Noob Question about downshifting | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Noob Question about downshifting

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gixxeranyone said:
OP, please listen to what Baggsy just told you. Everyone is totally messing you up here and you are totally overthinking it. Do not try to list what you need to do, feel the bike, learn your bike and what gear is appropriate for which speed.
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Yes.
Down for slow; up for go.
It's simple - and it's almost all the braking my rear wheel ever does...
The key is releasing the clutch smoothly when downshifting.
Don't downshift at high RPM. On a Ninja250 you would downshift at about 4 grand, catching the next gear at about 55 hundred.
When the traction is bad (for whatever reasons) you downshift less aggressively and use more front brake.
Smooth down-shifting will prolong the health and life of your clutch, chain, sprockets, cush drive, and even your rear tire.
It's like music - riding your bike properly is playing it like a violin!
The skills are in your hands, and you want to become wonderfully smooth.
Pretend you have a VIP passenger onboard at all times, and you don't want to jostle their neck muscles...
No big deal, everyone's gotta learn. But stay clearly focussed on the objective, every single ride.
 
rmemedic said:
Next step after this, is learning how to blip while using the front brake and keeping the proper brake pressure in the fingers.
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My fingers are too stubby for this :(

espro said:
I'm sorry but some of the advice here is bad. Telling them to just use their brakes, no mention of matching the gear to their speed? What happens if they're stopping for a light and it suddenly goes green, but they're in 5th gear and now slowed to 20 and applying brakes? They're gonna try to open the throttle and stutter their way through, or slam their way down to first. What if they were going faster when the light changed, are they just going to know exactly what gear to move into? What if they need to perform an emergency maneuver? You should be matching your gear to your speed during deceleration. I'm really not a fan of telling someone to shift down all the way once they've actually stopped, that's stupid.
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I assumed that when you blip the throttle it also means rev matching... but i guess not.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
^^ Rev matching is not something you wanna try AS you are learning to downshift...one step at a time.

a 250 will not lockup or stutter the rear tire unless u try downshifting into first, which you shouldnt be doing right now anyways...
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I agree with "one step at a time", but totally disagree about not locking up the rear wheel. All the reviews from Europe to North America of Ninja 250 say that the stock tires are just ****. Considering putting over 10,000 kms on those, makes the skidding possibilities endless. I am 160lbs, and skid on any road in any weather if not rev matching on a downshift. The rear tire even makes a noise for just half a second when locking up on dry asphalt.
 
whetaus-tr said:
I agree with "one step at a time", but totally disagree about not locking up the rear wheel. All the reviews from Europe to North America of Ninja 250 say that the stock tires are just ****. Considering putting over 10,000 kms on those, makes the skidding possibilities endless. I am 160lbs, and skid on any road in any weather if not rev matching on a downshift. The rear tire even makes a noise for just half a second when locking up on dry asphalt.
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Have any vids?

I'd like to see a video of a 250 rear locking up when down shifting into 5th, or 4th
 
djltoronto said:
Have any vids?

I'd like to see a video of a 250 rear locking up when down shifting into 5th, or 4th
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Yea, I have it in 3D lol
But seriously I will get a cam soon and send you the link to the vid. Maybe temp will go low enough and I will try to skid on the 6th lol how about that ?

Sushii said:
Doubt the rear will lock up shifting down into 5th or 4th but most likely on 2nd and especially 1st.
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I never downshift into 1st....... unless I'm really really bored =) thats way too jerky and dangerous on my tires.
But I was really talking about 3rd and 2nd. Skidding every time on any surface.

ps. I got brown/yellow stain on my tires all around, looks like a world map. Its only on just outside of the main part that makes a connection with the ground when riding all up.
 
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**** me running this thread is a train wreck. I don't know who deserves to be slapped the most.

Rev matching on the street?? :rolleyes:

The OP needs to find a competent rider (so far only two have posted in this thread) who can spend 15 minutes with them in a big parking lot to go over some basics, thats it.
 
,.,
 
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whetaus-tr said:


Yea, I have it in 3D lol
But seriously I will get a cam soon and send you the link to the vid. Maybe temp will go low enough and I will try to skid on the 6th lol how about that ?
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djltoronto said:
Downshifting from 7th?
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September.

If you are locking the rear tire, you might be going to fast for the downshift or using the clutch as an on/off switch. I only shift to first just before I put my foot down.

Its always a treat when a beginner messes up blipping the throttle on a 600 the way Fiery says to do it. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
 
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key3thermal said:
My question is about downshifting, i took the safety course and they didn't cover it.
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I call BS, any riding school in the GTA will cover this.

Where abouts do you live, if you are in the east end i can help you out with some pointers for downshifting, upshifting, engine braking and how to pose on your new bike.
 
short stop said:
Which safety course did you take? They didn't cover downshifting at all, or did they just not go very in depth?
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I took RTI and you only ever get into 2nd. I got into 3rd once and they yelled at me (for going too fast). Needless to say, when you've only got 2 gears to work with, they don't cover shifting very much.

In my experience on my 650, which has rather heavy engine braking, I don't NEED to rev match but it definitely helps the down shift feel smoother. I've yet to have the wheel lock up due to a crappy down shift though. In fact, I usually need to drop two gears without releasing the clutch before the engine braking is really effective. Of course I always rev match when I drop 2 though. I have had it lock up once on dry pavement when I dropped 2 gears, didn't rev match, and used the rear brake too hard at the same time.
 
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Baggsy said:
September.

If you are locking the rear tire, you might be going to fast for the downshift or using the clutch as an on/off switch. I only shift to first just before I put my foot down.

Its always a treat when a beginner messes up blipping the throttle on a 600 the way Fiery says to do it. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
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Thanks for the feedback , and you are totally right about "going too fast for the downshift or not using clutch smooth". But I can't help it, I just like to skid )))
 
whetaus-tr said:
Thanks for the feedback , and you are totally right about "going too fast for the downshift or not using clutch smooth". But I can't help it, I just like to skid )))
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Locking up the rear wheel is all fine and dandy on a BICYCLE, but a motorcycle?? And we've been sitting here debating why there's so many fatalities this year... :confused2:
 
reciprocity said:
this will end you up on your head very soon.
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That is just your opinion dude. I don't try to pull a power slide on my Ninja 250. I skid responsively, all on straight ups.

And I believe that I know the dynamics, balance and physics of locking rear wheel up from bicycles pretty good. I used to skid down the hill with my friends and then measure the mark on the road to see who got the skid longest. That was like a daily routine for me.

I would rather have to lock rear wheel for 10seconds instead of locking front for half a second. That gets very dangerous very fast.
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