Newbie question - downshifting & turns

[Trakanon]

I have been riding for about 2 weeks now, and I am still uneasy and timid on making 90 degree turns such as turning from a street to a side street, turning into a parking lot, or even turning into my own driveway. As I approach the area where the turn will take place, I find myself pulling in the clutch, downshifting to 1, and coasting into and through the turn before letting off the clutch again. A friend tells me that you do not have to use the clutch at all when downshifting. Is this true? Honestly I do not know, because until a week before I took the motorcycle safety course and began riding I had never driven anything except an automatic car. If I do not need the clutch to downshift then that may help me get over my timidness of these turns. Any tips or info is highly appreciated.

-Trak

[ofblong]

stay in second gear. your turns will be smoother and easier. You need to use the clutch to upshift or downshift so I am not totally understanding what you are getting at. I use the clutch to help me get through a U-turn by using the friction zone of the clutch. Until you get good with using a clutch you will feel a bit frustrated. I know I was. remember you can still get to neutral from 2nd gear .

[Shorts]

How did the safety course teach you how to turn?


When you turn, you do not want to be on the clutch. You need to have the bike under power so that you may steadily roll on the throttle coming out of the turn. So, you want to downshift to the proper gear, as well as brake enough for the turn BEFOR entering the turn, so that you roll through only using the throttle.

I think most often, in general, turns can be made in 2nd gear. That varies with the individual situation.

Yes, you do need to use the clutch to downshift.


What safety course did you take? Was this an MSF course?

[NorthernPete]

Clutches are there for a reason, you can get away with out using it, but unless you do it right, you'll be wearing out your gears and what not.

Try to keep you bike in gear as you go through a corner, if your coasting, downshifted in 1st, but going a bit fast, and suddenly need to do some manuevering, youre going to be in for quite a jolt when you reengage the clutch. if your worried about your speed, slow down before you enter the corner is all.

[HungPower]

Sorry to hijack your thread but quick question. When you guys take a turn, you don't ride the clutch until the apex huh? What if you were just in la la land and didn't realize what gear you were in and didn't know whether or not to downshift or upshift and you were about to hit a curve that has a decreasing radius beyond the apex. Do you ride the clutch or downshift or upshift even if you don't know what gear you're in? Also, once you go beyond the apex and hit the decreasing radius. Do you give it a lil maintenance throttle and lean harder or give it acceleration and lean harder? Srry for so many questions lolll

[Trakanon]

Thanks for the info. And to clarify, the safety course did teach to take turns in the way that you all described. However, now that I am on my own I find myself a bit more uneasy taking these turns out on roads than I was in a parking lot with cones at the safety course.

[NorthernPete]

Thanks for the info. And to clarify, the safety course did teach to take turns in the way that you all described. However, now that I am on my own I find myself a bit more uneasy taking these turns out on roads than I was in a parking lot with cones at the safety course.

Allways gonna be a bit more intense when youre on roads with traffic. But the uneasiness will wear off with time.

Enjoy the ride!

[Shorts]

Thanks for the info. And to clarify, the safety course did teach to take turns in the way that you all described. However, now that I am on my own I find myself a bit more uneasy taking these turns out on roads than I was in a parking lot with cones at the safety course.

That's understandable. Go ahead and hit the parking lots some more. Spend time doing specific turning and cornering drills. Set up some cones or use the painted parking lines as reference and pretend you're on a street. Keep practicing and it will become more natural.

When you're comfortable in the parking lot and feel ready, go to some side streets that are not busy. Don't get rushed and always keep your wits about you. Remember what they taught you in training. It'll come through, you just need to get use to how it all feels.

[Candy750]

I know just how you feel about the turns. I have been working very hard on just this aspect of my riding.

About pulling in the clutch and coasting - unlsess you are pretty cetain you are going to stop, or if you are in 2nd and going below like 10mph (pull in the clutch, then downshift to accelerate) , I wouldn't ride the clutch. I found I'd get scared and yank it in, then realize, when I let it back out - I have no idea where my rpms are at. Eitehr you will get an awfully fast slow down or a super revving. I did this a few times on the road, once in a group and I thought I'd run over the rider in front of me, and once when I totally spaced out and a big curve came up. Not a good thing at all. Better to brake/downshift...

My driveway is a narrow shot too. Take the approach slowly, and downshift to get the right speed/gear before executing the turn. It's probably 2nd, and maybe 11 mph. Remember to look through to where you are going - turn that head! Friction zone the clutch to allow you to be a little slower, but stil keep up the power. This is where you get to do a cool vroom vroom, but still go like 9 mph.

I have also found I can take most turns from a road to a side road in 2nd, where I thought I needed to be in 1st, then realized I was going too slow. Same deal - take it in 2nd, and friction zone, throttle if you need to keep it up.

The other thing is to decide when to start slowing for the turns - if you start too soon, you end up crawling along maybe in traffic. It reminds me of when I learned to drive a car, and knowing when to signal the turn. It's probably about 5 or so seconds before execution. I have been trying to manage the slow part of the process to about this point.

The last but of advice is that if you are in a too high gear, and you are into the turn, and you hear the engine lug - DOWNSHIFT. I dropped at 0 mph while leaning hard into a right hand turn. I heard the lug, but throttled up. Not correct!

I have found that the realy big thing on these turns truly is to look where going and almost lead with your chin - It's hard not to look at the yellow line, the car waiting at the intersection, etc. But you must kee your eyes up and looking where you want to go!

We joke if I had a chat box to communicate with other riders, they would hear me "keep your eyes up", "look through", "inside, outside, inside", "throttle, throttle".... I coach myself!

[jstark47]

When you turn, you do not want to be on the clutch. You need to have the bike under power so that you may steadily roll on the throttle coming out of the turn.

++1 You absolutely do not want to be holding the clutch in going around a turn. Keep the bike under positive power (i.e. clutch out, at least maintenance pressure on the throttle), this compresses the suspension which makes the bike more controllable.

Unless you're driving through a pool of molten lard or something incredibly slippery, you've got more than enough traction reserve to both turn and power the bike at the same time. The only time I would pull in the clutch going around a corner is when turning on ice (...... and don't ask me why the subject of motorcycles and ice would even come up...... )