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A few thoughts on Hills

1K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  NavyBob 
#1 ·
I live in a rather hilly part of the US, we've got a range of hills from mild to "oh my god why did they run that road up that." Seriously, some of them are steep enough that I hate driving up them in my car because my stomach is telling me that I'm going to go over backwards. And it's really easy to unload the front end and/or pop a wheelie if you're not careful.

What I've learned from that is, don't stop if you can avoid doing so, even if that means throttling way back so that you're crawling up the hill burning time for the light to change.

4 way stops are better than lights as you have a better idea how much time you have and the people behind you are less likely to get impatient.

If you're turning between streets that are at a steep angle, you really, really want that outside-inside-outside turn if you can at all have that.

If you can't have that, then it's basically just a U-turn scenario, shift your wait and try to keep your weight as low as you can

Is there anything else I'm missing here? Anything particularly wrong? Unfortunately, the riding classes around here don't talk at all about hills and I don't go anywhere that doesn't involve going up or down a hill. This stuff seems to be working for me, but I'm sure there's room for improvement.
 
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#2 ·
#3 ·
On a dirt bike you learn to turn your bike so your bike is sideways and your uphill foot is holding your bike up, less useful on paved roads with a car behind you.

Moving on steep slopes is a lot of practice to get used to the different balance points.

This video below shows how to stop and start on uphill pavement:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=AQ3wUHcGE8U&v=Tm72v03GeQI
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Thanks, but that's kind of a puny hill. A hill like that isn't too bad, around here we've got hills that are 20% and greater. The steepest ones I know of are nearly 30% grade.

I know it's the same basic process, but I don't really trust my rear brake to hold me while I'm going through the process.

I guess, I'll work on getting good at it and then find one of those extremely steep hills during an off time and do a demonstration of how to handle it.
 
#4 ·
I used to ride dirt bikes up slopes of about 60 degrees- my goal was to never stop until getting to a less steep section. Sometimes I failed and was able to turn the bike 90 degrees a few feet before stopping, other times I crashed and the bike slid part way downhill on its side with me stopped or sliding on the ground further uphill. I quickly learned a bike falling on me was heavy and the exhaust pipe could burn my skin.


For pavement, I also try to never stop on the steepest sections. The trick of turning at the last few feet to put the bike sideways will work on pavement, but it will likely cause you to stop at a far side of the road, with only room to go back downhill afterwards.


For my 2 streetbikes, the steepest hills I have been on were in the Deals Gap area of Tennessee-North Carolina, and I always kept my bike moving until the slope was gentler.
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#5 ·
I did this type of enduro riding (in the video below) from 12 to 15 years old (1971 to early 1975). My little 100cc 2-stroke really needed lower gearing to go up steep hills in second gear- I lived with too high gearing to save money and learned the hard way to crash less often:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hgkx7ZScqY
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#6 ·
I did this type of enduro riding (in the video below) from 12 to 15 years old (1971 to early 1975). My little 100cc 2-stroke really needed lower gearing to go up steep hills in second gear- I lived with too high gearing to save money and learned the hard way to crash less often:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hgkx7ZScqY
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Thanks, that's quite helpful. I try to avoid those sorts of steep hills when I can, but there's a surprising number of super steep streets that flatten off after a block or two.

More normal hills aren't much of an issue any more as my clutch and throttle controls have improved.

Definitely a few things in there for me to work on.
 
#7 ·
For posterity's sake, I did finally find a stretch of road where the hill was too steep for the rear brake. So, yes, it is indeed possible for a city street to be steep enough that you have to brace with your left leg. (Right if you're in a backwards part of the world where they drive on the wrong side of the road :p )

It looks like it's rather unlikely that a city street would be so steep that between your leg and your rear brake that you couldn't keep yourself from rolling back down the hill.

I think that anybody who has practiced starting on a more modest hill is probably going to be OK with a steeper hill. As with most motorcycle things it's mostly a matter of your head. The process is the same it just requires a bit lighter touch.
 
#8 ·
The only hill around here steep enough to intimidate me is the end of Six Mile Canyon Road in Virginia City. I just never stop on the steep part.
 
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