Wheelie ?

[flynrider]

Any bike can wheelie, even a Harley Road King. Its the rider, not the bike, that makes it happen.

Exactly! A friend of mine ran the local Kaw dealer in the small town where I grew up. He was the local wheelie king. Whenever someone would mention that a particular bike wouldn't do a wheelie (too heavy, not enough power, etc...), he'd do a demonstration on the road in front of the shop. It usually included a one-wheel drive by of an underpowered little street bike, like a KZ250, followed by something massive like the KZ1300.

Sadly, all the fun came to an end when he was doing it on a customer's GPz 550. He failed to notice that the bike was almost out of gas. Midway through the wheelie (with the small fuel supply at the back of the tank) the bike started surging from fuel starvation. He ended up on his back and the bike had quite a bit of damage. He got to keep his job, but that was the end of his wheelie demos.

The real answer to the question "Will this bike wheelie?" is always, "It depends on who's riding it".