Gears

[Dalemac]

Hey everyone! i passed my cbt today and got my ybr 125. im well pleased its so wicked. i think im gonna be attached to biking forever


i have got one really noobish question tho;

if you are coming to a junction in, say 3rd gear, and realise you have to change down to 1st gear, can you knock the gears down from 3rd gear to 1st gear, essentially skipping a gear? i have done this alot today as its my first day, but i want to know if i should be doing it, and if it is ok for the bike.


its probably the wrong thing to do, and i need t anticipate and plan ahead a bit more, so im in 2nd gear way before the junction.


if a am wrong can anyone please write a little sequence of what i need to be doing when i aproach a junction in a high gear.


any help would be much appreciated.

thanks,
Dale
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YBR125 -> GPZ500S -> SL1000

[Whosthedaddy]

One gear per movement of the gear lever, therefore 3-2-1.
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[ncrn]

dropping from 3rd to 1st can be bad, as if you dont bring your revs up enough you do run the risk of locking the back wheel.

Ive found when your coming up to the junction you have to just keep going down the gears, so say im approching the junction in 4th and I have to stop.

Clutch in, blip the throttle (Rev it to about the speed the engine will be turning in the lower gear), then change down gear and release the clutch.

Then do this again,

and again, and you should be in first. If you can do this whilst applying smooth front brake pressure, your better than I am

If you hve to make an emergency stop however, dont bother with the gear changing, as you need to focus on stopping ^^
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Past: 55 Sym Jet, 91 ZZR250, 03 NSR125R. Present: 97 ER-5.
https://www.nsr125.co.uk - NSR Owners forum.

[gavin]

its called block shifting and it really isnt a no -no, but be aware that you can lock the rear if you drop too soon and too far and too fast. always match the revs to the road speed, and to know this you really need to know the bike. maybe practice on a slear empty road, and never let the clutch out hard, you need to learn to feel what the engine is doing.

[stinkwheel]

The gearbox is sequential, so you can't really 'miss' a gear as such, you always change through all of them. Ideally you wouldn't 'coast' as you approach a junction, the engine braking makes you in much more control of the bike (so no rolling along with the clutch pulled in).

The official line is to 'be in the gear appropriate to your speed and engine speed' .

So from what I read you doing, you are approaching in third, braking, then changing down to first as you come to a halt. No problem providing you aren't getting excessive engine braking when you do so (ie, not changing down too far for your speed). You might find it a bit smoother if you let the clutch out slightly as you go through second so it engages the gear momentarily.

Personally, I usually find myself slowly approaching the junction in second gear so if the way is clear, I can just open the throttle again and go. If I need to stop, I snick it down into first.

Also worth mentioning. Remeber that 'slow riding' stuff they went on about on your CBT? That's probably the hardest bit when you come to do your test. It's what you do when you're doing the u-turn. Approaching junctions/lights is the ideal time to practice this, especially in traffic where it is quite useful.

If you are in traffic and know you are going to have to stop because the traffic in front of you is stop-starting, get in first as you approach the cars and go into 'slow riding mode'. See if you can trickle along dead slowly behind the traffic without coming to a complete stop. Keeps things smooth, allows you to move away quickly and is an excellent way of perfecting your throttle and clutch control.

[Dalemac]

ok thanks everyone, i think im gonna aproach junctions slower and in second gear, like what you do stinkwheel. sounds like a good plan that, aproaching in 2nd, changing down to stop and open the throttle if i dont need to stop.

thanks to everyone for the advice.

yeah the cbt was very basic, and i was surprised im aloud on the road on my own. im sort of ok riding but i dont feel that confident - for example i was on a long country road on the way back from my cbt, doin about 35, was ridin in the middle of the road, and there was a constant stream of cars overtaking me, one almost hit me. it annoys me at how inconsiderate some (well most) people are!
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YBR125 -> GPZ500S -> SL1000

[stinkwheel]

[ncrn]

[KTM Gordo]

If you're going to have to stop then don't worry about changing gear on the approach - wait until you've stopped, then find neutral.

You can go down more than one gear at a time, but you have to kick the lever down twice to do it, and some 'bikes are reluctant to do it without the clutch being engaged each time.

With practice you'll get in to the the "habit" of being in the right gear at the right time, and block changes on the move shouldn't really be necessary.

HTH
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Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.

KTM 990 Adventure | KTM EXC 250 Racing | Land Rover Freelander SE Td4

[Dalemac]

ok thanks again everyone, i will take my time abit more, hopefully i will get better with practice.
____________________
YBR125 -> GPZ500S -> SL1000

[palmer]

you can slow the bike down by just going down the gears one by one quite a bit.

if you know the roads well, you may not need to use the brakes that much

[kkhalil76]

Is blipping necessary/better than just slowing down with the brakes? At the moment I just slow down with front brake, when slow enough I pull in the clutch and click down to first.

[ncrn]

[quote="kkhalil76"]Is blipping necessary/better than just slowing down with the brakes? At the moment I just slow down with front brake, when slow enough I pull in the clutch and click down to first.

I dont find it is always neccesary, but you have to be careful as if you dont blip the throttle as you change gears, you do run the risk of locking your back wheel (I have done this before)

and of course if you do this and its wet, you could be on the floor, which isnt fun at all.

Although i have found that if I'm rolling through town and Im slowing down its not really neccesary, but when out in the countryside, or rapidly downshifting its important.
____________________
Past: 55 Sym Jet, 91 ZZR250, 03 NSR125R. Present: 97 ER-5.
https://www.nsr125.co.uk - NSR Owners forum.

[kkhalil76]

[veeeffarr]

If you do blip on downchanges be careful that you don't accidentally try and blip and shift down when you're already in first... I've nearly been launched at traffic lights on my 500 because of that

[Louise]

Put it this way. I never rode a geared bike. Picked mine up.
I think I was in 3rd/4th gear, and stoped right into first, let go of the clutch and hey presto i locked the back wheel and skidded to the line. Lucky not to drop the bike.
I do it now and then on bad days. But its something ive gotten out of within a short period of time

[veeeffarr]

[ncrn]

[Louise]

Ok then.
I had a bit of a panicky moment few nights ago.
Going alone, duel c/way its 70mph. at the end is a hill going towards some traffic lights. They have thos cams, that if your caught going through an amber your flashed.
Anyway, the 70mph ended and went in to a 40.... By time I got the the lights i was still doing 50ish, anyway lights went,car in front slammed hard on the brakes, I had to whack my back brake which locked the wheel. I didnt even know i was skidding untill the end when I felt the bike 'wobble'. Looked back and had at least a 10 meter skid mark!
How, can I slow that quick without locking

[kkhalil76]

erm...front brake? Or if too fast then emergency stop procedure...

[krebsy]

I keep having to remind myself not to use the rear brake so much as I have a tendancy to brake hard for roundabouts, knock it down from 6th to 3rd (Blipping as I go) but too much front brake and clutch has meant a few times that the back has locked when I've touched the pedal.

Best bet (i've found) for braking hard is to use lots of front and keep the weight forward so the wheel is pressed into the floor more, then Clutch, down a cog, release clutch (with the tiniest of blips) and then repeat until 2nd gear, then start mixing in some rear brake.

Mind you, I've slid the front with too much braking before as well... .

K.
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What's my New Year's resolution?

1280 x 1024.

[Louise]

[i_am_tim]

can someone explain the blipping thing please? iv only been riding about a month and iv never heard of it

do you mean that when downshifting instead of letting the clutch out smoothly to move off again you increase revs? or have i totally lost the idea? thanks for helping the noob
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previous bike: 2000 Aprilia rs 125 - SOLD

current bike: 2001 Yamaha R6 - sweeeeet

[Keyamon]

when i was on my DAS they kept telling me off for using the gears to solow down. said we should pull the clutch in, click all the way down through the gears and just use the brakes to slow down cos brake pads are a lot cheaper than a new clutch.
i can see that point but IMO it made it rather hard to judge wether you were in the right gear or not if you didnt have to stop

[Dalemac]

what, so if you were in 5th, they wanted you to press the clutch, get all the way to 1st, then break with the break pads?
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YBR125 -> GPZ500S -> SL1000