Skidding the back tire on down shifts?

JimStl

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Riding with a local group, and they are pretty darn fast. Spirited riding though some really fun twisty roads and on a few occasions I down shifted one gear at the end of a straight away before I headed into a turn. Rpms were in 8 to 10 thousand range and I'd feel my back tire skid a little bit as I let out the clutch.

How wrong is this or am I ok with a little skid here and there?

Thanks!
 

ELIZABETH

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Jim,
IMO, You need a little more juice from the throttle as you let out the clutch, and maybe a bit slower on the release to keep it as smooth a transition as you can get.
It was fun riding with you guys yesterday!!
 

FinalImpact

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I would guess you're familiar with "stack up tolerances" whereby any of the individual items are OK by themselves, but at some point in time be advised that when that lock up occurs on gravel or something slippery or off canter, the stack will not fall in your favor.

Work on your rev match and consider that if it continues there are slipper clutches which over-run just to prevent this although I've never looked to see if they make one for our bike.
 

Motogiro

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In most cases that this catches you off guard and you're entering a turn you'll have an unsettled chassis as well not be physically tied to your bike. You want the bike and your body together. Anything that disrupts that bonding can cause control issues and take you off your line. As others have said, better rev matching is one answer and the other answer might be stay in a higher gear. As your skills and experience develop this will occur less or you'll get more comfortable and controlled with it. The biggest issue is your safety. :)
 

Erci

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Great explanation here (1m 55s mark)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrbZJbXwgrY]Sportbike Trail braking, downshifting, throttle control...the definition - YouTube[/ame]
 

FinalImpact

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Depending on the situation; shifting your weight rearwards can help, helps for braking too but CAN ALSO upset your lines if not done properly. Its practice practice practice. . .

Last year they applied this chip seal cr@p to some of the funner roads, it caught me a couple times both on the gas, braking, and down shifting. The stuff is evil and with a mist on it, will put you down if not careful.
 

Nelly

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I think you might be trying to do to many things at once, The back is sliding because the forks are fully compressed under braking. This is making the rear end light and a bit squirrelly. Smoothness is the key, especially on the road. Ride your own ride and it will all come together.

Neil
 

PurpleZJ

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being that I only get to daily ride on 30mph streets I don't get to use this a whole lot but I've been practicing more and watching more vids on youtube and I'm really liking this whole rev matching thing
 

FinalImpact

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being that I only get to daily ride on 30mph streets I don't get to use this a whole lot but I've been practicing more and watching more vids on youtube and I'm really liking this whole rev matching thing

The amount shock NOT induced into the drive train makes it all worth while.

I strongly encourage everyone to become very effective at Rev-matching both up and down and through every gear. When your shift feels like that of a luxury car automatic (without Sloooooooly easing the clutch out), and are smooth without jarring, thats when you've nailed it!

Two big reasons: safety and should you snap a lever or a have cable break, you can within reason, get to a safe location and make repairs.

It all comes down to knowing your bike but here is why the 1-> 2 or 2 -> 1 shift is tough one, its a change of 46%!

The other gears get much easier to master . . .
That's a change in RPMs of:
1st > 2nd = 46% - .i.e. upshifts = drop ~ 46% revs, downshifts, increase 46% revs. . .
2nd > 3rd = 25%
3rd > 4th = 17%
4th > 5th = 12%
5th > 6th = 10%
 

pookamatic

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FYI, as I've learned and noted before, the rear will skid in first only if you take it close to redline and go off throttle to engine brake.
 
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