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How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle: A Comprehensive Guide

How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle: A Comprehensive Guide - Motorcycle Magazine - Racext 1

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How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle: A Comprehensive Guide

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In the world of cars, automatic transmissions are the norm. However, when it comes to motorcycles, shifting gears is typically your responsibility—unless you’re riding a scooter, an electric bike, or one of the many Honda models equipped with DCT.

While shifting can be a hurdle for new riders, mastering it only requires a bit of coordination between the clutch hand, the left foot, and the throttle hand. This article aims to provide information for riders of various skill levels, from absolute beginners to more experienced motorcyclists interested in advanced “clutchless” techniques. Browse through the sections until you find something that interests you, and dive in.

The Basics: How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle

For brand-new riders, here are the fundamental actions for proper shifting technique:

From a Stop:

  1. With the engine running and the throttle closed, pull the clutch in all the way with your left hand.
  2. Shift into first gear with your left foot. You should feel and hear the transmission engage.
  3. Slowly release the clutch with your left hand while simultaneously (but gently) opening the throttle with your right hand until the motorcycle starts to roll forward.
  4. As you continue to open the throttle with your right hand and the bike gains speed, gradually and fully release the clutch with your left hand. You’re off and running!

Upshifting While Moving:

  1. Close the throttle with your right hand.
  2. Pull the clutch lever with your left hand.
  3. Shift to the next higher gear with your left foot. As before, you should feel the transmission engage. If you release the clutch and the bike doesn’t move forward, you’re in neutral between first and second gear. Pull the clutch in and shift again.
  4. Slowly release the clutch with your left hand while reopening the throttle with your right hand.

Downshifting While Moving:

  1. Close the throttle with your right hand.
  2. Pull the clutch lever with your left hand.
  3. Shift to the next lower gear with your left foot.
  4. Slowly release the clutch lever with your left hand. If you’re downshifting for a hill or to allow quicker acceleration, open the throttle as you release the clutch. However, if you’re downshifting in preparation to stop, just add enough throttle to match the engine speed to your road speed so the bike slows smoothly.

Initially, coordinating these actions will require deliberate thought and might feel a bit awkward. Riders often tend to be overly zealous with their movements. Remember, throttle control comes from the wrist (not the entire arm), and shifting actions should be done with a quick and deliberate push from the foot.

Rest assured that with practice, all these movements will become smoother, and over time, shifting will become so natural that you won’t even think about it.

Refining Your Understanding and Technique

If those shifting basics weren’t enough, let’s dive deeper to better understand the mechanics of shifting for more efficient gear changes.

To propel a motorcycle down the road, power is delivered from the crankshaft to the transmission, then to the final drive (which can be a chain and sprockets, belt and pulleys, or shaft) and finally to the rear wheel. Between the crankshaft and the transmission is the clutch, which serves as a progressive coupling device between the two.

When we talk about shifting gears, the term is apt because we’re changing the pair of gears through which power flows. When the bike is accelerating or decelerating due to engine braking, there is a load on the gear faces. This load must be relieved for the gears to change position.

This is where the clutch comes into play. By pulling the clutch lever, you disengage the crankshaft from the transmission, unloading the transmission so the gears can move to the next position. The crankshaft and transmission are fully engaged when the clutch lever is out and progressively disengage completely when you pull the lever all the way in.

You’ll need to fully disengage the clutch to shift into gear from neutral or to stop while in first gear, but once you’re rolling, you can actually shift gears without pulling the clutch lever all the way in.

“Feathering” the clutch is a term we use to describe quickly and partially pulling the lever to momentarily unload the transmission so you can shift to the next higher or lower gear. It’s an important technique because it allows for quicker and smoother shifting.

And, as it turns out, there’s a way to shift even faster without using the clutch at all.

Clutchless Shifting

You know how we said the clutch disengages the crankshaft from the transmission to unload the gears and allow them to change position? Well, the same unloading effect can be achieved by quickly and briefly rolling off the throttle and then back on.

In that instant right after you roll off the throttle, the transmission is unloaded. If you time your shift to coincide with that momentary unloading of the transmission, you can upshift to the next gear. No clutch required.

To get a feel for the timing, it can be helpful to gently preload the shift lever with your toe. This way, as soon as you roll off the throttle, the shift lever moves up, and the gears change. Over time, you’ll be able to coordinate the throttle and shift lever movements to execute smooth clutchless shifts. It’s the fastest way to upshift, both in terms of shift time and road speed.

There’s also clutchless downshifting, but it requires even more precision and finesse and doesn’t offer any real performance advantage. It’s fun, though, and a good skill to know in case your clutch lever or cable breaks during a ride.

To downshift without the clutch, you’ll need to use a technique called “blipping” the throttle, which involves closing the throttle while decelerating but quickly opening it partially to unload the transmission and allow a gear change. Like clutchless upshifting, you’re timing your shift with that brief moment when the revs peak and the transmission is unloaded.

Clutchless downshifting works best when decelerating on the brakes, as it helps match engine speed to road speed. However, this means blipping the throttle while pulling the front brake lever, which can be a tricky combination to master.

Part of the fun and satisfaction of riding a motorcycle is perfecting the many techniques needed to operate it smoothly. Hopefully, after reading this article, you’ll be better equipped to tackle the task of shifting gears on a motorcycle, regardless of your current skill level.

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How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle: A Comprehensive Guide

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