125 downshifting

[Guest]

Hi, I ride a cbr 125r and I've just been wondering about downshifting.

If fine downshifting from any gear, but when it comes to downshifting from 2nd to 1st, when should I do it? I dont know if im doing this right, but I currently just downshift down to 2nd and then ride the clutch in 1st until I either stop or am going slow enough for the rpm not to go crazy.

Any advice would be appreciated

[Tiggie]

I don't normally go into 1st unless I'm at a full stop or going up a bloody steep hill!!

[someone]

All the advice I have heard has basically been to only go down as far as second when moving, then first when stopped.

No idea how good that suggestion is, but from my repeated failure to follow that advice I completely agree with it!

When slowing as I approach a red light and going down the gears I tend to go into first. But if the lights change so I do not have to stop then letting out the clutch (which I had been slipping) causes more engine breaking than acceleration, so you have to really open the throttle too and it all feels a bit jerky.

When I do stay in second it is a lot smoother to accelerate away.

The only time I deliberately go into first is when traffic is moving so slowly it barely registers on the speedo, even though I am also slipping the clutch and feathering the brake it just feels a lot more stable than in second.

 

I don't normally go into 1st unless I'm at a full stop or going up a bloody steep hill!!

 

I was once going up a reasonably steep hill in town, so doing 30 mph, with lights at the top. The lights went red and the car in front of me must have been in a terrible remake of Speed as, presumably to avoid stopping, it quickly slowed then crawled very slowly.

Not the way many people crawl to a light hoping to beat it, but far earlier out and slower. It worked though, as by the time the light went green and it still had loads of space between it and the stopped traffic so just sped off.

And that was when I remembered I was still in third gear as I had hardly any acceleration. But at that speed I was too scared of gravity to pull in the clutch to change down, so just had to crawl to the top with the throttle fully open.

Still not sure whether to feel like an idiot for being in that situation, or proud of being able to comfortably ride so slowly up a hill in too high a gear without noticing.

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice guys

[Joeman]

Try not to coast with the clutch in, its a very bad habit to get into. If you need power quickly, and you're coasting along in the wrong gear with the clutch pulled in, you'll be screwed!

Always try to be in the appropriate gear for your speed, and don't be afraid of gravity! If you're rolling forwards, you won't instantly go backwards when you pull the clutch!! Haha

Riding along in 2nd gear at low revs is fine and will likely be smoother than 1st gear. But different bikes ride differently so you need to experiment.

[someone]

Having ground to a halt going uphill from far more than a couple mph, I wish I shared you confidence that my wee bike could have held its own against the forces of gravity.

[Joeman]

Having ground to a halt going uphill from far more than a couple mph, I wish I shared you confidence that my wee bike could have held its own against the forces of gravity.

Go find the steepest hill you can find and then try to ride up it in first gear. Any properly running bike will be able to climb any hill you find on UK roads.

If you ground to a halt, you either have a sick bike or you were in the wrong gear.

[Stu]

Having ground to a halt going uphill from far more than a couple mph, I wish I shared you confidence that my wee bike could have held its own against the forces of gravity.

Go find the steepest hill you can find and then try to ride up it in first gear. Any properly running bike will be able to climb any hill you find on UK roads.

If you ground to a halt, you either have a sick bike or you were in the wrong gear.

 

or you have eaten too many pies!!!

[someone]

If you ground to a halt, you either have a sick bike or you were in the wrong gear.

 

Oh, absolutely I was in the wrong gear. There was no gradient sign at the bottom (yet there was at the top) so I was taken by surprise. Now I downshift at the first sign of losing power and it has not happened since. But that experience of how easily all power was cancelled out scared me off want to risk disengaging the engine at low speeds when I at least have some.

[Joeman]

If you ground to a halt, you either have a sick bike or you were in the wrong gear.

 

Oh, absolutely I was in the wrong gear. There was no gradient sign at the bottom (yet there was at the top) so I was taken by surprise. Now I downshift at the first sign of losing power and it has not happened since. But that experience of how easily all power was cancelled out scared me off want to risk disengaging the engine at low speeds when I at least have some.

But a downshift takes less than a tenth of a second. You really won't grind to a halt. Making a bike struggle along in a gear that's too high is just cruel. Kick it down a gear or two!!

[bmwdave]

Having ground to a halt going uphill from far more than a couple mph, I wish I shared you confidence that my wee bike could have held its own against the forces of gravity.

Go find the steepest hill you can find and then try to ride up it in first gear. Any properly running bike will be able to climb any hill you find on UK roads.

If you ground to a halt, you either have a sick bike or you were in the wrong gear.

 

or you have eaten too many pies!!!

 

I was unaware there was such a thing as too many pies (or cakes, biscuits, crisps come to that). Thats why Triumph make a 2.3L Rocket.

[Chrissb6]

Hi, you need to make a mental note of matching the engine speed to the gear selected, just remember that motorcycle gearboxes are non synchromesh so the engine speed has to match the speed of the selected gear at the road speed your riding at. The clutch will aid you to a point, but the above is the always the way to go.