South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

This will probably sound totally ridiculous to everyone, but i was wandering if anyone else was a bit apprehensive about riding down very steep hills when they started riding?

I wasnt keen on my cbr, but it seemed even worse when I went to Plymouth last saturday, as there are some demon drop like hills eg. notter bridge by the camera going west bound!

Im sure its justa matter of confidence and experience, neither of which im full of at the mo! Doesn't help its worse on hills with bends due to my flattened rear tyre!

And yes i do have way to much time on my hands at the moment to be thinking about these things

riding down steep hills is fun fun fun. There is a road near torrington that we sometimes ride purely for the steep downs then ups - nicknamed rollercoaster road

Prob just me then

Never had a problem with it in a car, or pillion, and i quite liked the demon drop at Kids Kingdom!

Hopefuly i'll get over it soon then, prob be better when i get a new tyre!

hills are awesome, especially ones that go down then up with a bend at the bottom, the tyres really dig in and you can fly round 'em

Prefer going up to coming down, especially if there's a bend at the bottom, i usually start pushing backwards on the bike near the bend trying to get some weight of the front

billinom8s wrote:riding down steep hills is fun fun fun. There is a road near torrington that we sometimes ride purely for the steep downs then ups - nicknamed rollercoaster road

Langridge ford is one i just love the way when you are coming from south molton it looks as though the road is straight through then all of a suddenly you fall off the edge
Merv

Stick it in as low a gear as possible and pop and bang all the way to the bottom. Fun fun fun.

going up and down hills is much more fun than flat riding,my favourite hilly bends would have to be craner curves ,on the road it would be a clear run through tresillian heading towards truro

I know what you mean renny, theres always that fear the fronts just gonna wash out,you tense up and the bike ends up wanting to go straight round a bend at the bottom

The only thing really is just to keep riding em and get the experience/confidence.

I usually whack it in a low gear let the engine braking slow you down(or drag the rear if you want to),move your weight back a bit and grip the tank with your knees so youre not pushing on the bars.If theres a tight bend at the bottom treat it like a u-turn,look right thru to the exit and just be gentle with any throttle/braking inputs.

billinom8s wrote:riding down steep hills is fun fun fun. There is a road near torrington that we sometimes ride purely for the steep downs then ups - nicknamed rollercoaster road

I guess you are referring to the road leading away from torrington (opposite the green/burger bar) where there is a bit of road that just drops away and you go down a serious gradient before going straight back up the other side and then into a fast sweeping uphill right hander, slighly bumpy just before the bottom.....on a litre bike you can see near 150mph odd before you slow for the fast corner on the uphill (if you grit your teeth and clench your buttocks together ) Probably more if you had no sense of self preservation!

jason wrote:

billinom8s wrote:riding down steep hills is fun fun fun. There is a road near torrington that we sometimes ride purely for the steep downs then ups - nicknamed rollercoaster road

I guess you are referring to the road leading away from torrington (opposite the green/burger bar) where there is a bit of road that just drops away and you go down a serious gradient before going straight back up the other side and then into a fast sweeping uphill right hander, slighly bumpy just before the bottom.....on a litre bike you can see near 150mph odd before you slow for the fast corner on the uphill (if you grit your teeth and clench your buttocks together ) Probably more if you had no sense of self preservation!

B3227 torrington south molton road is the one i reckon, all roads out of torrington are steep somewhere, but if ya go down over taddiport attempting 150 mph on a litre bike then you will not be back to tell the story i promise ya, same in the Bideford direction 50 mph will be too much around the bends by the old station
merv

Mervin wrote:

jason wrote:

billinom8s wrote:riding down steep hills is fun fun fun. There is a road near torrington that we sometimes ride purely for the steep downs then ups - nicknamed rollercoaster road

I guess you are referring to the road leading away from torrington (opposite the green/burger bar) where there is a bit of road that just drops away and you go down a serious gradient before going straight back up the other side and then into a fast sweeping uphill right hander, slighly bumpy just before the bottom.....on a litre bike you can see near 150mph odd before you slow for the fast corner on the uphill (if you grit your teeth and clench your buttocks together ) Probably more if you had no sense of self preservation!

B3227 torrington south molton road is the one i reckon, all roads out of torrington are steep somewhere, but if ya go down over taddiport attempting 150 mph on a litre bike then you will not be back to tell the story i promise ya, same in the Bideford direction 50 mph will be too much around the bends by the old station
merv

not sure of the road name, im only reffering to one specific section with that 150mph reference and its a big up and down im pretty positive its near 150mph before you back off for the uphill sweeping right hander. dont get me wrong Im not saying you can roll through the entire road at those sort of speeds!

im going mad its a sweeping left hander at the top of the hill not right...(riding away from torrington)

just checked it on google earth and it is on the B3227

are you thinking of the big dipper with a country club/ golf course half way up if so 150 is easily possible

Either jacobstowe to hatherleigh one or a3124 south of winkleigh i think si might be referring to.
Not that steep but definately uuup dooowwwn uuuuup dooowwwn!

A39 lynton/porlock is always a good one for tight gradient hairpins