Fast forward to my early thirties and I move back home to the mountains for a new job, and make a friend at work that tells me he has a 50 that he plays around on. I made fun of him for it, a week later after riding his, I was on the hunt for my own. I CANNOT stress this enough; a pit bike is invaluable for learning how wheelie. He had me riding balance point wheelies in less than an hour, using the brake to control the altitude. It all carries over to the big bike, being smooth on the throttle, knowing without thinking about it to cover that brake, and that feeling of weightlessness when you near balance point. I'm no wheelie master by any means (have some buds who are), but I never mind getting out to work on them though. So, here's my checklist for learning.1. Buy, beg, borrow, or steal (just kidding) a pit bike
2. Barring #1, skip to step 3
3. Find a nice open area, with no obstacles or things to hit should you go down
4. GEAR UP!! I'm an ATGATT guy, and always will be
5. Start out slow, nobody became Doug Domokos overnight, EVER!
6. COVER YOUR REAR BRAKE! ALWAYS!
7. Start by just bringing the front wheel up a few inches, to get used to how fast it's going to rise (It will rise faster and faster the higher the front end comes up, as the leverage point is changing)
8. Once you have a feel for that, start using that rear brake as the front comes up and get used to how much brake is needed to bring it back down.
9. As you get more comfortable, bring it back a bit further each time. Again, all at your own pace and comfort level. There is zero shame in knowing when to say when.
10. Now that you have all that, just remember to center your weight on your butt, cover your rear brake, and sit up straight so they come up straight. No need to slide way back or do anything crazy, just keep practicing and it will all click with time.
Here's a little video I put together last year as I see tons of posts on how to wheelie, specifically the DRZ.
And here's a video from a few weeks ago as lots of guys were saying there was no way a stock bore DRZ would clutch right up in third. These are all clutched from third BTW!
