To Downshift or Not to Downshift? That is the Question.

A friend of mine insists that downshifting to a stop is a waste of energy and your clutch. I maintain that when it is safe to do so, utilizing engine braking is a good thing. Certainly the cost of a clutch is more expensive than the cost of brake pads. Any thoughts?

I used to always downshift when coming to a stop sign or light, but stopped doing this as it is unecessary and a waste of clutch. I would much rather change brake pads than do a clutch job.

If I am on the highway riding along and have to slow down, enter a turn, etc, I always properly downshift.

i doubt it will cause much wear on the clutch unless you are slipping it an awful lot

I typically don't to a stop. I usually just let it slow down in 6th until about 15-20 mph, then I pull the clutch and shift to first. It's what the book says to do :thumbup: Once in a while I'll do a downshift without using the clutch to 3rd or 4rth, then pull the clutch and go down the 1st.

But to each his own. I've only been riding for a month and a half, so I'm still learning!

i normally try and stay in a gear that gives me the option to accellerate should i need to, so if i am approaching a junction i will shift to 1st or 2nd before i stop so i am ready to go

I always downshift for 2 reasons.

1: I want to keep the bike in the 5K-range to have some power to do an emergency acceleration.

2: The sound of the Akrapovic's (without DB-killers) is just awesome when braking on the engine!

side note: When the downshifting is done properly, there should be no extra wear tot the clutch plates. I do rev matching when downshifting.
The only thing that get's extra wear is the clutch cable. But I have 37.000km on the stock clutch cable, and it looks just fine.

just my 0.015€

greg said:

i normally try and stay in a gear that gives me the option to accellerate should i need to, so if i am approaching a junction i will shift to 1st or 2nd before i stop so i am ready to go

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Good answer! You absolutely want to always match engine speed to road speed (pick proper gear to be able to roll on the throttle and move at any given speed). This is a major safety factor.
Now.. engine braking.. that's a different animal. You can downshift and engine-brake as you are coming to stop (just remember to flash your brake light as you're doing so to let people behind you know you are slowing down), but it's not necessary.. just squeeze the clutch in and downshift without easing out the clutch, but be sure you're downshifting at a rate which will put you in the powerband should you need to suddenly get back on the throttle.
If you're good at rev-matching, clutch wear is a non-issue. And don't forget that most motorcycles use wet clutches.. you can slip them a looong time.. they won't burn.

If you've got six up, its six down...Plus when your revving down and braking hard and the back end gets a little squirrely and comes up a few inches, cars behind you take notice:BLAA:

Erci said:

And don't forget that most motorcycles use wet clutches.. you can slip them a looong time.. they won't burn.

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Yeah that's what I was told. Our bikes have wet clutches so its not like most cars with dry clutches that burn when you feather too much. Sometimes I feather the clutch when stopped on a hill instead of holding the breaks

Caesar said:

Sometimes I feather the clutch when stopped on a hill instead of holding the breaks

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Perfectly acceptable technique. :thumbup:

Man Caesar, I dig your avatar!

lol Thanks!....

Here's the full res pic

I see down shifting / engine breaking as a third break. Well when racing anyway, when cruising i still shift down the gears as i come to a stop. meaning i always got the power on tap if need be and less effort changing all gears in one go

I will add take care when only using the brakes (clutch pulled in) to slow down. The engine braking is a significant source of stopping power. Just rolling off the throttle when the revs are high (8,9) will slow you down nicely. This is a habit that I use quite a bit (with a little flash of the brake light).

A couple days ago, my shift gear lever bolt fell out :spank: (too many 14000 first gear changes without loctite :smoking. Anyway, I couldn't shift as fast, was coming into a turn, and had the clutch pulled in. Needless to say, I had to get on the brakes hard to avoid overshooting the turn because I didn't have the trusty engine brake (I am sure there is some reason I didn't want to let the clutch back out at that time).

Anyway, I really like to use the engine to slow down and typically only use the brakes after letting the engine run down. Too each his own...

I always downshift for 3 reasons:

1. Safety; it's important when coming to a stop to have power to accelerate say if the car behind you isn't stopping!

2. Fuel Economy; With fuel injected engines the fuel injectors are essentially closed when engine braking so you are not wasting fuel by downshifting and closed throttle engine braking to a stop.

3. It sounds cool!

I agree with bran and others downshifting and engine braking with a blip of the throttle

KingY said:

I see down shifting / engine breaking as a third break. Well when racing anyway, when cruising i still shift down the gears as i come to a stop. meaning i always got the power on tap if need be and less effort changing all gears in one go

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+1
I use front and rear brake while dropping gears to a stop or just slowing down in general :thumbup:

i ride with a couple of guys on 1000cc bikes and you soon learn to be in the right gear at the right time on a 600,plus on my fz6 changing down at the right/higher revs gives sweeter changes,dont forget these or R6 motors with only slight changes eg cams injection systems,exhaust,these or bullet proof powertrains built for hooligans

I always downshift. I feel more confident when the bike is in gear. I've tried pulling in the clutch shifting to neutral and just using the brakes to come to a stop and it just doesn't feel right to me. Plus I like to be in gear in case some idiot on their cell phone decides they want to plow me over from behind. I'm always checking my mirrors and looking for these people when I come to a stop.

I've never looked at it like a 3rd brake before. Good insight.

Guitar Man said:

I always downshift. I feel more confident when the bike is in gear. I've tried pulling in the clutch shifting to neutral and just using the brakes to come to a stop and it just doesn't feel right to me. Plus I like to be in gear in case some idiot on their cell phone decides they want to plow me over from behind. I'm always checking my mirrors and looking for these people when I come to a stop.

I've never looked at it like a 3rd brake before. Good insight.

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Same here, and when I see a car coming from behind I flash my break light.

I used to come to stop and then shift down to N, but engine breaking feels just natural, the same way as is a car with manual trans.