Wheelie Technique by Paul Aschmann & Tom Kraft

If you have ever watched a rider who is fast and smooth you will likely notice how he can lift the front at any moment with ease. Wheelies are a useful tool to have just about anywhere, from making girls jaws drop to launching over fallen trees, they are practical, purposeful, cool to watch and if not done correctly, can sometimes get downright ugly. Other practical uses of wheeling and/or precise throttle control could be from riding into whoops, lifting the front tire to increase preload when seat bouncing, crossing a creek, wheeling through rough braking bumps and as mentioned making you look cool. Like all of our other technique articles, practice makes perfect and great place to learn is a small field or riding area with plenty of traction. There are two types of wheelies, a slow walking pace wheelie controlled by the back brake and very little use of the throttle. This type requires you to find the “sweet spot” in your balance point. Then there is the faster, constant acceleration type. We will concentrate on the later, because it’s a lot easier and once you have gotten used to the feeling of your front wheel off the ground, it’s considerably easier to do one at a slow pace.

Firstly, you need to get your front wheel up in the air, this can be done either slipping the clutch or by cracking the throttle open. The easiest is to slip the clutch because even if the bike does not have enough power, it should get the front wheel up.

We suggest starting with second gear. First gear will work fine but be aware it makes the bike extremely responsive and looping over the back and crashing will be more likely. You also have the choice of sitting on the seat or standing up. We suggest standing up. Standing will enable you to balance the wheelie by making very small fore/ aft weight shifts. Plus standing lets you lock your knees

and grip the bike with your legs rather than "hanging on" with your arms. Another reason to stand is you can see where you are going! By locking your knees you also create a single balancing point between you, your bike and the ground. It makes it easier to balance.

To put this into practice, find yourself a open piece of ground (a slight incline will help), select your gear, accelerate to a fast walking pace, stand up with your knees locked and gripping the bike, lean back and slip the clutch and give it a fair amount of throttle. You should be able to get the front to lift without giving a tug on the bars.