Motorcycle Question...

[Terinox]

Okay, so I'm sort of into motorcycles now. I got my M2, and I took one of those training courses they offer over the weekend, and so it was really fun.

Now, the messed up part was that we pretty much covered EVERYTHING, and I mean so much info and practice. Everything from slowing down and stoping in a curve, acceleration in a curve, swerving in case of emergency, etc...It was basically very fun and very informative, great instructors.

However, being in a very large parking lot, we only hit 3rd gear, and because it was a closed area, we did not get much chance to practice downshifting. Now this post is turning out longer than it really should be :P

How do you really downshift? I mean, not the actual act of it, it's easy, but I mean, if you're driving, and the light turns red, you gotta be damn far away to actually be able to downshift properly right? If you do it while driving too quickly, the bike is gonna jump like crazy, and I dunno if it's good for the motor. I mean, how bad is it really to just always slow down/stop using only the brakes. Now OBVIOUSLY sometimes, like highway riding or something, you can downshift, but I just can't picture constantly down shifting EVERY time you're approaching a red light or something.

Am I missing something here?

Thanks,
T.

[kloter1]

just use them together half and half. brake a little and down shift but let off the clutch slowly.

[Pinkvelvet]

I've had three in my time...my first was a 98 GSXR 600, than a 98 ZX9-R, and just sold my ZX 636. And, they were all somewhat different.

I sometimes downshift without breaking often..depends on the speed.
If you don't have time, and ya gotta stop quickly...just brake as gentle as possible...and throw it into neutral...but, thats only really in an emergency, quick stop...otherwise, if your coming off slow...just listen for the sound of the bike. You'll get the hang of your bike when shifting. It'll come with more experience!

Good luck with your bike and drive safe!!!!

[damiongage]

grab the brake...and down shift....I keep my bike (Triumph Speed Triple) around 4000 rpm. If I am slowing down and I fall below 3500 I down shift. The faster I brake...the faster I down shift.

[Jerzey]

I've had three in my time...my first was a 98 GSXR 600, than a 98 ZX9-R, and just sold my ZX 636. And, they were all somewhat different.

I sometimes downshift without breaking often..depends on the speed.
If you don't have time, and ya gotta stop quickly...just brake as gentle as possible...and throw it into neutral...but, thats only really in an emergency, quick stop...otherwise, if your coming off slow...just listen for the sound of the bike. You'll get the hang of your bike when shifting. It'll come with more experience!

Good luck with your bike and drive safe!!!!

Damn I knew I liked you!

In 2002 I took the MSF course (which I highly recommend for anyone who wants to ride) mainly because I didn't want to rent a scooter to take the test, you use their bikes. I've thanked god a few times after that I took it when I had situations arise (like getting cut off at 70 mph) and i had to react fast.

I bought a 2002 GSXR 750 as my first bike, which was pretty big to start with but I loved that bike.

Shifting depends on the bike really but when you are going to stop (just like in a stick car) you can always use neutral and the brake. When downshifting to slow down you do the same. light brakes and downshift. It's the two together that allows you to stop quick (same as in the car) but be careful of the front brake or you may end up doing and endo

Do you drive a manual car? I really think that helps because you get the hang of shifting and it's the same with the bike, just different insofar as hand clutch and brake, etc.

One other thing, the two guys that taught my course swore by neutral and braking to stop to lessen the engine stress/ware... however, when you are going fast, the two together are what I tend to use....

Good luck!

[Pinkvelvet]

Damn I knew I liked you!

In 2002 I took the MSF course (which I highly recommend for anyone who wants to ride) mainly because I didn't want to rent a scooter to take the test, you use their bikes. I've thanked god a few times after that I took it when I had situations arise (like getting cut off at 70 mph) and i had to react fast.

I bought a 2002 GSXR 750 as my first bike, which was pretty big to start with but I loved that bike.

Shifting depends on the bike really but when you are going to stop (just like in a stick car) you can always use neutral and the brake. When downshifting to slow down you do the same. light brakes and downshift. It's the two together that allows you to stop quick (same as in the car) but be careful of the front brake or you may end up doing and endo

Do you drive a manual car? I really think that helps because you get the hang of shifting and it's the same with the bike, just different insofar as hand clutch and brake, etc.

One other thing, the two guys that taught my course swore by neutral and braking to stop to lessen the engine stress/ware... however, when you are going fast, the two together are what I tend to use....

Good luck!

That is a big bike for a girl...(first timer that is)...particularly a suzuki...they're much meater than say a Kawi...I noticed a big difference just in the riding position alone. The kawi...900..I could touch the ground better than my GSXR 600!

Ya...chicks who ride ROCK!!!!
This was my last baby!!!

[Jerzey]

That is a big bike for a girl...(first timer that is)...particularly a suzuki...they're much meater than say a Kawi...I noticed a big difference just in the riding position alone. The kawi...900..I could touch the ground better than my GSXR 600!

Ya...chicks who ride ROCK!!!!
This was my last baby!!!

You workout and ride, why can't I meet chick like you around here That bike is hot, love the colors (which is one reason I like the 600RR) but Suzuki is my bike.. I love it, handles and it's so fast... I'll probably get another gixxer.

Yes, it was and I'm 5'7 and could only touch with my tippie toes. I hooked it up too, Yosh exhaust, flush mount blinkers, we re-mapped it when we put the exhaust on, changed the shield, hugger, etc. You can put 1k into a bike and make it so damn fast (not that it wasn't fast to start).. Ok, I'm getting the itch again... I think I'm going to need a bike this year... I've waited long enough!

Here is a pic of my baby, actually, a guy I know bought it for his girlfriend and she still has it as far as I know..

[Pinkvelvet]

You workout and ride, why can't I meet chick like you around here That bike is hot, love the colors (which is one reason I like the 600RR) but Suzuki is my bike.. I love it, handles and it's so fast... I'll probably get another gixxer.

Yes, it was and I'm 5'7 and could only touch with my tippie toes. I hooked it up too, Yosh exhaust, flush mount blinkers, we re-mapped it when we put the exhaust on, changed the shield, hugger, etc. You can put 1k into a bike and make it so damn fast (not that it wasn't fast to start).. Ok, I'm getting the itch again... I think I'm going to need a bike this year... I've waited long enough!

Here is a pic of my baby, actually, a guy I know bought it for his girlfriend and she still has it as far as I know..

LOVE IT!!!!

Yes, I must a agree...not many of us out there! I have always loved GSXR's.
The color scheme of mine was the red and black...just like yours. Except I threw on a Kerker pipe...wasn't loud enough..but, still got a rise outta the old folks....
Kinda crap for us though...our riding season is shorter than some.....snow starts flying here sometimes at Halloween...sometimes mid Nov. and doesn't disapear till about March.
I think a new crotch rocket is in order for the spring...I'm thinking ZX10. I would love to pick up a 929 though. But, hard to come by now still in good condition..and no one wants to get rid of them yet!! Perhaps I should just stick to the smaller ones...for such a small gal!

[Jerzey]

LOVE IT!!!!

Yes, I must a agree...not many of us out there! I have always loved GSXR's.
The color scheme of mine was the red and black...just like yours. Except I threw on a Kerker pipe...wasn't loud enough..but, still got a rise outta the old folks....
Kinda crap for us though...our riding season is shorter than some.....snow starts flying here sometimes at Halloween...sometimes mid Nov. and doesn't disapear till about March.
I think a new crotch rocket is in order for the spring...I'm thinking ZX10. I would love to pick up a 929 though. But, hard to come by now still in good condition..and no one wants to get rid of them yet!! Perhaps I should just stick to the smaller ones...for such a small gal!

I think you and I would get into trouble

Sorry for whoring your thread, I got all excited when I saw PV's post

Yah, you are not that big, but I bet you could still throw those bikes around Just have to stop on side and not have both feet down or drop the bike (like me most of the time)

[GREENMACHINE]

When you downshift your revs will increase to some degree depending on the bike you don't want the rev going past where you would normally bring them accelerating through that gear. THis is most important on bikes with short power bands. If you have a torque bike, muscle bike, sports etc, it's not as big an issue.

[Pinkvelvet]

I think you and I would get into trouble

Sorry for whoring your thread, I got all excited when I saw PV's post

Yah, you are not that big, but I bet you could still throw those bikes around Just have to stop on side and not have both feet down or drop the bike (like me most of the time)

You can whore my thread any day!!

[Jerzey]

You can whore my thread any day!!

[Evil Predator]

Okay, so I'm sort of into motorcycles now. I got my M2, and I took one of those training courses they offer over the weekend, and so it was really fun.

Now, the messed up part was that we pretty much covered EVERYTHING, and I mean so much info and practice. Everything from slowing down and stoping in a curve, acceleration in a curve, swerving in case of emergency, etc...It was basically very fun and very informative, great instructors.

However, being in a very large parking lot, we only hit 3rd gear, and because it was a closed area, we did not get much chance to practice downshifting. Now this post is turning out longer than it really should be :P

How do you really downshift? I mean, not the actual act of it, it's easy, but I mean, if you're driving, and the light turns red, you gotta be damn far away to actually be able to downshift properly right? If you do it while driving too quickly, the bike is gonna jump like crazy, and I dunno if it's good for the motor. I mean, how bad is it really to just always slow down/stop using only the brakes. Now OBVIOUSLY sometimes, like highway riding or something, you can downshift, but I just can't picture constantly down shifting EVERY time you're approaching a red light or something.

Am I missing something here?

Thanks,
T.

Well, I raced amateur growing up, still do...

I jam her down a couple of gears, lock the rear tire up, and back it into the turns.. But ive got 200k miles under my belt, not just a weekend.

[Pinkvelvet]

[Terinox]

Well the funny thing is, I do drive a manual car, however, I always just pop it into neutral and coast the car and use the breaks at the end of the stop. I have never really downshifted in my car to "slow" it down before a stop. I mean, my car is a cheezy Saturn, so for example, I pretty much upshift every 20KM,

1st = 0-20KM
2nd = 20-40KM
3rd = 40-60KM
4th = 60-80/85KM
5th = 90+KM

That's about 2,500RPM on my car, and I just shift it up. So, if I'm going 80KM in 4th gear for example, and want to SLOW down, what do I do here? Wait until the car slows by itself (or with the help of the breaks) to 60KM and then put it into 3rd? And let it slow down on it's own from 60KM to 40KM, and then put it into 2nd? Is that a basic way of doing it? And would it be exactly the same for the bike?

Now, is it LESS safe to just pull in the clutch (on a bike), and use the breaks to stop (pretty much always), and just tap the gear down to 1st, until you've stopped? Will this ONLY wear the brakes off? And if so, any other effect on the bike? I mean, if it's EASIER to do it this way, and the only result is that I need to buy new breaks a little sooner than usual, wouldn't it just make more sense to always do it that way?

[Terinox]

Oh, and I don't have a bike yet, I am looking into buying one. Sadly, I'm a short little bugger. I'm only 5'6" and that's on a good day :P

I was looking at a Ninja ZZR250 as a first bike just to get the hang of riding. Also, it's very cheap on insurance ($300 dollars Canadian) for a full year. Where as a 500CC bike for example, I believe goes for $700 dollars a year, and for a univ. student, money is def. an issue here. Especially since I'm looking at 3000-4000 for the bike alone

[Jerzey]

Well the funny thing is, I do drive a manual car, however, I always just pop it into neutral and coast the car and use the breaks at the end of the stop. I have never really downshifted in my car to "slow" it down before a stop. I mean, my car is a cheezy Saturn, so for example, I pretty much upshift every 20KM,

1st = 0-20KM
2nd = 20-40KM
3rd = 40-60KM
4th = 60-80/85KM
5th = 90+KM

That's about 2,500RPM on my car, and I just shift it up. So, if I'm going 80KM in 4th gear for example, and want to SLOW down, what do I do here? Wait until the car slows by itself (or with the help of the breaks) to 60KM and then put it into 3rd? And let it slow down on it's own from 60KM to 40KM, and then put it into 2nd? Is that a basic way of doing it? And would it be exactly the same for the bike?

Now, is it LESS safe to just pull in the clutch (on a bike), and use the breaks to stop (pretty much always), and just tap the gear down to 1st, until you've stopped? Will this ONLY wear the brakes off? And if so, any other effect on the bike? I mean, if it's EASIER to do it this way, and the only result is that I need to buy new breaks a little sooner than usual, wouldn't it just make more sense to always do it that way?

Well, that's kinda what I said. The guys who taught my MSF course swore by putting it in neutral (or holding the clutch but make sure you don't accidently let up if it's in gear) and braking.

however, if you are going too fast, it's much easier to slow down with both the brakes and down-shifting, I do it all the time in my car. On the bike, you have to make sure you don't squeeze that hand brake too much over the foot brake or you will end up with your back wheel off the ground (unless, of course, you are trying to do that )

[Terinox]

Well, that's kinda what I said. The guys who taught my MSF course swore by putting it in neutral (or holding the clutch but make sure you don't accidently let up if it's in gear) and braking.

however, if you are going too fast, it's much easier to slow down with both the brakes and down-shifting, I do it all the time in my car. On the bike, you have to make sure you don't squeeze that hand brake too much over the foot brake or you will end up with your back wheel off the ground (unless, of course, you are trying to do that )

Okay, thanks. I will give it a try. In my car tomorrow And on a bike, as soon as I can hop on one

[Jerzey]

Didn't they show you how to do all that in the course?

Good luck, let us know how it goes (Wear gear, rash is not fun )

[dive_kid]

ok,girls and bike turn me on, so I really like this thred

as for the question, when down shifting from higher speeds try rev matching.
squeez the clutch, down shift, before letting out the clutch give a quick twist and get the revs to where thay will be when you let out the clutch. when you release it will be smooth with no hard jerk. it happens fast so be ready.

[Terinox]

Didn't they show you how to do all that in the course?

Good luck, let us know how it goes (Wear gear, rash is not fun )

Sadly no. We were in a parking lot, it was fairly big, but not enough to really get a practice for downshifting. As soon as you accelerated to 3rd gear (which they wanted you to do, cuz they wanted us to practice going fairly fast (about 40KM/H), we would have to start slowing down pretty fast. And they just kept teaching/showing us to "Pull in the clutch, then smooooothly apply the front and rear break together." And for the downshifting, just tap tap tap until it's down to 1st.

Another thing I don't understand, is why doesn't neutral have it's one CLICK? Down 1 is 1st gear, and then the middle ground, between 1st and 2nd is so hard to find (or maybe it had to do with the small old bikes we were using, Suzuki GN125 is what I learned on). Sometimes the instructor would have to jab at it with his hand to get the damn bike into neutral, it did NOT seem an easy thing to do with your FOOT while driving!!! LOL!!!

[Jerzey]

when down shifting from higher speeds try rev matching.
squeez the clutch, down shift, before letting out the clutch give a quick twist and get the revs to where thay will be when you let out the clutch. when you release it will be smooth with no hard jerk. it happens fast so be ready.

That reminds me, try this first w/o having your revs up real high (bike or car).... smoother that way...

I've only ridden sportbikes so I can't really compare to anything else and I have a lead foot so I usually need both to slow down

By the way, there's quite a few women riders here in NY, NJ and PA There wasn't near as much when I sold my bike, I rode with all guys.....

[dive_kid]

That reminds me, try this first w/o having your revs up real high (bike or car).... smoother that way...

I've only ridden sportbikes so I can't really compare to anything else and I have a lead foot so I usually need both to slow down

By the way, there's quite a few women riders here in NY, NJ and PA There wasn't near as much when I sold my bike, I rode with all guys.....

works for crusiers. I ride a v-star

[Pinkvelvet]

Oh, and I don't have a bike yet, I am looking into buying one. Sadly, I'm a short little bugger. I'm only 5'6" and that's on a good day :P

I was looking at a Ninja ZZR250 as a first bike just to get the hang of riding. Also, it's very cheap on insurance ($300 dollars Canadian) for a full year. Where as a 500CC bike for example, I believe goes for $700 dollars a year, and for a univ. student, money is def. an issue here. Especially since I'm looking at 3000-4000 for the bike alone

Just in my opinion...you might think about going bigger...even for your first bike. I know its more...but, with such small cc's....your gonna get very bored fast, and wanna one with more power. Thats how I felt after going from a 600 to a 900...after the 9...I could never ride a 6 again.
And, be thankful for that insurance...for full coverage in Alberta for my 636 was 1200...F*&K that...I just got PLPD for 400.
When I had my first bike back in 2000...I paid 480. for FULL coverage. SICK!

[Jerzey]

Just in my opinion...you might think about going bigger...even for your first bike. I know its more...but, with such small cc's....your gonna get very bored fast, and wanna one with more power. Thats how I felt after going from a 600 to a 900...after the 9...I could never ride a 6 again.
And, be thankful for that insurance...for full coverage in Alberta for my 636 was 1200...F*&K that...I just got PLPD for 400.
When I had my first bike back in 2000...I paid 480. for FULL coverage. SICK!

I have to disagree there, I think as a first bike a 600 is perfect. You don't want to go too big, you are better off learning to really ride a 6 before going up. I know people with gixxer 600's that can take people with 750's and 1000's just because they really know how to ride.

[Pinkvelvet]

I have to disagree there, I think as a first bike a 600 is perfect. You don't want to go too big, you are better off learning to really ride a 6 before going up. I know people with gixxer 600's that can take people with 750's and 1000's just because they really know how to ride.

I think I was misunderstood.
Oh, for sure...I just wouldn't want to see anyone start with a 250 ...is all.

A 6 is just fine

[Jerzey]

I think I was misunderstood.
Oh, for sure...I just wouldn't want to see anyone start with a 250 ...is all.

A 6 is just fine

Oh, yah, I agree.. although, some people I've seen try to ride shouldn't even be on a 250

A 6 is a great bike, but in time, you'll want more