I got this from another site that someone posted. It's a rather long read but I thought it was interesting, and it came from http://www.adrenalinelimit.com/
" When a cop sees you do a wheelie and decides to pull you over, (if you do decide to pull over) he's going to take you to jail, have your bike impounded and at least write you a ticket for reckless driving. All the while the officer could be catching a convenience store robber, car thief, drunk driver or murderer somewhere. None of this makes any sense. Are you a threat to society if your front wheel comes off the ground? I think not.
When done in the right place, i.e. an area where no one's safety other than your own is at risk, wheelies are no crime in my opinion. If you fall and hurt yourself, well then welcome to the world of motorcycle riding. But as long as no one else is going down with you, or getting run over by you, than what difference does it make if you did a wheelie in the first place?
Now we all know that wheelies can get messed up (especially by new riders learning how) and that occasionally riders get hurt doing them. But compare how many riders crash doing wheelies as a percent up against how many cars crash just driving. Or how many Harley or big cruiser riders crash into other cars when they aren't doing anything but going down the street. If you look at wheelies as a crash statistic (how many are properly done vs. how many are wrecked), then they are safer then driving. Think about it. It doesn't take any skill to get in a car and drive, hence any stupid idiot can get a drivers license. But consider how much skill and practice it takes to perfect wheelies. That's something that only an elite group can master, or even just do competently. To call it reckless is just bullshit. Wheelies are some of the most careful operation of a vehicle a person can do. It would be arguable to say that in a perfect world there would be endorsements for stunts so that riders who pass a state-given test could be allowed to do them on public streets. But no, we have to be lumped in the same cattle-pen system that some stupid people who are allowed to have drivers licenses are in. In other words, if licenses were given according to IQ and physical ability, wheelies would be legal and those who are dumb-ass drivers would be taking the bus. I'm ok at wheelies, but I've got friends who can balance a wheelie at 30 mph for miles and are paying more attention to what they are doing than any driver out there. Yet if a cop sees it, it's reckless driving. How is this? To understand, we have to look back in societies' history a bit.
Two hundred years ago if you told someone that Orville and Wilber Write would invent an airplane, people would burn you at the stake because they didn't know about physics. A hundred years ago if you told someone that you would get in a metal box with four wheels and drive it at 75 mph down a road they would think you were some kind of insane daredevil. But now every idiot does it, including people who are old enough to have lived back then and can't even see past the steering wheel now. Once society gets used to something it's not looked at like such a big deal anymore. People tend to condemn what they don't understand. Ask yourself this, can you get in and out of the shower without getting hurt? Did you know that people are killed every day slipping in the shower and cracking open their heads? How can you take a shower knowing this? Because you know what you're doing. You've done it enough to be pretty sure that you're not going to kill yourself. How about someone who can do perfect wheelies then, can you rightfully say it's dangerous or reckless just because you don't understand how to do it? To someone who knows what they are doing, it's as safe as any other form of vehicle operation. A wheelie doesn't have to be balanced and slow to be safe also. If you just pop up the front wheel for a couple of seconds and then bring it back down and continue riding, how is that reckless? Ahh, but the rabbit hole goes a little deeper.
We all are taught that laws are made to keep people safe. For the most part that's true. But many laws are created and enforced for one reason only...cash revenue. If you are pulled over and taken to jail, fined endlessly, get your insurance raised and pay fees to get your bike back- it's not because the law is keeping the streets safe from you. If that were the case you're bike would be confiscated and license would be permanently revoked, end of story. That would keep you off the streets, and if not, life in prison would. Harsh yes, but it would "keep the public safer". Instead, your privilege to ride is returned immediately and your bike is given back the next day all for what- allot of cash. News flash people. There is NOT ONE lawmaker, legislator, judge or cop who can't sleep at night because they are too worried that a wheelie is being popped somewhere. They want your money. They just want to charge you huge dollar amounts if you do a wheelie and then let you back at it again. It's a way to charge you insane amounts of money for doing something that is normal to riders, but beyond comprehension to the lawmakers. I was given an $1,114.00 ticket once for doing a wheelie in Las Vegas, and I was free to go. Is that safety that the cop was enforcing? More like safety of the Cities' bank account. It's always about money. To make things worse, most cops like to arrest motorcycle riders because it gives them satisfaction and expression of authority. Maybe even beat up the rider a little bit for good times' sake. We know it's because those are the ones who got beat up a lot in high school and have now found a way to get back at society. They love beating up on others, especially with a team who can back them up if they need it - and the judges will always believe the cops were in the right. Not all cops are like this though, some will not pull you over because they are intelligent and can see that you aren't risking harm to anyone but yourself. Especially if you are doing a wheelie on an empty road.
Wheelies are illegal, so a cop is doing his job if he writes you up for it. But it takes a good cop to know whether action is necessary or to just let you go. On our end, some discretion is needed also to keep the public from fearing us and voting us out of existence. For instance, high-speed wheelies on small streets or city streets are absolutely stupid. I would never do a high-speed wheelie if there is a lady with a baby walking down the sidewalk near me. There's more than my own safety at stake if I screwed it up. Also wheelies through intersections that don't have good visibility when coming up to them. It's never a good idea to do them in a place where someone has the capability to pull out in front of you. If you're doing a wheelie through an intersection and a car runs a red light and hits you, you can be rest assured no one is going to consider the car at fault, and you'll probably be dead as well.
Generally if you pick your place to do one wisely, and don't endanger anyone else, wheelies are not reckless. If you're not good at them, don't wheelie down the freeway at 100 mph with the bike wobbling all around ready to cartwheel as soon as the front hits the ground or you loop it out. Pick an empty road and practice until you're good, then practice some more. Whether a wheelie is reckless or not is up to the rider who does it, and how it is seen through the eyes of those who understand them. But the bottom line is that wheelies take too much skill, concentration, timing, throttle control, balance and talent to be dismissed and condemned as reckless. I think I would feel better if I signed a ticket that said, "OFFENCE: Executing a perfectly balanced wheelie within the speed limit". But with societies' slow mental progress, it may take another hundred years for wheelies to be legal-- and no one will care when you pass them up on one.
" When a cop sees you do a wheelie and decides to pull you over, (if you do decide to pull over) he's going to take you to jail, have your bike impounded and at least write you a ticket for reckless driving. All the while the officer could be catching a convenience store robber, car thief, drunk driver or murderer somewhere. None of this makes any sense. Are you a threat to society if your front wheel comes off the ground? I think not.
When done in the right place, i.e. an area where no one's safety other than your own is at risk, wheelies are no crime in my opinion. If you fall and hurt yourself, well then welcome to the world of motorcycle riding. But as long as no one else is going down with you, or getting run over by you, than what difference does it make if you did a wheelie in the first place?
Now we all know that wheelies can get messed up (especially by new riders learning how) and that occasionally riders get hurt doing them. But compare how many riders crash doing wheelies as a percent up against how many cars crash just driving. Or how many Harley or big cruiser riders crash into other cars when they aren't doing anything but going down the street. If you look at wheelies as a crash statistic (how many are properly done vs. how many are wrecked), then they are safer then driving. Think about it. It doesn't take any skill to get in a car and drive, hence any stupid idiot can get a drivers license. But consider how much skill and practice it takes to perfect wheelies. That's something that only an elite group can master, or even just do competently. To call it reckless is just bullshit. Wheelies are some of the most careful operation of a vehicle a person can do. It would be arguable to say that in a perfect world there would be endorsements for stunts so that riders who pass a state-given test could be allowed to do them on public streets. But no, we have to be lumped in the same cattle-pen system that some stupid people who are allowed to have drivers licenses are in. In other words, if licenses were given according to IQ and physical ability, wheelies would be legal and those who are dumb-ass drivers would be taking the bus. I'm ok at wheelies, but I've got friends who can balance a wheelie at 30 mph for miles and are paying more attention to what they are doing than any driver out there. Yet if a cop sees it, it's reckless driving. How is this? To understand, we have to look back in societies' history a bit.
Two hundred years ago if you told someone that Orville and Wilber Write would invent an airplane, people would burn you at the stake because they didn't know about physics. A hundred years ago if you told someone that you would get in a metal box with four wheels and drive it at 75 mph down a road they would think you were some kind of insane daredevil. But now every idiot does it, including people who are old enough to have lived back then and can't even see past the steering wheel now. Once society gets used to something it's not looked at like such a big deal anymore. People tend to condemn what they don't understand. Ask yourself this, can you get in and out of the shower without getting hurt? Did you know that people are killed every day slipping in the shower and cracking open their heads? How can you take a shower knowing this? Because you know what you're doing. You've done it enough to be pretty sure that you're not going to kill yourself. How about someone who can do perfect wheelies then, can you rightfully say it's dangerous or reckless just because you don't understand how to do it? To someone who knows what they are doing, it's as safe as any other form of vehicle operation. A wheelie doesn't have to be balanced and slow to be safe also. If you just pop up the front wheel for a couple of seconds and then bring it back down and continue riding, how is that reckless? Ahh, but the rabbit hole goes a little deeper.
We all are taught that laws are made to keep people safe. For the most part that's true. But many laws are created and enforced for one reason only...cash revenue. If you are pulled over and taken to jail, fined endlessly, get your insurance raised and pay fees to get your bike back- it's not because the law is keeping the streets safe from you. If that were the case you're bike would be confiscated and license would be permanently revoked, end of story. That would keep you off the streets, and if not, life in prison would. Harsh yes, but it would "keep the public safer". Instead, your privilege to ride is returned immediately and your bike is given back the next day all for what- allot of cash. News flash people. There is NOT ONE lawmaker, legislator, judge or cop who can't sleep at night because they are too worried that a wheelie is being popped somewhere. They want your money. They just want to charge you huge dollar amounts if you do a wheelie and then let you back at it again. It's a way to charge you insane amounts of money for doing something that is normal to riders, but beyond comprehension to the lawmakers. I was given an $1,114.00 ticket once for doing a wheelie in Las Vegas, and I was free to go. Is that safety that the cop was enforcing? More like safety of the Cities' bank account. It's always about money. To make things worse, most cops like to arrest motorcycle riders because it gives them satisfaction and expression of authority. Maybe even beat up the rider a little bit for good times' sake. We know it's because those are the ones who got beat up a lot in high school and have now found a way to get back at society. They love beating up on others, especially with a team who can back them up if they need it - and the judges will always believe the cops were in the right. Not all cops are like this though, some will not pull you over because they are intelligent and can see that you aren't risking harm to anyone but yourself. Especially if you are doing a wheelie on an empty road.
Wheelies are illegal, so a cop is doing his job if he writes you up for it. But it takes a good cop to know whether action is necessary or to just let you go. On our end, some discretion is needed also to keep the public from fearing us and voting us out of existence. For instance, high-speed wheelies on small streets or city streets are absolutely stupid. I would never do a high-speed wheelie if there is a lady with a baby walking down the sidewalk near me. There's more than my own safety at stake if I screwed it up. Also wheelies through intersections that don't have good visibility when coming up to them. It's never a good idea to do them in a place where someone has the capability to pull out in front of you. If you're doing a wheelie through an intersection and a car runs a red light and hits you, you can be rest assured no one is going to consider the car at fault, and you'll probably be dead as well.
Generally if you pick your place to do one wisely, and don't endanger anyone else, wheelies are not reckless. If you're not good at them, don't wheelie down the freeway at 100 mph with the bike wobbling all around ready to cartwheel as soon as the front hits the ground or you loop it out. Pick an empty road and practice until you're good, then practice some more. Whether a wheelie is reckless or not is up to the rider who does it, and how it is seen through the eyes of those who understand them. But the bottom line is that wheelies take too much skill, concentration, timing, throttle control, balance and talent to be dismissed and condemned as reckless. I think I would feel better if I signed a ticket that said, "OFFENCE: Executing a perfectly balanced wheelie within the speed limit". But with societies' slow mental progress, it may take another hundred years for wheelies to be legal-- and no one will care when you pass them up on one.
