It's not mandatory to crash during the learning curve of the illusive wheelie. Every member on here would dearly love to pull the front tire in the air and carry it until the forearms cramp but few have the gonads to make it happen. My guess is most wheelie critics are guys who has never had the tire more than a few inches off the ground. But I can assure you, once you have mastered riding on the rear tire, you'll do it on every ride. You'll make sure you find some secluded place to lift the front tire high into the air and ride that puppy out until the road is no longer straight enough to steer around the corner.
After spending hundreds of hours on the rear tire, my advice to Brad with only a few months of total time in the saddle, if you are serious about learning to wheelie, sign up with one of the wheelie schools such as UpOnOne. You'll learn more there in one day than you'll learn all summer doing it on your own. And, you'll learn how to approach it safely. If a school is not an option, then I'd suggest finding the best wheelie guy in your area and do your best to get some input/guidance from him. It's very difficult to master the wheelie without guidance. You'll develope all sorts of bad habits that are dificult to break.
Always start your learning curve in 1st gear, no exceptions. 1st gear is much safer as you are going slower in case you do end up on the pavement (And that's always a possibility) It's also much easier on your scooter to bring it up in 1st.
Don't worry about covering the rear brake when you first start as it's just one more thing to occupy brain space. Keep it simple. If you do loop your scooter trying to wheelie, it will happen so fast you won't have time to think about the brake much less use it to save yourself. In low gear you have tons of compression. All you have to do is close the throttle and it will come down, hard but it will come down. If the bike is over center so far that compression won't bring it back to earth, your brake will do you no good at that point.
If you are going to attempt wheelies on your own, don't start out trying to bring the front wheel up more than few inches until you get comfy with having the tire off the ground. Then, progress very slowly as your comfort level comes up. It takes time and lots of practice to get the tire comfortably high into the air. The key really is practice. Lots of practice. If you only ride once a week and try two wheelies on a ride, you'll never master the wheelie.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
One other thing to consider. Learning to wheelie on your busa is not as easy as learning on a light and nimble 600. You will abuse your busa with lots of hard landings (The bike is heavy and half that weight is on the front tire) so don't be surprised if you replace the seals in the forks a couple of times before you learn how to land gently?
Hope I've helped you with a bit of insight on improving your riding skills. Wheelies are probably the most fun thing you can do on your bike. However, it does take time, lots of time, to make it happen. I think woman call that a "Commitment"