Please describe in detail the gear shifting process on a rebel 250 or similar bike?

Question

Aaron, I already did. It's been a little while, and I've been riding an automatic all this time.

I'm here to get a refresher on gear shifting. But thanks for making assumptions.

Answer 1

Personally I recommend that you take a motorcycle safety course as the hands on instruction will be far better than trying to got out and experiment with some advice you read on the "net". You will get to ride several different bikes and you dont have to worry about dropping or hurting them since they wont be yours! lol

Answer 2

1 down, 3 up... they're only a 4 speed aren't they?

Answer 3

If  you took a MSF then you have it made 99.9% of them are all the same.

Answer 4

Gear shifting is a little intimidating for someone just starting out, especially someone who hasn't learned to drive a manual shift car.

But the thing is, it's easier to do than to explain.  A really detailed explanation would really be just confusing.  Once you get the skill, it's something you feel more than something you think about.

You pick a gear based on the speed of the bike.  If the engine is 'lugging' you shift down.  If the engine is revving too high you shift up.  You don't think 'Well, now I'm going 40 mph so I need 3rd gear'. You feel the engine and it tells you you need a higher or lower gear.

You get to a higher gear by pushing up on the lever, a lower gear by pushing down.  It's really no more complicated than that.

And, of course, you pull in the clutch to disconnect the engine from the drive train while you shift.  Then you have to be a little careful letting out the lever because the engine might be going a different speed than the wheels are.  As you let out the clutch you feel this and you adjust with the throttle.  Yeah, it's getting confusing already, isn't it? But as I say this is something you feel.

The hard part is just starting out because the engine is moving and the bike is not.  You have to feed in a little throttle and let off on the clutch easily and slowly until you're moving.  Once you get that, you've got it.

Answer 5

I answered another questioner and saved a copy -

You can count and keep track of what gear you're in, but you don't have to pay attention to what gear you're in.

If the engine doesn't have enough power to move the bike, down-shift to a lower gear.

If the engine is reving wide open and you want to go faster, up-shift to a higher gear.

Same as a 10 speed bicycle.

Press the shift lever down to go into a lower gear 5-4-3-2-1

Lift the shift lever up to go into a higher gear 1-2-3-4-5

Pull in the clutch lever when shifting to another gear.

Start with the transmission in neutral -

Press the shift lever down with your toe - the trani shifts to 1st gear - release pressure on the shift lever and it springs up to it's resting position, ready to be shifted again.

Lift the shift lever up with your toe - the trani goes through neutral and into 2nd gear - release pressure on the shift lever and it springs back to it's resting position, ready to be shifted again.

Lift up again 3rd - lift up again 4th - lift up again 5th.

Press down 4th - press down 3rd - press down 2nd - press down, the trani goes through neutral into 1st.

Neutral is between 1st & 2nd gear.

You can feel a slight indent with your toe.

If you stop pressing/lifting the shift lever when you feel the indent, the trani will stay in neutral.

OR you can continue applying pressure and shift through neutral - down into 1st, or up into 2nd.

Answer 6

Are you asking how to shift gears, or how the trans actually works ?

If you are looking to shift ... most bikes use a up pattern for up-shifting and a down pattern for down-shifting.

Neutral can usually be found between first and second gear and will be confirmed by a green indicator light on or near the speedometer.

Like a car, unless the bike has an automatic clutch, you will need to clutch between shifts and when stopped in gear. If equipped with an automatic clutch, you only need to return the throttle to idle to engage the clutch. This is very unusual on a street bike, but in sizes under 400cc it is available on some machines.

Good luck