Skipping gears

TripleT

TripleT

TripleT

Soldato
Joined
24 Oct 2002
Posts
9,654
Location
Manchester City Centre
Hi,

Just wondering if I'd be doing any damage (how ever small) by going straight in to third from 1st?

I'm talking very lazy changes here not fast as humanly possible :p

My commute has some boring 30mph sections so its just me being lazy :D
 
You want to press the gear changer as quickly as possible when you pull the clutch open this is because if you delay the dogs can come out of alignment so you get that clunk that we all know about from going into 1st from neutral. If your second gear change is slow you will get this effect. I'm not sure how bad it truly is though.
 
TripleT said:
Hi,

Just wondering if I'd be doing any damage (how ever small) by going straight in to third from 1st?

I'm talking very lazy changes here not fast as humanly possible :p

My commute has some boring 30mph sections so its just me being lazy :D
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You can't go straight into 3rd from 1st on a bike, you HAVE to go through 2nd.

Unless you mean short shifting, in which case there's no issues at all, no different to normal shifting, just at a different rpm.

I do this all the time, as my bike will sit at 30mph in 6th at 3k rpm quite happily. 1st, then into 2nd away from the lights up to the speed limit (30 or 40) then short shift into 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th in the space of 3-4 seconds.
 
You can?

You can pull away in first clutch in click up to second click up to third clutch out

I don't do it from first but from third to fifth sometimes or fourth to sixth,same as downshifting/engine braking
 
Ahh but you're still shifting into 2nd on your way to 3rd ;)

I don't see why you'd pull the clutch in and shift twice, the clutch engage and release is a split second thing when shifting, and if the clutch is held in for a second or more your revs will drop down to idle meaning they're not matched when you release the clutch.
 
Ahh but is one actually in a gear if it's never engaged ;)

As I said laziness. Up to 30mph in 1st and then "tap tap" 3rd and then match the revs with the throttle. I don't do it all the time obviously, it's just sometimes in built up 30mph areas when I'm not going to going more then 30mph for a long period of time due to being behind cars and not really suitable to be overtaking.

Just unsure if "missing" a gear will doing any damage to the box as I don't fully understand the workings. Suppose it's no different than changing down and few gears when coming to a stop?
 
TallPaul_S said:
Ahh but you're still shifting into 2nd on your way to 3rd ;)

I don't see why you'd pull the clutch in and shift twice, the clutch engage and release is a split second thing when shifting, and if the clutch is held in for a second or more your revs will drop down to idle meaning they're not matched when you release the clutch.
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thats what your throttle's for :p
 
arfoll said:
I remember doing this downshifting into roundabouts (like going 6th -> 3rd) when I was doing my DAS. I never thouhgt twice about it, then on my last day another instructor spotted it and gave me a right telling off about how I'd damage the sequential gearbox if you didn't release the clutch after every shift.

I don't do it ever now - guess I'm used to not doing it - but mentioned it to a few experienced riders and most said they did it and never damaged a gearbox.
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weird cause i got taught to do that on my DAS they called it block shifting.
 
@ the op you must be close to redline if you change from 1st to third?

and yeah you can get a few bigheaded instructors,aslong as you have some common sense you'll be fine on the roads

EDIT: you will find that the rear wheel will squirm sometimes if you drop to many gears/speed,modern Kawasaki's have a slipper clutch to stop it
 
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wazza300 said:
@ the op you must be close to redline if you change from 1st to third?

and yeah you can get a few bigheaded instructors,aslong as you have some common sense you'll be fine on the roads

EDIT: you will find that the rear wheel will squirm sometimes if you drop to many gears/speed,modern Kawasaki's have a slipper clutch to stop it
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hehe found that out on my car heavy braking dropped two gears at once whoop locked up the rear lol.

had to be careful on the verge a lot of engine braking plus linked brakes
 
I still find it completely baffling that many riders make no attempt whatsoever to rev match when changing down the box on a bike. It's so incredibly easy to do, just a small blip of the throttle and the tyre loading is hugely reduced.
 
Dogbreath said:
I still find it completely baffling that many riders make no attempt whatsoever to rev match when changing down the box on a bike. It's so incredibly easy to do, just a small blip of the throttle and the tyre loading is hugely reduced.
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It wasn't something that I was taught on my CBT/DAS and tbh, it wasn't something I was really aware of however, now that I've moved onto a more powerful bike a small blip just before down-shifting makes the gear change much smoother.
 
arfoll said:
I remember doing this downshifting into roundabouts (like going 6th -> 3rd) when I was doing my DAS. I never thouhgt twice about it, then on my last day another instructor spotted it and gave me a right telling off about how I'd damage the sequential gearbox if you didn't release the clutch after every shift.

I don't do it ever now - guess I'm used to not doing it - but mentioned it to a few experienced riders and most said they did it and never damaged a gearbox.
Click to expand...

I was taught not to do this as if you down shifted one gear too many for your wheels currently rotation speed it could cause it to lock. And so was said to always release clutch as you work your way down through the gears.


I guess there are many different ways though and I'm sure the way I was taught it different to others and by no meants the only way.
 
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