Steep hills or mountain descents can take a lot of courage and skill to navigate quickly. While not much people seem too know the right way to properly descend a steep hill or mountain. With this in mind, we try to explain how to bomb down a near vertical face like some down-hills you can find in the North of Thailand.
Descending
You have to pick a good line coming down the hill and it's very important to use your brakes evenly. Depending on how close the turn is a the bottom of the hill, it's important to figure out a good braking point. Too far away isn't good because it isn't fast, but too close and you could miss the turn at the bottom.
Braking
Drag your rear brake all the way down the top of the hill. This will help you to stay in control, especially if on a dirt-road, and settle down the motorcycle the entire way down the hill. It will also help keep the rear wheel traction to the ground, which is really important when trying to slow down for a turn at the bottom. You don't want to use too much front brake when coming down the hill, though, it's just too powerful and difficult to use when going fast down steep hills like the ones in the North of Thailand. Plus, you don't want the front end to tuck on you at the bottom of the hill. I usually tend to use the rear brake a little more.
Shifting
I don't use engine braking too much down steep, dirt-road hills. I usually leave it in, a higher gear until I get to the bottom, then I downshift for the corner. Going down the hill, you don't want it in too low of a gear, because it's going to deflect off all, again especially on dirt-roads, and not handle well.
Body Position
I try to stay really neutral on the motorcycle and keep my elbows up in the usual position. This will help you to be ready for any unexpected bump or hit you might take while going down the hill. You should also squeeze the motorcycle with your legs to stay in control of an unexpected event.
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