bowhawk

First gear wheelies are scarier than clutching up in second. 5000rpm in second, clutch in revs up to 7-8000rpm, release clutch and keep on the gas. Front will come up much more controlled and you can ride it out as you have more room before needing to change gears. Once you get the hang of it, you can wheelie at 40-80mph whenever you want. Problem then becomes not doing it all the time. Looks good on the track, everywhere else it is a ticket waiting to happen but it's addictive.

cliby

biggest risks are:

bike: learning is like learning to drive a manual transmission car - you risk "wearing" some things out. Especially steering bearings, maybe fork seals.

body and bike: biggest risk is probably not looping it, but getting the bars crossed up and then setting the front down with the bars turned far left/right and crashing - almost what you described only more so. You have to use your legs and body position to control your weight - not relying so much on the bars - and when you do use the bars you have to maintain even pressure on each - easier said then done when learning - especially if the front comes up, and takes you by suprise or you get scared - you get off balance, pull harder right or left and quickly shut off the throttle. front comes down crossed up and crash. If you have access to a dirt bike, its much safer and easier to learn on till you get a feel for what "up" feels like, much less pain in crashing (bike and body-wise). Have you ever listened to your voice on tape? sounds awful right? nothing like you sound, or so you thought. Wheelies are like that - people ride the rear for 100 ft, lofting the front - in reality its usually 8 inches up for about 5 feet then a rapid shut-off.

legal: if you are seen wheelie-ing in most communities you will get a significant traffic violation - reckless something or another

Hotbrakes

Second is much easier and smoother to ride out. Try shifting to 3rd while its up if you are sitting down, practice makes perfect. ALWAYS have the front wheel straight when it lands. I almost got launched last year putting it down in 3rd at 100mph sooner than I expected with the wheel turned. The tank slapper was incredible. I got a steering stabilizer a week later. Another danger to consider is stopping distance, unless you want to look like you're in the PBR, the front must come down gently before you can brake. So if you're riding with some idiot friends and they see you lofting a good one and unconsciously slow down to watch in their mirrors, you better set it down sooner than later. Good friends will speed up and turn on their high beams at night when they are behind you so you can see.

rbrais