Riding a motorcycle and driving stick

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flaminllama

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Hey guys,

I have a question for the more experienced riders out there. I just bought my first bike and I'm all set to take the safety course in a few weeks.

Anyways, my question has to do with how previous knowledge of driving stick will help/hinder learning to ride a bike. I know the basic principle of operation applies to both - gas, clutch in, switch gear, clutch out smoothly and proceed. Do other principles still apply? Like rev matching? Is it possible to get cruise in neutral? With a bike, do you always have to go through each gear sequentially?

Maybe these questions sound dumb, but I'm just a curious newbie :)
 
I find that it doesn't really help much. The principles are the same, but the coordination is very different. I would almost say that a person who has never drove a manual car would have a an easier time learning a motorcycle - as habits are hard to change.
 
I am concerned that some of my driving habits will follow me, but hoping it's a non issue.

How does throttle and clutch control with hand compare to clutch and gas with feet?
 
I would say don't worry about it. Your muscles remember things that they do often in a certain environment. When you drive your car, your body is in a certain position and your muscles know what to do when. When you ride a motorcycle your body will be in a completely different position and your muscles won't know anything about this state. Your muscles will learn new things. The only thing you need to remember is riding a motorcycle on the road is very different from a car. All you need to focus is on learning the things properly, knowing how other people on the road view motorcycle rider and a car differently, how to properly ride a motorcycle etc. You don't have to worry if your body will try to drive a car when you are sitting on a motorcycle. The only thing that you will inherit from driving is your knowledge of the road, traffic and predicting others' behavior on the road.
 
I think if you drive stick, you will understand the concepts of shifting a motorcycle more immediately, as you link where the controls were in a car to where they are on a bike.

However, co-ordination and the ability to train your muscles to remember new motions differ from person to person. Someone driving stick for decades might learn a lot slower than someone who never has, but perhaps has a better aptitude for learning new manual skills.
 
I think driving standard helps. You get the concept of changing gears and understand that the clutch is not an on/off switch.
 
General G said:
And as an motorcycle examiner - I will tell you can tell a judge a rider by HOW they handle their clutch. Most people are super sloppy with their clutches and dont even realize it. I could show you some crazyyyyyyyyy clutch work and some crazy slow speed tricks. Check out some schools for fun lessons. But be sure to check us out. www.motorsoul.ca We are at Ontario Place.
Click to expand...

I'm a new rider too, what is sloppy clutch work? Tried the web link but doesn't go anywhere.
 
i think both r all the same...just shifting gears
 
flaminllama said:
Hey guys,

I have a question for the more experienced riders out there. I just bought my first bike and I'm all set to take the safety course in a few weeks.

Anyways, my question has to do with how previous knowledge of driving stick will help/hinder learning to ride a bike. I know the basic principle of operation applies to both - gas, clutch in, switch gear, clutch out smoothly and proceed. Do other principles still apply? Like rev matching? Is it possible to get cruise in neutral? With a bike, do you always have to go through each gear sequentially?

Maybe these questions sound dumb, but I'm just a curious newbie :)
Click to expand...

Yes on motorcycles you have to go through the gears sequentially. There is no other way. Must go: 1,2,3,4,5,6. However, you can pull in the clutch lever and do, say, 2, 3 or 4 shifts at once before letting the clutch lever back out (but they still need to be done sequentially). This is sometimes done on the bigger horsepower bikes, such as a 180 hp super sport bike when just riding casually as they will still pull along very quickly. But do not do this at the riding course or during a test as they will not approve. I would not do it with a 125 or 250 for example. Hope this is clear as mud. :) Have fun and relax. The clutch feel is similar to a car's clutches as it starts to engage (you have to rev the engine slightly to take off for example). Smooth is the way to go, car or bike. Once moving let the clutch out as there is no need to slip it for more than a few feet. This will come with practice. Once you get onto it you will have the clutch released before you have gone a bike's length when taking off from a start. Even though they have wet clutches (the clutch disks are covered in the motor's oil) I have seen many people prematurely burn out the clutch due to excessive slipping all the time.
 
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Best thing to do is get the feel for it yourself you already got the jist of it now apply what you know and feel it out. Everybody is different and every bike is different!
 
The bike controls you'll have to get used to (they are pretty intuitive though) once you get that down if you know how to drive a manual shifting is pretty much the same just operated by different limbs. But that said a lot of the things transferred over from my driving training (down shifting / rev matching, trail breaking, smooth inputs, looking where you want to go and weight transfer) all these things still apply to riding a bike.

Bike gears are sequential so you will have to go up and down through the gears unlike a car where you can select the gear and put the shifter there.
 
If you know how to ride stick..and I mean, heal and toe ,double clutching and all the fancy stuff then you'll have fun learning to ride your bike. The concept of shifting gears is the same but muscle memory building takes a while...but personally, I tried to mimic w/e i could do in my car, on my bike...
 
My answer isn't really any different than what's been said already. Knowledge of stick probably only helps academically as you'll have a conceptual advantage over someone who's not familiar with manual transmissions. But that's really where it ends. When I describe the controls to my friends who drive stick they understand what I'm talking about. When I describe the controls to someone who's only driven automatic it takes some extra time to explain how it all works. But in practice they struggle all the same (maybe "struggle" isn't the right word but you get what I'm saying). Have fun learning! I envy you!
 
I can chime in on this from personal experience. Up until 5 days ago i had never ridden a motorcycle but my cars have always been stick. Having driven manual cars really helped my cause. I think understanding how a clutch works is the key. Really the only difference in a bike is that the gears are sequential. That and off course your using your fingers to operate the clutch instead of your left foot. Once your body learns this fact its a piece of cake. I have ridden my bike (cbr250r) to work 20km one way, the past 3 days without issues. Mind you, i did take a m1x course this past weekend which was where i first rode a motorcycle.
 
I applied what I learned about riding a motorcycle to learning how to drive stick (yeah, so backwards, I know)! Really the only thing that transferred from one to the other was the concept of using a clutch. In practice I found motorcycles and manual cars to be very different things.
 
It helps significantly because you should already understand the concepts and methods required to use a clutch properly. Also, you can coast in neutral and can kind of skip gears but it's not really the same as in a car since you have to progressively bump through the gears. So you can say, go from 2nd, pull in clutch, bump up to 4th, and release, but the trans will be in 3rd in between (you just don't release the clutch) whereas in a car you can go straight from 2nd to 4th without ever engaging 3rd.
 
Thanks for all the input!

I kinda suspected it would only help with the theory, but not much with the actual application. I'm anxious to start riding already...M1 exit course isn't until a few weeks and I don't want to start practicing on the bike before that (even with the vast knowledge I've gained by watching youtube videos lol).

FL
 
If you are experienced with driving a manual vehicle, it will help significantly during the Rider Training Course. Why? Because you understand the priniciples of how the clutch and throttle work together.

For example: For those that will struggle with a stalling bike in the early stages of learning, you will quickly adapt to how the clutch feels, and be able to adjust accordingly to prevent it from stalling (pulling in clutch, or adding more gas).
 
Having driven manual cars for years, when I hopped on a motorcycle for the first time, I was shifting pretty damn well after around half an hour of practice.

I've only stalled around 2 or 3 times since I started riding two years ago.

Right off the bat, I blip the motorcycle throttle during downshifts without anyone actually teaching me. Just transferred my heel and toeing theory to a motorbike.

also, engine braking didn't surprise me like it did to my manual noob friends.

I also instinctively knew how to smooth out the jerkiness from on and off throttle in low gears.
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