[Sangria7]

OK this may sound like a stupid question, but how do you all shift?

a. When I am upshifting, I release throttle, and then slowly relase clutch after the shift. Now I heard you can just release the clutch quickly after the shift?

b. I also heard it is bad to shift down from 5th to 1st directly. When I am coming to a stop sign, I hold the clutch down and start to shift down from 5th to 1st directly all the while gradually braking. I heard this is bad as well and I should hit every gear on the way down instead.

[megaspaz]

a. yep, as long as you don’t goose the throttle at the same time you drop the clutch.

b. false. bull puckey patooy if you mean — clutch in -> click -> click -> click -> click -> click -> stop.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Sangria7]

Thats exactly what I mean

clutch in -> click -> click -> click -> click -> click -> stop

[Budd]

I wouldn’t recommend doing this at every stop. Engine breaking is very effective. “I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Amoryl]

and, if you’re clicked down to first gear, still going 40, and hit a bump or something that causes your hand to slip off the clutch…OR if you need to start moving again before you’ve come to a full and complete stop…

however I’ve seen people do the blip blip blip blip, come to a full stop and for the entire light….blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip….I dunno though, 90 percent of the cruisers out here just south of millwaukee are HD’s and maybe they’ve come out with a 50 gear bike?

I do a mix of downshifting on my jeep, where if timed right I don’t even START breaking till about 8mph, but if i’m stopping more quickly I’ll just drop the clutch shift to neutral and break quickly decellerate to a stop

[bob250]

Upshifting I do Quick clutch release/roll on throttle. Downshifting I will vary. Sometimes engine braking, sometimes just coat in gear then shift down to first then to nuetral so I can play drums on my tank.

[eon]

If you were to drive a car like that in the UK (where everyone drives a stick) you would fail your test. I was taught to downshift through all the gears, one at a time. I forget the exact reasoning behind this but I think it was that when the clutch was in the car was coasting and you were not in complete control. This was quite a difficult to feat to master as a learner but it soon became second nature. Have to say it resulted in better control over all as you became an expert at changing smoothly. If had a bike today (remember I went down the scooter route) I would downshift one gear at a time.

[ranette]

Hey this is a safety oriented site, we adhere to all MSF guidelines, right? I really thought somebody would have jumped all over you for not being in first gear while stopped, the better to make a quick getaway if necessary.

I guess I’m just being picky(and testy) after my first few posts were scrutinized and every little thing that I might have neglected was brought up. Sorry for being a stickler, actually if I had any sense of rhythm I’d probably do the same.

[bob250]

I should have said I put it nuetral when there is no one behind me. When there is traffic behind me when stopped I almost always stay in first gear. After riding in town for awhile my hand gets tired and keeping the clutch lever pulled in at a long light just sucks. Maybe if someone made an automatic transmission for a bike….

[ranette]

Bob I hope you know my comment was made in jest. We only have one real intersection in town, a 3 way stop, but at this time of the year it is pretty busy, it can be a quite little back up at peak times and my left hand has gotten very tired on a number of occasions. I do try to keep this quiet, but once or twice I did put it in neutral to give my hand a break. No drumming though, apart from my previously mentioned lack of rhythm I’d probably scratch my tank.

[bob250]

It’s cool Ranette. It’s kinda nice to be reminded every once and while on the safe way to ride.

[Amoryl]

what about sudden stops from highway speeds? now I know that in general one wouldn’t have that particular experience durring the driving test. but if something goes pearshaped in front of me while i’m motoring down the highway I know I can stop pretty quickly in general, but I don’t think I’ll have the oppritunity to down shift properly (ie 5th to 4th, release the clutch, drop the clutch, 4th to 3rd, release the clutch….etc…) in that situation. now in general I downshift 90% of the time, often doing the vast majority of my slowing down by downshifting and only using the brakes at the end (and about half the time its a mix of some brakes and downshifting) but for sudden or rapid decellerations i drop the clutch and the brakes.

[Amoryl]

you see, we’re assuming he’s shifting on a 250cc which is so easy to shift it darn near shifts itself and is so light that the air from the oncoming rear car will safely push aside the bike before the car ever hits him. now if it were a liter bike, being in neutral would likely cause it to explode…be hit by a garbage truck…have sputnik fall on it….

[eon]

An emergency stop is part of the UK driving test, though not at highway speeds. The procedure is to hit the brakes only, no shifting gears involved. You also leave the clutch alone, you only engage it at the last second to avoid stalling. This is different from what was taught in my MSF class (where I was told to engage the clutch immediately) and I specifically asked about it. My MSF instructor said there was negligible engine braking. Not sure if this is due to differences between cars and bikes or just a different teaching philosophy. And to conclude the emergency stop test, you engage first gear, look over both shoulders and then pull away. Stalling the car of failure to look over both shoulders is an automatic fail. Wow…amazing I can remember all this crap…I took my test a long time ago.

[megaspaz]

I don’t know why a car would be different, but the general consensus on coasting on a motorcycle is if you’re aren’t braking or aren’t on the throttle, you’re not controlling the bike. But even then there’s exceptions to that. Like just friction zoning in line to a stop sign. You’re not on the throttle, nor are you braking until you have to stop, but you’re pretty much in control of the bike.

When I stop in my car, I put the car in neutral and apply the brakes, so in my opinion, i’m perfectly in control of my vehicle. Not really feasible to find neutral while moving, but what ever gear you’re coasting in as long as you’re braking, you’re fine (as per the OP’s original question).

For me, if I’m in a high gear like 4th or higher and I know I’m going to have to stop (stop sign), I might downshift a couple of gears and blip while applying the rear brake first to stabilize the rear and then the front to even out the bike and then shift to first and coast to the stop while still braking. Actually, normally, I’ll do the same thing at stop lights. If the light changes to green and the cars in front of me are starting move before I’ve come to a stop, I’ll either just stay in first and open the throttle if I’m going slow enough, or just upshift to the right gear at the speed I’m at.

Now a different scenario is if I’m coming to a stop light and it’s yellow, but I’m hot an far enough away to not make the yellow before it goes red, I’ll apply the front brakes, then rear brakes, downshift a gear and let out the clutch immediately to get engine braking, repeat the downshifting to get engine braking part if needed, and then downshift repeatedly to first as long as I’ve gotten to a manageable speed.

Anyhoo, to sum it up, situations when stopping might change the way you come to a stop and there’s no one sequence fits all situations. But general rule of thumb is, you’re not controlling your bike if you aren’t on the throttle or applying the brakes.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Author]

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