From Ado (6 Dec 02)

Being the biggest chicken in the world, and having unintentionally had the Busa's front wheel loft a few times I can't tell you what to do, as much as what to NOT do :)

• Don't apply the front brake, if the front wheel is immobile when you land, whoosh - you're off.
• Keep the front wheel STRAIGHT. A turned wheel equals sudden direction change = you're off.
• Don't apply the rear brake, at least not much if at all. Fast descent = off.
• Weight distribution? Don't bother, you only get a chance to focus on this if you want to STAY up there!
• Don't drop the throttle suddenly, you want to control your way down.

So, generally simply roll the throttle down, and keep the front wheel straight. Don't do anything sudden until the front wheel is back on the ground.

Small wheelies don't even feel like they happen, at least if you hunch forwards, but bigger ones scare the bejesus out of you (well, me anyway). If you can keep calm and put all that advice into practise, you're probably a better person than I :)

Ado

From Buellblack (6 Dec 02)

Its all about throttle control remember the throttle? Its one of the most neglected of skills in the bike riders arsenal.

I find that when it feels high enough I back off just a little to stop going too verticle, but keeping enough power to keep it up. To come back down, throttle off gently, (read a small bit) to have a gentle landing.

Wheelies are hell on the steering head and bearings, and not recomended. In the case of a mistaken wheelie, don't panic!!!!!!!!! and brake or do anything sudden. Your crutch will not like sudden drops from fending off a wheelie.

Probly the best i can suggest is to try and accelerate as fast as possible from a standing start a few times to get a feel for when a wheelie will happen. Get to know your bike better, so you are better prepaired in a real world situation. For warned is for armed.

hope it helps.

Buellblack

From John L (6 Dec 02)

If I may suggest; gentle application of the rear brake is a better way to put an unintentional wheelie down - chopping the throttle is going to lead to it dropping fast (and if you've got enough throttle control to ease it down on the throttle only you're probably not going to be too phased by it being aloft in the first place :-)

Otherwise all good advise (except I think you're a leeetlllee pessimistic about the ability to stuff up a landing and stay on board :-). Weelll, actually if you're learning to wheelie on a 'Busa then yeah OK you've got buckley's !! <G>

JL

From Andrew (9 Dec 02)

After reading a few of these wheelie posts there seems to be little bit of debate...should one apply the rear brake or back off the throttle. I ride an R1 and hence have the wheel up on regular occasions. I find applying the rear brake difficult simply because I ride with the balls of my feet on the footpegs instead of the instep. This means that to get to the rear brake I have to shift my weight off the peg slightly, which unbalances the bike (not a good idea on one wheel), hence I back off the throttle before going for the brake. I think including the brake is also just one more variable you have to worry about as well...

I would suggest that the brake is probably the safest way to get it all back down depending on how you position your feet normally. The only other problem with this is that when the wheel comes off the ground you have to have it all together enough too keep the throttle on (sometimes difficult).

As was suggested earlier, try accelerating hard from a standing start and letting it lift just a few inches. You will be able to back off as much as you like when it is only this high without damaging anything.

I also think that you would need to be rather savage with the throttle to have a genuine problem with a wheelie on the Raptor. I find that if I lean towards the front of the R1 and don't jerk the throttle open (but open it to full smoothly), it only lifts about ½ a foot off the ground (which is fairly
manageable).

Andrew