How To Hill Climb On Your UTV

Table of contents:

Momentum Shifting Throttle Body Positioning Know When to Bail

7 November 2022

If you’re a beginner or intermediate rider, it’s likely that you’re starting to move up in your skills and are looking to start climbing hills on your UTV. Side by sides and hill climbing go hand in hand, so getting your UTV up a hill is a basic skill that everyone should know how to do.

A machine as large as a side by side hill climbing can be a dangerous thing. The sheer size will present a risk that you don’t always have when traveling uphill. This is a machine that can flip when things are done wrong on the hill, meaning you have to know what you’re doing and move with caution.

These tips and tricks are all about hill climbing on a UTV so that you can get up that next ridge and enjoy the part where you crush down the mountain, then go right back up it.

Momentum

Momentum is a powerful aspect of hill climbing on a UTV. Gathering the proper momentum before ever hitting the hill allows you to move with power, rather than scramble to find it while on the hill.

Any time you see a hill coming, you want to balance your momentum with the grade of the hill. The machine will use its weight to move forward, but you don’t want it to be too powerful if the hill is crazy steep and you may lose control. The general rule is to start to speed up when a hill is coming, if it looks too wild, try and get a better gauge before heading straight on.

Shifting

Using the engine properly will help you to get up any hill. When moving uphill you’ll need to downshift in order to get the right power to move upwards. Using too high of a gear can either stall you out, or can result in spinning tires that are trying too hard in comparison to the grip that they have.

Throttle

Utilizing the throttle in a smooth manner will help you get up the hill without spinning out too much. A delicate balance helps to keep your engine working to your advantage, but doesn’t mean you’ll only be kicking up mud.

Body Positioning

Every time you are hill climbing on a UTV, you need to be aware of your body. The rule is to keep your body forward and uphill. This distributes your weight in order to help keep the machine from flipping backwards.

Know When to Bail

Finally, know when it’s time to turn around and give up or try again. Knowing how to turn around on a hill is a true necessity before starting to climb hills on your machine.

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