Ducati Monster Forum

This is a question about... you guessed it wheelies! I know you can use the clutch but the whole concept of using the clutch i'm not sure i'm really ready for. I have a s2r 800 which should have plenty of power to wheelie. I know it's all about the right rpms, i have tried first gear but it only lifts everynow and then and the speed is too slow for riding on the road. Second gear I goose it and it doesn't really do anything either :-\ I have stock gearing. Any experienced hooligans with wise advice would be great.

My S2R1000 will lift the front wheel a couple of inches without using the clutch in second gear.  In first gear it'll flip right over if I'm not carefull.  This, with a 14 tooth countershaft sprocket, and a lot of tuning.  I think that you're expecting too much of an 800 with stock gearing, at least for second gear.

Learn from Dave Sonsky.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncPBZ9DRRk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncPBZ9DRRk)

He is a stunt guru, used to do stunts with "the star boyz". he writes for streetfighter magazine stateside now.

I have a 800 and a 14T sprocket helped alot.  Still not easy.

I'm realizing its not that easy  :-\ Roughly what rpm are you at when the front goes up?

I haven't done it this year yet.  I think it was 4500 with a good bounce on the forks.  But don't quote me on that.  I will have to research ;D

On a 800cc in first at around 5500rpm i would simply cut the throttle, let the forks compress and then whack the throttle open (ALWAYS COVERING THE REAR BRAKE WITH MY RIGHT FOOT). In second gear, same theory but as you´re about to whack the gas to WOT i´d just flick the clutch (as in press in slightly and dump) again with that rear brake covered. It will come up.

If I could wheelie a Kawasaki ZZR250 with 33hp you can wheelie a M600 - M800 easy.

If you make the beast with two backs up and break your bike, get hurt or worse - I don´t condone this sort of behavior and don´t blame it on me. If you can´t do it - seek help from a wheelie school and they will teach you in a safe environment.

MAKE SURE:
Tyres/tires are warm and road surface is dry and not frozen solid and your rear brake works.
You are not practicing on a public road (ahem)
You have full gear one from head to toe - helmet, gloves, boots, leathers

Have fun!

What NuTTs said. I used to do that all the time when I had my S2R800. Now with the 1K, roll on wheelies are common place...

I have no problem getting up the front wheel on the S2R1k in 2nd  gear. when i try to do them (rarely, the bike is just too snappy to learn on, and im a big wuss) 2nd gear power wheelies gets my bike high enough. 1st gear is just askinig for it to loop and the bike goes wild if u just back of the throttle just a hairline. 3rd gear wheelies are next to impossible with just the throttle. But ive felt it want to jump if you get the suspension preloaded and u let out the clutch to fast.

I think the instruction on youtube above is very good for those wanting to learn.  I found it easier to do a power wheelie starting at only 2,000 rpm and then just a little throttle will easily bring it up 2".  Start with that.  Be ready to back off the throttle or hit the rear break.  Start slow with little flicks of the throttle and build up.  When I tried to do it at 4,000 rpm I had to hit the throttle harder and obviously I was also going faster.  Start slow.  At 2,000 rpm the bike is not going very fast. Just don't wack it wide open... try little flicks first.  Believe me it will come up.

Thats really all i am looking for right now. Starting slow with just a few inches and working up from there. Thanks for all the helpful posts [thumbsup]

I too have an itch for wheelies
it's a good idea too take small steps
dont expext to do 12 O'clock's  in three day's practice
took me a year and six months to get to the point where i'm now comfortable
and i'm only clutching it in 2nd gear and no stand up's (well not yet anyways)
get used to redlining in first gear several times
so you know where all the torque is
keep the rear brake covered/ware proper gear
have fun
 [thumbsup]

I find that power wheelies are easier if I unweight my butt from the saddle....Not quite standing up, but sorta like the position you'd be in if you were going over bumps....The bike sorta feels "lighter" in this position for some reason....

The one thing I'm crappy at, though, is attempting to upshift from 1st to 2nd while the front wheel is up....some people are really good at it, but not me.... :-\

Wheelie school (no FHE):
http://www.ononewheel.com/

If it helps, i have the cure for wheelies....

Keep repeating to yourself over and over "the radiator for a S4R is $1600, the tank for a S2R is $1300, my full Arrow exhaust cost $2000...."

It cured me. ;D

Startling old ladies with your hooligan antics: Priceless

It's only a cure if you don't have the sickness.  [thumbsup]

I like to wheelie, but I usually do it on some back road.  A friend of mine gets a little spirited though and he does it off the line at city stop lights.  Certainly scares the grandmas, delights the teenagers and anyone else coming out of a starbucks, but probably not too smart to do in traffic.

I've been known to bring the front up a little at a light... never when someone is in front of me though.

I have a M900 that refuses to not wheelie

I prefer 1st gear power wheelies, accelerate quickly to load rear, soon as you enter the powerband, which is quickly on these twins, drop off the gas, let the weight transfer to the front and forks compress, as the forks rebound, quickly flick open the throttle, a little a first then more and more as you get comfortable, I personally don't worry about the rear brake since I'm not 12 o'clocking and the engine has enough compression braking that a quick release of the throttle will bring you back from even very high wheelies

now ask about stoppies and seat stands :)

Did my first wheelie on my '07 S2R today - Hizzou!  [evil]

Man, you know it's good if you're still smiling after having your nuts smashed. 

I'm 6' 4" 260 and all it took was to follow everyone's advice...get rolling in first, chop the throttle back and then go  WOT - no clutch needed (although, I'll admit I didn't get it all the way open before I rolled off - thus the squashed nuts).  Oh, and I did it in the Lowe's parking lot when no one else was around...so I guess the only thing I would add to this post is that you should make sure you remain mindful of your sack while messin' around with wheelies. 

That was like 6 hours ago and I still can't wipe this S.E.G. off my face.   ;D

I've been riding for close to 14 years (with time off while overseas) and I've never pulled a wheelie until today.  Oh yes, there will be more...

My old Monster 620 would wheelie with a bit of clutch work in 2nd gear so don't think your 800 won't.  Start off in 1st, engage 2nd, hold the throttle steady and fan the clutch. (flick the clutch, zap the clutch, whatever terminology you like)  You should notice the front end pop up, even if just a little.  With practice (find a nice open area) and patience you should be able to get the feel for how many revs to give it and how fast it'll come up.  Cover the rear brake and be ready to stab it to bring the front wheel down if you feel it's getting too high too quickly.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Now if you want to avoid all that work, go for the S4RS.  Gad, my new Tricolore will wheelie at darn near any speed in any gear.  It's highly addictive!  I can't wait to see how much gnarlier it is this weekend after the Termis and the ECU are installed.  She's in the shop right now for the mod.  Eeeevil!

get ready man... [evil]
my Rs with the pipes and chip and air box will pull the wheel going into 4th if you are a little slow on the clutch. first gear power wheelies are a little too nuts now, it just yanks the bike up, I tend to play in 2nd now.

I will attest that any "whacking" of the throttle in second (s4rs full system/airbox.ecu) will = wheelie. In first....forget about it. I find the front end of mine getting curiously light through the first three!!! Gimme a slight rise in the road followed by a little downhill...fun...fun...fun. I was close to pulling some 2 wheel air a few weeks ago !!!

The Monster wheelies very well in my opinion. It's just a different technique than inline 4's or 3's. I like to compare them like the Twins are 4 stroke dirt bikes and the I4's are like 2 strokes. The only issue with the monsters are that you need a big bore (800 or higher) to get the super nice wheelies out of them and rev limiter comes quicker. Because the rev limiter comes quicker you need the lower end grunt to pull you up at lower revs to carry the wheelies longer.

Then you cross the bridge of changing gears through out the wheelie (I personally dont prefer this on stand-ups because of the awkward way your foot needs to work on the shifter). In the vids I posted earlier I brought it up in 3rd and held it at the balancing point until I wanted to come down (no shifting). This is a good technique to start with because then you know you will not be exceeding the top speed of the gear you brought it up in. The balancing point gives you that kind of "clenching" feeling that takes a bit to get used to though. Remember, its better to put it down then to go down (rebuilding forks can be expernsive, but a new bike and road rash isnt worth your trouble to look cool).

When I do like to change gears is during sit down wheelies. This way your foot hits the shifter just as it would when you are riding normal. I personly like to bring it up in second; by slightly "floating" my butt above the seat, then sitting back down when the bike is up. In my opinion this technique should be learned second for alot of reasons.
1) Its easier to slide off the back of a seat onto the road than it is when your standing on pegs.
2) Its hard to see the road ahead of you when your gas tank is in your face (this is when your at the balancing point (BP), not just floating the tire a foot or two above the road for a few seconds. Where as standing you can see all around you.
3) Stand up wheelies give a "safer" perspective of the BP than sit downs if your learning
4) When it comes time to put the bike back down on 2 wheels it truely is an art to do it gracefully. So when you do it hard on a stand up your arms in conjuction with the suspension absorb the impact. Where as on a sit down: riders are more common to hit hard... slide forward into the tank... resulting in pushing the handle bars... and worse case scenario getting a speed wobble :'(
5) Also, once you learn how to hang out at the BP and change gears together, to many people go from 2nd to 4/5/6th and dont have the skill to successfully bring the bike back down at high speeds.

Earlier I mentioned you need the Big Bore Ducs to wheelie. This is not a slap in the face to you members that dont own one 8) . Its just means sometimes more power is better than not enough. I just bought my S4 this year... Prior to that I owned a 02 620. Did I wheelie it? You d**n right I did. But it took more finnese, skill and BALLS than the S4. For those of you checking out these pics and vids that want to go out and learn to wheelie the most important advice has been said time and time again on this board.

1) LEARN ON DIRT!!! Because I dont want any monsters injured in the process
2) Go to youtube and type in "Wheelie Crash" :-X . Make sure you thats what you want, because those are possible outcomes whether its your first day of wheelies... or or your 5th year of wheelies.
3) Dress for the Crash, not the Ride.

If you go on youtube abd search for monster S4 wheelies by Pancake81 you can a few I did last year. For some reason it wont let me post the linky.

Heath

+1 from CNS-Mike on taking care of your nuts, first time I wheelied on my monster it took me by surprise so i chopped the throttle real qiuck=nut crush, thankfully i was in 1st and not going very fast, but BEWARE! For sit down wheelies, squeeze the tank real hard to protect the jewels

When it comes to stunting, especially anything involving a balance point ie: Everything  ;D I prefer to get used to trying stuff on a smaller (less expensive bike). If you have the money, don't be too afraid to go and throw your bike around, just keep the speed down, concentrate on technique and don't try to use speed as an advantage. You can slap the concrete a lot harder and have a lot less control over where you and the bike end up at higher speeds. If stunts are really important to you, it's worth the effort and the spills. You can pick up an older 4 cylinder honda or something (for cheap) that will wheelie like a mf and won't cost you a penny when you drop it. Learn stuff on that then apply it to your nice bike. It's a lot less likely to end up in the shop/ garage.

I practice on dirt bikes that my friends own, not great for stuff like high chairs or tank stands but do the trick for wheelies/ stoppies etc.. I'm not afraid to drop them and their power to weight ratio is great for learning, can be a bit much sometimes. I'm no expert but this is just my two cents. As for the different engines and handling, once you have confidence with the maneuver it's not that hard to adjust to different set ups.

How do you guys bring wheelies down? I've been doing massive first gear power wheelies that i can only bring down by letting of the throttle and gasing it on the way down again. I'm too chicken shit to step on the rear break.

When doing those kinds of things, the rear brake is your friend.  Just go easy on it.  Don't stand on it. 

I haven't got comfortable with the clutch method yet, little by little I'm getting there.  Roll on is much easier and more graceful.  Of course the clutch will get you there right away, just takes time and practice.

When I make a effort to do it, I always seem to bounce off the limiter or do something else stupid. But when I'm out riding and it just happens, be it a power or clutch up wheelie it just happens naturally to me and everything is cool...

OH and a +1 on the watching of the jewels....

When doing high power wheelies, generally very hard with a little head shake.  [laugh]  I've been meaning to try the rear brake method a little more as I have no never used it or even covered it in the past (mostly because it was wrapped and ill adjusted).

The best wheelie I've ever ridden was by accident, but it was basically using the second gear slight clutch method that Nutts mentioned.  I missed a turn, so after I turned around to go back, I nailed the throttle in first to pull the wheel up slightly and was slow on the shift into second.  As a result, the engine was spinning a little faster than the transmission and was just in the powerband.  The clutch release brought the front up enough (the suspension was also rebounding from landing the first gear wheelie) that the rest of the powerband was able to bring it up more for a nice long and smooth wheelie and smooth landing when I got out of the powerband.  [thumbsup]

Have never been much for wheelies on pavement, but plenty on dirt in my younger years.  Saw this post, and followed the directions for roll-on wheelies and it works, even for a big guy like me.  First wheelie in years and first wheelie on pavement.  Here in the 'burbs of DC we have tons of big, wide speed humps.  They work great for training.  They compress  the front suspension and just as your front tire is about to drop down the backside of the hump, roll on the throttle.  Works like a charm and seems to require much less throttle input to get the front tire off. I started with the humps, but now can do them in first gear at will. I guess it is a lot like a roll on wheelie from the crest of a hill except a speed hump is a much smaller hill. 

Trying hard to work and not go do squidly things on this nice fall day.....

The Adventure powerwheelies well in 1st and 2nd with the traction control switched off, this bike is very naughty.. very very naughty