NorthernPete wrote:I cheated when I was learning how to use my clutch... I turned the idle screw up, and when I would release the clutch, it would just start rolling and away Id go...I slowly turned it down to normal RPM range as I got the hang of it...
Could you possibly elaborate on this a bit, in detail.
most bikes have a little knob under the seat (going towards the carbs) that allows you to adjust the idle speed. The owner's manual for the bike will have instructions for using it.
If you set the bike to idle at maybe 7000RPM, it should be damn near impossible to stall it.
I say just practice. After a while you'll be able to start out in 2nd as easily as you start out in 1st the first few days.
It ain't that hard to learn to shift in the first place.
From a safety/danger perspective I don't see much problem except the bike will keep going faster if you release the throttle... which could be bad if you panic. When I took the MSF course one person panicked twice when coming to a stop behind a bunch of other bikes at the end of an exercise and couldn't figure out how to apply the clutch... something like that happens and you'll be going quite a bit faster which means less time to unpanic yourself.
Seriously, I'm betting the bike not running right was the real issue.... if your bike had been running better you wouldn't have felt the need. I could be wrong though.
it just eased my mind when I was around people and what not. I didnt have a good area to practice, and was having the "clutch anger blues" I never drove a standard car or truck before either and was self taught on the bike.
I thought Canada was totally nanified to the point where you couldn't ride a bicycle without sixty hours of training and a kangaroo suit... how come you get to teach yourself to ride a motorcycle?
