Riding a motorcycle questions.

Question

i watched a video on youtube about how to ride a motrcycle. Ive never riden a motorcycle but i am soon with my cousin. i just wanna have a sense of what to do to get riding. so now i know that to start it make sure ur in neutral. start it up... press on clutch and shift into 1st and slowly let go the clutch with some throttle... and on to 2nd gear and onto3rd and so on... but im not sure how to stop. I saw how you Downshift. but what if im driving in the street and i all of a sudden have to stop imediatly? i was guessing if your at like 4th gear. just let go of the gas. press on the throttle, and brake, and while ur breaking u can just press the gear all the way up to 1st, and keep the clutch reving so the bike wount stall. while ur at a complete stop at like a red light. Am i right? The guy in the video just forgot to show how to stop. he said that u could accually stop the motorcycle by downshifting but he never showed how to just stop.

Answer 1

If you are serious about your question, please take the advice of a few of these people and take a course.DO NOT get information from youtube or from people on the internet. The people running the course know what they are doing and will get you best prepared to handle road riding.

I worked as a certified instructor and there is some very bad information here that will get you in big trouble in a real hurry. The only advice I will give you is to take the course...can be expensive but very, VERY worth it!  

Answer 2

The left lever is the clutch, it dis-engages the motor from the transmission. The right is the front brake. You pull the left lever, at the same time as the right lever and the right peddle, which is the rear brake. On top of all that a good biker will automatically downshift  with the left foot. I took a state aproved Basic Rider Safety Course with 5 hours of classroom instruction and 10 hours of on bike experiance. I strongly recomend you take one. They practice many many things including swerves and emergency stopping. Over and over again until it is automatic.  

Answer 3

Inkjax is right. Riding a motorcyle is serious business. You could kill your self and hurt other people and do serious damage to a nice motorcycle.

The motorcycle dealers in my area send new riders to the local junior college for riding lessons. That seems to work well. They let you ride a lightweight motorcycle like a Honda Rebel in their parking lot. Most people are able to pass the motorcycle road test after completing the riding course.

All that being said, the answer to your questions...

PULL the clutch lever to disengage the clutch. Press DOWN on the gear lever with your left foot. This wil engage first gear. Gentley release the clutch lever while twisting the throttle lightly. When you reach 10 miles per hour, squeeze the clutch lever as you ease up on the throttle, lift the shift lever with your left foot, gentley release the clutch lever as you twist the throttle open. Repeat this procedure as you reach another 10 miles per hour increment. Some bikes have 4 speed transmissions. Most have 5 speeds. Some have six speeds.

When slowing down, concentrate on smooth deceleration and stopping in time to avoid hitting something (or being hit). If you must stop suddenly, just pull the clutch lever, brake to a stop, and keep pressing down on the shift lever until the neutral lamp lights up. You may need to partially engage the clutch to get the transmission to shift down another gear.

Oh, and don't bet your life on the neutral light. Sometimes it lies. So ALWAYS release the clutch lever slowly and be ready to pull that lever if the bike is not behaving the way you think it should.

Good luck and keep the shiney side up!

Answer 4

you had better stay off the roads!  when you're on a bike, you are considerd invisable to other drivers !  honda and most dealers have classes for new riders.. bikes and all !!  go talk to them unless your cousin knows all the good and bads, which i doubt. i've riding for 45 years and still  get "near misses" all the time.  its no joke !! you get hit on a bike and 99 times ot of a hundred--you get hurt !! sometime real bad.. and dead is no fun either ! learn from a seasoned rider or go watch some ride for about year.. then go to the class anyway.. a dirt bike is the best way to learn in a big open area with not alot of distractions or people to hit ... good luck--get a hemet !!

Answer 5

LOL! My 1st time I was alone on one and this is what I learned...

1) push in the clutch and ~BACK~ brake to stop

2) if u down shift to early ....well u catch major scratch

3) make sure u turn the gas on underneath

4) if while u take off u release the clutch to soon u get a WHEELEY

5) U can downshift to stop but I wouldn't specially starting out see 2

6) DON"T LEARN HOW TO RIDE FROM VIDEOS!

7) U always try to use ur back break mainly so U don't FLY over the

    handlebars.

That's just some of it , but it's the first fubars I made. Hope it helps! Good Luck!!!

   AND WEAR A HELMET !!!!!

Answer 6

You'll never learn to ride a motorcycle by watching a video on youtube.  You need to take a riding course.  After passing a riding course, there are still many aspects to consider:  what type of bike are you riding - street bike or dirt bike; what type of roads will you be riding on - if you are riding on gravel, braking safely is something you need to learn; shifting gears is how you match engine speed to road speed, so down sifting will slow you down, but again, what type of road are you riding on.  PLEASE take a safety course before you ride a bike.  Also, wear safety gear.  Riding a motorcycle is one of the most wonderful things in the world, but if you don't know what you are doing you could hurt yourself or someone else.  Even experienced riders go down.  Not all get up.

Answer 7

It's really simple once you get used to it.

When you first start learning to ride you ride really slow.  All the same principles apply, but riding slow gives you more time to make decisions, to figure out what to do.  At first you have to think 'Now which of these doodads is the brake and which is the clutch?'  Once you get those sorted out so they are automatic, you can speed up.

Now, when you're first learning, the easiest way to stop without having to think too much is just to squeeze both handlebar handles.  One is the clutch and the other is the front brake.  The front brake does most of the braking anyway, even if you brake with both brakes.  So that will stop you no matter what (unless you are leaned way over in a corner, then it's not a good idea to jerk the front brake because you can lose traction and go down).

In a 'panic stop', this is just what you do.  Grab the front brake, and the clutch.  In a more controlled stop you would use some rear brake too (right foot).  You don't really need to use the clutch in a panic stop, but it gets to be a habit.  You're right, though, if you stop without clutching it kills the engine.

If you are slowing down to a stop, like a stop sign, with plenty of room, you would shift down as you came to a stop (with your clutch in).  Because you need to be in first gear to start out again.  Motorcycles have 'sliding gear' transmissions and they're  hard to shift when they're not moving, so you anticipate the stop by shifting down.

You also shift down when going down a hill, to keep from 'dragging' your brakes, which is not good for them.  A lower gear uses the engine to slow you down, which is called 'engine braking'.

You also might shift down to go around a curve.  You have to slow down to go around a curve, you slow down before the curve and speed up in the curve.  If you shift down, that slows you down, and then, since you are going slower, you use that gear to speed back up in the curve.

Engine braking is the main reason that automatic transmissions are not popular in motorcycles.  Bikers want to be able to choose the gear, to shift down to slow down.

This might all sound wordy and confusing to you.  But it all makes sense once you get some actual experience.  It's easier to do than to talk about.

Answer 8

The best way to stop in a hurry is to just pull the clutch in with your left hand and concentrate on braking with both the rear (right foot) and front (right hand) brakes. To stop normally you can just begin applying brake and when your engine RPM is down to a bit above idle speed, you can pull the clutch in, push the shifter down one gear, and release the clutch gently.

On a dirt bike you can shift without using the clutch just by blipping the throttle, but I found that that doesn't work as well on a street bike because the bike is heavier and the tire has more rotating mass. When downshifting it might chirp the tire and upshifting will be fairly harsh.

Answer 9

Well you shouldnt need to keep revving if the bike is running right, and you should probly practice alot before you get in traffic. Downshifting is better for slowing down than jsut stopping, but you have to be careful that you dont go too low on the gears compared to the engine rpm. If you do you can lock up the rear wheel and lose control. What kind of bike are you going to be riding and where? You  should use both brakes just dont put too much pressure on the front one. If you do let off and reapply slowly. Really think you should practice somewhere out of harms way before you get to ocarried away riding out in traffic. In fat a license is required to even make that legal.

Inkjax has it right, get on a dirtbike out in the open and practice and dont get yourself into some mess you cant handle.

Answer 10

My recommendation is to take a motorcycle safety course.  Check with your state DMV.  Successful completion in a state-sponsored course gets you your license.  Not certain, but I believe most states require that you have a license in order to ride on public streets.  This usually is a written and driving test.  

Basic operations:

Left hand fingers- clutch.  Pull in to engage

Right hand - throttle.  Twist to accelerate

Right hand fingers - front brake

Left foot - rear brake

Right foot - gear selection

ALWAYS REMEMBER WHEN STOPPING TO APPLY THE REAR BRAKE FIRST!!!!!

If you don't, you risk the bike going airborne when the rear of the motorcycle comes up in the air.

PANIC STOP = PULL CLUTCH.  REAR BRAKE HARD 1ST.  FRONT BRAKE HARD 2ND.

If possible, practice panic stops in an empty parking lot or side street.  This has come in handy on more than one occasion.

In general, just like driving a manual transmission auto:  smooth clutch engage, smooth acceleration, smooth clutch disengage.

Wear the right protective clothing - helmet, eye protection, and gloves at a minimum.  Respect the bike and road.

Relax and enjoy.  Riding a motorcyle is unlike anything else out there (mountain biking is a close 2nd).  

Answer 11

If you think you can learn how to ride a motorcycle from youtube and yahoo answers, you will probably die on one.  That might sound harsh but it's better for you to hear that than end up crippled or dead.  I can't tell you how many things are wrong with your question, it sounds like a joke.  Take a professional riding course for god's sake!  Learn from a professional, not the internet, not your cousin.  Go to msf-usa.org to find out where you can really learn how to ride.  

Keep in mind that most people who ride motorcycles are not very good at it.  Studies consistently show that the majority of motorcycle accidents are caused by rider error.  Riding a motorcycle is counterintuitive and difficult, you need someone to show you the right way.