When you pull a wheelie on a motorcycle (600cc or better) should you ride the rear brake?

Question

My friend and i disagree, when i pull a wheelie i think finding the balance point and riding it out is all about throttle control, he thinks you should ride the rear brake, I think if you do this you risk hitting it to hard and slamming the front tire down, thus causing the shake that you see happen to all those idiots on you tube and than wreck the bike.

Answer 1

all depends on your experience , personally i always keep it covered.........and what do you mean 600cc or better , if you mean better for wheelies it doesn't have to be 600 or bigger/better (as you put it)  

Answer 2

I'm with you as far as staying away from the rear brake. Granted it "could" save you in a pinch but I have never had to go there. When I ride a wheelie I get into "the zone"  my concentration is all about balance and throttle control. I think riding the rear brake would be a sign of fear and a lack of confidence.  

Answer 3

no.use throttle control.Tap the front brake to bring the front end down.I used to pro roadrace .I wrecked alot of bikes learning.To get the front end up snap the throttle twice back  and  then nail it.the slack in the chain will will snap the frontend right up .the looser the chain the more violently it;ll yank it off the ground.

Answer 4

Anything you put the brakes on ,should stop.

Doing a wheelie is a balance, accel for lift, then balance . brake to stop raising higher accel to prevent drop. concentrated balance.

Be careful and take safety foremost!

                                   "BRILLIANT"!!!!

Answer 5

Don't use the brakes.  Continue to ride dangerously until you crash and crack your skull open. Please stay off the main roads!  I've seen way too many idiots pulling off wheelies on the freeway going 70mph!

Answer 6

my air cooled RD350 would stand up under power... & the RD250LC would as well,,  so you don't need bigger/better .( but it does make it easier).  & yes you use the rear brake to control the speed it comes up at & to stop it going to far ..  but you only need to roll of the accelerator to bring it down,,   rear brake is especially good for when your going up gears on the back wheel.. because if you get it high enough it makes it easier to change up...

Answer 7

In the seventies,I could do 1/8th and 1/4 mile wheelies on a 1969 Honda 450 scrambler with TT pipes on it.It is important to keep a excellent working clutch as a slipping one is very dangerous doing wheelies.I only used the back brake to keep from going over backwards while I shifted gears.I would get moveing about20 miles per hour,rev it up and feather slip the clutch until It was up and taching about 9000 RPMs then shift to second gear.At 60 and 70 the wind can scare the h**l out of you by pitching the machine to the back or the side.I`m 57 yrs old now and know I would have been killed or ruined for life if I ever fallen off.Always avoid bad road conditions.Be safe And good luck.

Answer 8

i can see, may be, using the rear brake carefully to bring you safely out of the wheelie but I would stay away from it all together.  you would put your self at high risk to breaking traction and being on one wheel may likely cause a violent end to your wheelie, at least for that moment.  Throttle control and clutch control are what you need to use, not the rear brake.  The traction vs brake concept is similar when cornering.  If you are cornering with a lean, then you're traction has been reduced considerably (the contact patch has less surface area) and if you brake in a lean then you're setting yourself up for some trouble.