New rider wants to know the secrets....

[erik79]

Hey all, I'm a new rider and am really excited about bein out on the road. I took a riding class and loved it!!! I would recommend a riding class to anyone who wants to get their feet wet. Anywayz, there's one thing they really didn't cover enough for me and that's smooth shifting. I still can't get the smooth shifting down and I jerk a lot. When's the best time to shift and how do I do it smoothly??

[woobie]

It takes time and practice, give it a few days of riding and once you get over the nerves and use to the bike you'll find the shifting becomes much smoother. Once you accomplish that, then you'll need to work on smooth downshifting .

[mystahagy]

What rpm are you typically shifting at now? Let them rpms get up there and it tends to smooth out like budda. That, or just give it more time. There's a learning curve to it. If you're really having trouble, get the bugs worked out before you start gettin into heavier traffic.

Practice practice practice until it's second nature. Go outside of town or play around in large parking lots. When you're in the heavier traffic, your mind needs to be on watching what Mr. Cellphone Talker Guy is going to do next, not your shifting. As George Strait says "It just comes naturaaal." Hmm..maybe it's just a Texas thing.

[StblJmpr]

When we took outr course, they used this phrase "Rev, Rev, Release". Basically blip the throttle twice to get the rpm up and release the clutch. Don't pop it, but let it go smoothly. This should help.

[KatanaSoldier]

Practice, practice, practice.

[nightmare]

+1

It just takes practice. I started off like that...had some pretty rough shifts mixed in there. Eventually you'll start to get a feel for how high the engine speed needs to be to avoid jerking. After that you'll be able to shift during normal riding without even feeling the difference...just give it time and practice!

- J

[Wade-Kat600]

everyone is right - it takes practice....what noone has mentioned is what you are supposed to practice.

Make an attempt to figure out where your rpm differences are between each gear. learn the sounds. memorize the sound. Then the next step is to match your rpms to the gear you're going for during shifting.

Basically that means you'll understand how much it needs to increase or drop to have a smooth shift in any gear.

Also if it seems jerky to you right now you're releasing the clutch waaayyy too fast - it should be a gradual release of the clutch. very little throttle movement until the clutch is completely disengauged

[erik79]

Okay, thanks for the tips....if figures now that I really wanna ride....it's freezing outside....but that may not stop me...Im CRAZY!!!

[suzukisportrider2004]

when i have shown a few people to ride it seems there problem was that they thought the clutch was out all of the way and wouldspeed up the realese near the end making it kinda jerky

[StevieB]

Practice, practice, practice.

He asked how to shift, not get to Carnagie Hall! 8)

[md86]

[DreKat]

just take your time and get to know the bike, pratice, and relax. you will be fine

[FloridaKat]

Yeah...keep the RPM's north of 4K and the shifting seems to be easier.

[koncsolt]

It's the same as if you switch to someone else's stick car. The clutch take-up is never exactly the same as in your own car, so you wind up giving it too much gas when you think the clutch is about to engage. Concentrate more on when you are releasing the clutch lever until you get a feel for the position of engagment. When you first start to feel the clutch "pull", smoothly get on the gas a little bit. Everything in smooth movements. That's the key to transparent shifting as well as safe riding in general. Like everyone else has been advising you, the only way to get the hang of it is to practice.

BTW, you are not crazy, I live in the Princeton area and I rode into work yesterday. Hey, it wasn't snowing, right?

[owace]

BTW, you are not crazy, I live in the Princeton area and I rode into work yesterday. Hey, it wasn't snowing, right?

just dont do it tomorrow. -5 windchil...wtffff