When to Downshift into 1st

[ChevyFazer]

Once y'all start downshifting into 1st sooner and get more comfortable on the bike y'all will love it. I love how the bike does on cold mornings, there's a downhill rd with a light I get caught at a lot and I always downshift into 1st about 45mph and if im in the mood right when I hit the shift lever I also hit the rear brakes rear quick to add a little more wiggle and the rear does a nice little fishtail wag before catching, and engine braking

It's things like that ^ that I miss already and part of what made me want to fix my bike.

 

[rumblestrip]

Once y'all start downshifting into 1st sooner and get more comfortable on the bike y'all will love it. I love how the bike does on cold mornings, there's a downhill rd with a light I get caught at a lot and I always downshift into 1st about 45mph and if im in the mood right when I hit the shift lever I also hit the rear brakes rear quick to add a little more wiggle and the rear does a nice little fishtail wag before catching, and engine braking

It's things like that ^ that I miss already and part of what made me want to fix my bike.

I'm still working on this. Any squirrelly wiggle is usually operator error on my part, though (full disclosure). :eyebrow: :smoking:

 

[Water Bear]

I use first more or less whenever I'm below 10-15. I drive pretty sedately for the most part.

I have downshifted earlier, probably 20-25 mph, but accomplished it without rear tire skittering drama. I learned pretty quickly to never dump the clutch on this bike, and I tend to match engine speeds when I think I'm going to re engage the clutch at high rpm.

I once opened the throttle to see what would happen, and pretty quickly found myself doing 70 at or above 8k rpm in something like third gear. When I realized this, I shifted up and dumped the clutch on a closed throttle, and I felt the bike wobble. I learned then and there to never do that again; match engine speed and / or ease the clutch in.

 

[lurch676]

Using throttle to blip(match your rpm's) you could hit first at slightly higher speeds. Use time and experience as your best judgment.

That's what I do for EVERY gear, it really reduces wear on the gear drums, forks and engine in general, plus it makes shifting down a hell of a lot smoother

 

[lurch676]

I use first more or less whenever I'm below 10-15. I drive pretty sedately for the most part.

I usually drive pretty calm and collected around town, and on some of the quieter roads out of town that have nice scenery etc, but I like to blat her sometimes

I learned pretty quickly to never dump the clutch on this bike

But then how are we meant to drift on corners and get the front end up?! Blew away an R6 because he was too afraid to dump the clutch as much as I did

and I get what you mean about the speed thing, first time I was on it was doing 140plus without realising it....also had a sported BMW pull alongside and rev at about 40 ( I was ctuising in 6th) dropped 4 gears and blew him away LOL

 

[Blocky]

I'm confused -- what's all this about the rear sliding when downshifting into 1st above 20mph? Are people downshifting without rev-matching or blipping the throttle?

I used to try to match the revs manually when I first started riding, but blipping the throttle right before dropping the clutch has been a lot smoother for me. I guess if you try to rev match for long enough you'll eventually develop a 6th sense for it and get it right every time, but I got it pretty wrong once in a while and haven't looked back since I switched to blipping the throttle.

 

[Sixpackgal28]

]I always run through my gears downward when coming to a stop sign or red light. I get into first around 10 mph out of habit. Turning a corner though i rarely get into 2nd, sometimes i do, i like to keep the bike in 3rd turning corners as it makes my acceleration out of the turn nice and smooth. I dont run my bike very hard.

 

[Lefty]

Right before a stop sign/red light or if there's a squirrel involved, otherwise never...:spank:

 

[FZSexy]

when you're going really SLOW

 

[cmantis]

I love dropping to first at lights w my laser quads and letting everyone know I have arrived.

 

[bdevries]

I do it but always blip the throttle before letting the clutch back out.

 

[Nzero]

Normally I down shift to 1st between 10 and 15 mph. If I do downshift before 15 it's cuz I was think I was going good into 2nd.

 

[FZSexy]

for me its almost never. when i am coming to a stop, or moving very slow and find myself lugging 2nd gear. seldom above 15mph, as the poll asked. oft times when lane splitting, too. i will enter a split in 2nd or 3rd and pull the clutch in, coast, and as i slow or start creeping, need 1st. and obviously if i have come to a near stop at the front of the line and the light changes. if my speed is low, 1st gets me up and gone in a hurry

otherwise, however...on this bike, it can be a jarring experience at speed. and a surprising one. today i had an aggressive driver, apparently angered at my splitting, try to overtake me, coming up fast. at around 25mph i felt the need to drop a gear to dispatch him. dropping into 1st gave ne a jolt, and laying on the throttle launched me forward faster then i could say "rev limiter"

which i hit in around two seconds and caused me to think "ok what the hell is wrong with my bike?"

well, nothing, of course. but dropping into first at speed and pinning it can do that if the mind isn't set on it. good fun, though. all in good fun

 

[FinalImpact]

When to Downshift into 1st; anything below 45mph is fair game!
Do you shift down into 1st before 15 mph; Almost always except when puttering through traffic where I'm not subject to being ran over!

Interesting is the quantities of Nevers and No's!

 

[Eddy]

I usually downshift to 1st when almost close to stopping, probably under 10mph

 

[long101]

Obviously best practice is to downshift before stopping. I have a bad habit of being in Neutral at 40mph and coasting to a stoplight after a day of riding. Apparently I just have a week left hand

 

[Love@FirstRide]

Obviously best practice is to downshift before stopping. I have a bad habit of being in Neutral at 40mph and coasting to a stoplight after a day of riding. Apparently I just have a week left hand

I'm used to driving my manual car so i WANT to be in neutral when cruising idk what u mean by weak left hand

I try not to put it in first before 15 but sometimes I'm a gear lower than i think i am and it gets dropped in at 25 unhappily

I'm new to everything though with 6 months experience 5 on my wr426, I'm already doing it much less often I can almost feel the gear im dropping it into by the CLICK sound (anyone else know what i'm saying)

 

[ChevyFazer]

Yeah its a feeling in your foot a, a firm stop with that "click" that let's you know you've made it to the next gear. I think he's saying he's not pulling in his clutch all the way and going to neutral vs 1st but that could also be not hitting the shifter hard enough.

I've grown into some very bad habits riding and not using my clutch to downshift, just blipping the throttle and slamming the shifyer down, it helps for racing but is bad for the tranny which im now paying the price for...

 

[Zealot]

I'm having a bit of trouble determining when to be in first or second gear. First always has that extreme engine breaking in comparison to the other gears, which has me hesitant to switch down since it feels 'clunky' in that aspect, so I try to hold second. That being said, especially in parking lots, I sometimes sputter along in second around 2K RPM and it feels sloppy. Different gearing throws me off still, since I'm used to my CBR 250 where second gear was pretty much mandatory if you were starting to roll at all, and where it could pull so easy at borderline zero RPM due to the single cylinder torque.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

I'm having a bit of trouble determining when to be in first or second gear. First always has that extreme engine breaking in comparison to the other gears, which has me hesitant to switch down since it feels 'clunky' in that aspect, so I try to hold second. That being said, especially in parking lots, I sometimes sputter along in second around 2K RPM and it feels sloppy. Different gearing throws me off still, since I'm used to my CBR 250 where second gear was pretty much mandatory if you were starting to roll at all, and where it could pull so easy at borderline zero RPM due to the single cylinder torque.

In general, I only shift into 1st if I'm certain I'm going to stop. If you're lugging around a parking lot, stay in first, and lightly press on the rear brake. It should help even out the low throttle and low rpm surging that tends to happen.