Something else was wrong, or you have the ONE bike in the world that's different. My Road King and now my Street Glide both work no matter what the incline is (or lack thereof).

 

It's either/or front or rear, not both. Activation is instantaneous, not time-delayed. I believe there is a maximum active time of five minutes, but I'm not sure of that. I vaguely recall reading that in the Interwebs somewhere (so it much be true, right?).

 

 

Edit... re-read

 

Or you can just hold your rear brake and start off like you normally would, right? Unless I’m missing something.
I never use hill hold. Tried it a few times but like someone else said, I don’t like the way it releases.

 

The issues with release are due to where the clutch lever enters the friction zone. Hill Hold uses the switch embedded in the left side control module to release and is (or should be) set with the cable tension properly adjusted (about 1/8" play between the lever mount and the metal ferrule at the end of the clutch cable). If you've adjusted the lever so that friction zone engagement is closer to the grip, or have never touched it and it now closer due to clutch wear or cable stretch, the switch won't trip until after your clutch starts catching, resulting in that hesitation (brake still on when pulling out).

The new bikes have two easily accessible microswitches instead on one buried in the mount making it possible to fine-tune the trip points for you preferred engagement point. The only way to adjust the pre-'23.5/'24 bikes is to file or shim the clutch lever where it contacts the switch (which is a PITA). I like my zone to be close to the grip and I had to mess around with this a bunch on my '22 Road King. I finally got it set and it worked perfectly from then on. On my '24, I bought a Softbrake Reduced Reach clutch lever so I can have the zone where I like it without having to deviate from the OEM cable play adjustment procedure.

 

I’ve also found that how smoothly the brakes release might be improved by a small adjustment to technique.

If the clutch lever isn’t pulled in far enough to contact the clutch switch the brakes won’t release until the RPM is about 1,200. This causes a very uncomfortable and sudden brake release, lugs the engine, and causes the rear end to dip a little before the brakes disengage. I discovered this after I put grip sleeves on my Ultra-Limited that prevented the clutch lever from coming in far enough to close the clutch switch. (I resolved it by using thinner grip sleeves meant for 7/8” bars)

If hill hold is activated, and the logic sees the clutch switch closed (lever pulled all the way in), as soon the clutch lever starts to come out, and the switch contacts open, it “arms” the logic to release the brakes at around 1,100 RPM. This allows for an almost unnoticeable brake release. (For me anyway)

Ensuring the the clutch lever is pulled all the way in, at least momentarily ~after~ hill hold is engaged, and then giving just a little extra throttle as the clutch starts to engage, might make the brake release a little smoother.

 

Which model OBDSTAR do you use? What year is your RGL? Does that model also allow for activating heated grips, garage door opener?

 

I like being able to start with side stand down, and doesn't bother me starting in gear.

 

It is the one called ISCANHARLEY, as far as heated grips and door opener I am not sure about that. I bought it mainly to flush the ABS and found it can activate the side stand switch.
It does seem to have a lot of features.