Newbie Questions about shifting

[GenericEric]

Hi all. I have a 2006 Katana 600 with exactly 141.6 miles on it. I have a few questions about the care of my transmission.

First: I have a horrible time hitting neutral when coasting to a stop. I downshift one gear at a time with both brakes on, let out the clutch a little, let her engine brake a bit and then continue. My question is, is it okay to shift into first with the clutch in and just rolling or is that bad? No, I do not shift into first gear and let it engine brake, I just go one too far down with the clutch in and roll on up to the stop light. I'm not normally going about 15 or so mph when this occurs

Second: I tend to run up first in turns a little, like 4-5K revv's then straighten out and shift upward, is that okay on the bike?

Third: First and Second gear feel different, they "click" harder than the remaining 4 gears.. Actually first "clicks" hard and you can feel the bike move when I engage it. Is that normal?

I guess I really don't understand motorcycle tranny's compared to cars... They are different, I know but those are my burning questions. I don't want to screw up my bike. I just assume that if the clutch is in, everything will be okay.. Don't know if that's true or not.

[trojanftbl52]

Re: Newbie Questions about shifting

Hi all. I have a 2006 Katana 600 with exactly 141.6 miles on it. I have a few questions about the care of my transmission.

First: I have a horrible time hitting neutral when coasting to a stop. I downshift one gear at a time with both brakes on, let out the clutch a little, let her engine brake a bit and then continue. My question is, is it okay to shift into first with the clutch in and just rolling or is that bad? No, I do not shift into first gear and let it engine brake, I just go one too far down with the clutch in and roll on up to the stop light. I'm not normally going about 15 or so mph when this occurs

Second: I tend to run up first in turns a little, like 4-5K revv's then straighten out and shift upward, is that okay on the bike?

Third: First and Second gear feel different, they "click" harder than the remaining 4 gears.. Actually first "clicks" hard and you can feel the bike move when I engage it. Is that normal?

I guess I really don't understand motorcycle tranny's compared to cars... They are different, I know but those are my burning questions. I don't want to screw up my bike. I just assume that if the clutch is in, everything will be okay.. Don't know if that's true or not.

There are guys on here with a lot more knowledge about these things than me, but here is may take.

1. You don't want to be in neutral at all when coasting to a stop. You want to have a gear ready in case if an evasive manuver comes up. I downshift as I slow down ready to release the clutch and be in the right gear in the situation arises. Leave the bike in first gear at stop lights so you are ready for evasive acceleration and/or manuvering. It is ok to shift in first with the clutch pulled in while rolling AS LONG AS you are not going so fast that you would lock up the rear tire or overrev the engine if you release the clutch.

2. Yes. You generally do not want to make a 1-2 shift while leaned over in case you miss the shift and the bike ends up in neutral. You are going to need that power to get you throught that corner. Be straight up or close to while shifting the 1-2.

3. Yes. You will hear and feel the "thunk" when shifting into first. You also want to give it a good push up when going from 1-2 to make sure you get past neutral. The thunk is pronounced when shifting from N-1 and 1-2, 2-1, and not so much so all of the rest of the gears.

4. They are different, but everything seems tobe fine as you describe things.


I hope this helps you out and anybody please correct me if my information is erroneous.

[reconstyle]

+1 trojan man!

[GytRDunKat]

Hey, click the link in my signature. CP goes through all the shifting stuff in there as well.

[AzCyco]

I never shift into first gear while the bike is rolling.. Well unless i'm going about 5mph or slower and need to get her going again. I did this once when I was down shifting(coming to a light) and it made this horrid klunk going into first. I kinda put 2n2 together and thought this was a bad thing(sound) so I just down shift and if i get into 2nd, I pull inthe clutch and let her coast the rest of the way, If I have to hit it again, and I need to be in 1st, I knock the gear down and go, but usually I never have to do that. When shifting from 1st to 2nd just give her a good upshift(w/ yer foot) and she should get into 2nd just fine. I was always tought, as a kid, never shift into first while rolling as it can damage yer tranny. Now this advice was given for dirt bikes, not 100% on the newer street bike.

-=Peace

[The CyberPoet]

Hey, click the link in my signature. CP goes through all the shifting stuff in there as well.

+1

It's all answered here:

http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21040

If you still have questions, you might also want to read this thread:
NTHSA Investigation Report: 2nd Gear Failures in GSX750R and GSX750F motorcycles.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet