Originally Posted by saden

I'm a new SV rider and I'm having trouble shifting up and down on a hilly environment. My neighborhood is quite hilly and has lots of stop signs so I find myself in a number of stop-and-go situations. I'm also having some trouble with quick take off as well.

Can you guys give me some pointers on what to do when dealing with hills and how to get going in a reasonable time ins stop-and-go situations? I'd also love to hear your thoughts on shifting in general. I'm currently doing the following and I'm afraid with my current skills I'm not ready for the highway.

Going up hill:
1. Use the back break to slow down before reaching to of the hill.

there really isnt any need, unless there is a junction at the top of the hill, or your
view is restricted. if so, why not just roll off the throttle.

2. Pull the clutch in and down-sh*t to 1st gear before reaching the top of the hill.
3. Come to a complete stop using the back breaks.

many people give different advice on how to stop, i use a combo of front and rear brake when coming to a stop, as you come closer to stopping, ease off the brakes.


4. When it's my turn to go I give it some gas and then start shifting to 2nd gear and then finally 3rd. Of course the whole process to get going is insanely slow for me (~4-5 seconds) and cars are right on my tail.

mabe you should change higher in the rev range, bikes are rev hungry, so i dont think you are doing the bike any harm, for example, on my bike i can get 60mph out of 1st gear, so if im stop starting in town, i dont really come out of 1st.

Going down a hill.
1. I'm completely at reset and in 1st gear before descending down hill.
2. I pull the clutch in and let gravity do its thing.
3. I slow down as I am going down and change to second gear.
4. Finally I change to 3rd gear.
5. 10 seconds later I have to completely stop and do the whole thing again.