Jerry, hey man....i have been riding the thunderace for a while now and i reccomend to not do wheelies in first gear the bike for some reason has way too much torque for first gear wheelies.. i reccomend clutching up in second. just give it a bounce and cluutch up at about 7,000rpm....i get great response and not too much torque (dont feel like you are gonna loop) and you have a lot more room to feather the throttle .. Give it a try keep me posted