gear changes, please offer your pearls of wisdom

How many gears are you dropping? I always re-engage the clutch between gears and in a car always (well usuall) go down through all gears but I believe that's not what they teach now.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by merlin427

Heel & Toe!

usually pedals are positioned specifically to allow this, if the manufacturer has decided its a good idea. Unfortunately not with most roadgoing cars, and I've no intention of popping my kneecap off.

aye i go through the box as well, its the proper way imo. Still were talking about cars not now bikes.... move on

[Gazza77]

Originally Posted by AndyBrad

Cheers for all your comments guys.

Just to let you know im allways wanting to improve things. On my own on the bike (now bearing in mind ive only been riding a year) im quietly confident and have a nice comfort zone, as with anything new im wanting to make myself fully aware and ride to the best of my current abilities before taking the mrs on the back. Obviously if i wasnt happy about it or if she wasnt then we wouldnt be doing it and we wouldnt be having this conversation.

If im on my own then yea things just seem to happen and work well. its only when ou slow things down and analyse them that you realise how bad things are. If i can get it right then by understanding the whole process then in a situation where something untowards happened then i would be more fully prepaired. Just as a test think about your ride home tonight and each and every gear change. see how you might improve it and thats what im thinking about there are 99% of bikers out there that in my mind are better than me and 98% of car drivers. however reality is very different.

Ophic cheers for the advice about waiting for it to drop after the blip, that was the type of advice i was after really. Something to take note of for my ride home tonight

btw i can clutchless change on the bike, its a damn sight easier than on a car. And theres no need to double-de-clutch on a modern car gearbox dave, your just wasting time.


Cheers guys ill let you know how i get on.... although i am quite nervous

I found my riding improved once I started taking a pillion. With a pillion on, there is more of a need to be smooth, otherwise things quickly start getting very uncomfortable for you both.

aye thats the plan

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by AndyBrad

Ophic cheers for the advice about waiting for it to drop after the blip, that was the type of advice i was after really. Something to take note of for my ride home tonight

But not drop too far. You want to catch it at the right point as the revs fall.

If you drop clutch when revs are a bit too high, nothing much untoward happens, engine revs drop down faster to match the gearbox speed.
If you drop clutch too late when revs are low, engine must be span up by the gearbox, so it feels like someone slammed the brake on.

Quick gearchanging question from me as I'm looking to get better at this too...

With downshifting from high rpms, do you need to snap the throttle completely shut every time or can you get away with slacking the throttle off a little, same as with upshifts?

E.g. 8k rpm up to a corner, clutch in and thottle off/slacken throttle, change gear, blip throttle to match revs, drop clutch at right moment?

Sorry to butt in on your thread AndyBrad

[keith_d]

Originally Posted by merlin427

How many gears are you dropping? I always re-engage the clutch between gears and in a car always (well usuall) go down through all gears but I believe that's not what they teach now.

I've got no idea what they teach now. But for me changing across the box (typically 5th to 3rd) means a generous squirt of petrol to get the revs up because I'm going from minimum revs in fifth, back into the power band to haul my a$$ out of a corner. Again, a spot more dexterity would mean heel & toe going into the corner instead of picking the right speed a few yards short of the corner then selecting the gear I'm going to exit in. So, plenty of room for improvement here.

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

.... but still people pick holes in how I ride. ....

Tell em to feck off!!!

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by skyline

Quick gearchanging question from me as I'm looking to get better at this too...

With downshifting from high rpms, do you need to snap the throttle completely shut every time or can you get away with slacking the throttle off a little, same as with upshifts?

E.g. 8k rpm up to a corner, clutch in and thottle off/slacken throttle, change gear, blip throttle to match revs, drop clutch at right moment?

Sorry to butt in on your thread AndyBrad

If you want to downshift, why would you be anywhere but at closed throttle?

I'd go; 8k up to corner, close throttle, blip and shift simultaneously, drop clutch (throttle still closed), corner, open taps. Grin.

The blip serves too functions, it matches the revs, and releases the load on the gearbox for a nice easy shift.

Unless you were holding some throttle on to kill the engine braking effect to avoid sliding it out. But if you were doing it for this reason you would not be asking the question!