There are two ways to bring the front wheel into the air: Clutch wheelies and Power wheelies – each has its own purpose and advantage.

The Power Wheelie: For a beginner, this is the easiest and safest way to learn how to wheelie your motorcycle. A power wheelie takes more time to raise the front wheel, thus consuming more RPM’s because you need to keep accelerating to keep the front wheel in the air. However, when learning power wheelies, you should not be concerned with how long you can ride them. In order to do a power wheelie (considering you have a bike of adequate power: 600cc or more), you need to be cruising at or slightly below your power band, which usually falls between 4k-7k RPM’s. Next, roll on the throttle as if you were going to accelerate quickly, roll of completely, and roll back on ½-3/4 throttle (this should all take about 1 second). This method induces a natural “bouncing” of the front forks which will ease the process of bringing the front wheel off the ground. Some higher cc bikes do need to bounce at all. Remember, start slow and work up to it – no one gets it the first time. After experimenting with different RPM’s and roll on/off timing, something should ‘click.’ As with most stunts, timing is EVERYTHING! *Be aware that once you bring the bike at or near the balance point, you will need to let off the throttle in order to keep from flipping over backwards, but not too much to bring the front back down, this part is what takes the most practice. Start in first gear and work up to second.

The Clutch Wheelie: While learning this method, you will probably eat up your clutch. However, when executed properly, it will put very little stress and abuse on your clutch and drive chain. Once you are familiar with popping wheelies, this method reduces the amount of RPM’s used in order to get the front wheel in the air (thus, you are able to ride them further without achieving the balance point). Some will say that clutch wheelies are more predictable. Clutch wheelies instantly bring the front wheel to a general height, in which you can simply ‘fine-tune’ that height with a slight increase or decrease of the throttle. However, for a beginner, this method will not only scare the crap out of you, but will it be very inconsistent. To do a clutch wheelie (assuming your bike has adequate power-as described above), cruise at or slightly beneath your power band. The next steps occur almost simultaneously:
1) Roll on, as you would under hard acceleration
2) Slip the clutch (fan it – bring it in so it beings to disengage and let it back out-fast!)
3) Stay on the throttle until the desired height is achieved.

Be aware, it will come up quick! 2nd Gear is the best gear to try these in as 1st will be very sensitive.

Tips on different types of wheelies:

**With all wheelies – COVER THE REAR BRAKE!!!!!

SIT-DOWN WHEELIES:
-Powering in to it or clutching it, you may need to ‘tug’ on the bars in order to help the front wheel into the air.
-Sit as far back as the seat allows, transferring as much of your weight back as possible – this will make the balance point lower and get the front wheel in the air easier.

STAND-UP WHEELIES:
-Most of us are not used to standing up on our pegs, especially while trying to do a wheelie. The scariest part with learning these is getting them up. As silly as it may seem, try to keep your butt as far BACK and UP as possible. This will look funny, but will assure that you have your weight transferred towards the back. Remember to keep your weight on your legs; if your weight is on your hands, you will inadvertently be putting downward pressure on the bars, keeping them from rising. Also, weight on your feet makes the bike easier to steer. To steer left, transfer your weight to your left peg and act as though you are ‘pushing’ the rear tire out from under you to the right.
-Stand-ups have the most potential for tank-slappers, so when you are learning, get in the habit of setting the front wheel down completely straight.

SHIFTING DURING A WHEELIE:
- The easiest and safest way to shift during a wheelie is to shift without the clutch. To do this, (if you are in 1st gear), run to a high RPM so that when you shift, you are not shifting directly to the early power band of the 2nd gear (which can/will flip you if you are not careful), apply a hard and steady pressure up on the shifter, and when you are ready to shift, quickly chop and then get back on the throttle. The lack of resistance by the engine will allow you to shift easily (because the engine offers so much resistance, applying hard upward pressure on the shifter will not cause it shift unless the resistance is released.