I just flipped my foreman going up a huge hill in the woods. I am thankful that I only have minor scratches and almost no damage to the bike, but this whole thing really has me torqued off anyway. I am new to this sport by the way.

Why did I flip it? I had a really hard time the first two times up the hill. barely made it in 2nd gear with 4wd on. Tires spinning near the top, fighting for traction, front end rising, etc. My pals on a 400ex were flying up it no prob. The SP700 with us made it first in 4wd then in 2wd. No prob. I even saw a 250 Recon make it one time.

This is a hill you need momentum to make it up and there is only a short area to gain speed. It gets very steep on the top 1/3. It is a serious hill, I saw no one try it without seriously sizing it up. Some of my pals have ridden 20+ years. I no my prob is not enough speed at the bottom. In 2nd gear I can't go fast enough at the bottom so near the top the quad is biting and all the wheels are spinning and the motor is revving high(scary). I'm afraid I will run out of power in 3rd. Any ideas? Surely if a recon can make it a 450S can, right? Should I downshift mid-hill? Please help.

 

you know what man, a lot of it has to do with riding experience. I have put my King Quad in some really bad places. I have had to stand on the back rack and be vertical to make it up some things. I have the "lock" option on my bike, and you may want to look into an after market locker. Personally, I would learn on some other hills and leave this one to people that have done it a long time. To see if your bike could make it you could loan it to someone else. You take the risk of them breaking it, and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. The other, if you have the money, is borrow someone elses bike that makes it easy or buy a different quad.

 

Start your run at the hill in 3rd gear gaining maximum speed. As you go up the hill you quad will want to power out, before it powers out and you loose your speed let off the throttle and down shift and then hammer on it. Its important to do this before you loose any speed and only when you know 2nd gear will not rev to high when you shift into it. Also lean forward alot to keep the front end down. Its all about using the quads weight and speed to get you up the hill. Pick a good line and watch what your friends do. Practice on smaller hills and then go impress your friends with your new found hill climbing skills.

 

Thanks Brent. That helps a lot. I was kind of thinking that bet not sure.