is it o.k. to downshift from 5or6 when ur stopped? for example ur coming to a red light, instead of engine breaking u wait til ur completly stop then downshift all the way to 1st? is that bad for the tranny?
it's not bad but what if you stop and right away have to take off? then you have to shift 5 times to get to 1st.....just pull in the clutch and shift 1 by 1 while you're still moving.....but you don't have to let out the clutch
then you'll be ready to take off if you need to right away
Brake pads are cheaper than clutches to replace.
I always downshift when slowing down and coming to a stop. That way the bike remains in control. I find that if I clutched in while coasting to a stop, the bike will feel wobbly, and lost control of the bike.
Lights are a good place to learn to down shift properly- It's good to have a feel of where the revs would be at a certain speed in a certain gear- then try "blipping" the throttle to match it up.
Keeping your bike in gear may save your back side- it only takes a second to get into trouble... "when in doubt- gas it!" only applies to a bike in gear.
If you ever move up to a bigger bike this skill will be more handy. If you're not proficeint at downshifting you'll chirp your rear tire- in other words- you'll lock up the rear tire due to the engine compression and you'll wear it out faster and unevenly.
Second, if you over rev on a downshift on the gs- it'll eat the power. On a larger bike it will spit it out in the form of a wheelie. Did this on my SV on the freeway- no big deal- came up about six inches and done... if it had happened in a corner it would have been a different story.
Learn to downshift.
The MSF teaches you to downshift as you are coming to a stop. If you need to get moving again, you won't be able to if you wait to downshift until you're stopped.
I agree you should learn to smoothly downshift and also learn how to blip the throttle on downshifts. I would be less concerned of tire wear than I would about about dumping it with a locked rear wheel. If the bike gets sideways a bit and that rear tire regains traction, you have instant high side on your hands.
Its very important to get into a habit shifting down (not necessarily letting the clutch out) as you come to a stop. I can't imagine that downshifting down much damage to a clutch if you ease it out ;)
hell, if you just try shifting from 6th to 1st while standing still, you'll realize that it doesn't work very well... much easier to shift while you're slowing down.