TexKDX]

OK, I hope I do this right with the new forums...

Woody, cool video! BF, I think his video drives home the point about covering the rear brake!:think

 

[LB400]

That IS a cool video -- I can't believe he saved it, and it didn't look like he even dropped the front end hard when he landed.

I've been trying to perfect wheelies for about 25 years -- I guess I'm not going to ever get it -- I'll keep on trying though, darn-it!

 

[MikeT]

One good thing is that a WR400 has a lot of compression braking. I'd still keep your right foot where it ought to be.

 

[KawieKX125]

WOW!!! How the heck did he save that? If I did that and saved it, I would have been cleaning more than my bike when I got home:eek: :confused: .

 

[ButtonFly]

anybody else?

 

[cr125_king]

If i could figure out how to get a video on here, I could show you guys, me and my buddies pulling some nice 5th gear wheelies(catwalks us canadians say).My friend on his 1999 yz 250 can do those catwalks with both feet on the one side of his bike,and both feet on the seet.(like Tommy Clowers was doing in Crusty 2001 "Next Level" .As for the foot on the back brake> I used to do that when I was learning , but now I got my balance , and hope I never go over backwards:cool: .I'm just trying practicing stoppies now.

 

[spanky250]

I am no expert at wheelies, but the one thing I have learned that helps me balance is to ride with both wheels on the ground a little before bringing the front up. This will get the front wheel spinning, and the gyroscopic effect from the spinning wheel helps me to balance. If you hit the front brake, the wheel stops spinning, and it becomes much harder to stay balanced.

 

[AlynB]

ButtonFly
About 15 years ago I had an XR250 that I could wheelie for well over a mile(pretty much indefinately). I even got to the point that I could change gears and go around curves. This took many hours of practice, I had the time then. My technique on that bike was to jerk the front tire up in 2nd gear, the bike seemed to have a very natural balancing point. My riding position was partially leaning forward, arms slightly flexed, front wheel turned about half way to the left. I would guess that average speed was 10-15mph. It did seem to get harder to balance as the front wheel spin slowed, but not impossible.
As for the WR400, thats what I am riding now. I have not had much opportunity to attempt wheelies on it yet, but since my back fender is broken now anyway,I may give it a shot this weekend. I expect it will be quite a bit harder to maintain a wheelie on this bike due to the weight and power. The XR had a much smoother and milder power delivery, which to me is ideal for riding wheelies. I could never get the hang of riding wheelies on two-strokes due to the power band.
Also, try to maintain a fairly low and steady rpm once you get the wheel in the air and get balanced. Make throttle changes slowly.
Hope this helps you out some. If I get a chance to ride this weekend, I'll let you know if I have any success with the wheelies on the WR.
One more thing. I make all my adjustments with the throttle. I never used the back brake very much. It's been a while, so this is all coming back a little at a time.

 

[BrentBlain]

i have a question. Since i only get to ride about every 3 weeks will it help to pratice on my bicycle? Or is it too different? My dad can wheelie forever (or used to be able to) on a motorcycle but can't wheelie 5 feet on his bicycle. I am the opposite, i am go pretty far on my bicycle but i am just before the balancing point but have trouble with my motorcycle. Everytime i get to the balancing point my feet come off the pegs, they never hit the ground but are ready to. If i can pratice on my bicycle would that help out my skills or make it harder to switch it over to my CR? Also which bike should i use my bmx or mountiain bike?

-Brent

 

[cr125_king]

hey BrentBlain: I practice everyday on my BMX.I can ride a wheelie longer than most dirtbikers on my bmx and mtn bike.Practice on a bmx, it is much harder than mtn bike.I can do them sitting down (really hard to do, and take tons of practice), but standing up on bmx is easier.I practice so much that i can just about manual as far as I can wheelie.I think it helps alot.I can wheelie really good on my cr.It carries over from the pedal bike.All the pros ride bmx?mtn bike to stay in shape.The type of mx bike, and the way it's set up plays abig role to.Before on my 1994 RM 250 i could'nt wheelie very good.Since I got my 1996 cr 250, I can wheelie alot better.The power on my CR is really nice for pulling whelies.I broke my clutch cable last ride, and i could still wheelie in 4th and 5th with out the clutch.But ya, practice lots on your bmx.By the way learn to use your brakes on your bmx, while wheeling.