FAO Ape, wheelie vids I was talking about.

What do you think, they all make it look easy in teh first vid but I can't get anywhere near that high based on the same technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3_Z96lxyUo

Second vid he uses the same bike Nick has which wheelies nicely on power alone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncPBZ9DRRk

[the_lone_wolf]

Dan, not wanting to crash your thread as I'm no expert by any means, I've never wheelied the SV, but with the DRZ it' almost impossible not to in first, in second it'll pop up on the clutch with a bit of throttle, in third it'll come up off small crests etc

the first vid is the one that taught me how to clutch up a wheelie (i learnt to do it off the power by accident) - if the wee DRZ can pop it up as easily and effortlessly as it can i've no idea why the technique isn't working for you, perhaps:

- you're leaning too far forward, easy to avoid on a SM, less so on a SS, the more weight over the bars the heavier the front is
- you're not giving the bike enough opportunity when clutching to get it up into the powerband, or...
- as soon as the clutching is over you return to cruising throttle, i found the easiest way to clutch up is using fingers 1 & 2 on the lever, and fingers 3 & 4 on the bar.

-try cruising in 2nd to keep your speed low, then begin to accelerate enough to compress the rear suspension a bit (if it's already compressed all the grunt from clutching up will go into lifting the front).
-when you feel comfortable start just pulling the clutch in and releasing it, the bike will jump forwards a little but will not likely get the front wheel up
- now comes the interesting bit, between the clutch releasing and re-engaging you need to shove on a good dollop of torque, on the DRZ it requires more than half throttle in 2nd, as i said i never wheelied my SV so i don't know how much is required
- now the important bit, don;t just get the wheel airbounre, as you'll be doing bunny hops, once you get the amount of throttle right to get the front up, hold the throttle open to keep it up, again, trial and error is the only way to know how much you need.
- finding the balance point can be tricky and i haven't done it on the DRZ yet, but it's almost certainly further back than you think, on the DRZ the usual advice is "if you have to look under the bars to see where you're going you're almost there"
- be careful to try not to chop the throttle shut, the front comes down VERY fast and on the DRZ this may just mean a painful shoulder/elbow for a week as the suspension is so comedy. on the SV or other sportsbike i'd say you may well blow a fork seal

like i said, no expert, but i do enjoy the odd venture onto the rear wheel when conditions allow

Obviously all this should not be done on a public road, wear safety gear yada yada yada...

PS: this is another great vid that taught me a lot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNQC_amZRJg

Both say more or less the same thing. Both make sense. I would say though, if you going to practices wheelies and not done it before, do it with someone else. Like me. Let me know when your available next week after work and we'll give it a go.