Hill starts?

[Swivel]

Any advice on hill starts, I try to avoid them when I can, sometimes I do ok, other times I stall then get it right the 2nd attempt, bloody shamful when a car is behind you.

[Berries]

Don't pick both feet up until you have forward momentum.



Otherwise just make your second attempt first et voila.

[swbarnett]

Sounds to me like your revs aren't high enough when you let the clutch out. Either that or you're letting the clutch out too fast or keeping your foot on the brake too long.

Don't worry too much. It will come with time and practice. Find yourself a quiet street on a bit of an angle and practice. Once you've mastered that one try something steeper.

[biketimus_prime]

I'm just starting to ride but I pride myself on hill starts, never stalled on one yet!

You first need to understand where your clutch engages and disengages. So get to an empty carpark or something and practice moving off easily and getting a feel for the clutch where it bites and how much you can let it on before the bike almost dies etc. Have a play around.

The main thing to hill starts is that it's more complicated in your head than it is actually doing it. So you need to actually practice them, not just read about it.
To make things as easy as possible to begin with when on a hill. Put your bike in first gear, clutch in and foot on the rear brake pedal. Just like you would on a flat. However, don't press the brake pedal down hard, do it so it's just enough to hold you on the hill.

To begin with, increase your RPM a bit, then ease the clutch out SLOWLY. Let it slip and as the bike dies, increase RPM. If you have the clutch engagement right with RPMs, you'll feel the bike wants to move forward. That's when you let go of the brake pedal. If you have your foot on the pedal just enough to hold you on the hill, it'll want to move forward more easier and be less prone to stalling than if you had your foot hard on the pedal.

Practice first on a flat with your foot on the brake pedal and getting used to letting the clutch out and having the bike want to go forwards.
Honestly it's really straightforward once you do a couple. Then move on to a small slope. The rest is all clutch and RPM work. You need to get a good feel for your clutch.

[p.dath]

Any advice on hill starts, I try to avoid them when I can, sometimes I do ok, other times I stall then get it right the 2nd attempt, bloody shamful when a car is behind you.

Crack the throttle a little until it just starts to rev a bit. Then start letting out the clutch until you just feel it start to bite. Pause. At this stage the engine will now hold the bike without it rolling backwards. Getting the right amount of initial revs is a skill learned by experience. You can start to let the brake off, and continue to let the clutch out gently the rest of the way and gently roll on more throttle.

[SMOKEU]

If you can do a hillstart on a manual car, then it's the same concept on a bike. Except that instead of releasing the handbrake you're releasing the rear brake, but otherwise timing the clutch, throttle and brake is pretty much the same.

[strandedinnz]

Sounds like you need to practice clutch control a bit more .. find an empty car park and ride around slowly using only the idle revs and the clutch (hands off the twisty thing on the right!) till you get comfy with where the clutch starts to bite and how the engine feels, then when you are a guru at that find a hill and repeat ... should all be covered in the motorcycling 101 course you did when you got the bike ?

[gjm]

As others have said, it's just practice. Balancing clutch modulation against revs - too much or too little of either and you can have problems.

Practice pulling away on the flat. Engine running, closed throttle, hold the brake, ever-so-gently ease the clutch out and feel where it 'bites'. You should be able to do this, and with care pull away, with no throttle at all.

Once you have that sorted - it won't take long! - try pulling away a little faster by using a little throttle. Again, you'll quickly get used to it.

Then think of a hill start as being a slower version of a faster flat start. Same principle, only you'll more often need a few revs to get moving without bogging down or stalling.

Practice, practice, practice.

[Tazz]

Go for a ride towards Raglan (nice wee blat) and spend an afternoon/day practicing. Nothing beats experience and you'll have it nailed in no time.

[matrox02]

I must say that hill starts are a bit of a nightmare on my dr650, that one hill by doubtless bay nearly had me on my arse, doesnt help that the bike has been lowered and im still too short for it

[Big Dog]

I must say that hill starts are a bit of a nightmare on my dr650, that one hill by doubtless bay nearly had me on my arse, doesnt help that the bike has been lowered and im still too short for it

If have thought the thumper was an easy hill start. Unless you mean near vertical with limited traction a dr650 should be a doddle.


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[Akzle]

get it right the 2nd attempt, bloody shamful when a car is behind you.

do your second attempt first, then.

and never mind shame. you're on a fucking bike, they're in a car, they can fucking wait.

[PrincessBandit]

Must admit I rarely use the foot brake when doing a hill start, the bandit is pretty easy to feel that bite and I'm able to control it completely from my right hand brake/throttle. Some time ago I did a low speed handling course and the instructor had me do hill starts on West Hoe rd in Orewa. Even then she made me do them using my foot just to show her I could. Having said that I avoid having to do them on surfaces that provide minimal traction...

I remember practicing on the ginny on the mild slope of our driveway - just sitting there going through the repetitive process of synchronising my throttle and clutch. Stalling the ginny was a pain as it tended to lurch at least the bandit just cuts out without jumping or twitching! Like anything it just takes practice and every bike will feel slightly different so if you're on someone else's bike you can't assume it will feel exactly the same as your own bike.

[Banditbandit]

Except that instead of releasing the handbrake you're releasing the rear brake, but otherwise timing the clutch, throttle and brake is pretty much the same.

I never use the rear brake for a hill start ... LATE RIDER . if that's what you are doing then practice using the front brake only - its much easier ...

Must admit I rarely use the foot brake when doing a hill start, the bandit is pretty easy to feel that bite and I'm able to control it completely from my right hand brake/throttle. Some time ago I did a low speed handling course and the instructor had me do hill starts on West Hoe rd in Orewa. Even then she made me do them using my foot just to show her I could. Having said that I avoid having to do them on surfaces that provide minimal traction...

I remember practicing on the ginny on the mild slope of our driveway - just sitting there going through the repetitive process of synchronising my throttle and clutch. Stalling the ginny was a pain as it tended to lurch at least the bandit just cuts out without jumping or twitching! Like anything it just takes practice and every bike will feel slightly different so if you're on someone else's bike you can't assume it will feel exactly the same as your own bike.

Like teacher says - but if you use the front brake, you already know how to co-ordinate the clutch and throttle - the new skill is knowing when to release the front brake and use the throttle with the same hand ..

[SNF]

Find yourself a quiet road with a gentle slope. I had to learn hillstarts from day 1, every road where I live has them. So what I did was on a slope when nothing was around, I stopped. Foot on rear brake. Brought the revs up, held them steady - 2-3000 rpm, 4+ if its a steep one. Hold throttle steady, slowly let the clutch out. Repeat til you can do it without worrying. Be patient it will come. When you can do a gentle slope, find steeper ones.

Add in the front brake as well when you feel comfortable. I can use both. You may even find the front brake easier than the rear and also there will be times when you have to use the front brake when taking off