I have been riding 2-3 years now on my 06 Road King and seem to have a particular problem with hill riding. I will explain. When riding in a rally, with a group of people, or even by myself i have difficulty when going up a hill that gradually increases and we are moving in stop and go fashion. The difficulty i have is when traffic stops then starts right after braking on the hill. What is the best way to negotiate the hill with traffic or lights? I seem to grab the clutch too much when moving at very slow speeds which causes me to feel like the bike is going over or roll back too much if i am stopped. What is the best clutch, brake, and throttle procedure i should use. Sorry for the long post but i was trying to explain my situation as best i could. Thanks.

 

I'm not sure it can be sufficiently explained. You just have to experiment a little to get it right. I usually use the front brake to prevent rolling backwards, then play with the throttle/clutch to move forward.

 

in the dvd "ride like a pro" they address this
and it is a tricky thing - shoot, its hard even in a stick car

think of the situation in a car
if you can leave the car in gear then fine, but even with that you might run into trouble and have to kinda ride the friction spot
in a car if you stop completely, then you have to have 3 feet - one on the clutch, one on the gas and one on the brake- then you could apply gas as you release the clutch and the brake
some people use the parking brake
but the correct way to do it is to keep the right foot on the brake, slowly release the clutch until there is enough friction to hold the car steady and not allow it to roll back, then remove the right foot from the brake andput it on the gas and then apply more gas as you release the clutch some more
done correctly it is very smooth, but it does take a lot o practice to do it quickly and smoothly

now lets convert that same thing to the bike
if moving slow and your bike can lug at low rpms, then your pretty okay. if the engine can't luck then you have to play with the friction point on the clutch and the gas. so you will be riding your clutch a lot. smart thing here is to leave a bit more room in front of you so you have some cushion room.

now if you do come to a stop - and lets say that you use both your front and rear brake to stop, then put your left foot down, and then your right and you keep the front brake on and all is cool

but now you have to start
here are some options, based on what bike and what size and how big and strong you are, etc.

following with the car example, you have to keep a brake on, while releasing the clutch to friction point, then releasing the brake while appling gas.

so the real question is which brake or both

either brake will do and you really don't need both

so which one - well here is where i really have a problem. i have short legs and small hands. short legs mean i can't lean the bike much at all, so it has to stay pretty straight up. this means that if i take my right foot off the ground and lean it just a tad too much to the right - oops!. but the small hands mean i have a hard to keep the front brake on while apply gas.

so i have actually choose the lessor two evils and use the foot brake. lessor of two evils because i must have better control of the gas which would be impossible for me while trying to keep the brake on.

so i stabalize the bike on my left foot, keep my right foot on the foot brake, release the clutch until i feel some friction, then apply some gas, release more cluth and release more brake. and this allows me to move evenly forward up the hill in a nice smooth acceleration..........

but

what i do too often is to let the clutch off to quickly which does an attempt at a wheely thing, then get nervous and pull the clutch back in while releasing the brake, but of course kept the gas on, so now i am rolling backwards witht the engine reving and rolling backwards is really awkward so i get more nervous and pop the clutch and my ultra really tries to pop the front end up and i might even lay some rubber and i look like some first timer and i swear that i will never show my face in that area for the next 20 years

it is really important to practice this - you can even just use the apron to a driveway - and then work your way up to something steeper - and practice with out the pressure - eventually you will be able to rock your bike back and forth a couple inches as you let the clutch in and out with just a small amount of gas and no brake

hope this helps

 

If you have to go slower than 1st gear will allow either just engage and disengage the clutch or use the friction zone. If you're stopped on a hill and getting ready to go, use the rear brake and then gently release the clutch and rear brake simultaneously while throttling to go. Buy the DVD "Ride Like a Pro". It's the best learning tool I've ever seen for improving your skills. On the DVD and at the advanced riding course MSF we practice riding as slow as possible in a straigt line using the friction zone or, as I call it, riding the clutch.

 

Take a MSF/MSU class...............

 

Practice. I use the rear brake, give it more throttle than I would if I was on flat ground, and ease out the clutch. When I feel the bike wanting to pull forward I slowlyease off the rear brake.

 

I agree with everyone elses suggestions here and wouldrecommend thatyou find a sloped parking lot to practice stops and take offs until you feel more comfortable.

 

I somehow justcan hold the bike with the front brake with my outer fingers and roll the throttle with my hand. It's easy. Try it on level ground. You can start to load the driveline with throttle and clutch while holding the brake, and then you just release the brake. It's harder to explain it than it is to do it.

 

eglidor, nailed it!!!
frigg the rear brake on stop n go,,,
you post this cause your learning, that means , most likely your feet are on the ground,,,
learn to ride with your fingers on the levers,except the index finger,,
your front brake is your best friend,use it 75% of the time
learn to control your throttle and brake with your RIGHT had simultaneously...
DO NOT depend on your foot brake for stop-n-gos!!
any more questions,, ASK!

 

You can operate the front brake and the throttle with one hand, but you can also do all that while stopping the bike with the rear brake. It's not always agood idea to use the front brake to actually stop the bike in low speed maneuvers, especially with the front wheel turned. I do it, but I do it very gently. I've heard many riders say not to do it at all. A couple of times, I came close to finding out why when I almost dropped my bike.