Newbie - stopped on a hill

[samakld]

hi all. been riding now for about 3 weeks. prior to that only ever been on the back of a bike. everything is going well but one thing i'm struggling with is getting away smoothly when i'm stopped on a hill. i either

a. stall immediately
b. take away really slowly with the bike feeling like its about to stall. most of the time i give it more gas and it just dies
c. rev the crap out of it and drop the clutch and get away still really slowly but it finally gets some power and takes off.

i must be doing it all wrong and i was hoping someone could talk me through the whole process. should i be using my foot break more etc etc.

oh yeah i'm riding a 1990 250cc bandit with 10k on the clock.

[thehollowmen]

Don't drop the clutch, ease it out slowly. Have the brake on a little too. Yes, you will need to rev it a lot but just ease the power to the wheel by the clutch

[Gremlin]

have you got someone nearby you know, that can show you? Alternatively... auckland is a big place... where exactly are you?

being manual, its all about balancing clutch, brake, throttle etc.

[slimjim]

gee's we all been there and have done that and i would say that most of us would freely admit to having one hell of alot of laugh's and a shit load of swearing .......... greatess thing is find your self one quiet uphill street, and spend time and time again just practiceing .... all day long if you;ll clutch will let ya, and when you think you've got it, then try another street and another hill, in time you'll never know what all the fuss was about

[skidMark]

depending on where in auckland you are, i can help you my street is a hill and it's in the back of suburbia. so not too many cars to worry about

i'm in st johns park east auckland if you want to come round i can help i would come to you but my bike is in bits.

email me if you want to take up the offer

brngiton@hotmail.com

or add me on msn messenger...same as email address above...

[Steve 555]

Oh shit hey I also have problems on hills getting the balance now though practise makes perfect aye.

[Lissa]

heehee sounds just like me.. I ride a GSF250 bandit. A couple of weeks ago I was parked on a bit of a slope and it took me eight times to get out of it without stalling. The only excuse I have, is I have riden a GN250 before that, and I didnt need to rev so high before letting the clutch out. Just try letting the clutch out a little slower, and umm yea practice.

[Toaster]

Work your way up from slight incline to hill...... build yourself into it - works really well.

[breakaway]

Best way to learn, is pull clutch, rev the tits off it, And very slowly let the clutch out. Don't worry about revs for now, just learn to move off.

Most important thing is to move off smoothly, and its all about clutch control. Revs have little to do with it.

[Chrislost]

just stomp the rear break, then release the clutch a little but, fell it start to engage and increase revs abit then off the break and clutch out like your on the level(with a bit more gas then usual)

[McJim]

I just applied all the same principles as a car hill start.

Differences are:
Clutch = left hand not left foot
Throttle = Right hand not right foot
Brake = Right Foot not left hand

I don't remember having issues with hill starts but that could be because I've always preferred V-Twins (loadsa low down torque).

Have you driven a manual car before?

[Mutley]

Hi there.
My take offs are not all that smooth either, but I have the opposite problem. No stalling, just end up going like a bat out of hell from my take offs, but only when I am turning onto a street. ie leaving a petrol station, or turning right or left at an intersection. Given me a few scares.
Practice is the only solution.

[Matt_TG]

After the Tauranga Easter Egg Run everyone filed out from the carpark up the road that joins the main road. It's quite a steep hill, and seemed especially so when the lights turned red and perhaps 15 bikes ahead and 100 behind me all ground to a halt. As normal at these Ulysses run events most the bikes were big, loud, shiny, expensive and ridden by those with many years experience.

I had my son on the back of my CX500, and was sure that the brakes would give out as we balanced on the hill waiting to move. I started going through what I should do in my head, rear brake on, rev slowly, let out clutch and move forward. When the lights changed I revved way too high, over-rode the clutch then let it out to quick, lurched forward nearly touching the pillion on the bike ahead then nearly stalled it oooops.

I reckon I over-analysed, sometime when you think too much it hurts

[Puddlejumper]

I agree, too much thinking can be a bad thing. Lots of practice in a safe area is the remedy. I learned to ride in Dunedin and EVERY start was a hill start.

[slowpoke]

should i be using my foot break more etc etc.

I take it from this that you aren't using just the "foot brake"? In that case you are trying to do two things with one hand: throttle and brake.

Forget about using the front brake, it's way too awkward to brake and accelerate at the same time with one hand. Use only your "foot brake" to hold you on the incline, which makes it much easier to co-ordinate the throttle. As you feel the clutch start to take up, ease up on the brake while you ease open the throttle.