I was invited down to join a day at Jimmy Fireblades Bandit Wheelie School near Spilsby in Lincolnshire, the day is aimed at people just like me who want to get their front wheel off the ground but are held back by either no clue on how to do it or in my case those who are scared to bin their bike trying it.
Jimmy supplies specially setup Suzuki Bandit 600's for each of the 5 students he books for the day - NO bike sharing, or massive groups - simply 5 students on a bike they get for the entire day to learn on. The wheelie technique he teaches is off the clutch, no power wheelies as he says power wheelies are more difficult to control and are usually performed at higher speeds than his clutch technique requires, as someone who has now experienced this I can indeed confirm that the wheelies are done at very low speeds and feel entirely safe and under control even when you are a complete novice.
First off you get to meet your fellow students, on my day there were 4 of us as Jimmy had put a day on (on his day off ) for 2 South African brothers, Humza and Jay Bashir, Humza was going home the day after and really wanted to do the wheelie school, the other student was Neil Caves who was back for a second day to further enhance his wheelieing while going through the gears - actually I lie, first off you have to find the airstrip which even with my TomTom I missed initially, the trick it seems is coming off the main road and down a small sideroad (on the main road there is a sign for Bilingbroke Castle, the small side road is opposite the sign for this)
After finding the site and meeting the fellow mono students we are given our bike and run through the first step to the technique, simply finding the hand positions for 3500 revs and then again for 6000, nice and simple you would think but there is no looking at your speedo - the secret to getting it all right is looking forward and not down, a few laps of the runway going from rev to rev and we are back again for the next step to the technique - slipping the clutch! Normal riding goes out of the window here and something we all do naturally is modified in a typical shakey nervous fashion, not too bad though and after the first 2 or 3 times you realise just how little you have to worry about getting it wrong - let me just state that even at this point of getting a few inches of air under your tyres you have a massive grin and feel like a stunt god!
Next up is adding the rear brake to really slow your launch down and add that all important lift to the front wheel, at this point you really feel as though you have a million things to do at once which is very strange as on the road it all comes naturally, once you have the idea of slowing it down, applying the revs, slipping the clutch and releasing your brake you suddenly start getting higher and higher and the buzz just keeps getting better and better - you WILL be grinning like a cheshire cat at this point I can guarantee it! During this time Jim will be riding around (or clowning around on his front or back wheel) and stopping you to give you more pointers on your technique and how to make it better, the advise is nice and simple and easy to take in which is a true testament to a good teacher.
Throughout the day you come in at your own leisure and grab yourself a drink and a rest, lunch comes around naturally when everyone decides to come in and from my experience you will be doing this quite a bit as all this learning and practising gets quite tiring so a quick cuppa and maybe a sandwich is the order of the day before your next few attempts. After your lunch you will be getting higher wheelies and the inevitable will happen - you will hit the stick!
The stick is a safety device Jimmy has devised for all his student bikes in order to control the height of the wheelies and take away the fear of flipping the bike, quite simply is is a nylon rod connected to a switch that cuts out the engine once the bike gets to a set height allowing the wheel to come down and the engine to cut back in, its an ingeneous device that really puts your mind at rest but the first time you get that wheel high enough BANG! down you come and you know about it... To be honest I was expecting a real nutcracker but I am pleased to say that my future procreation has not been compromised and rather than the shock of doing it you actually get a feel for how well you are doing by how many times Jimmy raises the stick at the back to allow you more height.
As the day progresses you will get some good height under your front wheel, you may even manage to do a few sustained wheelies ( I managed only 2 that went up and floated for around 10-15 meters but it was an incredible feeling) and you will have fun, you will have so much fun in fact that you will not realise how tired you are feeling and if you are anything like me by around 2:30 in the afternoon you may even start losing the ability to keep wheelieing at the same standard - in my case I chose to stop forcing myself as I had a 2 hour ride back home once the day was over.
So to summarise, the day was probably the most fun I have ever had on 2 wheels and I now have the additional reassurance that if my front wheel is skybound I know how to control it, obviously popping a mono on UK roads is illegal and not advisable but in my opinion it really is a good skill to learn and another method of control to master, could everyone benefit from doing a day at Jimmy Fireblades Wheelie School? Without a doubt! In fact I am going to be going back again soon for another day of back wheel tomfoolery and I am taking a few friends with me. One word of warning I will give is the feeling the day after, you really can tell that you have been learning something new and physical and your forearms and upper back might feel like yo have turned into Popeye - I know I did!
I would like to say a massive thank you to both Nicky and Jim, for not only inviting me down to experience this but also the fantastic instruction and all the cups of tea throughout the day, to get in touch with them to book your day contact:
