I am new to ATV riding and have had my Rincon out three times to date. This past weekend, I went to a riding park that that has not been kept up well. The paths were quite worn and there were many inclines and declines with very steep angles. I spent most of my time carefully probing trails where I backed out of as many situations as I followed through on. I have had a safety riding class and have a basic understanding of the body mechanics you are supposed to use in various riding situations.

I have a question for you experienced riders. Is there a technique you are aware of or that you use to closely estimate the angle of an incline or decline as you are sitting on your ATV and are looking up or down the slope? Do you know in general, what the maximum safe angle of ascent and descent is for an ATV as well as the maximum angle for traversing a slope? I realize that you must take into account the position of the rider on the machine and so forth to maintain center of gravity. What I am looking for is the peak threshold of angle for safety in general. Knowing that, I would personally back off several degrees in establishing my personal safety limit for climbing, descending, and traversing as a rule of thumb. Appreciate your help on this.

Wanting to live to ride another day.......

 

Do what you feel comfortable doing till you learn your quad and get some experience. A tip for going up hill, get speed to go up (WOT), till you start getting to the part that is really steep, then slowly let off the throttle so it is like you almost coast up the steepest part. I have lots of experience climbing hills, I live right next to a huge trap rock quarry and the owners son rides dirtbike with us down there. Those hills get as steep as you want there. Practice and learning the limits to your quad would probably be the best way.

chuck

 

I don't want this to sound bad but you are probably not ascending these hills fast enough. Hills that we got half way up and had problems a\when we first bought our ATV we now ride up them without a second thought, with allot more speed. I am not telling you to attack all these steep hills with great speed, but when approaching a steep hill about the only way to know how to take the hill is either to follow and experienced rider and/or get more seat time. Experience is my answer to your question. Looks like you have a nice quad to gain your experience on. Welcome to one great sport.

 

You would be surprised what your quad will handle. We have a nasty hill on the main powerline trail where I travel all the time. At the bottom is a stream and at the top is a rock shelf. The shelf is almost vertical! This place is so steep that we usually let the passengers walk up if we have any. The bottom of the hill gets more worn everyday but it is the only way around so we have to drive up and down it. Going down isn't to bad because you can drop the front wheels off the shelf and nurse it down the winding hill. Going up is another story. The trick to climbing steep hills is speed. You want to hit the bad stuff with enough momentum so you don't actually need much throttle. When we go up we hit the shelf wide open and the bikes always wheelie at the top and there is a couple gut wrenching seconds when you feel like you are going to go over. I have seen many people bite the bad one and destroy their brand new quads on this hill......the one thing they always have in common is slow attack speed.

 

Good advice, there is no limit to angle the quad could climb. If even seen/done some slightly over 90 degree climbs.

You need speed. When you get to the steepest part let off the gas and coast up, this causes the weight to shift to the front of the quad, right after your back tires get over the lip, punch the gas to fire a confirmation roost.

 

chuck1221 has an excellent point "Do what you feel comfortable doing till you learn your quad and get some experience".

I will tell you what worked for me is going riding with people that are experienced. Stating behind and watching others definately helped me. You will soon be amazed at what your quad can do. Remember one thing when climbing hills - momentum is your friend.

 

I notice alot of riders on utility or 4x4 quads try to power there way uphill showly. This is fine if the incline isn't to extreme but for anything steep, to need to take a run at it.

 

there has been many good points about climbing hills.

Key point, "MOMENTUM" will get you up a hill. Be sure there are no obstacle's in your path before you attempt the hill.

Ride with others and watch how they react to the terrain.

While traversing a hill (side-hilling) lean to the uphill side of the machine, but focus your weight on your leg to the downhill side. Many people ask me why this is. If you were beginning to tip, having your weight focused on your "uphill" leg can cause you to roll with the machine. The reaction time to relax this leg and fall uphill can be too great and send you over with the machine. It maintains an escape path with less resistance by keeping your uphill leg relaxed in the event you need to bail.

I would always try to find an alternate routeto the top and look down the hill first. If I won't go down it, I am definitely not going up it.

Get off the machine and walk up the hill to get a feel for the terrain. Kick around in the grass (if there is any) and look for deep ruts, rocks, posts, logs, etc.

Main thing is to know your machine, how it reacts to different obstacles and the power delivery so you know what to expect if you have to peg the throttle.

Try to find an area that offers some different terrain and practice, practice, practice. Time on your machine is a huge assett.

 

Let a friend do it first!!!

 

A way to climb hills that has never failed is to climb up it a little ways at a time, and roll down backwards to get the feel of the hill, i have done this and have climbed every hill ive done it to, also, if it is a hill you are making, go up it and hold the front brakes to get good fresh dirt turned up to get good traction. another way is to find another way up the hill(if possible) and roll down it a couple times with the rear brakes locked(if needed).as mentioned earlier, letting off the gas at the top and letting it coast up is definatly what you need to do if it needs to be done on the hill.