Gear shifting for noobs?

[Matariki]

Well, after reading everyones advice here I set off to practice once again. I practiced stopping and starting again on a hill, I didn't realise how easy it was.
I also practiced downshifting, something I'll need to practice more. I'll also need to practice parking on a hillside.

[CookMySock]

[...] I didn't realise how easy it was.

Lots of biking-things are like that. Just a few hints and suddenly its easy and you're making really good progress!

Have fun!

Steve

[neels]

Well, after reading everyones advice here I set off to practice once again. I practiced stopping and starting again on a hill, I didn't realise how easy it was.
I also practiced downshifting, something I'll need to practice more. I'll also need to practice parking on a hillside.

My method for starting on hills is right leg down, front brake on, select gear, left leg down, right leg on rear brake to hold the bike, clutch and throttle to pull away.

Possibly completely wrong, but works for me.

[Leseid]

With all this practise you'll fly through your basic handling test. I don't think I got out of 2nd gear during the day of the test.
I still today get what I call "Neutral Rev outs" at least once a week, the trick I find is to hold the gear lever up for a moment when going from 1st to 2nd to ensure it has shifted in. I also noticed that gears 6 5 4 and 3 make nice click sounds down shifting, 2nd make a clunk and 1st make a thunk. Good luck on your test.

[CookMySock]

I still today get what I call "Neutral Rev outs" at least once a week, the trick I find is to hold the gear lever up for a moment when going from 1st to 2nd to ensure it has shifted in.

If this is just not coming right for you after some time, then get the gear lever adjusted downwards a just the tiniest amount and see if it's any better.

Steve

[Corse1]

Talking about downshifting.

On the speed triple blipping the throttle is not normally necessary unless changing down at high revs to keep it smooth.

On the Ducati i have to blip the throttle for every down shift to avoid feeling like I am damaging the gearbox. And I have to time the blip so the shift is about halfway through the rev increase to get smooth changes.....maybe thats what they call charachter

[PrincessBandit]

My method for starting on hills is right leg down, front brake on, select gear, left leg down, right leg on rear brake to hold the bike, clutch and throttle to pull away.

Possibly completely wrong, but works for me.

Hi, great to hear you're so keen to get things going with your bike.

Blipping is one of those things that people talk about on here and just means giving the throttle a bit of a squirt (when I had my ginny it was actually lots of squirt in order not to have the engine conk out) while your clutch is in (disengaged). It helps keep your revs up in those few moments of gear changing. My ginny used to conk out frequently while changing down - especially to 2nd - and blipping was the best way to combat this.

As for hill starts, what you are doing it perfectly fine. Many people recommend using the back brake as it leaves your right hand free to operate the throttle in isolation. I rarely do it though, being quite happy using my palm to operate the throttle while my fingers release the brake lever. It does take some practice to synchronise, but lots of people do it once they get the hang of it.

There should be someone not too far from you - shop, instructor, mentor who can help you practice. And practicing somewhere quiet on your own is also good.

All the best!

[Pixie]

Hi, great to hear you're so keen to get things going with your bike.

Blipping is one of those things that people talk about on here and just means giving the throttle a bit of a squirt (when I had my ginny it was actually lots of squirt in order not to have the engine conk out) while your clutch is in (disengaged). It helps keep your revs up in those few moments of gear changing. My ginny used to conk out frequently while changing down - especially to 2nd - and blipping was the best way to combat this.

As for hill starts, what you are doing it perfectly fine. Many people recommend using the back brake as it leaves your right hand free to operate the throttle in isolation. I rarely do it though, being quite happy using my palm to operate the throttle while my fingers release the brake lever. It does take some practice to synchronise, but lots of people do it once they get the hang of it.

There should be someone not too far from you - shop, instructor, mentor who can help you practice. And practicing somewhere quiet on your own is also good.

All the best!

Aaaactually,the throttle blip is mainly to synchronize the speeds of the input shaft of the gearbox with the output shaft so the dogs on the gear selectors match up nicely and engage.
The grinding you hear when a gear change is muffed is the dogs grinding passed each other,not the gear teeth.The gear pairs are always engaged on motorcycle gearboxes.
Cars don't need the blip so much as they have sychromesh.

[Dschubba]

Too much brain time is consumed easing the clutch out, when attention should be directed to more important tasks at hand.

Starting off - clutch in, select 1st gear, ease out clutch until engine revs drop 100rpm, then raise engine revs about 500rpm with the throttle, and release clutch lever only 1cm more and hold it there the bike will likely move away on its' own - it it does not, release the clutch lever another 1cm. If the engine revs drop well down below idle, add another 500rpm with the throttle - this gets more noticeable on steep hills. If you release the clutch fully at this time you will stall the engine. Most of your attention will be directed at concentrating on not releasing the clutch lever until the bike is moving and your feet are up - only then release the clutch fully.


Steve

As far as the revs going up and down... do this bit with your ears.
Use your eyes for watching where you are going to go.
I think people get a bit fixated on gauges and flashing lights, keep your eyes up.

[MarkH]

Practise

This is 99.9% of what you need to change gear smoothly. There aren't many controls to worry about - just the gear selector, throttle and clutch are normally involved in gear changes - you need to learn how to balance the throttle & clutch and practising is how you learn.

When I first learned to drive a car I couldn't change gear without looking down at the gear stick and I lost count of how many times I stalled it. With practice I got smooth and gear changes became quick & effortless. When I got a bike it wasn't that much different apart from clutch & accelerator being controlled by the hands instead of the feet. With practice that became easy too.

[jellywrestler]

My method for starting on hills is right leg down, front brake on, select gear, left leg down, right leg on rear brake to hold the bike, clutch and throttle to pull away.

Possibly completely wrong, but works for me.

not a good move to have foot on the brake as its time like these you should have both feet free to use if needed, you should get some more practice in managing the front brake unless of course you're bike only has a foot brake like three of mine, they also have a foot clutch on the other side!!!
there's an over riding hand clutch mounted on the tank which when you disengage the clutch a second rear brake comes on. things were differnt in teh teens and twenties!

[Insanity_rules]

I find its easier to shift gear outside the pub or after school near the mall. It just doesn't sell otherwise.

[Wannabiker]

There are hills in Masterton?? It was flat last time I was there....

[tigertim20]

Changing down; from 50km/hr approx, simply throttle off, clutch, push the gear lever down firmly and release it, and smartly release the clutch. There is no magic and no need for any cleverness. Rinse and repeat as the bike slows. If the bike is too jerky, then change at a lower engine rpm.

Steve

hmm, telling a noob to dump the clutch on downchanges... real smart untill the rear locks and he stacks it. Do yourself a favour, ad this guy to your ignore list, his advice will kill someone before too long. Others on here have given you some good answers, just read the posts above the one I quoted, and you'll be fine

[Matariki]

Since replying to this thread, I have become allot more confident with gear shifting and finding I'm able to do it with out too much difficulty.

Soon I'll be ready to go get my restricted license and get rid of the dreaded L plate once and for all.

And I would like to thank everyone here that submitted advice, Its been a real help.