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How do you do a wheelie with a motorcycle?
-
John den Ouden
- Last modified on 15/02/2025
How do you do a wheelie with a motorcycle?
A stunt that every motorcyclist secretly wants to be able to do is a wheelie, but how do you do it? And perhaps even more importantly: how do you make sure you don't fall?
The wheelie is seen by many as a reckless stunt, but with the right technique a wheelie is actually not dangerous at all.
Disclaimer: wheelies do not belong in traffic, if you want to practice wheelies do so on a deserted road or parking lot without endangering others.
Powerwheelie
Have you ever seen someone speeding past on 1 wheel at over 100km/h? It was probably a power wheelie. A low wheelie where the speeds quickly increase. When something goes wrong, it usually goes really wrong…
A power wheelie is actually just using the power of the engine to get the front wheel off the ground. And with engines getting more powerful, this isn't even that hard.
Because the wheel doesn't really get high, the bike continues to accelerate, forcing you to either shift up or pull off the wheelie.
Unfortunately I often see bikers doing power wheelies without the skills to react when they go too far back. And then it becomes dangerous and it is more a matter of luck.
Balance wheelie
A real, controlled wheelie, we also call a balance wheelie. We call it this because this wheelie is a lot higher than a power wheelie, which brings you to the so-called balance point. When you master this form of the wheelie well, you can neatly keep riding at the same speed on the rear wheel as long as the road is long.
However, we also call the balance point the tipping point, because if you cross this point and do not respond appropriately, you will fall backwards without any mercy...
Rear brake
This is where the rear brake comes into play, the most important part of the bike when it comes to wheelies. That rear brake is your only salvation when you go too far back in the wheelie.
When we ride on the road, the rear brake is rarely used and the foot is often a little next to the brake pedal. When you pull a wheelie and you go too far, there is a big chance that you are too late at the brake.
That's why it's very important that your foot is already over the brake before you pull the wheelie.
YouTube is full of videos of bikers pulling a wheelie, and in 99% of cases it's because they forgot to use the rear brake.
Clutch
In the power wheelies we talked about earlier, the front wheel comes off the ground due to the power of the engine. Usually the speed is already quite high, which is a risk factor.
Therefore it is better to use the clutch to get into the wheelie, you can then initiate the wheelie at a lower speed and it is much more controllable.
An additional advantage is that this way you can easily put motorcycles that do not have enough power for power wheelies on the rear wheel.
You do this by pulling in the clutch at low speed, revving it a little and then quickly releasing the clutch.
Don't forget to keep your foot above the brake!
Gas reaction
Often beginners tend to play with the throttle during the wheelie, the so-called pumping throttle.
This is a big mistake and can cause you to lose control during the wheelie. On lighter bikes or scooters you can still get away with this. But on heavier bikes you can pull the bike over the balance point in one go. You have to be able to react very quickly to save it.
It is therefore important to keep the throttle steady in the wheelie and use the rear brake to ensure you don't go over the balance point.
Now combine everything
Ok, foot on the brake, clutch in, rev the engine and release that clutch!…
In theory it is easy. But unfortunately in practice it all too often goes wrong with damage to the engine or injuries as a result. It is therefore exceptional that you come across someone who is very good at wheelies, who has never fallen during his or her practice period. It therefore takes a lot of discipline and perseverance to be really good at wheelies. But what if there was a shorter way…
Wheelie School
Where it used to cost the real die-hards blood, sweat and tears to learn how to do a wheelie, today you can simply go to wheelie school.
At the wheelie school you will learn all the above steps in 4 hours in a 100% safe way. Due to the special construction behind the engine, it will not hurt if you forget the rear brake once. The rubber bumpers absorb every mistake without any problems, until you have mastered it.
The WheelieSchool.be is located in Belgium and has several locations, including on the border with the Netherlands.
More information can be found on the website: www.wheelieschool.be
Conclusion
How to do a wheelie? Anyone can learn to do a wheelie, but it takes a lot of time and discipline to really get the hang of it. WheelieSchool.be can save you a lot of time and avoid the risks that come with practicing without equipment.
Can you do a wheelie yet? Let us know in the comments how you learned.
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