- Joined
- Mar 18, 2006
- Messages
- 2,847
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Ilkley, W Yorkshire, UK
- Bike
- 2013 ST1300 A9
- 2024 Miles
- 000679
- STOC #
- 2570
In my experience, it isn't the bike that is the problem, but what is under your foot and how much weight your foot is supporting.
Generally, if the bike has a slight lean on it and you put your foot down, your foot will slip on the gravel and the bike is no longer supported.
One answer - stay on the bike and keep the bike upright at all costs. Use bike power to move it forwards and use gravity to move it backwards - never try to push the bike forwards with your feet. They will slip, and down you go.
If you can't arrange to have gravity to help you to go backwards, then your partner can help. I find that asking partner to be a gravity substitute is not the best approach to enlisting an extra pair of hands ! They do the pushing, you focus on keeping the bike upright and feet firmly planted. Your feet cannot slip if they are just pushing straight down.
An alternative is to not use the engine at all, put the side stand down and enlist your partner to do the pushing from both ends. Lean the bike slightly to the left, so that if your foot does slip, the side stand will catch the fall.
If on a slope on gravel, then note that the front brake will not work to stop the bike sliding backwards. It just skates. Backward movement needs to be controlled by the back wheel. Have the engine running, the bike in gear with clutch pulled in to manoeuvre backwards. Release the clutch slightly to control the rate at which the bike moves back. This enables both feet to remain in contact with the ground.
I don't know if this is a solution, but a friend had a garage at the bottom of a very steep drive, with no room to manoeuvre the bike round. He had a turntable. Put the bike on the centre stand on the turntable, spin the bike round and drop it back onto the sidestand.
Some public car parks I have seen in the Yorkshire Dales seem to be grass or gravel and look horrendous on first approach. In fact, they have a ridged plastic honeycomb type structure. Hexagonal shaped walls of some rigid plastic like material which has been set half way into the ground and the soil/grass or gravel has filled in the top half. The top of the plastic wall is level with the surface of the ground. It keeps the gravel together and provides a firm footing. But you cannot see it until you are right on top of it. Something like this UK link
Generally, if the bike has a slight lean on it and you put your foot down, your foot will slip on the gravel and the bike is no longer supported.
One answer - stay on the bike and keep the bike upright at all costs. Use bike power to move it forwards and use gravity to move it backwards - never try to push the bike forwards with your feet. They will slip, and down you go.
If you can't arrange to have gravity to help you to go backwards, then your partner can help. I find that asking partner to be a gravity substitute is not the best approach to enlisting an extra pair of hands ! They do the pushing, you focus on keeping the bike upright and feet firmly planted. Your feet cannot slip if they are just pushing straight down.
An alternative is to not use the engine at all, put the side stand down and enlist your partner to do the pushing from both ends. Lean the bike slightly to the left, so that if your foot does slip, the side stand will catch the fall.
If on a slope on gravel, then note that the front brake will not work to stop the bike sliding backwards. It just skates. Backward movement needs to be controlled by the back wheel. Have the engine running, the bike in gear with clutch pulled in to manoeuvre backwards. Release the clutch slightly to control the rate at which the bike moves back. This enables both feet to remain in contact with the ground.
I don't know if this is a solution, but a friend had a garage at the bottom of a very steep drive, with no room to manoeuvre the bike round. He had a turntable. Put the bike on the centre stand on the turntable, spin the bike round and drop it back onto the sidestand.
Some public car parks I have seen in the Yorkshire Dales seem to be grass or gravel and look horrendous on first approach. In fact, they have a ridged plastic honeycomb type structure. Hexagonal shaped walls of some rigid plastic like material which has been set half way into the ground and the soil/grass or gravel has filled in the top half. The top of the plastic wall is level with the surface of the ground. It keeps the gravel together and provides a firm footing. But you cannot see it until you are right on top of it. Something like this UK link