Honestly I started in 2nd. I thought of it this way: If 2nd is easier, smoother, and more controlable...why start out with first gear ones? (like that one vid says) They said it was important to master 1st gear before 2nd. I would say start out with the easier, then try the harder 1st gear ones. Then again, if you go down, I'd rather go down in 1st goin 30 than in 2nd doing 60.

I would say if you plan on riding them, start with the 2nd gear ones, then try to control the 1st gear slow parkinglot style wheelies. If you just want to pop it up for a second, go first gear and get the feel of the quick crazy 6in wheelie. Practice those for a few weeks (covering the rear brake. I spent two or so days just poping it up only to rear brake it back down),then go for 2nd gear short wheelies.

 

Thanks Black,

I was thinking I should try starting with 2nd just because its easier to control and is smoother. Once I get that down i'll work backwards to the 1st gear ones. Thanks for the reply.

H

 

id work 1st gear first, it has more engine break... plus itll make u respect that throttle

if ur used to doing 2nd, then drop to first... ur gonna grab more then u need and might loose it.


just my $0.02

 

I started in 1st gear, and highly recommend it. I think it was easier to learn in 1st gear. 2nd gear has more of a throttle delay and 1st gear tends to be more instant on reponse. Though Once you start praticing 2nd gears you get used to the difference, and they both feel fluid.

 

I guess i'm just scared to rev it up higher in 1st since it seems so jerky

I just want to learn the feeling for it being up, so if 2nd is smoother I figure i'll get it up in 2nd and then once i'm comfortable with how the bike handles on one wheel i'll try and deal with the more 'unstable' 1st gear wheelies. Thanks for all the replies guys and keep em coming if theres more opinions.

H

 

hey meng...

i was made mod so that i would start $#1t anymore...hahahahha...
i don't know how to combine all of the threads together into 1 big one...so until then, please use the sticky!


so here's a question for you all...why do they make you do roll on wheelies at wheelie school?

 

we all know what you mean. but to be quite honest, its not going to be as jerky as you think. get comfortable with the bike comming up. POWER WHEELIE IF YOU NEED TO! if you PW do them around 20mph. eventually you will find out that your bike is going to do everything you are telling it to. you wanna come up? its gonna come up. you want to tap your rear brake? its gonna come down. if you think 2nd gear is gonna make you smoother on the throttle, then go for it. we all learn and ride different. but try to adapt what im about to say into your riding..... i am lucky enough to live in the same area as a bunch of pro stunters (Darius, Joe Molina, Joe Brown, Jason Pullen, Bullo, Mick Stunts and many others who are damn near pro) when i was starting out, they all told me the same thing, "dont get ahead of yourself. but, dont be a *****. it takes alot to loop. find a right balance."

if you can, have someone video tape you.... its been said a million times. study how you come up and notice how LOW you actually are. learn some confidence from the tape.

 

I have been popping wheelies on my 600 CBR f2 by just hammering the throttle in the power band (not rolling it on/off/on) with consistancy for quiet awhile but only pop-n-drop ones. I had planned on doing those to get comfortable with the whole idea of getting one wheel up and such. Afterwards I figured move on to driving it out. I feel I am now ready for attempting riding them out. My problem is this, I can pop the wheelies now no prob in 1st & 2nd gear (2nd gear is a little more difficult for me but can still pull it off) I am to the point where i feel confident in being able to pop the wheel up whenever and not worry about the front turning to one side etc. Thing is I get the front up to like 10 O'clock or so and then Boom ball slapper. I tried to ride one out today by just holding the throttle once the front came up but I got the front up to more like 9' O clock and rode it for like 15 feet then set the front down. I noticed the "landing" was much smoother when I rode it out but any suggestions on how to keep my wheel up to my usuall hieght?
(Go ahead and answer me by saying "Grow some ***** etc, I expect as much, but some technical suggestions would be nice too)

 

gotta get comfortable with the throttle. ever try clutching?

 

Only a couple of times.....I felt I needed to get comfortable doing the small pop-n-dropp power wheelies before I tried clutching. I am pretty comfortable with the power wheelies now except for when I have a full tank of gas, I can't really ride them out, I have basically been trying to get comfortable with bringing the wheel up higher not so much of the riding them out. I end up riding them out for really short distances because of the kind of wheelie they are, can't help but ride the wheelie for like 15-20 feet when you power it up and get it up to like 9-10 o'clock. When I tried clutching them I think I was being really cautious (which to me isn't really a bad thing) and only got the wheel up like once out 3-4 tries. It came up a really wimpy couple of inches. It just feels really weird trying to clutch them since I am sacrificing one finger to work the clutch. Feels like I'm not hanging on to the grips as much as when I do powered ones. I can see why people suggest clutched wheelies over power ones though if it's true that they are more consistant. Because one thing I can attest to is powering them can indeed be very inconsistant. I can power them up in 1st and 2nd gear but I don't like trying them in 2nd as you got to be going faster, and a screw up would be that much more devistating. I like the idea of clutching them for the simple fact that appearently they can be done at low speeds and are more consistant. I watched the video I found on here "How to wheelie" and it suggested to get comfortable powering them up first, and to start small. So thats what I been doing. I only did one wheelie in 2nd to see if I could and it took me a couple of tries but I got it up and I didn't like having to go faster to get it up. So I'll stick to 1st gear power-up and maybe try clutching them here n there. But to be honest Clutching them feels like I have less control and seems harder for me to get them up. When I clutched it I did it in first gear from a slow roll, and when it came up it came up FAST. Kinda scary if ya ask me. Like I said I'll just keep getting more comfortable with "roll-ons" or powered wheelies before I progress to clutching. Unless someone thinks This is a bad idea and can explain to me why. Any pointers are appreciated. I am trying to take baby steps not ride a wheelies for 15 mins at 100 MPH within the first 2 months of learning. LOL
Call me a sissy but I like my skin and my bike. I'd rather take my time and get it right slowly.