"Hill Start" Comedy.

[Whip]

So if you wonder over to the "Ride Tale" part of this forum you may have seen pictures of my GS on a trailer with a few Harleys....covered in snow. LOL

 

 

Though it was kinda cold on the way we had a good time but that ain't the best part.

 

On the return trip my GS ended up up front in the trailer and therefore was the last to be rolled off. I USUALLY have no problem doing this by myself. Today was different. I started the motor pulled it out of the chocks and started backing it down the ramp. About half way down I applied a little pressure to the front brake like I have been doing for years to slow down the gravitational pull of the earth. The problem was when I released the brake the bike would not move. I was hung with my feet dangling in the air, the bike frozen in place and about to go down off the ramp with me on it. I hit the gas released the clutch and drove it back into the trailer. I looked at the situation and couldn't figure out what had happen?  It felt like the rear wheel got stuck in between the rungs of the ramp? I put a shelf board over the ramp and tried again and the same thing happen. Keep in mind it is dark and around 10 degrees out AND I had been driving for over 16 hours.....did I leave out it was snowing and after midnight? I did not have the same issue when I unloaded the bike in California two days before so this was perplexing. I tried to turn the bike around in the trailer to drive it off forward, but there wasn't quite enough room. My hands were going numb and I was beginning to lose it. It felt like I had been at it for an hour but it was prolly more like 15 minutes. I had the bike stuck sideways in the trailer and was freezing. Then it came to me.

 

The "Hill Start" BS!!!!

 

I didn't turn the bike on when I lowered it off the ramps in CA because the FOB was in my bags in the house!!!...and I had a little help from my friends.

 

After some more freezing and cussing (that no one heard because no one was stupid enough to be outside at midnight in the freezing cold except ME!!)

 

I fought the bike back to the forward position and walked it off the ramp with no engine and no mysterious stopping. 

 

Lessoned learned. Turn off the "Hill Start" it was solution to a problem that never existed (in my case anyway).

 

I hope you enjoyed my plight.

 

Whip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Antimatter]

Heh.  That, and a bunch of road salt was one of the things that motivated me to get an enclosed trailer.  I was coming back from a track day at Barber when I got caught in a spring-time blizzard.  My poor '05 ZX-6R was on a Northern Tool trailer, and got encrusted with salt and goo thanks to the diligent folks in the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and our friends in the long-haul trucking industry.  I had to strip that poor bike down the frame to get all the salt off.

Ironically, that group of friends quit riding bikes that year after that.  But, after a long and hot track day, I do enjoy being able to back into my driveway, lock the trailer up, and leave everything there to be dealt with the next morning. 

[Whip]

2 minutes ago, Antimatter said:

Heh.  That, and a bunch of road salt was one of the things that motivated me to get an enclosed trailer.  I was coming back from a track day at Barber when I got caught in a spring-time blizzard.  My poor '05 ZX-6R was on a Northern Tool trailer, and got encrusted with salt and goo thanks to the diligent folks in the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and our friends in the long-haul trucking industry.  I had to strip that poor bike down the frame to get all the salt off.

Ironically, that group of friends quit riding bikes that year after that.  But, after a long and hot track day, I do enjoy being able to back into my driveway, lock the trailer up, and leave everything there to be dealt with the next morning. 

I am with ya....I have a 7X12 enclosed trailer but it would not hold a full dress HD and my GS we tried so we went to this set up. 

[steve.foote]

It's all part of the character building aspect of motorcycles.  I'd like to say I have no 'moments' like that, but fortunately, nobody had a camera.  

[RandyShields]

What a hilarious story!  Thanks for sharing.

[bendbill]

Great tale.  I'm so mechanically challenged, I never would have figured it out--probably just curse the frozen-up driveshaft :-)

[bdfbeemer]

I back my RT down  a ramp in front of a shed each time I ride. I have to pull the brake all the way to the grip and hold for the hill start to engage. I use the brakes lightly on backing to keep down wheel skid. I have never had this happen in years of backing a bike down a ramp. Sorry to hear it happened to you.

[lawnchairboy]

[roadscholar]

On 2/26/2019 at 9:41 AM, Whip said:

I am with ya....I have a 7X12 enclosed trailer but it would not hold a full dress HD and my GS we tried so we went to this set up. 

 

You need a 7x14 for that, maybe an 8.