Every now and then we see people doing wheelies on the streets. Besides, in all the motorcycle related movies, there is a scene where someone does the wheelie. But doing a wheelie is not as easy as it seems. As a motorcycle pro, I am going to teach you how to ride a wheelie on a motorcycle.
You need to put your focus on the article carefully. If you do, you can learn to do wheelie on a motorcycle very easily. Follow the steps to learn to do wheelie in 10 simple steps:
10 steps to learn how to do a wheelie on a motorcycle
10 Steps To Do A Wheelie On A Motorcycle:
Once you follow these 10 steps to do a wheelie on a motorcycle, you’ll be able to do this with ease. Let’s dive into deep.
Step 1: Try On A Bicycle First:
If you are going to do wheelie on a motorcycle, then you should do it first on a bicycle. A bicycle may be a little downer for a pro but it gives you the flexibility and balance you need more than a motorcycle.
To try wheelie on a bicycle you must follow the step by step procedure,
- Check the parts before doing a wheelie.
As you are trying to make a bold move, you may need to check your bicycle parts first. Especially the wheels and the brakes must be checked before even trying a wheelie.
If it is a gear bike, go through every gear to check them and be confirmed that all the parts are okay to try doing a wheelie.
- You should use your protective gears if you are going to do the wheelie even on a bicycle. Because safety comes first!
You may need knee-caps, elbow-caps and a helmet. The gears are a must if you are really going to do a wheelie as there are possibilities to lose balance in the first tries.
- At this point, you should find a good open road where there is less possibility of sudden vehicles to come. If the road is steeper, then it is better.
- Now, try to ride on the steeper road. At first start with slower gears, not too fast. If you are going to go too fast, then you may lose balance. Try to run more specific to the speed.
- After practicing on the steeper road, come back to a plain road where the frequency of vehicles is low. Remember again, to do wheelie on a bike you must have some upper body strength and some very tight control on your bike.
- At the first moment on the plain road, go normally and try to keep the speed 8-9 Miles per hour. Do not get too high on gear because it may destroy your balance while doing the wheelie.
Do not go too slow either. It will not give you the necessary elevation for doing wheelie.
- After you are sure that the speed is in check, then keep pedaling and try to lift the front wheel. It will be tough at first, but will get easier with a few tries.
You may need to use some upper body strength to do that. Lean forward, try to grab the handles hard and put forth the reverse pressure to uplift the front wheel.
Two-or three tries may do it.
But do not stop pedaling because if you do that while doing a wheelie, you may lose momentum as well as balance.
- After you are successful in uplifting the wheel once a while, then you get confidence about how to uplift them for a longer time.
When you have that confidence, please keep the motion on the bike intact.
Keep the paddles running and keep the front wheel in the air. It may give you slight advantage if you keep the brake on the rear wheel pressured. Then you may have better balance.
Now, with these simple steps you just learned the basics of doing a bicycle wheelie!
Step 2: Check Your Safety Gears:
If you are doing bicycle wheelie well, then you must be ready for the next step, the famous motorcycle wheelie. The joy and excitement may make you nervous or concerned but fear no more! You will be easily doing it if you are completing the next steps.
At this stage, you must check your safety gears specially made for your motorcycle riding. If you are doing a wheelie on a bike going at speed, there is a slight possibility that you may lose balance and fall down. So, considering the possibility, just like doing wheelie on a bicycle, you should gather your safety gears and check out for possible flaws.
Gears will include helmet, gloves, and good motorcycle boots (if you have them) or leather boots. You should be wearing a heavy jacket and heavy pants along with gloves that match with riding.
Step 3: Check Your Motorcycle:
This is very important. Just like checking your bike, your motorcycle should be checked before even trying for a wheelie.
Following are some tips to have a pre-ride checking especially before trying for a wheelie:
- Check the tension of the chain so that no problem may occur. Especially check the front and rear sprocket so that you may find no problem while doing a wheelie.
- Check for any kind of fluid leakage, oil or water problems not in the motorcycle.
- Check on the throttle and also check on the brake, lever or paddle if there may occur any problem. Don’t leave them if adjusted too tight. Loosen, but not much.
- Check the pressure on the tyres to see if the wheels are okay. Do not misjudge that it may prove problematic later.
- Last but not the least check the wires and electrical parts if working correctly. If not, then it would be a problem if you are trying a wheelie.
If all the steps to check the motorcycle are okay, then you are ready for the ride of your life!
Trying a motorcycle wheelie on the road.
Step 4: Find A Road Where Frequency Of Vehicle Is Low:
A road full of people or traffic is not a road where you learn or do wheelies. To learn wheelie you must use a secluded road where the frequency of running vehicles is low.
As there is a possibility of problems occurring, you must remove yourself from harming others.
A secluded road can help you with that very well.
Another thing to remember is that wheelie on a street bike is illegal. So a quiet road is the best option to practice as well as avoid law related problems.
Step 5: Start From The Slower Mode To Do The Wheelie:
You should be trying to do the wheelie from the first gear. Usually the beginners start from slow modes. Accelerating is necessary when you have already mastered wheelie in the slower mode.
If you can easily do it then you should be trying more speed.
Another thing, the back brake is not usually what riders use. But for wheelie you need to use the back brake for balancing on the back wheel and keep the speed up for the front wheel.
So, you should have a good grip on the back brake too while doing a wheelie on a motorcycle.
Step 6: Speed Up And Crank The Gas Down:
When you feel comfortable trying to bring the front wheel up then you should try adding more speed to your motorcycle. A good speed to keep is 15-20 miles per hour. More speed than this may cause problems for you as you may feel the jerk while you try to do the wheelie.
At this point when you are adding more speed, let the gas go. Already I have been told how much the speed limit should be. Try to keep the speed on that benchmark.
Too slow speed will not let you do wheelies. And too high speed will give you an unusual jerk to let go of the handles and face serious injuries.
Step 7: Bring The Front Up:
This should be the stage where you literally take control and try the wheelie. After letting go of the gas, you should now take over the throttle and hit it hard.
With this sudden enhancement of the speed, pull the front of the motorcycle hard.
Try it a few times first.
First it may seem for a sec or less but with time passing by you will get a good grip and succeed to easily lengthen the time more and more.
When you are comfortable, then you should make good progress for the next step.
Step 8: Center Of Gravity For A Wheelie:
When you are comfortable at the seventh step, you should try to move forward to the full version of doing a wheelie on a motorcycle.
If you are comfortable and doing it right, then try to lift the front wheel by putting the center of gravity on the rear wheel.
While you are doing this for the first time, you can try to lean more with your knees and use your knees to grab the tank of the motorcycle. Then it can keep you safe from sliding from the seat.
Step 9: Do Not Lose Momentum While Doing A Wheelie:
When you are placed on the center of the gravity of the rear wheel, then you should be throttling down. The throttle must be down to the limit that the torque is not lost.
If the torque is lost, you lose all the momentum and you will just fall down.
Reducing the speed will give good balance when you are doing a wheelie.
Step 10: Coming Back To The Ground After A Wheelie:
Now you should just take the back wheel brake with your legs and try to put yourself down. But you may find it difficult to balance with just pushing the brake down hard.
If you want to keep the balance and come down, you need to hit the throttle hard and the front comes down keeping a balance of speed.
Is Wheelie Legal On The Roads?
Wheelie is an art. But the art can hurt people if there are other vehicles and the wheelie doer loses the control of the motorcycle. When this happens, serious accidents may happen along with serious injury – not only for the rider, but also to the people around.
For this, riding a wheelie is forbidden on roads. According to the law in many states, you should avoid doing wheelies on many streets. Because of this, practicing wheelie is safe only on secluded roads.
Precautions:
While doing wheelie for the first times you must follow these precautions to star safe –
– Start from the beginner’s level keeping the speed low. With time given by, you can increase the speed. Because if you are doing it for the first time then you may find it problematic to control the uplift of the back wheel.
– Always use the best gears possible especially the knee-caps and the helmet. These two gears should be top-notch. They may not be from racing class, but they should be enough to save you in an emergency.
– Never try it on busy roads even if you can keep your balance and all. This can seriously injure kids and others on the road. Wheelie is even banned in many states. Because they want to keep the wheelie away.
– Always keep good control over the rear wheel, rear brake and gas.
Conclusion:
Wheelie is fun if you can do it right. If you have a problem practicing yourself then you should be taking help from any expert around you.
You can even comment and let us know about the whole story.
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