Newbie downshifting question

[bugbug]

Hi everyone, Ive got a newbie downshifting question for you....Whenever Im slowing down for a red light, I usually apply the front and rear breaks and pull in the clutch and ,in rapid succession, downshift to first gear and glide until I come to a stop. Is this the right way to come to a stop? Is it bad for the clutch/gears? Should I use the engine breaking capacity of my bike to slow down? Should I instead slow down a bit and downshift one gear then slow down a little more then downshift again, etc until I stop? Cheers!

[Sully60]

It doesn't matter because motorcycles use a contstant mesh sequential gearbox, which means all the gears spin all the time and as you already know you can't change from 5th straight to first like you can in a car.

The main thing to think about is when you start to let the clutch out when still moving that you've blipped the throttle to match the revs and be smooth with the clutch. Either way you've described above will be fine in the applicable situation. The thing to remember if it feels rough it's usually bad.

Hope this helps

[fireliv]

I dont think its good that you clutch/go down the gears in one go. Need to use engine breaking more, and should go through all the gears properly.

Good luck

[Ocean1]

Hi everyone, Ive got a newbie downshifting question for you....Whenever Im slowing down for a red light, I usually apply the front and rear breaks and pull in the clutch and ,in rapid succession, downshift to first gear and glide until I come to a stop. Is this the right way to come to a stop? NO Is it bad for the clutch/gears? YES Should I use the engine breaking capacity of my bike to slow down? Maybe Should I instead slow down a bit and downshift one gear then slow down a little more then downshift again, etc until I stop? Cheers!

In short, yes. Stomping down a bunch of gears at a time is bloody hard on the trans', even with the clutch in. You should change down in sequence, once the revs get down to 2000 (ish), ideally matching revs as you do so.
You should be doing this AND paying attention to braking pressure at both ends.

[Katman]

Change down one gear at a time, letting the clutch out after each gear change. Using the inherent engine braking means the bike is still under your control rather than coasting to a stop with the clutch disengaged.

[deanohit]

I normally just change down the gears to second and stop in second, then snick it into 1st ready to take off, coming to a stop in second allows you to be smooth with no jerkiness if you blip the throttle.

[kiwifruit]

practice

practice


you'll soon get a feel for the fathom.
Welcome to the site

[Steam]

Stomping down a bunch of gears at a time is bloody hard on the trans', even with the clutch in.

How come? I thought with the clutch in, it's only the gear selector fork moving gears inside the gearbox, with no force being applied to the gears from the engine. How can it be hard on things?

[huck farley]

Keep doing it and you'll find out!!

[klingon]

Hi everyone, Ive got a newbie downshifting question for you....Whenever Im slowing down for a red light, I usually apply the front and rear breaks and pull in the clutch and ,in rapid succession, downshift to first gear and glide until I come to a stop. Is this the right way to come to a stop? Is it bad for the clutch/gears? Should I use the engine breaking capacity of my bike to slow down? Should I instead slow down a bit and downshift one gear then slow down a little more then downshift again, etc until I stop? Cheers!

My answer would be that you should change down one gear at a time and let out the clutch... but for a different reason. For me, I find I have much more control when I do that - it means I'm always in the right gear to change speed, direction, or just change my mind! If the lights change I can take off fast and if I need to do any dodgy manoeuvring the bike is ready to respond.

It's really no harder to let the clutch out with every change - it just becomes a natural thing to do and soon you do it without thinking.

[Usarka]

clutch out for each gear unless your slowing rapidly.

this means you can react if some shit happens.

pees out.

[Ocean1]

How come? I thought with the clutch in, it's only the gear selector fork moving gears inside the gearbox, with no force being applied to the gears from the engine. How can it be hard on things?

There's always some drag through the clutch plates, the gear teeth themselves are always engaged with their mates, but they're connected to the primary or output shafts by the dogs on their sides. They slide sideways on their shafts to engage. Also, the gears themselves have mass, and huge differences in rpm makes for accelerated wear and potential damage.

If, (to take an extreem case) you were to kick it down to 1st at 100k the speed difference between the dogs on one gear and the gates they engage with would be substantial, load on the gear dogs would be very high. Eventually the dogs wear and you start getting mis-shifting, not to mention bits of dog floating around you engine.

Probably the kindest thing you can do for your drivetrain (and engine, tyres and the smoothness of your riding) is to get into the habbit of blipping the throttle on down-shifts so that the gearset coming into effect is accelerated to the speed it'll be doing when you release the clutch. Do it real smooth and on most modern bikes there's no need to use the clutch at all.

With practice you can feel when the speeds match, the shifter needs very little pressure and the shift is smooth with no hesitation.

[erix]

There's always some drag through the clutch plates, the gear teeth themselves are always engaged with their mates, but they're connected to the primary or output shafts by the dogs on their sides. They slide sideways on their shafts to engage. Also, the gears themselves have mass, and huge differences in rpm makes for accelerated wear and potential damage.

If, (to take an extreem case) you were to kick it down to 1st at 100k the speed difference between the dogs on one gear and the gates they engage with would be substantial, load on the gear dogs would be very high. Eventually the dogs wear and you start getting mis-shifting, not to mention bits of dog floating around you engine.

Probably the kindest thing you can do for your drivetrain (and engine, tyres and the smoothness of your riding) is to get into the habbit of blipping the throttle on down-shifts so that the gearset coming into effect is accelerated to the speed it'll be doing when you release the clutch. Do it real smooth and on most modern bikes there's no need to use the clutch at all.

With practice you can feel when the speeds match, the shifter needs very little pressure and the shift is smooth with no hesitation.

Im confused here, down shift without clutch in is ok? really doubt it.

I used to clutch in whenever before I use brake to slow down as I FELT using engine brake wont do much good on engine, but I went even faster when I using clutch too soon, that can be very dangerous and very uncomfortable.

now I purposely try using more engine brake and felt it can be safer as people point out more control I felt by doing this.

However, it seems everyones riding style can be very different, and really dont know who has the best riding style. anyway, safety comes first....

[xwhatsit]

Do it real smooth and on most modern bikes there's no need to use the clutch at all.

Yep, a month or so ago my clutch cable very suddenly decided to shred itself to a few strands, and while I was waiting for the new cable to be shipped I got very good at shifting smoothly without the clutch. Shifting up is easy enough; easier to do when you're grabbing a handful, rather than accelerating slowly, but do-able nonetheless. I thought downshifting would be very difficult but all I needed to do was accurately blip the throttle just enough to get the RPM in the right spot, and the bike would practically shift itself. Could even do 1st-Neutral -- who needs no stinking clutch?

Not recommended for long-term use, though

With a shitty old Honda gearbox like mine, learning how to keep it happy and row through it up or down quickly and smoothly is something you pick up by necessity. It's funny; I lubed my throttle cable and assembly a long time ago, making it much more smooth and accurate (before it was very stiff and jerky), and strangely my gear shifting instantly became so much smoother and easier. They definitely are connected.

[Duc]

The other thing - stopping by stepping down through the gears under engine braking is good training for how it should be while riding done on the road. This is how you get the feel of the bike and maximise control. You learn the rev range effectively by getting to know the feel of the bike and how it responds in each gear.