Down Shifting on a Motorcycle.?

Question

so i just got my Motorcycle. so say in coming up on a light or stop and i have to down shift. is it ok to hold in the clucth and just go down all the way down to 1st while braking?

Answer 1

Yes, it is OK to hold in the clutch and downshift all the way to 1st gear.  But you can also use your engine to slow the bike.....called engine braking.  Doing this may add a little life to those breaks.  Both are acceptable methods and you will find that you'll do both.

Answer 2

you have to clutch going downhill?

Answer 3

Ok so suppose you do go all the way to first and the light turns green before you stop and you have to take off again? Taking off in first gear while coasting at say 30MPH will be quite violent. Keep your gearing and RPMs speed appropriate. That means at 30MPH, you should be in second gear.

Some bike won't even let you get back into first gear unless you are 10MPH or less.

Answer 4

On my Vulcan Nomad 1600, I do very little engine braking, as each time you downshift and release the cltch, it's but one more instance of tire scrub on the back tire (shaft drive). So, when stopping, I normally clutch in and as I'm rolling to a stop, just click down thru the gears. Whenever I do switch to a lower gear, I find it's smoother to blip the throttle just a bit as I shift. The engine has quite a heavy flywheel and tends to want to jerk otherwise. I get longer tire mileage, but use up brake pads a little quicker. Pads are cheaper than tires...K ;o)

Answer 5

>> just go down all the way down to 1st while braking?

Often if you try that, it won't shift. You might have to shift 2 gears then slowly let out the clutch and then 2 more gear, etc.

The gears on the motorcycle is different from a car.  Just like you can't just upshift without moving, you can't download without moving / clutching.

Good Luck...

Answer 6

yes its safe, but just dont let go of the clutch if say your doing 45mph and ur in third gear and u shift to 1st gear because it can hurt your engine, but yeah at a stop just go all the way down.  to frist gear.