Yea that is really strange that your haveing such a hard time doing a wheelie. Especially with paddle tires. When i put my paddles on and do hill shoots my front end is off the ground at least 3/4 the way up the hill. Just likre Reconranger said the 400ex in known for wheelies, ive read articles calling it the "Wheelie King Of All Quads". I also read your profile and it said you have hot cams in you machine and it looks like your running 22". You should still be ripping them.

 

I looked at your pics, and I can't say I see any "aftermarket junk" that should be weighing your quad down. If you are a petite woman and the weight of your quad is an issue, sell it and get a Raptor 250 that weighs 100 pounds less! Weight/power ratio is way more important than people realize!

I have run the buffed down Skat-Trak sand tires for decades, and they are clearly superior to any of the newer molded sand tires out there. Those molded tires are just designed to be mass produced easily. They are heavy, and they are great if you want to dig holes....

 

I have a lightly modded 300 and can rip wheelies in 3rd gear in the right situation.

I do my longest in 2nd, and the highest in first, im sure i can get just as high in 2nd, but Im not too comfy riding straight up for
much more than a few seconds

I usually am putting around at about the speed the power just starts to come on in 2nd, with left foot on grab bar.

I than shift my weight to that foot, and simultaneously punch the gas and pull up on the handlebars and learn back,
it comes right up, and as long as i keep on the gas it climbs higher and stays up untill i let it down.

Bicycling is fun too, start doing tight circles in 2nd until you are on two wheels, lean a bit to tip it even more and straighten it out, can always turn the other way to tip it down, or turn in to raise it back up,

than try a 1 wheel wheelie while doing that, just be careful coming down

 

1st gear wheelie is easy, same technique as above, or from a stop, give it some gas and drop the clutch, be careful, as it will come right up fast!