How to park on a hill?

[horch]

Living in Wellington there are a fair few steep streets about.

What the correct way to park a bike on a steep street?? Or is it just not done??

If you have the stand on the down hill side the bike is on more of a lean than normal. Changing the centre of gravity and may go beyond the limitations of the side-stand.

If you have the stand on up the hill, the bike wants to lean away from it. Reducing the effective load on the stand, making it easy to topple.

(we wont even start if there's the usual Wgtn wind factor as well)

Yesterday I parked almost pointing downhill, with the front wheel up against the curb (nosed into the gutter). And right up behind a car. Only prob was getting out, I couldn't go forward as the car was in the way and the footpath turned to steps a meter or so down so going off road wasn't an option either. So had to walk and heave the bike backwards uphill - looking like a right loser in the process.

So the best advice is to stay way from the gradients and park on the flat.

But is there a correct way to park on hills???

[Aa7]

not sure if its the 'correct' way but if you HAVE to park on a hill i'd be doing it the opposite of how you did it. with the back wheel against the kerb and the front wheel pointing up the hill and the bike on an angle. another option is to get yourself a centre stand and park with the bike facing uphill on the centre stand. oh, when you finally get sick of the wind and the hills you could move to canterbury and get sick of the flat and be begging for a hill

[mark247]

Park it pointing up the hill and have it in gear

[avgas]

in front of a bus with full insurance

[klingon]

Park with your nose pointing up the hill. Because:
- When you need to move you can power up the hill or roll backwards so you always have a way out.
- Your side stand folds backwards. By parking pointing up the hill, the weight of the bike is pushing against the stand so it can't fold accidentally. If parked pointing down the hill, the bike can fall off the stand.

[sunhuntin]

Park it pointing up the hill and have it in gear

agreed. i had some fun figuring out how to park on a dunedin st once. i think i ended up parking like i normally do [back end hard against the kerb, nose pointing out] with the side stand on the downhill side. when i went there again, i parked on the footpath, back end pointing downhill and in gear.

[klingon]

A funny sight I saw once involved a very experienced rider with a very heavy bike. He was going down a gravel driveway, came to the gate at the bottom, and realised the gate was locked. He was stuck. He couldn't push his bike backwards up the hill to get away from the gate (too heavy, too steep, loose gravel). He couldn't turn as the driveway was very narrow and he hadn't left himself any room for manoeuvring. Couldn't even put his stand down with confidence (loose surface, pointing downhill).

He ended up sitting there straddling his bike until help arrived.

So yeah, even non-newbies need reminding sometimes - always leave yourself an escape route!

[MarkH]

A funny sight I saw once involved a very experienced rider with a very heavy bike. He was going down a gravel driveway, came to the gate at the bottom, and realised the gate was locked. He was stuck. He couldn't push his bike backwards up the hill to get away from the gate (too heavy, too steep, loose gravel). He couldn't turn as the driveway was very narrow and he hadn't left himself any room for manoeuvring. Couldn't even put his stand down with confidence (loose surface, pointing downhill).

He ended up sitting there straddling his bike until help arrived.

So yeah, even non-newbies need reminding sometimes - always leave yourself an escape route!

Good story and a good lesson to all of us that don't want to turn red while our mates have a good laugh.

[<Rhino>]

Park with your nose pointing up the hill. Because:
- When you need to move you can power up the hill or roll backwards so you always have a way out.
- Your side stand folds backwards. By parking pointing up the hill, the weight of the bike is pushing against the stand so it can't fold accidentally. If parked pointing down the hill, the bike can fall off the stand.

Sounds like great advice that, bling'n your way. Thanks.

[Irontusk]

I got myself into a similar situation when I rode round to my sister's place for the first time, got up the driveway and thought 'hmmm, where do I park', there was only one place that would've been ok, but there was no way to manouvre the bike to get it there.. I tried anyway and I ended getting stuck trying to push it up the steep driveway backwards, VERY slow progress. Luckily my sister ended up coming out and opening the garage which had just enough room for my bike next to their car I learnt that I don't like pushing my bike backward up hills.. it's only a 250 so I don't want to think about trying it with a bigger bike!

[wysper]

Would you also leave the bike in gear rather than in neutral?

[Grub]

The advice on pointing the bike uphill with the tail against the curb is spot on. But what about this part of your original question regarding the side stand?

If you have the stand on the down hill side the bike is on more of a lean than normal. Changing the centre of gravity and may go beyond the limitations of the side-stand. If you have the stand on up the hill, the bike wants to lean away from it. Reducing the effective load on the stand, making it easy to topple.

Exactly. So what you do is take the hill out of the equation and use the camber of the road to tilt the bike onto the stand. Huh? Well, the steeper the hill, the more impossible it is to lean the side-stand against the uphill. Yep, the bike does have to have it weight on the stand so you keep angling the bike to almost point directly uphill so that the side-stand can then use the camber of the road to tilt the bike onto the stand.

In an extreme hill, the stand is going to be in the gutter. If there isn't a gutter then you would give up having the back wheel against the curb. Look at any bikes parked on hills and you'll notice that they're all pointing up the hill to some degree or other, it sort of happens without really thinking about it.

[CB ARGH]

Would you also leave the bike in gear rather than in neutral?

Not a good idea. The world will end.

Yes, always leave it in gear when on a hill. Because it would suck for your baby to go bye byes and roll down the hill enough for it to tip over... and the damage it would do to the disc lock 9if one was present) would be nasty!

Just remember to neutral it before starting! Lucky for me the bike won't even start when not in neutral! And it stalls when I put it in gear with the sidestand down... lucky me!

[wysper]

Not a good idea. The world will end.

Yes, always leave it in gear when on a hill. Because it would suck for your baby to go bye byes and roll down the hill enough for it to tip over... and the damage it would do to the disc lock 9if one was present) would be nasty!

Just remember to neutral it before starting! Lucky for me the bike won't even start when not in neutral! And it stalls when I put it in gear with the sidestand down... lucky me!

Yeah. Often all those layers of things that stop the bike starting are a real pain in the arse and then occasionally they are just the thing to save you serious pain or embarrassment.

[CB ARGH]

Yeah. Often all those layers of things that stop the bike starting are a real pain in the arse and then occasionally they are just the thing to save you serious pain or embarrassment.

Yeah, I love it when it cuts out when I put it in gear with the sidestand down, saved my ass a few times this week! I reckon all learner bikes should have it.

Time for a ride around scenic drive again!