Shifting Gears
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132 Posts
yes you let off the throttle to shift gears
let off the throttle while you squeeze the cluth click up with your foot and then ease back onto the throttle while letting the clutch out slowly
-wafflehouse
let off the throttle while you squeeze the cluth click up with your foot and then ease back onto the throttle while letting the clutch out slowly
-wafflehouse
It is weird you brought this up. I myself am getting ready to restore an old 82 Suzuki GS650G that was given to me. I drive a manual car, and I rode mini-bikes/scooters before, but I too didn't know the correct method of shifing a REAL motorcycle... a little bit of internet searching came up with this:
1. Get on the motorcycle.
2. Start the engine in neutral.
3. Squeeze the clutch lever with your left hand all the way to the grip.
4. Place your left foot on the gear shifter and kick straight down to first gear.
5. Give a little throttle with your right hand. Don't race the engine.
6. Slowly release the clutch with your left hand while maintaining engine speed with your right hand on the throttle.
7. Balance the bike and move off slowly.
8. After you are moving and balanced, put your left toe under the gear shifter.
9. Squeeze the clutch and release tension on the throttle a little.
10. Smartly kick upward with your toe on the bottom of the gear shifter. You are now in second gear.
11. Release the clutch smoothly and simultaneously apply more throttle.
12. As you gain more speed, repeat the above steps for third, fourth, and fifth gears.
13. Downshifting is done similarly except you sharply kick down on the gear shifter to go to the next lower gear.
14. As you come to a stop, squeeze the clutch and kick down on the gear shifter, one gear at a time, timing it so you are in first gear as you stop.
Tips:
1. Practice use of the clutch and throttle together so as not to stall the engine.
2. If you should stall the engine, make sure you have the front wheel straight ahead. Otherwise, you will fall.
3. Practice getting the gear shifter into neutral while stopped. Neutral is between first and second gear.
# The Gear Shift is on the left-hand side of the motorcycle just ahead of the foot peg.
# The Gear Shift controls a ratchet mechanism that shifts the gears.
# Most motorcycles use a 1-N-2-3-4-5 positioning of the gear shift lever with the "1" being all the way down.
# Upshifts from first gear are accomplished by a hard upward thrust with the top of the boot on the underside of the shift lever after first pulling in the clutch.
# The first upward kick from first gear goes through Neutral directly to second gear. The gear shift lever is released after each upward kick. Successive gear shifts upward take the machine to third, fourth, and then fifth (or higher) gear.
# Downshifts occur by pulling in the clutch and kicking down the gear shift lever one gear at a time and releasing it after the shift in preparation for the next kick down.
# There is a complex motion involving the left hand operating the clutch, the left foot operating the gear shift, and the right hand opening and closing the throttle to accomplish smooth shifting both accelerating and decelerating.
Now... if I have missed something or left something out... please let me know...
-R
1. Get on the motorcycle.
2. Start the engine in neutral.
3. Squeeze the clutch lever with your left hand all the way to the grip.
4. Place your left foot on the gear shifter and kick straight down to first gear.
5. Give a little throttle with your right hand. Don't race the engine.
6. Slowly release the clutch with your left hand while maintaining engine speed with your right hand on the throttle.
7. Balance the bike and move off slowly.
8. After you are moving and balanced, put your left toe under the gear shifter.
9. Squeeze the clutch and release tension on the throttle a little.
10. Smartly kick upward with your toe on the bottom of the gear shifter. You are now in second gear.
11. Release the clutch smoothly and simultaneously apply more throttle.
12. As you gain more speed, repeat the above steps for third, fourth, and fifth gears.
13. Downshifting is done similarly except you sharply kick down on the gear shifter to go to the next lower gear.
14. As you come to a stop, squeeze the clutch and kick down on the gear shifter, one gear at a time, timing it so you are in first gear as you stop.
Tips:
1. Practice use of the clutch and throttle together so as not to stall the engine.
2. If you should stall the engine, make sure you have the front wheel straight ahead. Otherwise, you will fall.
3. Practice getting the gear shifter into neutral while stopped. Neutral is between first and second gear.
# The Gear Shift is on the left-hand side of the motorcycle just ahead of the foot peg.
# The Gear Shift controls a ratchet mechanism that shifts the gears.
# Most motorcycles use a 1-N-2-3-4-5 positioning of the gear shift lever with the "1" being all the way down.
# Upshifts from first gear are accomplished by a hard upward thrust with the top of the boot on the underside of the shift lever after first pulling in the clutch.
# The first upward kick from first gear goes through Neutral directly to second gear. The gear shift lever is released after each upward kick. Successive gear shifts upward take the machine to third, fourth, and then fifth (or higher) gear.
# Downshifts occur by pulling in the clutch and kicking down the gear shift lever one gear at a time and releasing it after the shift in preparation for the next kick down.
# There is a complex motion involving the left hand operating the clutch, the left foot operating the gear shift, and the right hand opening and closing the throttle to accomplish smooth shifting both accelerating and decelerating.
Now... if I have missed something or left something out... please let me know...
-R
Joined
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764 Posts
^^That was excellent.
If you want to shift incorrectly, then shift without using the clutch. Make sure to retard all throttle before doing that though, or you risk grinding gears. I don't know if you can downshift doing this as I never tried. Lacking a neutral gear anywhere above 2nd in the gear order would make downshifting very hard because you cant manually match engine speed with road speed to avoid grinding.
No one would reccomend shifting without a clutch though because it causes damage to the machine over time. I have no idea what specific parts.
Why would you want to do this then? To accelerate faster-- for whatever reasons you would want to.
If you want to shift incorrectly, then shift without using the clutch. Make sure to retard all throttle before doing that though, or you risk grinding gears. I don't know if you can downshift doing this as I never tried. Lacking a neutral gear anywhere above 2nd in the gear order would make downshifting very hard because you cant manually match engine speed with road speed to avoid grinding.
No one would reccomend shifting without a clutch though because it causes damage to the machine over time. I have no idea what specific parts.
Why would you want to do this then? To accelerate faster-- for whatever reasons you would want to.
Joined
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14,233 Posts
If you are really curious how it works (how the gearbox is built), I recommend to take a look at www.howstuffworks.com - they have an excellent description of transmissions, gearboxes, clutchs, etc.
You can "speedshift" (upshifting without the clutch) a manual-transmission car or bike. I used to speedshift my old VW bug all the time, and I hardly ever used the clutch on my Vespa, except when starting in 1st gear. I have also speedshifted my 1400 - it takes practice to know when the engine and the gearbox are at the same speed.
I do it *occasionally*, but I don't recommend it. Use the clutch - it's there for a reason!
You can "speedshift" (upshifting without the clutch) a manual-transmission car or bike. I used to speedshift my old VW bug all the time, and I hardly ever used the clutch on my Vespa, except when starting in 1st gear. I have also speedshifted my 1400 - it takes practice to know when the engine and the gearbox are at the same speed.
I do it *occasionally*, but I don't recommend it. Use the clutch - it's there for a reason!
but to answer the main question: do you have to lay off the throttle to shift? no you dont, you can keep on the throttle all you want, i just wouldnt reccomend it, it leads to a very aggressive ride. the reason you lay off is because when you shift you dont want the rpms up around 6k in the next gear if you let the clutch go too quickly (or maybe you do if you want to be up on one tire). basically thats what happens, if you're downshifting into a lower gear to pass, then keep the throttle on to get more torque. do the opposite to engine brake.
now i have a question about downshifting...is it bad to be in like 3rd or 4th and downshift all the way to 1st and have the clutch engaged till the complete stop or do you downshift from 4th to 3rd then let go of the clutch then repeat this step all the way down to 1st...which is harmful to the bike?
Kevin
Kevin
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11,456 Posts
Avoid getting into first before you're stopped. You don't need a low gear like that until you're going 0 mph.
You don't have to let the clutch out with each gear.
You don't have to let the clutch out with each gear.
You may want to shift to 1st while still rolling (single digit numeral on speedo), as a fully stopped position may limit you to 2nd being the lowest attainable gear. If you find you cannot shift to 1st and you are stopped, just 'duck-walk' the bike (with clutch in) enough to get the wheels moving and shift to first.
Joined
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2,699 Posts
You don't have to let the clutch out w/ each gear; however, I usually let the clutch out when downshifting just to take advantage of the engine braking...I prefer that to using my brakes all the time...when approaching a stoplight, etc...I usually only will touch my back brake a bit just to make my brake lights come on to notify the cagers behind me that I'm slowing down, but really the stopping power is coming from the engine braking...until you're in 1st gear, then I'll use my brakes.
I don't ride a bike yet... but...SuzukiGirl1 said:
My car is a stick shift, and while not a bike, I think that it is better to use the brakes to slow a vehicle than to use the engine to slow it. Brake pads are much more easily replaced than an engine. Is it common to use the engine to brake with a motorcyle? I can't see it being so, but again... I am a motorcycle noob right now.
-R
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