I bet I've ridden more and longer wheelies than most folks on here too and most of the time the engine braking will save you, most of the time. But then it only takes once:fact. It's when you get cocky, thinking you're all that, when it happens.... You pull one up and it's rolling close to vertical and you hit the slightest of bumps that didn't expect. It takes your attention for a split second and your foot slips a little. You try to catch it and roll it out but yo balance is headed back and you're in a lower gear than you should be... You almost have time to think to yourself, "fcuk...." but you become a victim of the dreaded whiskey throttle and you feel it go over right before you close your eyes and have the wind knocked out of you by the impact with the ground. The next sensation is the searing heat from your clothes vaporizing against the pavement before it hamburgers your arem, knees, shoulders and back. You're sliding and finally come to a stop, and start looking for the car about to run over you. You self assess and realize your arm and collar bone are broken on top of the rest. You limp out of the road and look at your bike, or what's left of it. Your heart sinks and then the pain sets in, if you're lucky. All because you never took the time to learn to cover the rear brake. It would have taken you a couple weeks to make a habit, but now you have the next 6-8 weeks to think about it.... And figure out how to fix your bike.
I starts covering at a young age, but I remember a day on my Honda 450 with $3000 diamond kit rg3 suspension, the whole package... I was riding a 5th gear wheelie across the river at probably 75mph. I hit that unexpected bump and whiskey throttled it. The bike and I went over backward and each cartwheeled for a couple hundre feet. The forks were twisted in the clamp, pipe bent, bars and levers toast, fenders toast, radiator toast, and a ripped front brake line. My helmet looked like someone had opened the car door on the freeway and dragged it. I dislocated a shoulder, tweaked my neck, knocked out a tooth, and couldnt walk for a week. All because I got lazy and cocky. Bad move. I kept the helmet to remind me.
OP, don't drop wheelies on that bike too hard or you'll be replacing the fairing stay. It's going to break at the top bolt hole, trust me. I broke 4 of them that way.
