I have no gotten my bike or permit yet (check the newbies forum) but I've been having a very severe itch.. Almost like one in the middle of your back, and you can't reach it.

I say this because I'm not getting very much information on how to SHIFT on a motorcycle.

I know how to use a manual transmission on a car, except a bike seems more different. If anything, my manual transmission experience was on a car more so half automatic and half manual (strange, but they exist).


Can someone help me with these steps? It will help ease that itch.

Start the bike.
The clutch is on the left, squeeze that in.
Kick the left pedal down to get into first gear.
Ease off the clutch and start to accelerate
Pull clutch in once rpm's are acceptable
This time, kick the pedal up..

Now this is where the situation is..
I thought kicking the pedal up would get my bike into neutral.. So that would mean I have to double kick up or soemthing?

Ok, lets just say I get into 2... do I accerlate slightly more to prevent stalling?

What exactly is stalling anyways.. Actaully, I know what it is, except I dont know why it happens.


Sometimes I see race car drivers push their clutch down for each individual gear whilist slowing down for a major turn. They could also be using some gas, but I'm not sure.
However, for a motorcycle.. If I'm downshifting and not using the accerlater at all, I am able to hold the clutch in through all of the gears right?


Ahhh, I'm not intimidated by shifting and such, but I'm scared of ruining my bike by not doing it correctly and effeciently whilist learning how to shift in the first place (preferably in a parking lot).

Any help would be appreciated.

I'd suggest you absolutely NOT try to learn to operate your bike online.

Take the MSF course.

You've already got it wrong anyway. The bike is normally left in first gear all the time, and you pull in the clutch *before* you start. Also, you need to start rolling on the throttle as/before you let the clutch out. When shifting through neutral, a full pull of the shifter brings you from first to second. A half-pull of the shifter is required to go to neutral.

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Flickr.

+1

That said, a firm upshift will normally take you from 1st to 2nd on any bike I've ridden. You'd have to concentrate and push up delicately and slowly to get it to stop in neutral. It can happen during normal shifting, but it hasn't happened often to me.

When you get on a bike at the MSF course, and start to experience how the controls feel, all this will start to make sense....

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2005 Triumph Bonneville
2005 Suzuki V-Strom 1000
2003 Triumph Trophy 1200
2009 BMW F650GS (wife's)
1990 HD Sportster XL883 (for sale; wanna buy a Sportster??)

I actaully never really considered not taking the MSF course. I wanna make sure I learn what I need to learn so I can have fun with my bike instead of struggling with it for a week or month. Thats no fun. However, some questions that itch me will get me more prepared in general. Thanks for the responses, that nuetral thing was bugging me for a while.

Trust me, you don't need any preparation for the BRC.

They start at the absolute very basics.

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Flickr.

Thats even more comforting, because I had a slight fear of not wanting to be a total super noob and falling behind or keeping other riders waiting in order for me to "understand" things like this.

You'll be on the bike for half an hour or more before you ever hit the start button. Then you'll be on the bike for another half hour before you ever let the clutch out fully.

Noooo worries

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Flickr.

Hey man, they'll teach you everything from the very start of when you put your gear on. Don't sweat not knowing exactly how to do it yet, you'll be doing drills over and over and over again to practice.

Don't worry about holding up the class. Remember, everyone there is a beginner and probably just as nervous and as clueless about motorcycles. After all, it is BRC

I think what everyone is trying to say, it don't treat it as a test, its purely an introduction to motorcycling. Much like the CBT here, passing the course just means you are safe to go out and learn, and build experience on the road

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Starting out responsibly? - Clicky
looking for a forum that advocates race replica, 600cc supersports for learners on public roads? - Clicky

Sounds exactly like me right now. I want to learn EVERYTHING there is to know before I take MSF simply because I don't want to look like a clutz. I probably won't even buy a bike until the Wintertime...depending on if I find any good deals before hand.

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FOR PONY!!:horse:

Wants to own:
Honda Shadow VLX


~Once I accepted the fact that I'm always going to be a strange person, my life has been a hell of a lot more fun.~