All of this talk about flipping has me thinking of physics, gravity, degree of incline / decline and momentum. Let's about center of gravity. On an average man, the center of gravity of his mass is close and behind his belly button. For a woman, it's more through her hips. Where would the C of G be for the Brute, with a full tank of gas, rider and bare racks? Also, depending on where this axis is, is there must be an actual degree of slope where the brute WILL flip over when clibing or descending. Better yet, lets remove the variable [ rider ] and try and determine this degree with just the Brute. Of course, the rider, traction, load, ground surface, throttle response etc will change the baseline factor. Does anyone know if Kawi has published such data [ maximum slope ]? And, where does the CG lie on the Brute?

 

There is no doubt that physics doesn't lie. You could even mount an instrument on your bars that could indicate whether a slope was too steep for your machine. The problem would be that by the time you could read the instrument your bike would be on top of you.


There is a good amount of weight on the front end of a BF due to the V-twin and the front differential. Regardless of this fact, the rider's body weight is a large percentage of the machine's weight.

Example: a 200lb guy on a 600lb BF............The rider weighs 33% of the machine's total weight. This is why leaning forward is essential when climbing hills.

 

There are too many variables to just say that something is "too steep". It depends on traction, your skill & experience, your machines capabilities, and too many other little things. If you think you can make it, then you can probably make it. I climb some crazy *** stuff, way more than most of of friends do, but there's also stuff I look at, and think, that's just not going to work.

 

Anybody else seen a motorcycle locked inside a BALL SHAPED CAGE....You can go upsidedown an' ATT

 

Just look at the pics in my profile to see what happens when you make a mistake on a steep hill. It's my friend's quad. It was his first time out. He hadn't made a payment on it yet. He didn't have insurance. The dealer told him if he had it - they would have totalled it. It cost him $5k to repair.

This thing flipped sideways probably 20+ times. He got off before the tumble started, and was lucky.

more pics here

As others have said - there are too many variables to answer your question:
- is it steep with or without rocks? Hit a boulder on an already steep hill and suddenly, it may be too steep.
- how is the traction?
- rider level...

just my .02...use your head and your instincts.

somebody on another thread once had some advice that made sense...something along the lines of if you can't walk the hill without walking up or down sideways - it's too steep for a quad. I'm not sure if that's exactly it - but along those lines.

 

Just remember one thing, "bones heal, pain is temporary, and chicks dig scares"[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Good Luck!!!! WILD[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Yeah right. If that were only true.

I didn't have any chicks licking my wounds!!.............

 

Man those are some nasty pics, the resulting damage from my rollover was a bent frame, broken racks, bent handle bars, busted rims, lost front drive shaft, broken ankle cracked sternum, and the quad sat in the garage for a year and a half waiting to be rebuilt. when I lost traction going up the hill I had actullycome to a stop then itied to go again and slid side ways. this hill was a monster, we should have never evan attempted it, but peer pressure got me.

 

A mistake alot of people make, getting partway up a hill, doubting yourself, in turn you let off the gas, then hit the gas again and end over end you go. Most of the time, you need to keep a steady pace up the hill and dont stop. If it starts to come up on you, tap your brake to knock the front end down again, but maintain throttle speed. youll make it!

 

I still new to this 4 wheel thing, But i make sure im up where i can get off quick if things go bad, I usually keep my left foot on left peg and my right foot is up on the rear rack.that way you can push yourself up over the handlebars also.
I have not climbed any super steep stuff but did come down one hill that way so steep i had it low range and thought it was going to tip over forward, had to gas it fast all the way down.
Im learning.