Downshifting question

[Nelly]

I'm with Sportrider, I downshift gear by gear, using my compression to slow me down, minimizing the use of my brakes. Since there are a lot of traffic lights here in Vegas, I am constantly downshifting and shifting back up again. It's nice to be in the right gear as I slow down when the light turns to green so I have the right torque to speed up again. I only down shift multiple times if I have to stop hard. I just have a bad habit to place my bike in neutral when I'm stopped at a red light. The reason is that I like to relax. But I know this is bad, you should always have it in gear just in case you need to move out of the way in a hurry. Funny thing, I was riding alongside a motorcycle cop one night, keeping up right alongside of him going 55 in a 45 leaving the rest of the traffic way behind. Anyway, at every intersection we came to a stop, he would kill his engine. When the light turned green, he would start it up again and go. Seemed kind of weird. I guess it gave him a better feel for him to notice if there were any traffic violations to be commited.

Hi, I went on a training course with the Brit police. They train in a place called Hendon. Clutch control was taught in the ways described above, cover the brake, slight increase of revs and shift down to reduce wheel lock. When they taught us to stop it was a bit like dancing. Right foot on floor select neutral. left foot on floor, Right foot covering break. Lights turn to amber. Right foot on floor select gear with left cover front break with fingers, carry out life savers then move off. They call it the Hendon shuffle. I can get away from the lights in about an hour and a half using this method LOL.:rockon:

 

[sportrider]

carry out life savers then move off.

life savers?

 

[Nelly]

life savers?

Life savers, its just the checks you do over your right and left shoulder :thumbup: prior to changing road position. Not the small but effective breath mint you may be thinking about.

 

[sportrider]

LOL ahh I see :thumbup:

 

[Funky Larma]

perryn I was taught a very similar method with the feet thing, the instructor called it the "Hendon Shuffle" which now makes some sense.
But the idea was to always have a brake covered at any given time, was a strange feeling at first but if it helped me pass then I figured it was worth it.

 

[DefyInertia]

I use the slipping method (less blip, more slip) like jason pridmore --

Jason Pridmore's STAR School Clutch Camera with JP at Miller Motorsports Park

Ride safe!
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IOLITE VAPORISER PHOTOS

 

[Nelly]

perryn I was taught a very similar method with the feet thing, the instructor called it the "Hendon Shuffle" which now makes some sense.
But the idea was to always have a brake covered at any given time, was a strange feeling at first but if it helped me pass then I figured it was worth it.

Thats how I was taught to mate, the idea was that the brakes were covered. Particularly the back brake. The idea (so im told) is if you are rear ended at the lights your hands come away from the bars quicker than your foot comes away from the pedal. Im proper short though and I have to do a degree of arse cheek manoeuvring to swap feet LOL.

 

[DefyInertia]

One other thing, when you're running at a really fast pace, and coming into a turn really hot, kicking out rapid downshifts and braking hard at the same time, do any of you worry about blowing past the redline? I would be willing to bet I've gone past on several occasions because of this.......thoughts?
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[Nelly]

One other thing, when you're running at a really fast pace, and coming into a turn really hot, kicking out rapid downshifts and braking hard at the same time, do any of you worry about blowing past the redline? I would be willing to bet I've gone past on several occasions because of this.......thoughts?

Im not to worried by the Red line, Im more worried by wheel lock ahhhhhhhh

 

[sportrider]

One other thing, when you're running at a really fast pace, and coming into a turn really hot, kicking out rapid downshifts and braking hard at the same time, do any of you worry about blowing past the redline? I would be willing to bet I've gone past on several occasions because of this.......thoughts?

I normally brake to scrub off some speed and let the RPMs drop before I down shift. its almost simultaneous but its just enough of a delay to control wheel hop. ( a slipper clutch would be nice!!!) if I'm going to be a little hot in a corner I'll normally stay in a higher gear and use the torque of the bike instead of the horsepower.
example: if my corner entrance is fast, say around 85, after leaving a 4th gear straight, instead of downshifting into 2nd and exiting the corner on the rev limiter, or having to shift in mid corner I'll enter in 3rd and have plenty of gear for the exit.

 

[DefyInertia]

I normally brake to scrub off some speed and let the RPMs drop before I down shift. its almost simultaneous but its just enough of a delay to control wheel hop.

In general: Dropping revs + dropping gears = wheel hop/lock

I'm confused by what you're saying (keep in mind, I'm thinking TRACK speeds here).

Some excellent reading on the subject --

Jason Pridmore on Downshifting

:rockon:
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[sportrider]

In general: Dropping revs + dropping gears = wheel hop/lock

I'm confused by what you're saying (keep in mind, I'm thinking TRACK speeds here).

Some excellent reading on the subject --

Jason Pridmore on Downshifting

:rockon:

I blip the throttle to match engine speed with road speed, I'm not going as fast as your are on the track. (at least I don't think so!!!:thumbup: )

 

[ped]

i let the revs drop a bit before i downshift too. not saying i dont blip the throttle, i just wait a second during braking from near redline...then downshift. if thats what you mean.

 

[Scorphonic]

Bring it to the store, if your not confident playing with your clutch cable. It could simply be a case that the clutch cable is not tight enough and when you go to first gear the plates of the clutch are grinding or slipping on the gears.

 

[Bo67]

Downshift

I go down through each gear (I like engine braking, and hey it sounds cool too) and like Wrightme43, at a stop I wait for the car behind me to stop then shift to neutral. It gives my hand a rest and let's me stretch or adjust myself at the stop.

-Bo

 

[Cloggy]

I know I'm way late on this topic (i'm still catching up on old threads from before I was a member), but I found this an interesting topic. I've never really blipped before so I'll definately give it a go, when the weather is a bit dryer. Great info everyone :thumbup:

 

[Hellgate]

Okay so work is slow today....I got to reading this one and thinking back to my roadrace days, 25 years ago...compression braking was consider a no-no back then, too much wear on the drive train and by downshifting and releasing the clutch with each gear makes it harder to feel what the rear end of the bike is doing. Granted the track is different from the street but it pretty much applies...accellerate to the braking marker, brake with both brakes with clutch pulled in, while doing all of the above, blip throttle to help the transmission shift into the lower gear/s. After slowing to the corner entry speed ease out clutch/blip throttle...to prevent wheel hop...and have a neutral throttle until apex of corner, then get back on it.

Here's a link to the California Superbike School that has more. Throttle Blip - Cornering Forum

Pete

 

[Zealous]

I think the judging of the distance to a stop is the hardest part. It's easy to downshift, just knowing when to is the hard part. Practice makes perfect. Good thread. +1:rockon:

 

[tom5796]

Way back some folks told me to not worry about going through all the gears every time when coming to a stop (including the MSF instructor), but I decided to practice blipping every time - even lazy slow speed stops. Now it's old hat, and I like the challenge of doing it perfectly... and the muscle memory is there for non-stopping application (like preparing for a turn).

 

[Dunno]

I find blipping the throttle & down shifting one gear at a time works best. Like others have said, use the engine braking method. Blip the throttle to maintain revs & avoid a compression lock up whilst braking.

Imagine free rolling to a stop with the clutch in & there is an emergency. You need to leave immediately. Now you need to dump the clutch & hope you are in the right gear to take off.
You may be lucky & take off with no problems.
You could be in too higher gear & stall. Big Problem for you now.
Or you have bumped it down to 1st gear too soon & try to take off bouncing off the rev limiter with the front wheel bobbing in the air & no control.

Now imagine the same scenario going down through the gears. You need to split quick smart. You have blipped the throttle & are using the engine braking system, the engine is at 7000 rpm & dropping.
Danger arrives & you simply roll back on the throttle & are now out of harms way & spend the night in your own bed.

Consider the other option & I will leave it up to you to decide which method is best. :thumbup: