Total Motorcycle Community Forums

currently i'm taking brc courses, i took 2 days and got 2 days left.
i never had any motocycle experience nor stick shift car.
changing a gear was pretty difficult task.
i have questions which are..
lets say you're on 5th gear and need to slow down for traffic.
what do you need to do?
do i just hit the brakes or do i need to change to lower gear.
if i need to change to lower gear, do i change to lower gear first or hit the brake first???
i heard down shift is more diffcult any tip on this?
thanks guys

There is really no "set" answer for this question as it depends on the situation, as well as the rider.

Speaking for my self, if I am cruising around in a higher gear, and I need to slow down at a slower pace, I will engage the clutch, downshift, and relatively slowly disengage the clutch while adding a small blip to the throttle as I do so. You will most likely notice the bike decelerate a bit at this point, with the rate of decel dropping as it the rpm's drop. Keep in mind, as no throttle is applied you will continue to slow down to the point that the engine will start to bog down (RPMs get too low, read eventually stall) Before it gets to this point, I would repeat the same process as needed. A lot of times I will downshift to use the bikes best power range to accelerate faster if need be but that might be a little bit ahead of the game.

In the case of coming to a faster stop, say emergency or otherwise, I will usually just engage the clutch and use a balance of the front and rear brakes as needed until I am either at the right speed, or fully stopped. Say if im coming to a stoplight and doing so rather rapidly (such as a yellow or similar) I'll usually engage the clutch and coast using the breaks to slow me down as I step down through the gears (not re-engaging the clutch between each step down unless needed, such as light turning green etc, tho careful, you need to know the right gear for the right speed to resume accel.)

Thats a quick run through of a couple ways to do it. Mileage may vary and I'm sure there might be some disagreements in technique.

For now, get your downshifts as smooth as you can, and try to notice the difference in how the bike responds as you do so, then experience will follow.

Good luck!

Kellan

bria wrote:currently i'm taking brc courses, i took 2 days and got 2 days left.
i never had any motocycle experience nor stick shift car.
i have questions which are..
lets say you're on 5th gear and need to slow down for traffic.
what do you need to do?
do i just hit the brakes or do i need to change to lower gear.
if i need to change to lower gear, do i change to lower gear first or hit the brake first???

1.Plan well enough in advance:
You can just shift down to fourth ( ease off gas, pull clutch past biting point, one gear down with toe on shifter, ease clutch back out....option to add some gas to make the shift smoother)

2. Quick stop from third gear: not enough planning
Pull front brake, use rear with it, just before you stop pull the clutch and BLOCK SHIFT (all gears) down to first, ease off front brake, use rear to come to stop. You are now in the Ready Position: right foot on brake, first gear, clutch pulled, left foot down. Ready to go....

3.Braking and downshifting together:
The same as case 1, except you are pulling the front brake at the same time. With lots of practice, you can roll on the gas AND apply front brake to match your new speed with your engine revs.

I use all three at different times. #2 is very useful, can save you lots of hassle. #3 is the bog-standard, pretty easy to do. #1 is fun, takes some planning to do well. The more you do it, the more you'll realise how much you can dump the clutch into a downshift....to start you have to EASE it back to engagement, or you're asking for trouble like a locked up rear tire....no good.

Hope this helps...

bria wrote: i have questions which are..
lets say you're on 5th gear and need to slow down for traffic.
what do you need to do?
do i just hit the brakes or do i need to change to lower gear.
if i need to change to lower gear, do i change to lower gear first or hit the brake first???
i heard down shift is more diffcult any tip on this?

Don't worry about it. You'll figure it out.

I used to have the exact same questions and insecurities.

I discovered that reading the answers was more confusing than figuring it out on my own! That's not to say the answers were wrong. It's just that when you are trying to remember and think about all the steps, you'll get all befuddled.

Motorcycling is a pretty complicated combination of timing and coordination. As a new rider, you will screw up. You will stall the bike. You'll downshift and forget to use the clutch. You'll rev the engine too high. You'll brake and forget to downshift. No matter how many questions you ask or how much advice you get on forums or from friends, you'll still make ALL those mistakes. And that's okay. That's all part of the learning process.

In time, you will figure it out. It will become second-nature. You will find that your hands and feet just do what they need to do, when they need to do it, and you're not even consciously thinking about the "steps" anymore.

Dragonhawk wrote:

bria wrote: i have questions which are..
lets say you're on 5th gear and need to slow down for traffic.
what do you need to do?
do i just hit the brakes or do i need to change to lower gear.
if i need to change to lower gear, do i change to lower gear first or hit the brake first???
i heard down shift is more diffcult any tip on this?

Don't worry about it. You'll figure it out.

I used to have the exact same questions and insecurities.

In time, you will figure it out. It will become second-nature. You will find that your hands and feet just do what they need to do, when they need to do it, and you're not even consciously thinking about the "steps" anymore.

Hi bria

I agree with dragonhawk. It is probably not a good thing to get too detailed while you are learning your basic skills. You've got too much to think about right now. Your tutors will teach you all you need to know to keep you alive - and not kill anyone else in the process. Trust them. The rest will come to you through experience . You will feel much more secure in the things you learn directly from riding the bike and feeling its response.

The thing is, you actually know the answers to these questions already. You think you don't, only because you are trying to work them out in your head. If you suddenly saw a hazard up ahead and needed to stop fast, what would you do: try to change down through the gears or use your brakes? Trust yourself on this one.

Imagine you are out for a ride and there is a junction coming up. There is no other traffic around, the road is good and you have plenty of time to stop: ask yourself what you would do? - change down through the gears or brake first? You might think the answer is not so obvious - and you would be absolutely right! It's not. Even experts disagree on this. Some say brakes, some say gears. Right now, the main thing you've got to concentrate on, is stopping nice and smoothly, not worrying about the niceties. Do what your tutor tells you and don't worry.

Of course, I understand you want to get it right and become a good rider as quickly as possible. My advice would be: concentrate on being a good rider out there on the road. 'Getting it right' will come to you. You'll have plenty of time to refine your skills later.

The best piece of advice I can give is whenever you are slowing down in traffic you should always tap your brake. Even if you think you can Engine Brake the whole way.

You're brake light lets everyone behind you know you are slowing down. Otherwise people may not pay attention to you and misjudge how fast you are going then *boom*.

I went riding with a guy a once and he went fast, which is fine. But I almost got into an accident with him cause when he never used his brake. All the sudden he was slowing down like crazy and I had to stop. I fishtailed a bit but then I recovered.

Brackstone wrote: You're brake light lets everyone behind you know you are slowing down. Otherwise people may not pay attention to you and misjudge how fast you are going then *boom*.
.

1. That's good advice. Slowing in traffic can be dangerous.
2. Practice makes perfect.
3. Don't think too hard about things when you're actually on the bike. Your brain will cramp and you'll just fall right over.
4. Practice makes perfect.