SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum



Bikes - Talk & Issues Newsworthy and topical general biking and bike related issues. No crapola!
Need Help: Try Searching before posting

View Poll Results: How do you reduce your speed from a top gear?
Brake hard and kick the gears down in one go to match the new speed 15 25.86%
Brake then down shift using the gears to slow the bike 40 68.97%
Slowing down?? wtf's that. Blat it all the way (p.s. this is not an option - don't click here) 3 5.17%
Voters: 58. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 11-12-09, 06:46 PM   #41
Amanda
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Sooooo ...Blipping is:

Clutch In

Little pull on the throttle while down shifting

Clutch Out

????

Will try tonight if I take the bike!
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 06:47 PM   #42
TheOnlyNemesis
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanda View Post
Sooooo ...Blipping is:

Clutch In

Little pull on the throttle while down shifting

Clutch Out

????

Will try tonight if I take the bike!
sounds easier than i found it to be
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:06 PM   #43
LK-SV
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Gears to go - brakes to slow ....

I drop through the gears individually, and there are times I'lll use mostly engine braking ...but really I let the revs fall to about 3,000 revs before dropping another gear ...

Using engine braking sounds great - but for me it doesn't feel that sympathetic (particually to the chain), and it can often be too harsh if at high revs ...

Balancing the front and rear brakes dependant on weather conditions (and engine braking if needed) gives you the greatest level of control ...


Let's be honest - Using engine braking only is more about the noise than anything else ...
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:13 PM   #44
yorkie_chris
Noisy Git
Mega Poster
 
yorkie_chris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Halifax/Leeds
Posts: 26,645
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Up to hazard, brake and downshift. Brake loads the front wheel up so you can turn properly. Downshift to keep revs in optimum band somewhere north of 7k. Off brakes and onto a neutral throttle as you turn in, keep neutral throttle until you can see exit and open throttle to power out. Repeat.
__________________
Currently Ex Biker
Now rebuilding a 63' fishing trawler as a dive boat
yorkie_chris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:17 PM   #45
Alpinestarhero
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Amanda, perfectly good question to ask. The blipping throttle method is a good one to learn for smooth downshifting, especially when riding at mid-high RPM's (avoids rear-wheel locking or sliding, and also makes life better for the clutch!). Do practise it, it might take a while to do it, maybe a good way is to find a nice straight quiet road and practise blipping down from third gear to second gear, just rolling off the throttle first then trying with brakes.

You might find it hard to blip the throttle with four fingers on the brake lever; for some reason, recently I have been using the last three fingers (not my index finger at all) when braking, which allows me to blip well. Before I would use two fingers to brake which enabled me to blip. Try differant styles and see which one you find comfortable

I agree with fizz whole-heatedly about being progressive with the controls. You never should have to just wack on the brakes, never just pin the throttle open, never just drop the clutch; everything should be a smooth and progressive application of force
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:18 PM   #46
yorkie_chris
Noisy Git
Mega Poster
 
yorkie_chris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Halifax/Leeds
Posts: 26,645
Default Re: Riding Style Question

But note smooth and progressive =/= slow.
__________________
Currently Ex Biker
Now rebuilding a 63' fishing trawler as a dive boat
yorkie_chris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:19 PM   #47
Alpinestarhero
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkie_chris View Post
But note smooth and progressive =/= slow.
usually it should mean you can go pretty fast
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:28 PM   #48
timwilky
Member
Mega Poster
 
timwilky's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Not in Yorkshire. (Thank God)
Posts: 4,116
Default Re: Riding Style Question

firstly with a V twin too much messing with gears when trying to loose speed is likely to lock up your back wheel at just the moment you need it to be turning.


So planning, ideally you should only need to roll off the throttle and blip as you shift to have a progressive speed reduction as you smoothly decrease and hardly need any brakes.

However, should you need to grab a handful. Do it.

Apply front brake hard, then back and loose the speed you you need controlling the rate and change gear progressively as you need too. Gear is very much secondary to brakes, steering, head engaged
__________________
Not Grumpy, opinionated.
timwilky is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 07:30 PM   #49
yorkie_chris
Noisy Git
Mega Poster
 
yorkie_chris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Halifax/Leeds
Posts: 26,645
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Front brake progressively then hard is important bit. If you snatch the front brake, you will be tarmac surfing.


E
dit: This is because tyre's need weight on them before they will grip, applying the brake progressively puts weight on the tyre, meaning it will grip, not lock.
__________________
Currently Ex Biker
Now rebuilding a 63' fishing trawler as a dive boat
yorkie_chris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-09, 08:01 PM   #50
fastdruid
Member
Mega Poster
 
fastdruid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: W Mids
Posts: 2,037
Default Re: Riding Style Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanda View Post
Right, this is either gonna sound like a total newbie question or a highly intelligent enquiry. You decide!!!

Roundabouts and sharp corners, but mainly roundabouts ........


Scenario: You've opened her open a straight and are in top gear when approaching a roundabout. You need to get down to a comfortable speed to follow it through Do you .....

a. Mainly sharp brake and kick the gears down in one go to match your new speed. i.e. 6th down to 3rd?

b.Sharp brake then down shifting using the gears to slow the bike


The reason I ask is that on the Honda CBR I used to brake then down shift through each gear which slowed the bike. The SV has alot more grunt and doesn't seem to like gear changing as much, seems to be much more jerky when releasing the clutch. Add to this the fact that I am riding much faster than I use to on the Honda I'm finding I have to go from 70+ (never over 70 me 'lard) down to 30 in a short space of time.

Ideas and thoughts welcome. Hold the insults!!!!!
Neither option works for me, if I was in top gear after opening her up on a straight I'd be doing ~150mph so it would be braking hard while going down through the gears. Not obviously that I would be doing such a thing in rl but in a theoretical sense.

If otoh I was crusing in top I would change down until the revs were in the fun zone, then brake and change down accordingly and as needed to keep the revs up[1].

Druid

[1] I keep them higher on the 4's than the 2's.
__________________
'00 SV700S - '94 RVF400R - '97 RVF400R - '88 VFR750F

Last edited by fastdruid; 11-12-09 at 08:03 PM.
fastdruid is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Moving on to IL4 - Change in Riding style? rich_r Bikes - Talk & Issues 25 19-06-07 02:18 PM
Thank you (Riding style) scorpion Bikes - Talk & Issues 1 17-04-07 08:59 AM
What a difference Riding Style makes to MPG!!! SpankyHam Bikes - Talk & Issues 43 06-07-06 04:23 PM
Rev it! Riding style questions. Bud Bikes - Talk & Issues 11 24-03-05 10:22 PM
Rev it! Riding style questions. cotwbs SV Talk, Tuning & Tweaking 10 04-01-70 05:29 AM


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:56 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® - Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.