Coasting

[qwertydude]

I went down a steep hill today and just for fun decided to pull the clutch in an see how fast I could coast. I got alll the way to 72 mph. Anybody here ever coast faster? Lets post some speeds.

[tussey]

Careful there. Make sure you don't hit 88mph doing that. The last time I pulled this stunt I ended up in 1955. Not pretty.

[qwertydude]

Good thing I maxxed out at 72 if I had been thrown back to 1955 who knows what could have happened. I know, I would enter motorcycle races with my GS and kick some serious butt. 

[bucks1605]

No hills in central Ohio. 

[scottpA_GS]

There is a stretch of highway between Johnstown PA where I live and Altoona PA where in my car I have coasted over 5 miles  No throttle at all  Never did it that far on the bike. 

[Teek]

I'd love to go back to 1955 and buy stock in IBM.   

[ohgood]

I'd love to go back to 1955 and buy stock in IBM.   

or apple, or google, oh wait....

coasting isn't really safe though blah blah blah

[Toogoofy317]

Maybe I should try it on Splash Mountain. The highest point in Florida! Don't think I'll be coasting anywhere. Oh wait, In Lake Wales there is supposed to be this haunted hill where you coast up it! I'll have to take the bike there one day and give you my up hill coasting speed! Well, when the foot heals.

Mary S.

[beRto]

Honest question... what's the point of coasting? Just for fun? 

[qwertydude]

Soap box racing is some serious coasting. They've got top engineers designing in the unlimited class. I think going back in time and coasting is the only way to save our resources. Think about it, if your grandpaps had to go 5 miles uphill both ways to get to school and back that means there would always be a hilll to coast down. I'm a genius!

[guitarking135]

coasting by holding your clutch isnt very good for your clutch. shift into neutral the coast

[lewismug]

How is it bad on your clutch?  I'm right on the edge of the Mississippi Delta and there are some major hills when transitioning from the hills to the flat delta.  I've coasted down them many times in my old truck with the clutch pulled in and have seen no ill effects.  If it disengages the tranny, then it seems there would be less wear, not more.

[qwertydude]

With the clutch disengaged plenty of oil flows through the plates and discs protecting them. Coasting with a dry clutch like in a car is bad and can lead to premature wear, like they say for cars shift into neutral for stops, you can always shift directly into the appropriate gear when resuming throttle, plus the synchros will engage the transmission smoothly. For bikes we can hold our clutch in indefinitely at stops. The oil flows more through the discs when the clutch is pulled so there's very little friction and wear. Now It would be dangerous to shift into neutral while going fast downhill because if you're in neutral going 65+ mph and you slam it into 2nd gear you're spooling up all those gears to a really insanely high rpm, believe me I tried on another bike it does not sound good, the clunk is so loud you'd think a gun was fired at you transmission.

[lewismug]

I hear ya on the shifting to neutral while going downhill and then trying to get back in gear while moving.  But in a car/truck with a manual transmission, when the clutch is pressed in, the clutch plate is physically moved away from the pressure plate and the contact between them is broken.  Once contact is broken, there cannot be wear on the clutch itself.  The throwout bearing is a different story though, since it takes the brunt of force while the clutch is depressed.  The main difference between the clutches on our bikes and one in a car is that the clutch in our bikes is wet and in the car it is dry.  Letting out on the clutch (riding the clutch) slowly in a car will cause premature wear since there is nothing to keep the mating surfaces cool.  In our bikes, they are kept considerably cooler since they are wet, therefore may last longer.  In a car, the clutch can be held indefinitely as well....granted the throwout bearing is in good enough shape.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch1.htm

[leedutcher]

No hills in central Ohio. 

i know no hills in iowa either just -------------------------------------

[nikux]

Honest question... what's the point of coasting? Just for fun? 

or to save gas when you have reached reserve and the gas station you are at is out of gas.

There is a 17mile downhill in Death Valley, with a gas station at the end of the hill. Did that just using gravity engine turned off. But did not reach a speed of 72.

[ohgood]

Honest question... what's the point of coasting? Just for fun? 

or to save gas when you have reached reserve and the gas station you are at is out of gas.

There is a 17mile downhill in Death Valley, with a gas station at the end of the hill. Did that just using gravity engine turned off. But did not reach a speed of 72.

i know that hill. going the OTHER way is where you find all the weak cooling systems on cars

there are signs everywhere warning people to turn OFF their A/C while ascending, but apparently few do. we did, no problems, even when 20-30 SUV's were on the side of the road, wondering with steam blwoing out

[Teek]

If you are going 65mph coasting downhill, you don't put it IN SECOND, you blip it and put it in 5th or 6th!  Then pick your choice of lower gear if you want engine braking. Do you have a death wish?    

Like my friend who rides with a group and doesn't like pointing out road hazards on the right, because of having to take one's hand off the throttle, "so the bike decelerates and it makes me nervous". Well pull in the clutch, duh, point, and then and blip the throttle when you let the clutch back out.   

I can see coasting on a long hill with no traffic, it's quieter and it's a neat feeling, sort of like driving without headlights for a few seconds on a full moon night (with NO traffic!!!).

[yamahonkawazuki]

ahhh yes the peekaboo game