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I know this has been asked many times. I was out riding yesterday with my hubby and he wanted me to shift to as many gears as possible. HAHAHA I did get her into 5th and up to about 50. I was a bit nervous going that fast.(It also didn't help we were on a bit busier road )

But anyway here is my question....When you are upshifting and you have completed the gear change when do you start adding the throttle? I noticed that I was not giving her enough throttle and she was slowing down to much between gear change and rolling on the throttle. I asked hubby and he said its all in knowing where your clutch begins to engage or engages. I am completely confused by this maybe I am over thinking it. I did notice I was just letting the clutch go and i know that is bad that I need to time it right with rolling on the throttle. But I am not sure how to do this smoothly yet. I know it will take practice and time before i get it right. I also noticed that I am not giving her enough gas to keep her up there when i let off the clutch. Hubby said he noticed that going from a stop I let off the gas rather than following through which causes me to slow down then i have to get her back up to speed before I can shift.

I know I am a beginner noob and it will take time and practice. But it seems so much harder than learning to drive a standard car was for me. And believe me it took forever to master that

Have a great one and ride safe
DeeDee

Have you taken any classes like the MSF basic riders course? If you haven't I would highly recommend it.

Like your husband said you have to know when your clutch engages. In the MSF class they call that area the friction zone.

When you are letting out the clutch lever there is a certain point where the clutch engages and starts giving some power to the rear wheel. To figure out where that point is try sitting on the bike in first gear and slowly let out the clutch lever. At a cetain point the bike will start to slowly move forward. Pull the clutch back in and you can roll back to the original starting point. You can keep rocking back and forth to get used to where the friction zone is.

The part at which the clutch engages is the beginning of the friction zone. Some call it "bite" but its the same thing. Basically, when you enter the friction zone, you start to roll the throttle. Takes practice to do it smoothly but keep at it.

I am taking the MSF course next month. I just couldn't wait to get started on her. I will be practicing at the lower speeds hopefully I will get better

Deedee

deedee1 wrote:I am taking the MSF course next month. I just couldn't wait to get started on her. I will be practicing at the lower speeds hopefully I will get better

Deedee

Next month. Let me look out my window a second... yep, that's snow. Only thing I'll be riding for the next few months is the snow blower.

I am sorry to hear that usually here in Cali where I live there is hardly ever any rain and even less likely to snow. All I will have to deal with is staying warm lol. Just read all the books that have been suggested here and hopefully the winter will fly by for you.

Have a great one and Safe riding'
Deedee

I usually wind the throttle up while I let go of the clutch, so the revs climb above where I had them before the shift. And the load placed on the engine as the clutch engages reduces the RPM's so that I end up at about where I was RPM wise before the shift. From there I just twist the wrist and accelerate.

It's all about practising really. Usually everything happens at the same time for me.

Clutch in, while my toe comes up and throttle closes. Then release clutch and open throttle at the same time.

deedee1 wrote:I am sorry to hear that usually here in Cali where I live there is hardly ever any rain and even less likely to snow. All I will have to deal with is staying warm lol. Just read all the books that have been suggested here and hopefully the winter will fly by for you.

Have a great one and Safe riding'
Deedee

Thanks, I ordered the books yesterday, so I should get them pretty soon and then I'll feel a lot better. Sorry about the thread hijack, I just couldn't resist seeing as how snow this early is a (pretty old) record even around here. Take care.

deedee, I too an working on the shift timing. I'm not quick enough to grab the clutch and get it in while my rpms are still in the proper range and then I gotta get another run in. (That's why I started clutchless shifting). I think I'm still somewhat intimidated by feeling the bike go "fast"

Like was suggested to me, find a good long stretch of smooth uninterrupted road so that you can practice upshifting without needing to work on other tasks like coming to a stop orturn. Take those out of the equation as much as you can and only focus on shifting.

As for the clutch, sometimes you let it go fast or sometimes slow, depending on the throttle you give it. At MSF they will have you walk the bike using the clutch, "feathering" the clutch is another term. Basically you just use the clutch to get you rolling smoothly and you open or close it depending on how fast you need to go. So, if you haven't don't that, go to a parking lot and work on that. It'll help you get the feel of your clutch and where the friction zone is.

Thanks shorts. I think that is part of my problem as well. The intimidation thing at the higher speeds Hopefully it wil go away just like the fear of riding in the first place. Hubby said we would find a parking lot this weekend so I can practice. He had me on the straight stretch last night but I think I was a little to nervous and worried about other cars coming at me and up behind me to really pay attetnion to what he was telling me. Time to take a step back i think and practice shifting at the lower speeds.

Have a great one and Ride safe
Deedee