How To Ride with Miles Davis

This entry is part 40 of 24 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #3

There’s big ups and downs in them hills

Body position and looking ahead – not straight in front of the front wheel – are two important factors in dealing with hills.

There’s something about mountains that seems to make a ride that much more epic. The scenery, the variety and the challenge all come together to tick quite a few boxes. The more confident you are with hills, the more options you have, and the safer you are when your ride stumbles across that mongrel, steep section of track with the potential to bring you undone.

Having the confidence, composure and patience to approach it strategically can really make a difference.

Vision

Looking ahead is one of the most important skills, and one that many riders don’t get right. Whether you’re heading up or down a hill, looking ahead and knowing what you’re dealing with gives you a much better chance to manage the situation and make it up or down safely, or even abort your mission and turn around before you get too far in and possibly come unstuck.

When you’re heading up a hill, if your vision is focused upward you have a much better chance to pick a line that will get to the top on the first attempt. Pick a dodgy line and sometimes you might as well just jump off the bike, because you’ll have basically no chance of making it.

On the flip side, looking ahead and linking the sweet lines together can make the same hill seem like a harmless bump.

The same goes with vision going downhill. As the pitch increases you get advance notice and can reduce speed, pick the better line and stay in control. There’s nothing worse than seeing a rider misjudge the required speed for a steep descent and carry way too much speed into a steep, loose or rutted section. It can get ugly very quickly.

Uphill

Approach the hill in an appropriate gear. If it’s really steep and nasty, probably select first or second, depending on your bike and the approach. You need to be able to be proactive and versatile, and ready to adapt your line to the situation as it develops. Sure, you have plan A, but as many of you know, that can go out the window pretty quick, as can plan B, and so on.

My preference is to be in the standing position, leaning forward. As the bike begins to climb, let your elbows bend and the ’bars come toward you. Keep your knees slightly bent, but squeeze the bike between your legs to keep it tracking straight and avoid deflecting off rocks and roots. Generally you don’t need pure speed, as that can get you into trouble quickly. You want to approach the challenging section with good momentum. The engine should be in a torquey, grunty part of the rev range, not screaming its head off. Be ready to react to unexpected changes of direction and try to keep any throttle action smooth. Keep your fingers over the clutch to reduce drive partially if required, rather than shutting off the throttle and losing momentum (see issue #02 where we outlined the benefits of good clutch use for optimum drive).

If you over rev the engine you’ll compromise traction and therefore directional stability. If you get it right, you’ll probably sail up the hill with minimum fuss.

Sure, a bit of luck may be needed at times, too.

Keep in mind

Remember: “Momentum is your friend”, as this will almost always give the best result.

So many riders use too much throttle and lose control and drive. Too many times I’ve seen someone start getting wheelspin on a hill, and their instinct is to add throttle. It seems crazy, but that’s what happens. Learn where your bike makes that sweet, tractable power and use it to your advantage.

If the attempt doesn’t go to plan, you’re losing momentum and it’s looking pretty dire, I’d suggest dropping to the seated position. This can help gain drive as it puts more weight over the back wheel, and that might make the difference in getting you to the top, even if it’s not pretty. The other benefit is, if you want to abort the mission you can decide to stall the bike and put your feet down quickly rather than just crashing.

The reason you stall is because a stalled bike will be far more stable pointing up a steep slope than trying to hold the bike there with the clutch in and the front brake on.

From this point you need to try and turn, get to the bottom of the hill and decide whether to try again or find another way (at BMW Off Road Riding courses the “Hill Recovery” drill is one of the most popular).

Downhills present their own challenges, especially when the surface is loose.

Hot tips

• Vision: look ahead. Did I say look ahead?

• Stay loose and ready to shift your body weight as required.

• Be ready to downshift instantly if you lose momentum and are about to get into the stall zone.

• Use the clutch to control drive and optimise traction rather than chop the throttle.

• Don’t underestimate how a lowrevving, chugging, adventure-bike engine can get you through a tricky section.

• Don’t give up too soon, but make sure you know when to abort safely and make your way back to the bottom of the hill.

• Don’t follow too close.

Downhill

Body position

As you approach the steep section move your body weight back.

Depending how steep the descent is, you may need to get your bum over the pillion seat. If this is where your luggage is, you need to approach things more cautiously as you won’t have the ability to move your weight as far back.

Line selection

There’s no substitute for experience when it comes to knowing the right lines to take.

Try to link a line together that will be the easiest for the bike to maintain stability. Sometimes you need to be creative. Try to watch more experienced riders and ask them questions.

Braking techniques

Whether you’re best to leave your ABS on or turn it off (if your bike allows this) will depend on your level of experience and familiarity with your bike’s ABS system.

If you’re not very confident and decide to leave your ABS on, you should approach very steep, loose sections with extra caution so you don’t end up carrying too much speed. A minority like to bag ABS, but really, you need to understand its strongpoints, make decisions on how to get the best out of it, or turn it off in situations where you decide it’s best.

If your bike doesn’t have ABS, or you decide to deactivate it, you need to use a high level of brake control to control your speed and minimise lock ups.

Very experienced off-road riders (motocross, enduro or adventure riders) will feel comfortable modulating front and rear to get the best result. Less-experienced riders need to be very careful. A bike can hit the deck very quickly without precise brake control.

Know when to reduce front-brake pressure so the front wheel can track over an obstacle without stopping the bike or losing stability. This will make life much easier.

Hot tips

• Control your speed relative to the steepness of the hill.

• Look ahead. I said it again!

• Try not to stop completely. It can be very difficult to start again once stationary.

• Don’t follow too close.

• Be creative. Don’t be a sheep

ABS tips

If your bike has ABS and you leave it on when riding off-road, when your ride heads into steeper loose hills you need to be aware of how your ABS may react if you approach a nasty section with too much speed. The best strategy is to keep your speed very slow, steady and controlled, especially if it’s exceptionally steep with a loose surface. If you approach a steep section with too much pace you may find it difficult to reduce speed because the ABS senses a wheel locking. The system then reduces brake pressure, and when you’re trying to wash off speed that’s not a great feeling.

If you approach the same section very slowly, your ABS is likely to work well and provide you good control and confidence. Some new bikes have ‘Enduro’ mode ABS that allows the tyres to skid slightly before the ABS kicks in.That provides a more natural feel as the ABS isn’t as sensitive and doesn’t take over during the descent.

Conditions change things

It’s important to understand how big adventure bikes are affected by steep, slippery terrain.

On a trailbike you can give your regular hillclimbs a go in rain, hail or shine. That’s because they’re light and generally have aggressive knobby tyres. And most times it’s not the end of the world if your 250cc or 450cc enduro bike flops on its side. The same doesn’t go for most adventure bikes, especially bigger twins. They’re much trickier to get up steep, slick hills due to their mass and the types of tyres fitted to them. In many cases they’re expensive and don’t react well to a tumble down a steep hill.

Be aware of the terrain and how conditions may affect the grip. I generally steer well clear of wet, red-clay hills if I have the choice. In the dry a 1200 can climb crazy things, but in the wet it’s another story.

Get out there!

Depending on where you live and ride, it’s a great feeling to be able to navigate hills, and there’s something very satisfying about taking a big bike up and down hills more commonly attempted by trail riders. Like anything, you need to develop your skills and understand how your bike works up and down hills. Start off with basic slopes and go from there.

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