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(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?
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You might be doing it too slowly as I never have an issue with it. I'm usually hitting 1st gear at about 15 mph soo...
If I do it too close to 10 mph it doesn't like it so it's either 15 mph or at a stop.
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(04-26-2014, 12:47 PM)Randy B_imp Wrote: You might be doing it too slowly as I never have an issue with it. I'm usually hitting 1st gear at about 15 mph soo...
If I do it too close to 10 mph it doesn't like it so it's either 15 mph or at a stop.
Well every bike model is different and for me it'll just be an adjustment I will have to make in technique. No biggie. I can't wait to ride it
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(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.
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(04-26-2014, 01:03 PM)tbone455_imp Wrote: (04-26-2014, 12:47 PM)Randy B_imp Wrote: You might be doing it too slowly as I never have an issue with it. I'm usually hitting 1st gear at about 15 mph soo...
If I do it too close to 10 mph it doesn't like it so it's either 15 mph or at a stop.
Well every bike model is different and for me it'll just be an adjustment I will have to make in technique. No biggie. I can't wait to ride it
Well every bike model is different and for me it'll just be an adjustment I will have to make in technique. No biggie. I can't wait to ride it
They are all a little different. I could rev match my old Sportster as good as could be but still am trying to find out how to do the same on my 750 Nighthawk and just cant seem to find the sweet spot as of yet. I think part of my problem is that I forget the Nighthawk likes to rev much more. Just totally different animals with the same rider trying to adapt.
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tbone, someone, somewhere else on the forum reported this. My recollection is that they said they got the "--" when they had their foot resting on the gear lever when the bike was in first. If I can find the thread, I bung in a link to it.
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(04-26-2014, 12:47 PM)Randy B_imp Wrote: You might be doing it too slowly as I never have an issue with it. I'm usually hitting 1st gear at about 15 mph soo...
If I do it too close to 10 mph it doesn't like it so it's either 15 mph or at a stop.
Agreed. Great thing about this forum is that it gets you thinking about a lot you take for granted. Another nice thing is that if "you haven't got it quite right" the time in the stocks is fairly short and the thrown fruit not too hard
Cheers.
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tbone455 you only have 100 miles on the bike, it takes a lot more then that to find out what your bike likes & doesn't like.
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(04-26-2014, 06:40 PM)Pterodactyl_imp Wrote: (04-26-2014, 12:47 PM)Randy B_imp Wrote: You might be doing it too slowly as I never have an issue with it. I'm usually hitting 1st gear at about 15 mph soo...
If I do it too close to 10 mph it doesn't like it so it's either 15 mph or at a stop.
Agreed. Great thing about this forum is that it gets you thinking about a lot you take for granted. Another nice thing is that if "you haven't got it quite right" the time in the stocks is fairly short and the thrown fruit not too hard
Cheers.
Agreed. Great thing about this forum is that it gets you thinking about a lot you take for granted. Another nice thing is that if "you haven't got it quite right" the time in the stocks is fairly short and the thrown fruit not too hard
Cheers.
Well put brother, well put.
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ferret is right; the clutch plates aren't acting like a brake pad and disk. They snap together and then the engine does the work of slowing the bike as it pumps air. If you bother to blip the throttle properly as you downshift, you will have virtually no friction on the plates. And even if you don't, you'll still never wear out a clutch unless you simply don't know how to use it.
I've been hearing that old saw about "brakes jobs are cheaper than clutch repairs" since I started driving, and it's just wrong. Ask any professional driver or mechanic and they'll advise downshifting to slow your vehicle; either going down a mountain or coming to a stop sign.
