How to get it up
I know it's an old post, and you've probably worked it out for yourself, but if you haven't, here's how I wheelie on my fz8, no sprocket mods or anything. Believe me when I say this bike loves to stand on one wheel, you just got to find where the sweet spot is, here's a hint, it's in first gear, around 7000rpm, just where it opens up and starts to wail.
Find suitable area, like an industrial allotment. Long straight wide road.
From standing start take off normally in first and without snapping the throttle open increase throttle up through rev range:- this is just to get a feel for the power increase through the rev range. So, ride the bike up through first and then back off slowly when you get near the peak red line.
Do this numerous times to get a feel for the torque curve, it is very important you get this feeling right. Hint:- most important Is learning how to smooth out the power to reduce unpredictability, in other words, don't be snapping the throttle on or off like a madman or squeezing the brakes haphazardly.
Use the clutch to iron out power surging and Learn to match the revs in any gear with your road speed.
Ok- so now you comfortably rip through first and can feel the power surge at about 6500 rpm and rapid increase from there to the redline, it's like a whoosh feeling. So the trick here is to build up to 7000rpm (by now you shouldn't be looking at the tacho, you should just be feeling the surge), and when the bike hits this sweet spot, snap the throttle off quick as you can (imagine this in slow motion) what happens is as the bike surges the back shock compresses a bit and the front shock extends, and then when you snap the throttle off the front springs dive rapidly and naturally want to bounce or push back up, it's all about TIMING, as the front springs push up, you open the throttle back to where it was when you chopped it off quickly, and you should have lift off. Keep in mind when you come up, it comes up quick, and If you panic and back the throttle off while you are lifting you will come down hard. When the bike comes up, after a while you will learn to hold the throttle steady and it will lift predictably, and ride the wheelie out to redline where it will slowly come down to two wheels, or change gears and stay up. So to refresh, ride bike up to 6500-7000 where it surges, then chop off throttle and concentrate more on getting the nose to dive hard, (that's the secret, don't be thinking about pulling it back or up with strength)and chop the throttle back on in time with the rebound and you'll be leaning forward and riding on one wheel. You'll get it with practice. Get all that right one step at a time and you'll be popping wheelies from every set of lights or coming out of every corner. Good luck. If you want to know a bit more or want me to get a bit more in depth just hit me up, there's nothing cooler than seeing a naked bike on one wheel
