Bringing the Bike to a Stop | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bringing the Bike to a Stop

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FluX

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Hey guys, I'm just starting out my second season of riding and am trying to practice bringing the bike to a stop (at a light or stop sign, etc.) in the most appropriate way.

I'm not exactly sure if I'm right but the best way to stop a bike would be to downshift and use the engine brake while also applying the brakes.

What I'm having trouble with is applying the front brake and blipping the throttle while downshifting simultaneously..so I end up using a lot of the rear brake instead.

You guys got any tips, advice? Or is this even the correct way of doing this?
 
How I learned it was get down into second, come to a complete stop with both brakes, downshift to first either when you're stopped or at a crawl.
 
I don't apply brakes when I'm changing gears, is that bad? I'll brake, downshift/rev match, brake, repeat. I'm in first before I come to a complete stop though.
 
bboySushi said:
I don't apply brakes when I'm changing gears, is that bad? I'll brake, downshift/rev match, brake, repeat. I'm in first before I come to a complete stop though.
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You must look like a pogo stick going up down up down as you brake/shift/brake/shift

Sould be one fluid motion applying brakes and downshifting.
 
FluX said:
What I'm having trouble with is applying the front brake and blipping the throttle while downshifting simultaneously..so I end up using a lot of the rear brake instead.
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I've only been riding for a few months, and I'm doing the same thing. I've been trying to concentrate on using just a touch of rear brake when I'm down shifting so that I'm not using the rear brake by itself to slow down, but just enough that my brake light stays on. Was wondering if its possible with practice to continue using both brakes and rev match - seems pretty hard for me still.

Also, this is the same technique I use when driving my car. It's impossible (or unrealistic) to keep pressure on the brakes, and use the clutch, and blip the gas. My solution is the same, let off the brakes for a second to give it some gas, then back to slowing down with the brakes as the clutch comes out.

I noticed in my owners manual for my bike it specifically says that in order to "prevent excessive clutch wear", you need to rev match when down shifting, so I don't want to get in the habit of staying on the brakes and just dropping down a gear.
 
taximan62 said:
Sould be one fluid motion applying brakes and downshifting.
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This is what I am trying to do...but I see other people are having difficulties as well. For me, when I try to attempt keeping pressure on the front brake while downshifting, I forget to let go of the clutch as well cuz my brain just makes it impossible to use my hands separately as soon as they are both pulling the levers...
 
FluX said:
This is what I am trying to do...but I see other people are having difficulties as well. For me, when I try to attempt keeping pressure on the front brake while downshifting, I forget to let go of the clutch as well cuz my brain just makes it impossible to use my hands separately as soon as they are both pulling the levers...
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Downshift a gear then brake.
 
You've got the right idea, just keep practicing and smoothness will come with time. Sorry I can't provide any earth shattering advice but as with many riding techniques it really just comes down to practicing it over and over. If you can find a big empty parking lot try just going back and forth, it may take a while for your brain to sync up all your limbs since it is a lot to think about, but you will get more comfortable with it I promise!
 
Thanks guys for the advice so far. I will try using one of the huge and empty RIM parking lots as soon as the weather gets better! (which won't be for at least a week it seems... :()
 
FluX said:
Thanks guys for the advice so far. I will try using one of the huge and empty RIM parking lots as soon as the weather gets better! (which won't be for at least a week it seems... :()
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Don't confuse active with passive downshifting. For now, just practice standard braking in a straight line by pulling in both levers, applying the rear brake and downshifting all at the same time... both hands/both feet simultaneously. Your focus should be on progressive application of both brakes, the downshifting here is simply informed by your need to be in first gear when you stop (you've pulled the clutch in anyway so it's a passive downshift). Once you get better with progressive application of the brakes, and the routine becomes second nature... you can start to practice active downshifting in advance of the upcoming stop. If you have not taken a rider training course, I suggest you do as they will spend a great deal of time helping you develop this skill. If you have, you could sign up for a one day technical course which will further hone these skills

http://www.ridertraining.ca/courses/technical/
 
I had to sit there and think for a while to figure out what I actually do. I do downshift and brake using the front brake at the same time. Don't touch the rear brake unless I'm in gravel. For you use the front brake and practice being smooth. You can start downshifting and doing more engine braking as you become more comfortable doing multiple things at once.
 
Acadian1974 said:
Don't confuse active with passive downshifting. For now, just practice standard braking in a straight line by pulling in both levers, applying the rear brake and downshifting all at the same time... both hands/both feet simultaneously. Your focus should be on progressive application of both brakes, the downshifting here is simply informed by your need to be in first gear when you stop (you've pulled the clutch in anyway so it's a passive downshift). Once you get better with progressive application of the brakes, and the routine becomes second nature... you can start to practice active downshifting in advance of the upcoming stop. If you have not taken a rider training course, I suggest you do as they will spend a great deal of time helping you develop this skill. If you have, you could sign up for a one day technical course which will further hone these skills

http://www.ridertraining.ca/courses/technical/
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My rider training barely touched on shifting, let alone downshifting.

To the OP: as a new rider myself, I've found it easier to 'blip-downshift' from 6-5, 5-4, and 4-3. 3-2 gets a little jerky for some reason, and 2-1 is just not done for me. It could be my bike, being 30 years old I'm sure it's not the smoothest. One thing I do contrary to my training is 2-finger braking in most cases. It gives me much more control on the throttle while braking.
 
taximan62 said:
You must look like a pogo stick going up down up down as you brake/shift/brake/shift

Sould be one fluid motion applying brakes and downshifting.
Click to expand...

I brake early, I've never felt my front end go down while braking normally, though I use both brakes. So you keep your rear brake on the whole time during downshifting, but what about front brake? How do you keep that steady while rev matching?
 
RonnieRev said:
Whats with the need to "rev match" you guys in a race ?
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incase something infront or behind you happens and u need to get out of the way when you are slowing down lets say your at 20km, your not in 3rd for the 600s and lets say 6th for the 250s.

ex. you see someone in the mirror going way too fast coming up to a red light and is about to sandwich you.

car infront swerves to next lane because theres a large piece of debris on the road..


rev match is also for when your slowing down for a light from 60km and when u hit lets say 15km, the light goes green. you are then already in the correct gear, to continue riding. instead of clutch in...click click click, **jolt**, ok now go

this was taught in the safety courses for the M1 exit.......did you take it? lol
 
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I've taken the course but rev matching while braking was not taught. Not even the use of engine braking. We were taught to pull in the clutch, use both brakes and change gear to first. Nothing more except when one instructor just said "yea, if you get comfortable changing gears, try to blip the throttle and rev match. It sounds cool too".

And yeah...it doesn't really have to be a race to properly use the bike.
 
wow, you definitely didn't go with Learning Curves =p, i was taught all that at learning curves.

but yea practice downshifting when coming to a stop at a light first.
pull in clutch give a blip of the throttle and click down at the same time and release clutch

once you get that down, start trying to incorporate the front brake lever into it

it'll be jerky at first, but it wont take you that long to smooth it out.

also when i release the clutch, i dont slowly release it, i just let go. because if you slowly release the clutch you'll be riding the clutch.
 
absolute said:
wow, you definitely didn't go with Learning Curves =p, i was taught all that at learning curves.

but yea practice downshifting when coming to a stop at a light first.
pull in clutch give a blip of the throttle and click down at the same time and release clutch

once you get that down, start trying to incorporate the front brake lever into it

it'll be jerky at first, but it wont take you that long to smooth it out.

also when i release the clutch, i dont slowly release it, i just let go. because if you slowly release the clutch you'll be riding the clutch.
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Again, people are confusing braking and active downshifting, two separate things. The OP asked about bringing the bike to a stop. Standard braking procedure is to apply both brakes while simultaneously disengaging the clutch and tapping the bike into first (passive downshift). Active downshifting is a separate skill, which may or may not be combined with braking depending on the scenario. The OP was certainly taught active downshifting during his training course, as every course (MSF, CSC etc.) must include this component. With experience and practice the two skills can eventually be combined.

absolute said:
also when i release the clutch, i dont slowly release it, i just let go. because if you slowly release the clutch you'll be riding the clutch.
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OP, this is the wrong way to manage downshifting.
 
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Acadian thanks for your input.

I had taken the course at Conestoga College last year. Although I had learned passive downshifting, I am certain that there was no formal lesson during the 2 days of the course that taught us active downshifting. We were told to try if we were comfortable, that was pretty much it. I'm not saying you're wrong, but in my case that was how it was. We had the option to try active downshifting, but if the rider was not comfortable, they were told to use passive downshifting.

To clarify, I am asking about bringing the bike using active downshifting. It is something I am trying to practice, but having trouble with because of the lack of coordination between my hands and my feet, so I wanted to hear everyone else's experiences and advice/tips that they may have.
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