Hill climbs and looping...

[Mr. Wibbens]

RB mod will allow you to run a higher gear so you are less likely to loop

[GS]

Looks like that stepped seat is designed to make room for a larger-than-standard butt!....which describes me perfectly!

[urnuts]

I agree. Get in a gear that doesn't give so much torque, like 2nd or 3rd and slip the clutch. Keep it in the lower end of the rpm's as well.

Sit WAYYYYY forward. Imagine trying to read something on your front fender. Nuts up against the tank filler cap.

Way back when- I remember trying to get my chin as far out over that front fender as possible. If your sitting, I don't see how you can do it- gotta get that weight forward!

[GS]

Enjoyed the video...thanks! Been there, done that!

My 2 cents:.........and that's all it's worth, too.

Look FAR FAR ahead...not 10-15' in front of your wheel...let your peripheral vision sort out the near stuff.

Weight on the pegs...with a forward crouch...bumps throw you around WAY less.

Bum off the seat, till you need to make it look easy as you rollover the top.

Grip the tank lightly with your knees...keeps your knees forward.

MORE speed at the bottom and just steer the bike as if the trail is flatter than it is

Relax and seek a smooth line with lots of steady power delivered to the rear wheel. (maybe one gear up)

If any of this helps, your buddy with the camera will have to find a new hobby!

[cleoent]

buddy with the camera is 65 yrs old and his hobby is making us young guys look like fools!

[GS]

Sounds like fun.....for him!

And you!

If the riding's too easy, where's the FUN in that??

[cleoent]

watching the rest of us fall..... duhhhh!!!!!!

[skipro3]

Yea, you were so far back in the saddle that you were left standing on the hill as the bike finished the climb. Keep your feet on the pegs. As soon as they touched the ground, you were thrown into the back seat, hung onto the bars and you PULLED that bike back and into a flip. That wasn't motor power that flipped it, it was you hanging on after you planted your feet on the hill and the bike was still TRYING to go up the hill.

[urnuts]

I really enjoyed watching that video- you all looked like you were having fun and seemed like a fun bunch of guys!
I did note that I didn't hear much clutch slipping and throttle work to keep up the revs, wind that thing out and use the clutch, get off the seat, and get the weight forward. Yeah, sounds like I know what I'm talking about..... and I don't!

[Jeb]

Great video!

For the slicker hills keep your butt slightly behind the cradle - with the pegs bearing your body's weight as suggested - to get a little more weight towards the rear wheel. But lean your body forward, almost lying on the bike, elbows pointed to the sky.

[2001kdx]

Nads up on the tank and head over the fender as the others said, and don't be afraid to upshift and feather the clutch a little!

[kawagumby]

I thought some of you might like to see one ultimate hillclimbing area; Clear Creek, CA.

In this picture (sorry about the file size) if you look closely you'll notice a thin horizontal line about half-way up on the right side of the second ridge. That's me side-hilling full throttle in fourth gear on an RM500. On this sandy-loamy surface you need a lot of speed to keep the wheels from plowing and the bike from drifting downward.

This particular area has been closed down by the BLM, however Clear Creek still has a lot of riding to offer.

http://home.earthlink.net/~yamagumby/si ... arside.jpg

[skipro3]

We gotta go riding sometime together there, kawagumby. I've ridden clearcreek; the piglet and wild boar.

[kawagumby]

Heck yes,
if you're ever coming this way, pm me and we'll get together!

[AZRickD]

That was a fun video.

As both you and the guy on the 2T Honda got near the top of the hill, your motors could be heard losing RPM. His was bogging and your was bogging and looping. He nearly stalled it which means he (and you) weren't working the clutch.

Gotta have your left hand on the clutch lever when hill climbing. I've found a sweet-spot on my clutch lever about an inch or so in that allows the clutch to slip nicely. I'll pull in the clutch that inch and keep it there more or less to keep the bike climbing.

Three things can happen when hill climbing -- revs drop, or rear tire breaks free, or front end raises. Clutch feathering can help with all of them.

When the revs drop, feather the clutch that one inch. When the front climbs up, feather that clutch. If the rear tire starts to spin and lose you valuable traction, feather that clutch.

Your riding style brought back memories of me from last year.

I would sit too much and when I did, those hills would slide my butt to the rear no matter how hard I tried. It's simple leverage. Compare the amount of wheelie torque with your weight high and rearward on the seat vs your weight low and forward on the foot pegs.

Sitting means that every bump deflects you and the bike off course. Standing absorbs those bumps. But standing is not enough. You have to control the bike through those bumps, and you can't do that well if you don't squeeze your kneeze around the tank to keep the bike from rocking and rolling off line.

I also had my sag set incorrectly (on a blown shock) which messed up the geometry. Once I got my shock serviced and my sag set, everything improved.

How is the rebound on your rear shock? If the dampening is set slowly, just a few bumps will have your rear end packing making it ride low in the rear (and high in the front) which increase wheelie tendencies.

Rick

[thebleakness]

Rick giving advice?










Just kidding Rick.

[krazyinski]

All good advice I wish I had a Video GUY, I would love to critic my self.

one thing I did notice was a lack of control feet were a flailing and it looked as if you were letting the bike take you up as far as it could.

come to the bottom hot and let momentum carry you while you compose your self to get down to business of getting in control. meaning shift one way or the other feet on the pegs grab the tank with your knees head up looking at the top fingers on the clutch slip that bad boy keep that baby in the sweet spot.
and you will say what hill.
in the video the thumper used its weight and torque to make it look easy.

[muddertrucker]

I thought that was me in the video I guess we both have the same (bad) riding tecniques. Thanks for the tips guys.

[GS]

The more advice I give, the more I realize how funny it is for me to be offering advice about ANYTHING...to ANYBODY!!!!!

[firffighter]

That's not a hill climb! Where are the logs? Where are the rocks? Where are the roots? In Oregon we call that a nice straight section of trail.

Just kiddin'. The above advice it right on. Slip that clutch,stand on your pegs, look up the trail, and more momentum.

After riding an XR250, switching to a 2-stroke can be challenging, especially on hills. You can leave the XR in that higher gear without stalling and then roll it on to get momentum back. On the KDX, you must slip that clutch to keep revs up, and find that happy medium between front end coming up and rear spinning. Even a slight wheelie is fine to maintain traction and can even help to avoid your front end deflecting off of obstacles.

Anyway, that terrain is similar to our Central Oregon stuff. But, come on up to the wet, nasty West side of the Cascades for some real climbing treats.