Lost confidence

[Maha]

Perhaps not quite the analogy I would have chosen. I was thinking more along the lines of learning to water-ski (arms straight, knees together, look up) or emergency braking (throttle off, front brake, clutch in, back brake, change down).

Or just jump off and let gravity have its way with you.....

Similar situation up here, theres a corner at the top of a steep road where we have to turn right, its a stop sign. I had a wee moment there a few weeks back (two up) not nornally a problem, but I got to far over to the left and had to stop for a car, took all I had to keep the bike upright (the camber sucks to the left) so now I go a different way.

[AD345]

Right - I cant resist.

I normally avoid the advice threads cos theres ususally good stuff said before I get to them and I end up learning instead of imparting.

In this instance however I might be abe to offer something.

Hillclimbs, be they on 2 wheels or 4, are interesting beasts and psychology plays a big part. I have spent literally years going up (and down) some very extreme hills in all types of terrain and weather conditions while 4wding and a lot (not all) of what I learned still applies.

I know this because recently a few of us on our Victorys encountered a very similar driveway-from-hell situation like yours. The difference was the corner went to the right and the driveway was the 2-strips of concrete with grass up the middle, big ditch on the right and drop-off on the left. Steep, tight turn with poor camber and zero margin for error becuase you couldn't change a line. 3 went up, 1 in the ditch and 2 to the top.

So - here is what I can offer:

1. Throttle control is key. Too fast will fuck ya over just as quickly, if not more, than too slow. You need to be going at a good jogging pace - about 15 - 20 kmh. The big trick is consistency of pace. Rolling on and off the throttle will fuck up your momentum and momentum is what gets ya to the top. The ideal pace will see you with just enough impetus around the corner that a slight increase in throttle is available to ya. So - yer rolling up there and enter the curve with a steady pace on, once the vanishing point opens up you can open that throttle a small amount to get both momentum to finish the climb (cos it looks like it tightens AND steepens at the curve) and have more ability to steer. You steer up hills - ya don't lean up them.

2. Weight control. Ths is where crusiers are such a fuck for hill climbing. You need to get weight up and forward towards the steering head. That positions your body better to be able to steer preventatively rather than reactively. The arse of the bike feels like its the problem but its really not. Its getting the front going to the right places thats key = the arse will just follow. With the mid-to-forward controls (im guessing) on your sporty you are going to find this the toughest bit. Especially if you are a bit vertically challenged. Sitting down at the bottom will mean that gravity and momentum are going to make it bloody hard to get your weight forward once you reach the bend. You can make that transition on a sportsbike but its hard to yank yourself up by the bars on a cruiser while still trying to go round a motherfuck uphill corner.
Get yourself forward and up (a little) from the start and that'll get ya round.

I'm happy to come out with the cruiser for a demo if ya like.

[sinfull]

Gonna offer my 10 c worth Ducky !
Still havn't quite got the picture of the drive in my head but i'm thinkin that it swings to the left and when turning in your left leg won't touch the ground ?
Or is it tilted to the right ?

Irrelivant really cause your stuck with it ! conqueoring it is the thing,

1/Picking the XL is much like the old sporties in that they are of a higher seat than a big block and You being a duck have an arse closer to the ground than most ?

2/1st gear has quite long legs on take off ??

1a/ build yourself a higher kerb (on the cheap) on the off camber side that you could traverse, so when/if you hesitate (cause thats whats happening aye) you can get that foot on something solid ! A wooden one would be a go so if shit happens and ya miss ya footing the bike aint landing on something too harsh !

2a/ regear your bike ie; sprockets ! So that 1st is much higher and stalling is moved to a lower rev (ya won't miss it at top end unless your thrashing it)

Put the front brake on and practise riding ya clutch too (do a standing burnout up the drive, i dare ya)
Your welcome

[Ixion]

The problem is lack of confidence, and a fear of a dropped bike.

The reason for the fear is that the left turn at the top means the bike is leaning over to the left. Any misjudgement of clutch and throttle means that it is going to want to topple to the left.

But, the steepness means that the ground on the left is a long way down. Always a concern for us short legged types. If it starts to topple it's going to be very hard to get a foot down to hold it up. Especially on a crusier where forward controls mean that you can't just dab a foot straight down.

Counter intuitive solution that works (if the driveway allows it).Start on the left of the driveway at the bottom, and ride up on an angle to a point on the far right of the drive at the top or, if possible, a little past the turn (don't know if the driveway continues past the turn or not)

Apply brakes and come to a stop. Lean the bike to the left , which is now the UPHILL side. Easy, because now the slope of the driveway works with you- even short legs can reach the ground easily. Turn the bars , let the brake off just a little and roll the bike backwards into the turn. The turn now means the bike is leaning to the uphill side, no problem at all to put a foot down .

Angling across the drive as you go up reduces the steepness so that the brakes will hold, but without actually having to do a right hand turn at the top (which would mean the inside of the turn being on the downhill again).

This does assume that the driveway doesn't continue too far beyond the turn . If there's another 100 metres uphill past the turn it's no go.

Sounds complex, in reality it's dead easy.

[Beemer]

I can only sympathise - we bought a place with a steep gravel driveway a few months after I bought my BMW F650CS. It was a lot heavier than my old RG and the seat was wider so the fact it had the same seat height didn't mean much as I still could only just touch the ground with tip-toes. I did 1200kms the first week I had the bike, but that was when we lived on the flat. I got the bike to the new place and despite the fact the driveway was concreted two days after we moved in, I loathed riding out it.

The steepness wasn't so much the problem - it was turning onto a 100kph road with no visibility until you got to the very edge of the driveway, due to the neighbour's property having a bank along the edge of the road. I have never been that great at low speed riding and I hated stopping at the bottom as I always worried I would drop it at low speed when turning right out of the driveway. If I could have turned left it would have been better, but it's a dead-end road with a narrow turning circle at the end. Our road has no markings and it's not very wide so there was no room to make a wide exit and I got to the point where I would not stop when exiting the driveway and that is not recommended when something doing 100kms (like the milk tanker...) could be heading for you. I lost confidence and ended up selling the bike, which was a shame as I loved riding it and was okay riding it around Wellington and stopping on hills.

I'll post some photos of the before and after shots of the driveway to show what I mean.

But at least I have no trouble driving up and down it - one friend who owns a 4WD parks at the bottom and toots when she is picking me up!

[Skyryder]

Practice tight turns on the flat. Just remember when on the left turn ( I presume you are still going up hill) ya gota compensate with a little throttle.


My inlaws before they died had a shit driveway with some difficult steep turns. I got my self in a carpark and did some tight circle turns untill I could go as tight as I could without having to place my feet on the ground.

Might be the way to go. Start wide and slowly decrease.


Skyryder

[MadDuck]

I know its late and long overdue. A huge thanks for the advice and I now think I have it sussed.

I can take it in two bites (thanks to a few drunken KBers analysing it to death) or build a garage at the bottom.

[saul]

Just get on with it

[ajturbo]

build it fucking strong, ( the new garage) and fire proof, add a shower and WC,
a mezanine floor, auto door, alarms .

a fridge, and a gas hob,
mac and i will become your security army, we will only take food as payment... oh and a few $$ for gas for the bike.....

[Pixie]

Almost fell over in your driveway once.
Fucking thing was damp and I rode over something green.
With throttle.

Genetic Fitsimons?

"It's not easy being green" -Kermit T Frog

[Mom]

I can take it in two bites (thanks to a few drunken KBers analysing it to death) or build a garage at the bottom.

Hah! Pot/kettle what I am hearing

[ajturbo]

Hah! Pot/kettle what I am hearing

i just expected that was the case.... hahahahaha

[Mom]

i just expected that was the case.... hahahahaha

Lucky she loves us eh?

[ajturbo]

Lucky she loves us eh?

... love / hate relationship ... lol

[MadDuck]

build it fucking strong, ( the new garage) and fire proof, add a shower and WC,
a mezanine floor, auto door, alarms .

a fridge, and a gas hob,
mac and i will become your security army, we will only take food as payment... oh and a few $$ for gas for the bike.....

Jeezus if I do that you will want to move in! Hmmm case closed.