The click

[Mattberkshire]

I ride often although I only started riding a bike 3 years ago aged 33. The FZ6 is my 2nd bike (a 1998 fazer being my first). I like to think I am "quite good" at riding a bike. I can handle any road or weather condition, I can emergency stop, handle a nice low lean and filter easily in very busy city traffic. But.... and it's a big but..... I have never been satisfied with my gear changes.

Not sure I'm doing anything wrong. A gear change should be an automatic thing. First, bang, second, bang, etc but I seem to think about it too much and when I do a change I struggle to restrict the actual physical movement required to the parts of my body necessary to undertake said act.

To me a change should consist of:

toe ready against lever, slack taken up, clutch in, slightly drop revs, toe up, revs up, clutch out. This should all take less than a second.

But...I seem to involve too much of my body. When it comes to the toe up aspect it's almost as though I move the entire left side of my body from toe to bum. I also seem to exaggerate the throttle blip.

I can sit here and move my toes up without any problem but when I'm on the bike some kind of instinct just takes over and I over-react. Now don't get me wrong; a gear change takes me no time at all but I wish I could be more fluent and do it with less effort.

Any thoughts people???

 

[Fred]

This is nonspecific advice, as I've never had that particular issue. But in general, I find that it's very helpful to talk to myself outloud inside my helmet. I do this a lot on track days,"OK, straightaway coming up, roll on the throttle and then shift and roll on again. There's the corner marker, bleed off speed, downshift, trail brake, off the brakes enter the turn and through."

That sort of stuff. It is surprisingly helpful, and nobody can hear you anyway.

It's worth a shot. Try talking yourself through your shifts.

Fred

 

[PlasticPig]

The best way I found to get a smoother change, particularly with someone on the back is to start applying pressure to the gear change lever, enough so that when I pull the clutch in a bit it changes but not quite enough to change without the clutch.

 

[ecurb]

I know what you mean - here's how I fixed it.

I noticed a similar thing when I first got my FZ6. Upshifts were unnatural. This supprised me because I've been riding for over 30 years. The shift lever didn't feel like it was in the right position for me. I have long legs, and maybe that has something to do with it, but I had to push my foot too far forward or lift too high to upshift.

So, I just adjusted the shift lever down a notch, and now upshifting is comfortable and natural. I don't know if you've tried this, but it sure worked for me. I thought the bike might have just been set up wrong, but there's a mark on the rod that connects the lever to the gearbox that lines up with a mark on the spline, so I'm pretty sure it was set up the way Yamaha intended. But it was definitely wrong for me. I just moved it down one notch and it was like night and day.

ecurb

 

[Mattberkshire]

ok. thanks, will have a look at that

 

[Hazardous006]

i always have a problem with my big feet getting in the way. Whenever i am upshifting my i quess i never bring my boot down far enough for it to ratchet into the gear and allow to upshift again. I have gotten into some tight stops where i got held up with this problem. Would there be a way to remedy this issue??

 

[Bo67]

I don't have any shifting problems with the FZ6 but years ago my I would blow upshifts on my Nighthawk 650 regularly. I did a mental 3,2,1 countdown in my head which did help. Don't know if it just psyched me up to make the shift properly or not. Once I totaled the bike, my shifting problems oddly enough, ended immediately.

 

[HavBlue]

There's the corner marker, bleed off speed, downshift, trail brake, off the brakes enter the turn and through. Fred

Huh? if you are trail braking you are using the brake (front) to preload the fork to the point just before the apex meaning you are well into the turn and almost to the point of the apex while gradually achieving a full release of the brake to get back on the throttle at that apex. You are not off the brake when entering the turn.

As to the shifting, I find that shifting my FZ6 at anything below 5,000rpm makes it work like my Harley, which could be compared to shifting a big truck. However, get it above 5,000 or better yet, above 9,000 and it shifts totally smooth with little release of the throttle or clutch. I do not however preload the shifter.

 

[JONAC]

Just wheelie everywhere in 1st ... problem solved

:Sport:

 

[HavBlue]

Just wheelie everywhere in 1st ... problem solved

:Sport:

I used to have a unicycle does that count?

 

[Fred]

Huh? if you are trail braking you are using the brake (front) to preload the fork to the point just before the apex meaning you are well into the turn and almost to the point of the apex while gradually achieving a full release of the brake to get back on the throttle at that apex. You are not off the brake when entering the turn.

That was more of a generic example of talking yourself through a maneuver than a How To on going through a corner. Don't use it as a guide.

But by trail braking I'm referring to using a brief, light application of the rear brake to stabilize the bike's chassis before entering the turn. This was more important on older bikes with lousy suspension (the BMW R100RS with 25 year old shocks comes to mind). I would have to dump some speed in order to get slow enough to make it through the corner, and doing so would compress the forks and unsettle the suspension. A touch of rear braking with no front brakes would help sort things out again before I actually entered the turn.

I don't like using the brakes in a turn. It changes the chassis geometry and makes things uncomfortable, at least for me. And I see it as a sign that I was too fast going into the corner in the first place.

Fred

 

[wrightme43]

I use a tip from Lee Parks book Total Control.
First as discussed, adjust all the controls to YOU. The are put in a generic fit most postion to start from the factory.
Second preload the shifter, then a quick release blip of the throttle and back on, with a light squeeze of the clutch in normal accel.
At full pull, I only use the clutch stab into second, then from then on it is a clutchless upshift. It has been discussed all over the internet as to wether it does or does not harm the tranny. I believe that it doesnt.
Most important though is adjusting the levers to fit you.
Preload
throttle down and back up quickly and you will see that the clutch is unnecesary.
Downshifts are harder, I use a drill in Total Control again in parking lots to practice them. Hook up on the book, and it will say in few words with good graphs how to.

 

[HavBlue]

That was more of a generic example of talking yourself through a maneuver than a How To on going through a corner. Don't use it as a guide.

But by trail braking I'm referring to using a brief, light application of the rear brake to stabilize the bike's chassis before entering the turn. This was more important on older bikes with lousy suspension (the BMW R100RS with 25 year old shocks comes to mind). I would have to dump some speed in order to get slow enough to make it through the corner, and doing so would compress the forks and unsettle the suspension. A touch of rear braking with no front brakes would help sort things out again before I actually entered the turn.

I don't like using the brakes in a turn. It changes the chassis geometry and makes things uncomfortable, at least for me. And I see it as a sign that I was too fast going into the corner in the first place.

Fred

Trail braking is a skill in and of itself. It is extremely effective in going fast through any turn at speed. I use it often when racing as well as running hard through the back roads I know. It is not however something you just go and do as it totally changes the normal perception of turning and you can get in trouble quick using it improperly. Using the trail braking technique the rider can carry more speed into the turn gradually trailing off the brake while inputing steering. After the skill of trail braking is developed you will find that riding at speed, it is actually safer as it separates traction management into two parts, which are braking and cornering. This technique eliminates the delay in braking and acceleration and actually brings them together to a point of minimal overlap. If your trying to go faster through twities, this is a sure fire method of achieving that goal.

 

[DefyInertia]

I use it often when racing

You race? Dirt?

 

[F250moto]

Steve put it best, you should adjust your bike to fit you. If your having a hard time getting to the gear shift lever, move it around to suit you. Sould be done as soon as you get your bike. And as Fred said, Talk to yourself. I never realized how much I did, until I went riding with a buddy and a voice activated chatterbox. He said it was like having a play-by-play...

 

[steveindenmark]

Do you always use your clutch for changing up?

Steve