Wheelies: Where am I going wrong?

[MementoMori]

Copied from a Pommy forum cos I can't be arsed to type it all out again so for the record, bellend = silly bugger.

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Just been out for a quick blat around the countryside and what have you, and with there being no one around I took up the opportunity to try and pop the front wheel.

Must have tried... 10/15 times but just managed to load the rear and lighten the front a tad. If the wheel did leave the ground, it was only by a handful of millimetres.

My technique:

1st gear, about 8/9 revs, clutch in and out quicker than you can say 'I'm a bellend" with quick blip of the throttle as I dump the clutch. Probably could have done with bouncing the forks a bit but this detail seemed to have slipped my mind at the time.

As I got more and more used to the bike's reactions (which weren't much to be fair ) I increased the amount of revs and the amount of throttle I gave it when dumping the clutch.

Still achieving pretty much naff all, other than the obvious surge of power and revs.

So where was I going wrong? I'm hoping some of you more experienced wheelie nuts will be able to offer up some advice to a n00b like me.

So anyone with experience lifting an NC30 on to its back wheel are in this case, highly sought after.

In other news, I was putting my gloves back on after filling up at the garage and this teenage couple starting glancing in my direction in a cheeky and annoying way. So yeah, they did that a couple of times but the third time, the girl looked back to find me glaring right at her (with my helmet and stuff on cos it's scarier) and her smile just completely dropped and she turned around so quick. Hahaha, it was awesome. And I checked that I didn't have poo on my head or anything when I got home so god knows what they found so amusing. Other than my juicy new racing hump.

[boomer]

twist the throttle all the way to FULL as fast as you can... on the way to full you'll find the power band or strong pully type thrusty momentumish movement then slip the clutch real fast and keep accelerating.. she'll soon come up. if not give up and request to replace the resident bellend JustSomeGuy.

churr.. another money saving idea by McBoomer

[R6_kid:Me]

i think satch used to have an NC30 that he could wheelie, im sure it can be done either way. I've seen brett wheelie his zxr250 pretty decent so if boomer can get it up on his CBR600RR im sure any other half-skilled biker should atleast be able to lift the front pretty decent on something torquey like an NC30.

Out of interest, where does the nc30 make full power? My suggestion is that you take off in 1st at about 70-80% accelleration, wind it up to full throttle and about 500-1k below 'peak' do your thing with the clutch, should atleast lift it, just cover the back brake incase it commes up too much.

[MementoMori]

Bike really comes into its own at around 8k revs and above. Will try using full throttle and clutching it as it reaches powerband.

Cheers.

[imdying]

Poor little NC30 has a really high first gear, it's such a lovely twisty bike it seems a shame to rape the clutch like that But yeah, full throttle, and dip the clutch slower (i.e. hold the clutch in longer so the revs dip higher).

[R6_kid:Me]

would help if you got a larger sprocket on the back, this will compromise your top speed somewhat, but if its wheelies you want then it is sure to help.

[Mr. Peanut]

You're going to have to load up the front end a bit, hit a speed bump and give it a bit of gas to get the general idea.


Have you tried sitting back in your seat? Make sure you're not putting your weight forward too quick. Don't get discouraged, it's not the easiest bike to wheelie.

[MementoMori]

Yeah, I think I was putting weight over the bars, another thing I should have taken into account.

Thanks for the encouragement.

You're gonna have to excuse my current lack of mechanical knowledge - but to the suggestion of getting a larger rear sprocket... I currently have a smaller front sprocket waiting to be fitted by someone who knows what they're doing. Will this achieve the same/ a similar effect?

I hope that wasn't too dumb a question.

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

[boomer]

Bike really comes into its own at around 8k revs and above. Will try using full throttle and clutching it as it reaches powerband.

Cheers.

just don't let of the gas.. keep accelerating hard when you clutch it * * disclaimer.. this is what i've been told

[R6_kid:Me]

going down one on the front is usually said to be 3 up on the back, of course its easier to go up on the back, and sometimes better too because you can only go down 2-3 teeth on the front, where as with the back the only limit is ground clearance (if you want to get stupid with it), also if you go down too many on the front the tighter radius will cause your chain to wear faster.

[bugjuice]

don't clutch it in first.
accelerate around ~60% up to 8k in first, and just as you get to around 7ish, shut off the gas, then hammer it on quick-sharp all the way. The front will rise forsure..

[imdying]

don't clutch it in first.
accelerate around ~60% up to 8k in first, and just as you get to around 7ish, shut off the gas, then hammer it on quick-sharp all the way. The front will rise forsure..

Can't say I've had any success with that technique on an NC30.

[bugjuice]

never tried it on an NC30 to be honest..

And I'll also admit, that for some reason, I failed to fully realise the bike in question, thinking that it was a gixer 6/750 and not an NC..

[rok-the-boat]

I'd say you are probably destined to wreck your bike. Learn to wheelie off-road on a dirt bike. Otherwise, you need a bike like a CB900R that you can wheelie simply by opening the throttle at will, which is an easer, but pretty dangerous way to learn. Trust me, this is the voice of bad experience speaking ...

[KLOWN]

i've been trying to wheelie my 400 and the best advice I can give is: don't have much gas in your tank, it makes more of a difference then you think. Second throw your weight backwards and 'lift' the front of your bike with your arms. You'll be surprised how quickly it'll come up if you do that. The zxr is ment to have the longest wheel base of all the 400 so, in theory, its the hardest to wheelie. I'm also pretty sure the honda has more torque becaue of the v4 config. just keep practicing and check out the stunt part of this forum.