How to park on a hill?

[sinfull]

Park it pointing up the hill and have it in gear

+1 on this but i tend to angle park it, front wheel in, using the camber to give me a similar lean as on the flat or even slightly more as the sidestand has it sitting pretty upright anyway !

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!

Think you'll find most models of bike come out with it now lol been caught trying to start the triple in gear with the stand down a couple of times now !

[Grub]

+you'll find most models of bike come out with it now !

Yup, with good reason too. Watched a mate take off from the bike shops in Mt Eden Rd. Nice wheelie it was too. All our shouting was useless as we watched him go around the sweeping left hander going away from town ... and out of our sight.

We heard the bang and the crunch as his stand hit and catapaulted him into the oncoming car.

[sinfull]

Yup, with good reason too. Watched a mate take off from the bike shops in Mt Eden Rd. Nice wheelie it was too. All our shouting was useless as we watched him go around the sweeping left hander going away from town ... and out of our sight.

We heard the bang and the crunch as his stand hit and catapaulted him into the oncoming car.

Ouch yep seen similar, only ever done it myself on trail bikes but it deff throws ya sideways !

[Irontusk]

My bike also won't start unless the clutch is pulled in, is that common too? It's all the annoying things that are there to save your paintwork

[CookMySock]

I suggest you do not rely on your engine braking to solve your parking-brake problems. In my opinion, if you do leave your bike in gear, it will LOOK like its going nowhere for some minutes, until your back is turned and the compression leaks down and rolls backwards off the sidestand. Use the rear wheel against the curb trick.

I never leave any vehicle in gear.

Steve

[Tank]

I never leave any vehicle in gear.

I always leave the bike in gear - and thats how I was taught on the mentor evenings as well - its not to get around any issues with the bike - it just makes sense.

If you are there on the side stand (even on flat ground) - it dosnt take much of a knock from behind to move the bike forward and over. Esp those of us with larger high COG bikes.

[MarkH]

I suggest you do not rely on your engine braking to solve your parking-brake problems. In my opinion, if you do leave your bike in gear, it will LOOK like its going nowhere for some minutes, until your back is turned and the compression leaks down and rolls backwards off the sidestand.

Yeah - cause that's something that happens.

Not that I have to worry about that - I have a parking brake and no manual gears.

[swbarnett]

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!

I was out for a jaunt late one night on my CB750 in the mid 80s. Going through the Auckland Domain I decided, just to be different, that I'd take the footpath down the hill . What I didn't realise was that the footpath ended into the side of a pretty big speed hump. I got stuck pointing downhill with my front wheel firmly stuck against it. It took me about half an hour of tugging on the bars and many tiny little jumps to get the bike to the side of the hump and free.

[klingon]

I was out for a jaunt late one night on my CB750 in the mid 80s. Going through the Auckland Domain I decided, just to be different, that I'd take the footpath down the hill . What I didn't realise was that the footpath ended into the side of a pretty big speed hump. I got stuck pointing downhill with my front wheel firmly stuck against it. It took me about half an hour of tugging on the bars and many tiny little jumps to get the bike to the side of the hump and free.

Ha ha ha now THAT would have been worth seeing

[Aa7]

If you end up in a tight spot where there is minimal room to move your bike you can spin the bike on the axis of the side or centre stand and have it face any direction within the same radius as the length of the bike give or take a little. works with big and small bikes alike and is less difficult than it would seem. I would of never believed it possible until i saw it done on a large Honda touring bike (centre stand) and then a GN250 on the side stand last week. When I got home after seeing it done I tried it out and spun the RF around in the garage on the side stand just for shits and giggles.

[PrincessBandit]

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.

Ha ha, reminded me of the time I parked nose first into an angle park with downhill slope and had to get a random pedestrian to pull the arse of my ginny for me to manouvre out! I hadn't been riding all that long and had a car up my bum as I spotted the park so didn't want to risk being hit from behind slowing to back into the park. Felt like a bit of a nong having to get a stranger to help me!

... use the camber of the road to tilt the bike onto the stand.

Been caught a few times discovering the camber is steeper than I thought and have had to "bouncy bounce" from my left leg pulling like hell against the bars to lift my bandit off the side stand. Never knew I had muscles in my arms till then.........(and obviously picked the wrong way round to park)

[QUOTE=sinfull;1715260...

Think you'll find most models of bike come out with it now lol been caught trying to start the triple in gear with the stand down a couple of times now ![/QUOTE]

My bike also won't start unless the clutch is pulled in, is that common too? It's all the annoying things that are there to save your paintwork

...
Not that I have to worry about that - I have a parking brake and no manual gears.

Yeah, Balu loves having the handbrake on his burger too!

I nearly got spat off the ginny once by accidentally leaving the side stand down and moving off, only ever did it once! Most embarrassing moment I had though was in Tauranga finally getting the bandit off it's side stand only to wonder why it wouldn't start (with a group of blokes all watching me) - turned out in the process of lifting it upright i'd hit my kill switch. Thankfully it crossed my mind to check it after a few minutes. and I could continue on my way with them admiring my wheels!!!! lol

[Ixion]

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the obvious out, if caught parked nose donwhill and facing the kerb. Up onto the kerb, down the footpath until you find a suitable place to reneter the road, and Bob's your uncle (actually, He was my aunt, wonderful clever folk those surgeons, but I digress).

[sinfull]

I always leave the bike in gear - and thats how I was taught on the mentor evenings as well - its not to get around any issues with the bike - it just makes sense.

If you are there on the side stand (even on flat ground) - it dosnt take much of a knock from behind to move the bike forward and over. Esp those of us with larger high COG bikes.

+ 1 again ! Never seen a bike bleed down in compression and roll backwards off the sidestand in first second third or sixth

Most embarrassing moment I had though was in Tauranga finally getting the bandit off it's side stand only to wonder why it wouldn't start (with a group of blokes all watching me) - turned out in the process of lifting it upright i'd hit my kill switch. Thankfully it crossed my mind to check it after a few minutes. and I could continue on my way with them admiring my wheels!!!! lol

Ummm your bending over sorting out the side stand switch ! Do you really believe they were admiring your wheels ?

[magicfairy]

Go round the back of Wellington Motorcycles to see 2 rows of bikes "parked on a hill"
Then try to extract yours gracefully, without dropping it or bringng down the rest like dominos and ride away over the "off road" section at the top.

Pause when you reach the road, congragulate yourself on not making a spectacle of yourself in front of all the workshop boys.

[stevewederell]

What about if I'm heading down one of the many steep hill in CHCH and have to park on left in a single park?

Normally I would curve in then out, reverse in. Now I'm just a wee lad so a)getting her back up a hill will be tough and b) if I get back and am now perpendicular with road, there is going to be a huge drop off below my left foot!

Do I just keep her leaning to right till she's pointing up the hill and hope I don't topple?

(As a side laugh for you all I got stuck on the flat at the end of the Wespac run and needed help to back out! Wet, loose gravel, knackered = red faced)