
In vehicle
acrobatics
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...
, a wheelie, or wheelstand, is a vehicle maneuver in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to sufficient torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels, or rider motion relative to the vehicle. Wheelies are usually associated with bicycles and motorcycles, but can be done with other vehicles such as cars, especially in
drag racing
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...
and
tractor pulling.
History
The first wheelie was performed by trick bicyclist Daniel J. Canary in 1890, shortly after modern bicycles became popular. Writing in 2009,
Mike Seate related to the U.S. Army motorized
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
training in 1943, pictured in Life magazine. Seate described "vaulting trenches and beach obstacles" and interpreted this technique as "High speed wheelies, naturally". Daredevil
Evel Knievel performed motorcycle acrobatics including wheelies in his shows. Doug "The Wheelie King" Domokos has accomplished such feats as a wheelie.
Types
Types of wheelie can be divided into two broad categories:
:1. wheelies in which the vehicle power is sufficient by itself, as described in the
Physics section below. These include:
:* Clutch wheelies: performed by revving the engine with the clutch disengaged, and then abruptly engaging (a.k.a. 'dumping') the clutch.
:* Power wheelies or roll-on wheelies: performed by simply opening the throttle. If the engine has sufficient
power, it will be able to lift the front wheel.
:2. wheelies performed with the aid of suspension dynamics or rider motion. These include:
:* Bounce wheelies or slap wheelies: performed by opening and closing the throttle in time with
suspension rebounding, tire rebounding, rider motion, or any combination of the three.
:* Manuals: performed without applying torque to the rear wheel at all, but instead by moving the rider's body backwards relative to the bike, and then pulling back on the handlebars near the end of available travel.
Bicycles
Wheelies are a common stunt in
artistic cycling and
freestyle BMX. The bike is balanced by the rider's weight and sometimes use of the rear brake. A style of bicycle, the
wheelie bike, has a seating position, and thus
center of mass
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...
, nearly over the rear wheel that facilitates performing wheelies.
Motorcycle

A wheelie is also a common
motorcycle stunt. The principles is the same as the bicycle wheelie, but the throttle and rear brakes are used to control the wheelie while a rider uses body weight and the steering to control the direction the inertia of the spinning front wheel acting as a balance.
The world's fastest motorcycle wheelie record is by
Patrik Fürstenhoff
"Ghost Rider" is the alias used by a Swedish motorcycle stunt rider, called "probably the most famous flaunter of road rules the world has ever seen", whose internet videos have achieved a "cult following" with millions of views.
Biography
Ghos ...
. April 18, 1999.
The world record for the fast wheelie over is , set by Egbert van Popta at
Elvington airfield in
Yorkshire, England.
In some countries, such as the United Kingdom and USA, motorcyclists performing a wheelie on a
public road may be prosecuted for
dangerous driving, an offense which can carry a large fine and a ban of a year or more.
In Pakistan, India, and some other countries, it is illegal to perform these kinds of stunts. If someone is caught performing these acts, the rider can have their motorcycle impounded and potentially face jail time.
Automobiles
Wheelies are common in
auto- or
motorcycle drag racing Motorcycle drag racing (also known as "sprints") involves two participants lining up at a dragstrip with a signaled starting line. Upon the starting signal, the riders accelerate down a or long, two lane, straight paved track where their elapsed t ...
, where they represent
torque wasted lifting the front end, rather than moving the vehicle forward. They also usually result in raising the center of mass, which limits the maximum acceleration. In the absence of wheelie bars, this effect is quantified in the physics section below. If wheelie bars are present then a wheelie results in a reduction of load on the rear driving wheels, along with a corresponding reduction in friction.
Monster trucks
Monster trucks often perform wheelies during shows. Monster trucks have performed power wheelies, slap wheelies, and sky wheelies. To perform a sky wheelie, a monster truck jumps in such a way that the truck is vertical in the air, with the front end of the truck pointing upwards.
Snowmobiles
Wheelies are possible with some
snowmobiles, whereby it is the skis that are lifted off the ground.
Wheelchairs
Some
wheelchair users can learn to balance their chair on its rear wheels and do a wheelie. This enables them to climb and descend curbs and maneuver over small obstacles. Occasionally
wheelchair dancers perform wheelies.
Aircraft
In an airplane, a wheelie is performed by conducting a soft-field landing or take-off procedure. The pilot increases the elevator backpressure so the nose wheel of the landing gear has minimal contact with the ground.
On 14 February 2020, the
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the longest-distance wheelie in an airplane was set in a
Cessna 172 at
Southern California Logistics Airport
Southern California Logistics Airport , also known as Victorville Airport, is a public airport located in the city of Victorville in San Bernardino County, California, approximately north of San Bernardino. Prior to its civil usage, the facilit ...
in
Victorville, California on runway 17. The pilot kept the plane's nose wheel from touching the runway for a distance of 14,319 feet.
Wheelie bars

Wheelie bars help prevent a vehicle's front end from raising too high or flipping over. Wheelie bars are required for some tractor and truck pull events.
Wham-O developed and sold an add-on wheelie bar for
wheelie bikes.
Dougie's Wheelie
On September 25, 2016, British trials motorcyclist
Dougie Lampkin successfully wheelied around the
Isle of Man TT course. He completed the challenge in one hour and 35 minutes, after the attempt was postponed 24 hours because of strong winds.
Physics
A wheelie is imminent when the acceleration is sufficient to reduce the load borne by the front axle to zero.
The conditions for this can be calculated with the so-called "weight transfer equation":
:
where
is the change in load borne by the front wheels,
is the longitudinal acceleration,
is the center of mass height,
is the wheelbase, and
is the total vehicle mass.
An equivalent expression, which does not require knowing the load borne by the front wheels nor the total vehicle mass, is for the minimum longitudinal acceleration required for a wheelie:
:
where
is the
acceleration due to gravity,
is the horizontal distance from the rear axle to the center of mass, and
is the vertical distance from the ground to the center of mass. Thus the minimum acceleration required is directly proportional to how far forward the center of mass is located and inversely proportional to how high it is located.
Since
mechanical power can be defined as force times velocity, in one dimension, and
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...
is equivalent to mass times acceleration, then the minimum power required for a wheelie can be expressed as the product of mass, velocity, and the minimum acceleration required for a wheelie:
:
Thus the minimum power required is directly proportional to the mass of the vehicle and to its velocity. The slower a vehicle is moving, the less power is required to perform a wheelie, and that is without even considering the power required to overcome
air drag, which increases with the cube of velocity. Therefore, the least amount of power required is when the vehicle begins accelerating from rest.
In the case of tractor and truck pulling, the force to the pull the load is applied above the ground, and so it also acts to lift the front wheels and thus reduces the forward acceleration necessary to lift the front wheels.
The total power
required during a wheel, neglecting air drag can be shown to be:
:
where
is vehicle with mass,
is the vehicle
radius of gyration,
and
are distance from rear wheel contact patch to center of mass,
is horizontal acceleration,
is horizontal velocity,
is angle of vehicle from horizontal,
is angular velocity of vehicle rotation, and
is angular acceleration of vehicle rotation. This can be separated into components necessary only for horizontal acceleration
:
and components necessary only for raising and rotating the vehicle
:
A factor ''M'' can be calculated as the ratio of the power required to raise and rotate the vehicle and the power required only for horizontal acceleration.
[
]
:
Gallery
File:Bikesedi-1150402469.can.ogv, Motorcycle performing a wheelie (Video)
File:Raiser handlebarseat - Shoulderseat.jpg, A wheelie as part of an artistic cycling routine
File:Doo Dah Parade - Pasadena CA - 2009.jpg, Tricycle performing a wheelie
File:Bike86.jpg, Wheelies by seated and standing cyclists
File:St. Petersburg Plaza Wheelie.jpg, Motor scooter
A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, and a platform for the rider's feet, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter design were present in some of the earliest motorcycles ...
performing a wheelie
File:MaynardYingst SprintCar.jpg, Sprint car performing a wheelie
File:RobbieKnievelTexasMotorSpeedway.jpg, Robbie Knievel performing a wheelie
File:Radical Red.jpg, Tractor performing a wheelie
File:Viktor Herten Riihivuori Snowcross 2015.JPG, Snowmobile performing a wheelie
See also
*
Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics
Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics is the science of the motion of bicycles and motorcycles and their components, due to the forces acting on them. Dynamics falls under a branch of physics known as classical mechanics. Bike motions of interest in ...
*
Ski (driving stunt)
*
Stoppie
*
Weight transfer
Notes
External links
* {{Wikibooks inline, How to wheelie
Articles containing video clips
Cycling
Motorcycle stunts
de:Fahrtechnik#Auf dem Hinterrad fahren