Where do I learn to wheelie?

[dave_isbald]

For years every bike I have had, I have been too shite scared to learn to wheelie on as I can't afford to come off it. This is largely due to doing just that years ago whilst letting my enthusiasm and height get way beyond my stunt talent.

However, I am beginning to question my own sexuality because I have yet to pull a nice smooth mono and I have the prefect streetfighter for it.

Last year when I went back to the UK, i saw this ad for a dude running a school for just this. He even had bikes with wheelie training wheels on the back.

Is there a school like that in Sydney anyone is aware of? Or do I just need to man the fuck up and accept I may have to ding my bike to learn?

[Fish]

I saw the same thing and asked the same questions.... unfortunatly the answer is no. would be good if it started though.

[dave_isbald]

Nice one - maybe thats the answer. Learn regardless of the damage and then set up a school to pay for the repairs

[el sammo]

there is stunt practcice days but you use youre own bike, no one i know of has stunt bikes for hire theyd get trashed for sure haha any old trail bikes are great to learn on and crash if youre worried abut loopin youre good bike

be smooth and always cover youre rear brake

[Bear]

There are some "lessons" you can do or ways to minimise risk of damage:

Buy a cheap-shit dirt bike (250cc minimum) and practise finding the balance point on that. Won't cost you a fortune if you flip it and you can get it up at slow speeds and keep it there. Also enables you to practice on the dirt away from the Law and less chance of gravel rash if you come off.

On the dirt bike, practice wheely starts by dropping the clutch quickly and then bringing it back down with the rear brake, back up again and down repeat etc. You can also go into a stoppy doing this. Wheely to stoppy and visa versa. 1st gear stuff.

Find a beach to practice on. The sand gives excellent braking effect, much the same as wheelying up a slight hill, and sand is soft to fall on. You'll gain lots of confidence very quickly.

Learn to pull lightly on the bars once the front wheel is up and keep your body mass central. Too many people make the mistake of hanging back off the bars instead of sitting central and using their knees to grip too.

Learn to ride a unicycle. Great fun at parties and you'll HAVE to find the balance point.

Lastly - accept that you will flip it at some stage early in learning. Just try and get that moment out of the way on something soft like sand.

[dave_isbald]

Thanks for the advice guys - I'm off to find a cheap as shite 250

[Shadowzone]

Oh and even after being able to pull mingers for yrs you need to accept that unforseen stuff does happen and well it is possible to loop it regardless of how many you've done previously on that very same bike.

I had a loverly vtr1000f for 3yrs mingers everywhere daily at balance point and then for some reason looped it twice 3 months to the day. The 2nd time saw it off to that great big race track in the sky. Not to worry that's what the insurance premium is for. if it ever hapens here's some advice - when it was sliding along the road the ductail scraped the gutter. they will refuse to pay for wheelies. workes everytime explains away the scraped out undertray and tail lights that you get looping them. also explains the pipe too.

good luck mate...

[dave_isbald]

Geeenyus

Ta for that. Have started practicing anyway so I'll let you know how the claim goes

[miniman1]

I learnt everyday on my way to and from work,

my advice: start small, always cover the rear brake, dont do it in front of cops and persistance is the key to learning

[oldskool]

school of hard knocks.

[CBRRRT]

Check out my thread Learn to wheelie mate and you can get started in a safe way. There is no need to prang your pride and joy if you follow the instructions and take it easy. Good luck, Jon.

[Not4resale]

How important is it to deflate the tyres?

I'm a bit worried that i'll end up running too long on deflated tyres and wreck my new pilot roads [V]

[CBRRRT]

You dont need to deflate your tyres mate and your ride have everything you need to start to wheelie today. If you have beefed up the preload on your front end then I would advise putting it back to factory settings to soften the front a bit, as its quite important to use the springs in your forks to bounce your front end up. Check out my wheelie thread mate and focus on the right foot right hand in steps 3 and 2.

[MONO]

sorry couldn't shut my mouth on this one ,its all about confidence and practice. Lots of people you often see on the back wheel learnt as a kid and everyone knows kids bounce off anything, dust themselves off and get back on again. The bikes are too small to even get remotely damaged so the answer is start the same way kids do. Reduce everything. Size, speed and height of fall. So without going on too much I found the best thing that myself and lots of my mates did (on my bike) is to get something cheap and small, something like Z50. So its not far to fall, doesn't go very fast, not much power but you will quickly learn balance, throtel control and confidence. Other plus is you can vertually practic in your front yard and it is so quiet you won't even annoy your neighbours. Pretty soon you will have enough conficence and it will all seem too easy. Later on you will be sitting back with your mates, havin a beer and discussing how you are going to put all of this practice onto your favourite streetfighter on the road.

[MONO]

And make sure you listen to the pros like el sammo.

But when you practice make sure you wear a helmet, jacket and any other safety gear that you own and definately do not consume alcohol .....

[bluemk1]

quote:Originally posted by monoman

And make sure you listen to the pros like el sammo.

But when you practice make sure you wear a helmet, jacket and any other safety gear that you own and definately do not consume alcohol .....

so here you are with no helmet or gear and a beer in one hand, what does that say to the little kiddies reading this? []

[bluemk1]

quote:Originally posted by monoman

practice, practice, practice......

why would you edit the pic out?

i just being a dick, it was great, now put it back up there!

[MONO]

practice, practice, practice .....(just for you Alex)

[davio]

looks fuckin unsafe to me ,,, u could spill that beer

[el sammo]

haha thats awsome!