Hey guys, yesterday I ran into a yellow light with the 5th gear, I stopped pretty hard at the light with my clutch all the way in and still on 5th. Then I down shifted all the way to neutral when I was waiting at the line. Problem was when it turned green, I could not put it into the first gear, I tried for over 30 seconds but it was just not going in. At the end I had to shut down the bike restart it and then it shifted. I was not looking good struggling in that traffic and had those cars waiting in behind... :dunno_white: :dunno_white:
Usually I down shift when I slow down the bike, gear by gear not in one shot, but hold the clutch at all time. Sometime when I am going still a little fast I down shift from 2nd to 1st, the bike shakes and makes a big noise. Is this normal or I am doing it all wrong? What do you guys do when down shift regularly, as well as panic stops :cookoo: :icon_question:
Thanks in advance!
Try rolling the bike forward a couple feet. Should go right into gear after that.
If you get to a stop and can't shift lower, roll forward a foot, it'll pop in. Just practice quick stops. That's all it is. You will find that you can shift relatively smoothly from 6th to 1st in a very short distance. Usually when I am coming to a stop it really depends on how fast I am going. If i am in town, usually I just pull the clutch and coast in...if I come to a light change I will usually downshift and let the engine brake but only slightly. I beat my brakes hard when I ride. Just remember, any faster than say, 20mph-ish, with the clutch pulled, you are going to get a heck of a jerk when you let it back out.
Stop light tip: If you know it has been green for a while, have your fingers hovering the controls just in case it decides to switch on ya.
When this has happened to me and i cant get it to go into first, what works for me is simply letting the clutch out and then squeezing it in again and it'll pop right into first then.
I had the same thing happen to me. What worked more than once was shifting up into second and then back down to first. No rolling forward was needed or letting out the clutch.
A buddy of mine (who coincidentally was also my instructor in my motorcycle course) does emergency stops all the time in parking lots to keep it fresh in his skill-set and to practice in case he ever has to stop very short. His technique for emergency stopping is to pull your front and rear brake simultaneously while pulling the clutch and downshifting as quickly as possible, and when he's stopped to immediately check to make sure he's not going to be hit from behind.
He can stop as short as guys with ABS systems on his old dual-purpose!
As for downshifting to first, I usually skip that when I'm engine braking, as 1st gear has too much torque and not enough speed, making it very rough to downshift into even if you even out the rev's first.
Quote from: RossLH on July 29, 2012, 08:36:06 PM
Try rolling the bike forward a couple feet. Should go right into gear after that.
Quote from: Soloratov on July 29, 2012, 08:37:31 PM
If you get to a stop and can't shift lower, roll forward a foot, it'll pop in....
Couple of Feet?.. I find just letting it roll a few inches with the clutch in works fine, or just rock the bike forward then back, and voila!
Quote from: bsheppar on July 29, 2012, 09:03:19 PM... letting the clutch out and then squeezing it in again and it'll pop right into first then.
That works too though..
Quote from: vinny on July 30, 2012, 07:34:28 AMCouple of Feet?.. I find just letting it roll a few inches with the clutch in works fine, or just rock the bike forward then back, and voila!
One kick is good for a foot or two. That's plenty of space for the shifter to figure things out.