Hill starts

[Fatt Max]

Ok, so I am now a good 2 weeks on the road and loving it. Had a bit of wet weather experience which has been a great help.

I'm still struggling with hill starts, especially at the lights. Fortunatley I havnt been in a position where the bike has dropped out but I have managed 2 stalls to date. As with the car I just took my time, restarted the bike, readjusted and fianlly moved off happy in the knowledge that I am displaying a bright yellow 'L' plate and proud of it.

But I need to nail the hill start, any good tips will be greatly appreciated.

Weather looks good for the wekend as well, may get out and have a spin

Thanks guys n gals:2thumbsup

[de_wood_elf]

Well when I hill start I balance on my left leg while my right leg is pushing down on the back brake to stop the bike moving backwards. Then I rev it high and let the clutch out till the bike starts moving forward. Rev it a bit more and let go of the back brake.

[firefighter]

hmm, if your using rear brake, you just need to practice controlling and timing your throttle with your clutch and brake release- if your using your front brake and doing it that way- well change to using your rear.

Just the same as your car, hold rear brake on (like your handbrake) give a bit of revs and release clutch till you feel it bite, then release your rear brake and more power on whilst releasing the clutch, it really is just a matter of practice, maybe you could practice this technique on the flat too, so on the hills your just doing the same thing just needing a bit more throttle, I usually use my back brake sitting at lights etc and take off like that, gives the hand a rest and I guess is probably good practice.

[Fatt Max]

Cheers guys,

I'm still getting used to the rear brake (throwback from my twist and go scooter days) so I'll just keep up the practice cos that's what it sounds like.

Thanks again, go the warriors..!!

[marioc]

Good to see I was not the only one who struggled with these.
I still stall it on occasions ^^

[TerminalAddict]

when I start on hills, I let go of everything, and as the bike accelerates forward under gravity I slowly let the clutch out, and the engine kind of catches up to the speed of the bike.

I haven't figured out up hill starts yet tho'

[ZK-Awesome]

When I do it on my A100 (9hp...) I find that back brake works, let the clutch out slowly and give the throttle a real good twist (so your giving it more gas than usual), as you're bringing the clutch out the rest of the way.

Moral of the story : lots of throttle.

[MarkH]

Some of you guys make it sound like it is tricky - it's not. The right amount of throttle/clutch/brake is easy as. If you have problems it is because you are a newbie at balancing those 3 elements and the only way to make it be easy is practice. That's right, get out there and ride your bikes, stop at any intersections you need to and practice starting again. Always remember that it is easy, and know that you will get good at the clutch/throttle/brake balancing act with lots of practice. The more you do it the more you will see that I am right - it is easy to take off, even upwards on a steep hill.

[CB ARGH]

I had the worst experience with my first ever hill start. I'd been for a ride all the way down to Raglan, okay, not super far for hardcore bikers, but pretty far for the first timer! Well, I had to do a hill start on the most umbelievably steep hill that i had ever been on in my entire life, period. Two or so stalls and I was away. Just relax and do what these guys say :apint:

[MadDuck]

Feel free to come practice your hill starts on my driveway.

I will take no responsibility for damage to bikes

[bezajel]

Ugh... I spent probably ten minutes today trying to get out of my carpark... the drive is a fairly steep slope with swipe controlled doors... *swipe, stall, swipe, stall, swipe, stall...* and there was a car waiting behind me for a good portion of that time :Oops:

I was revving it high enough to start with, but I figure I wasn't giving it enough extra gas when the clutch started to release. I got out in the end but it took a while!

Well, I guess I get to practice every day.... haha.

[MarkH]

Well, I guess I get to practice every day.... haha.

After a few months you will be one of the best around at hill starts on a motorbike. You'll have those swipe controlled doors to thank for making you so good!
You are probably right about needing to twist open the throttle as you are releasing the clutch - but you will get the hang of it quickly enough and come to see how easy it is (and laugh at how much of a noob you used to be).

Maybe you should pick a quiet time to practise when there aren't any cars behind you?

[breakaway]

You need to go out and practice, practice, and then practice some more. Personally I don't use back brake but do whatever you find comfortable.

[Ixion]

Yes, there is no "secret trick" to this. It is just coordination of both hands and feet.

Practice makes perfect , practice practice practice.

Try putting a block of wood behind the rear tyre. This will allow you to practice moving off and coordinating throttle and clutch without the extra complexity of the brake . And remove some of the stress. Once you can easily start on the hill, take the block away and do it using the brake.

EDIT: On reflection, please keep your foot on the rear brake, even though the block of wood means the brake bit is unneeded. I have seen people be so enthusiatic with clutch and throttle that they have flipped the bike backward. Application of the rear brake if the front comes up will prevent this. It is probably unlikely now that learners do not have two strokes with vicious power bands, but better to be safe than sorry

[Drum]

Whichever way you decide to do it, be assured that eventually it will come so naturally to you that even the most severe hill start can be executed without excessive revving or slipping downhill.

Or is that just us Welly riders?

[CHOPPA]

practice some burnouts, it gives you all the required skills....

[ManDownUnder]

A drill to teach clutch control.

Start off from a standing start - in 2nd. Stop - do it again... and again... and again...

[discotex]

Try putting a block of wood behind the rear tyre. This will allow you to practice moving off and coordinating throttle and clutch without the extra complexity of the brake . And remove some of the stress. Once you can easily start on the hill, take the block away and do it using the brake.

Other option is to find a nicely cambered quiet street and use roll the back wheel up against the gutter. Practicing parking at the same time :)

I just found a quiet local street with a bit of a hill and did them over and over until I had it sorted. Same for u-turns.

[Irontusk]

I had real trouble with taking off on the near flat when I sat my basic handling test, that was on a Keeway 150 'speed', but the VL250 is certainly much easier! Only had a bit of trouble once, can't remember what happened but I ended up rolling backward nearly hitting the car behind me, my instant reaction was to stand up while grabbing the front brake (which included twisting the throttle ALOT, I think that was on my 3rd ride) so I made a whole lot of noise and in my embarassment I wanted to get out of there as quick as possible, the extra pressure was great cause I just sat back down and went.

Now I usually use my rear brake, seems to work for me, but from your previous posts it sounds like you're a fair bit bigger than me so you'll need more throttle.

Who uses a handbrake for hillstarts in a car? :crazy: I'd do without on my bike too if it had a bit more guts :whistle:

[fatzx10r]

ya just need a bit more throttle and ride the clutch untill you have a bit of speed up. hold your front brake with one finger and that way you can leave both feet on the ground if that feel's more comftable to you. a bit of practice and you will have it all sorted in a few day's :niceone:

[metalslug]

one quick question here:

I have been practising hillstart on my lil 2 stroke kr150. I usually step on my rear brake, then gas in first gear until rpm reaches 6-7k before slowly let go of the clutch (and brake), then gas more as I let more clutch out.

When I do this my bike usually screams like mad :doh: and I get a lot of bystanders looking at me with my L plate thinking I must be some try hard loser. But this seems to be the only way I can do it. Is there a better way?

and also is the high rpm at first gear bad for the bike (i can so feel the shake lol).

cheers

[breakaway]

There is no better way on highly strung bikes.

This includes 4 strokers too, I have to give my bike quite a lot, and the exhaust isn't exactly quiet :devil2:

As you get used to your bike, you will know it's limits and know how to give it the least amount of revs for a hill start. All about keeping the engine in the power band.

"and also is the high rpm at first gear bad for the bike (i can so feel the shake lol). "

No, it's a 2 stroke. 2 Strokes are designed for and meant to live their lives out at redline or near redline. Riding it sedately will be worse for it than thrashing the hell out of it. I had an RG150 and it loved it when I gave it hell.

[Ixion]

one quick question here:

I have been practising hillstart on my lil 2 stroke kr150. I usually step on my rear brake, then gas in first gear until rpm reaches 6-7k before slowly let go of the clutch (and brake), then gas more as I let more clutch out.

When I do this my bike usually screams like mad :doh: and I get a lot of bystanders looking at me with my L plate thinking I must be some try hard loser. But this seems to be the only way I can do it. Is there a better way?

and also is the high rpm at first gear bad for the bike (i can so feel the shake lol).

cheers

Its a two stroke. Rape it and it'll beg for more. All two strokes are sluts from way back.

[FROSTY]

Really the guts of it is that its all about CLUTCH control.
A learner rider tends to use the clutch like a off/on switch.

[Lilly2w]

Had to pick up my hubbies V.L after its first service, so sweating it when they told me its "readyto go outback" (W.M.C has a HILL outback) i'd only riden the bike twice before and never done a hill start on it, Rev'd the snot out of it and slowly let out the clutch (ok i was panicing SLIGHTLY) didn't stall! Yipee! so relieved as am slightly paranoid girl rider and was sure that all the W.M.C guys were watching to see how i would do..:clap: