Motorcycle Riding Basics : Motorcycle Riding: Down Shifting
Posted by admin | Under motorcycle riding Wednesday Sep 9, 2009
When riding a motorcycle, make sure to grab the clutch and push down with the foot in order to down shift. Learn more about down shifting on a motorcycle from an experienced motorcyclist in this free sports bike video.
Expert: Jared Cummings
Bio: Jared Cummings has been riding motorcycles all his life. He is on a professional stunt team called Team Skar.
Filmmaker: Caleb Labarda
Duration : 0:1:11
[youtube yGtnXWxgLLg]
A question… I …
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…???
expertvillage, you …
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…
It wont let you but …
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.
You ease off the …
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.
When you’re taking …
When you’re taking off do you accelerate while you’re releasing the clutch or after you’ve fully released it?
ok so its engine …
ok so its engine braking by downshifitng till your in 1st then breaking till your stopped?
depends wat gear ur …
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
ok, can someone …
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
Only if you are …
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.
Torque. The clutch …
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.
how would you screw …
how would you screw ur bike for doing that?
not if you do it …
not if you do it right
in going up a hill …
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
It’s called blip …
It’s called blip the throttle
hold front brake …
hold front brake when starting bike, switch to back brake when started up, hold clutch and go into first, start easily moving
I think it’s just …
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.
You can really …
You can really screw your bike over doing that. Not sure exactly why.
how are you …
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.
I cut’s out as I’m …
I cut’s out as I’m pretty sure the entire video is on their website = must pay for access.
Gearing up you …
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.
hmm, why did the …
hmm, why did the vid cut out before the end?
is there a vid that …
is there a vid that has all these in one?
oh ty
oh ty
no you can’t. if …
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.
oh ok ty
oh ok ty