I will continue recommending starting on something that won’t wheelie if you clutch dump a rev bomb (read: thinking you’re gonna do a cool hard launch) or whiskey throttle (read: you didn’t brace your core muscles, the bike is accelerating faster than your shoulders, and your torso is pulling your arms back, opening the throttle all the way). All the “started on a gixxer 600” guys will say you just need self control since they apparently survived their learning days. The problem is new riders don’t realize how close they are to runaway acceleration events on those 80+hp bikes. I was fortunate enough to keep my 300 sport when I added an 800 sport tourer. All the complaints about the 300 being too small were found to be unfounded. Nearly everything was a new rider skill issue, not an incapability of a little bike.

I don’t k ow how experienced this rider was or what bike it was, but even if the above doesn’t fit, that’s still an every day situation I see. Could’ve been an experienced wheelier that tipped a little too far back. I could also expect it being a wheelie that came down off and triggered a tank slapper.