G'day Busa&Coal,
Before we all go any further on this subject.......just curious what your background is?!?
* How long have you been riding, all up (...including all other roadbikes before the busa (both high and low capacity); dirt and trailbikes; etc)?
* If you
have had a lot of years under your belt riding other machinery, have you ever managed to successfully ride [controlled B/P] wheelies on anything else?
* Do you know exactly where 'true' balance-point is?!?
* Have you ever flipped/looped a bike, whilst attempting a [high or low speed] wheelie?!?
* When you do attempt wheelies, do you 'cover' your rear brake pedal?
The busa is an absolutely awesome bike to ride on one wheel....but definately not an 'ideal' bike to
learn how to do wheelies, due to the huge amount of power on tap [...of which you'd be fully aware of by now] that could very quickly and quite easily get an inexperienced one-wheel rider into a whole LOT of trouble (ie: a totally trashed bike and massive amounts of road rash....not to mention many other situations and/or injuries that could be much,
MUCH worse)!!
Please don't get me wrong....I'm not trying to discourage you from riding your busa on one wheel in any way at all....quite the opposite, actually!!
In my humble opinion.....nothing else feels or looks better, and also requires as much skill, daring and bravado.....as riding big-bore sportsbikes at balance point at high (125 miles+) speed!!!
I just don't wanna see you get hurt.....
lease:
I've devoted my whole riding career (35+yrs) to engaging in this activity.....and there have been many trashed bikes and injuries in the process (and I hate to admit it, but there'll probably be a few more)!!!
But the obsession will
ALWAYS continue on and evolve.....for the simple fact that it doesn't really matter how good your
last wheelstand was....because the
next one (and the
next one, and the one
after that one) has to be
BETTER and
HIGHER and
HARDER and
FASTER than the
LAST one!!!
It's not really the sort of stunt that can ever be truly and totally mastered, because once you know how to do low floating power wheelies, you'll want to do balance-point wheelies, then stand-up wheelies, then one-handed BP wheelies, then one-handed feet out the sides BP wheelies, and so on and so forth!!! It can, and may very well be...all consuming!!
The best advice that I could possibly give you on this pastime/activity/obsession (....apart from obviously learning to do them on smaller and much more docile machinery.....but who wants to bother with
that?!?
) is the really basic stuff that many tend to overlook:-
*
find a very quiet and appropriate place to practice (far away from and totally clear of any obstacles such as other bikes & vehicles, people, animals, etc) that has lots of space and exceptional traction.
*
make sure your head is in the right place....ie: cool, calm & collected (...attempting w/stands directly after having a massive fight/argument with your g/f or wife or boss and you're angry and p*ssed off with the whole world is definately NOT the best time.....ask me how I know!
)
*
think BIG >>> but start off SMALL, and take your time!!! (it can be a long learning curve......so don't rush it!)
*
VISUALIZE it!!!!! (before you head out.....go over the whole process in your mind, from start to finish....over and over and over again!)
The body achieves what the mind believes!! This technique is used the world over by highly successful sportspeople, professional athletes, business people.....and anyone else that wants to achieve a winning outcome to any given problem/situation!!
*
cover your rear brake pedal....and be ready to use it if you need to! (this one sounds pretty obvious, but it's amazing how many forget this when they are learning wheelies). One of the best examples of recovering from a wheelie gone really, really wrong (ie: past 12 o'clock) can be seen by googling "Max Biaggi wheelie" (soz....don't know how to embed or link to video here?!?)
*
stick to 1st gear roll-ons for now....they are definately the safest way to start out! Wind the throttle on quickly, but also smoothly and progressively, and the front wheel will come up nice & predictably, without scaring the f*ck outta yourself!
*
Fanning/dumping the clutch in 1st or 2nd isn't good practice when you're just starting out learning wheelies.....way to violent and unpredictable, and a sure-fire recipe for going way past BP when you don't necessarily want to!!
and like E Zurcher previously mentioned....
*
have the most of your body weight to the back of your seat!! (depending on your positioning, you can use your body weight to bring your front end higher or lower.....and even to get your bike to go round curves on one wheel...if you're game!?!)
And the most important advice of all......
have lotsa fun and keep it safe!!
maybe i need to just quit being a vagina and let her eat 
even some of my beloved street bikes got looped and destroyed . I always tried to cover the brake but never could cuz as Tuff says I didnt have time. Again I'm not a wheelie king and don't really even do them anymore. I like a nice 2 gear roll on power wheelie about six inches off the ground, drop it down easy hit 3rd and hammer it....mmmmm....adrenalin tastes great.
