Motorcycle Riding Basics : Motorcycle Riding: Down Shifting

[0xxsapxx0]

when i downshift, i release the clutch very slow with a lil throttle to adjust the speed n to avoid lockin the rear tire plus sometime when at high speed or i need to immediate stop , i use the front brake while down so.

[kinwai2727]

Hello, if I don't know when I should blip the throttle while downshifting, can I just blip it anyway? Is it dangerous?

[stevieman38]

@kinwai2727 You should rev your throttle when you are down shifting as long as you have your clutch in :) It saves the engine a little.

[kinwai27271]

@stevieman38 okay, thx for replying!

[TheSkizsus]

I would like to say that engine braking is very useful , but knowing when to do it and when not is good. cause the chick on the phone behind you ant paying attention any way so its best to let her no your slowing down. what i do is give it a little back brake when i engine brake. just so the light come on . if there is no one behind you then obviously it really don't matter . but to say never use this technique , is wrong that's just bad riding .

[gingham1300]

UHHH, might talk about watching your six when downshifting to slow down...cars behind won't see brake lights.

[abnercalegari]

@gingham1300 That advice is debatable.. It may throw the weight off for a bit, which may cause the rider to lose balance. Just use the brakes, that's what they are there for....

[MrChila86]

is it bad for the transmission to shift gears wiyh out using the clutch???? can some one tell me pls

[EugeneF15]

@MrChila86 Downshifting without the clutch is bad, never do this. Upshifting is fine as long as your chopping the throttle in the process and you don't have to force the shifter into gear. If your bike has a slipper clutch that will allow you to downshift without needing to rev match the engine to the transmission with throttle blips. Never downshift to slow your bike down it is a bad habit and will prob get you killed in an emergency situation. So is using the rear brake.

[otacon451]

ok how do i make the text disappear?

[imjus1guy]

what do u mean when u want to give it gas cuz u will run the risk of sliding out ???

[badarny]

and how to shift a sport bike ??

[rama6maiden]

if you have a slipper clutch do you even have to pull in the clutch to shift down?

[srikanth94]

incomplete FAIL

[bluelightcycle]

Did he just advise a novice to blip the throttle while downshifting?!

[geritolwhamfan]

O.K So many people insist on using the ENGINE to slow down. This is not smooth. There is a smoother way. When coming to a stop or slowing down, squeeze in the clutch while down shifting and leave the clutch squeezed the whole time and use the BRAKES ONLY to slow or stop the bike. If you need to speed up again, just release the clutch and you are good to go. With this method, braking is more accurate and there is NO DANGER of loss of traction. Try it and decide which is a better method.

[saomaino]

@geritolwhamfan Only do this when you're straight. While leaning, this will increase your risk of high side, almost happened to me. It's hard to find the sweet spot for smooth clutch engagement (slipper clutch helps with this). Unless you're really confident and know how your bike reacts, i don't recommend this.

[geritolwhamfan]

You should not use the engine to slow the bike down. That is why you have brakes on a motorcycle. The engine is to make the bike GO. The brakes are to slow and stop the bike.

[geritolwhamfan]

@saomaino Oh and by the way, you should not be downshifting or braking when the motorcycle is leaned over in a turn. The only thing you should be doing in a turn is rolling on the gas. This stabilizes the suspension of the motorcycle. If you have to stop or slow down you must get the bike upright before you apply the brakes.

[muffinman2874]

that is smoother but it will also wear your brakes down faster. you just have to get better at matching RPMs when you downshift. i used to get a lot of tire slide when i first started but now i can match RPMs and its just as smooth as braking

[geritolwhamfan]

@muffinman2874. Ugh..brake pads are cheaper than engine, clutch and drive chain parts. The brakes are for slowing the bike. The engine is to make it go. LMAO. I also know how to match engine speed with road speed but thanks for the lesson anyway.

[muffinman2874]

your engine, clutch, and drive chain parts are built to take a lot more abuse than brake pads, but everyone has their own riding style i guess

[geritolwhamfan]

With the method I use, there is never a question of matching engine speed with road speed when down shifting. I would rather replace brake pads and be smooth. Smoothness is the key to high speed riding and incorrect downshifting upsets the motorcycle. Not hating. personal choice.

[MrMarshall1K]

@geritolwhamfan No Offence but that was the worst piece of advice i've heard in my life.

[geritolwhamfan]

What advice are you talking about?

[geritolwhamfan]

Then learn from your own experiences, if you think I am giving the wrong advice. How did you learn how to ride a motorcycle and how long have you been a motorcycle instructor? Just curious about your wealth of motorcycling riding knowledge.

[bhaskarc1979]

A question... I usually downshift 2 or more gears continuously pressing the clutch-in and not releasing it for every intermediate downshift... Is there any safety hazard in that at high speeds...???

[xXxKidderxXx]

downshift to far and cause ur engine to create Redline RPMS, tires slips from underneathe u and u crash.

[Whitehorze]

It depends on how your bike is geared.

I have a 1992 ninja 500 with stock gearing. From 70 I usually have to drop 2 gears at a time to engine brake to a stoplight. The gears are only good for about a 1,000 rpm.

6,000 rpm in 6th gear puts me at 73 mph on the freeway.

The ninjas have a rubber isolator in the rear wheel which helps absorb some of the shock from downshifting/powershifting.

That and I love having a centerstand...

[darkknight17]

That will lock your rear wheel. It's VERY DANGEROUS. Downshift, and release clutch. As the revs jump, engage clutch and downshift again and release clutch.

You should ALWAYS do it this way. In and you should NEVER engage the clutch in 3rd gear and drop two into 1st gear etc.

[bhaskarc1979]

Well what if I apply clutch, apply brakes and bring the speed down enough and then downshift successively...? Will that be all-right..??

[darkknight17]

That's perfect. Never skip two gears. Always downshift one gear at a time while breaking. This is gentler on the bike, gear box, engine, chain etc. and your safety.

Why don't you try this experiment on an open and safe road: See what happens when you are quite high in your revs in 2nd gear (say maybe 10,000RPM), and downshift in to 1st gear and see what happens? You rear wheel will chatter and may even lock. When doing this, keep one hand over your clutch in case you need to pull it in.

Peace

[nickjNRG]

@darkknight17 what about in high speed emergency stops?

[harry092]

@darkknight17 unless you have a slipper clutch ;)

[TechHost]

@darkknight17 please explain

[darkknight17]

@TechHost Never drop two gears i.e go from 3rd straight into 1st gear.

Or try it and see what happens.

[djapurpledolphin]

I base my downshifting on a police System of Vehicle control -

1) Scan mirrors

2) Brake to desired speed

3) As I reach desired speed, down-shift through the gears (clutch in)

4) Make rpm and engage the matching gear.

I often up-skip to the cruise gear eg using 4th to accelerate to 100Km/h then skip to 6th for cruising.

Do these techniques make sense?

[SethArmaddos]

expertvillage, you suck!! What the heck happened to the end of the video!!??? I've seen that sh*t on many of your videos!!! ...man...

[snowmanii]

yeah I was wonderin' a little about that myself..can you redo your videos plz

[xbox360gamer131]

When you're taking off do you accelerate while you're releasing the clutch or after you've fully released it?

[lax4ever]

You ease off the clutch at the same time you slowly twist the throttle. A lot of bikes (sportbikes especially) have higher idles which allow you to pretty much fully let the clutch out in 1st and then accelerate. You get faster and better with time. Downshifts require to pull clutch in and ease off throttle, downshift gear, slowly let clutch out, and also bring engine RPMs up to match road speed. If you dump the clutch (let it all out at too low RPM) you will stall and crash possibly.

[flimsymoney]

ok so its engine braking by downshifitng till your in 1st then breaking till your stopped?

[flimsymoney]

ok, can someone explain every action taken when you need to stop at a light from like 100ft away? Im having trouble understanding what needs to be done when u need to stop

[15yearOldHarleyRider]

depends wat gear ur in, say ur in 3rd gear, let off the throttle, clutch in, down shift into 2nd, just kind of coast a little bit, clutch in if ur braking, and when u get to around under 5 mph or so, clutch in, and downshift to 1st gear, be sure to pull in the clutch when u brake, the bike will stall if u dont, and dont let out the clutch too fast, just ease it on out there

[laSimp1icite]

how are you supposed to shift if you are going up a hill?

and or maybe stopped on a hill? I am having a little trouble starting on a hill and also knowing what gear to be in when riding up a hill.

[MikSane]

hold front brake when starting bike, switch to back brake when started up, hold clutch and go into first, start easily moving

[lorddragoono]

in going up a hill you want higher revs so one or two gears below your normal gear for that speed and when stoping on a hill you should always be in first when starting off

[ManOfMeans]

hmm, why did the vid cut out before the end?

[Geekchess]

I cut's out as I'm pretty sure the entire video is on their website = must pay for access.

[zeppelinfromled]

I think it's just that he did a big video in one take. He's continuing on to a different topic (braking, and not braking around corners) and is no longer talking about downshifting. I agree that it's not the smoothest cut-off, but I think that's why.

[lfsfinest14]

is there a vid that has all these in one?

[The23German]

so i never drove a bike before, can you shifdown with out using the clutch?

[LuisG4]

I actually dont know if you can, but I woudnt do it, just to not run the risk of messing up the engine

[Honeybabymarie]

oh ok ty

[The23German]

oh ok ty

[purklefluff]

no you can't. if you try to shift without the clutch, it primes the gear for changing, but won't actually shift into a lower gear.

also, because bike gearboxes are sequential, you actually have to go through each gear when changing either up or down. makes gearchanging while stationary a bit of a pain, because you have to let the clutch out slightly for each gear, can't just blam through them by pressing the shifter a load of times.

hope this helps.

[The23German]

oh ty

[not4resale]

Gearing up you don't need the clutch but gearing down you do. You need to give it a certain amount of throttle to do it though so i wouldn't recommend it for someone new to riding.

[JayzBeerz]

It's called blip the throttle

[heathenwalking]

You can really screw your bike over doing that. Not sure exactly why.

[lorddragoono]

not if you do it right

[sugizo86]

how would you screw ur bike for doing that?

[heathenwalking]

Torque. The clutch eases the bike's drive chain into the lower gear (which is fine) but if you hit the drive train (gear box etc) with a big wave of torque from a lower gear it can screw it up.

[sugizo86]

Only if you are trying to downshift at a very high rpm that the rev will hit beyond redline.

Which you shouldn't anyway.

You can really feel the bike smooths out by bliping.

[lax4ever]

It wont let you but also keep in mind that the clutch disengages the motor to the rear wheel, so when you down shift and you are at too high of RPM and you don't ease off when you get into a lower gear your bike will redline and lock the rear wheel up. It's scary but manageable but gotta be careful, that's why you don't generally shift in corners, only before.

[SAVAGEX28]

i believe its a 2005 honda cbr 600rr

[giovanni101]

Hey what bike model is that? Thanks.