04-26-2014, 01:19 PM
(04-26-2014, 12:40 PM)tbone455_imp Wrote:(04-26-2014, 10:38 AM)Randy B_imp Wrote: I will downshift all at once, but do it as I'm moving so if the traffic starts to move I'm in the proper gear to start out and not have to hunt for the correct gear to be in. If you try and downshift from 5th to 1st while stopped most bikes won't like that (in my experience). It's like trying to get the bike gear when it's not running. You'll have to roll be rear tire or start it to get it to shift because that's how the transmission is designed to work.
So there is nothing wrong with the trans, just shift it while you are in motion and all will be right with the world.
I should have stated better: I DO the downshifting as you are doing-as I am still moving and slowing down. But on occasion the display will go from showing "6" to "-" and I am still slowing while trying to deal with this. This is something I would do on the Goldwing for 20 years with no problems. To my way of thinking, it should be an optional way to coast with engine at idle while down "clicking" through the gears. So is this a poor habit?
If it's a poor habit, this is the first I've heard of it. I could see grounds for criticism if you were habitually pulling in the clutch at 65 mph, braking to a stop, and then sitting there at a standstill clicking down through the gears. First because you wouldn't be in the right gear to accelerate at any given time, and second because transmissions don't seem to like that very well.
But doing it as you're describing, moving down through the gears at appropriate shift points, with the clutch fully disengaged? Personally, in all my years of riding ATVs and motorcycles, I've never encountered any problems as a result of that. I don't do it that way every time...but likewise, I don't see any compelling reason to always hit every single gear on the the way from 5th (or 6th) down to first.