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quickshift

When braking and downshifting. I can't seem to get it all together smoothly when slowing for a turn. Any easy tricks or suggestions?

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Couchrocket

Ben,

 

Given your "handle," and that you own two R bikes, and that your occupation is listed as "motorsports," I can't help feel that you're pulling our leg a bit with your question. grin.gif

 

If you're serious, one approach as you're braking, is to give the throttle a slight blip just before you down shift into each successive lower gear. This can help match the RPM and provide smoother clutch re-engagement as you mildly engine brake in addition to your "brakes" braking.

 

Now, tell us who you really are and why you asked the question! grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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ShovelStrokeEd

Ben,

Smooth downshifting is really simple.

 

Don't back off the gas between shifts. Maintain some throttle while you are running down. The R engine has a pretty light crankshaft/flywheel and loses revs very quickly. Keeping the gas on a little bit, even while decelerating, will cause the motor to gain a little revs when you pull in the clutch, in so doing, the motor RPM will better match the wheel RPM x gearbox reduction.

 

Use the brakes to slow the bike, you really should only be shifting to stay in the proper gear range for the speed you are traveling, not to slow the bike.

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quickshift

Sorry, that wasn't very clear. My concern is about the trouble I have coordinating downshifts while braking simultaneously. I find it hard to maintain steady brake pressure while lifting the rpm, especially when going down 2 or 3 gears. The two bikes that I have owned have each had boosted brakes, and I'm sure that doesn't help.

 

I'm looking for the motorcycle equivalent of heel-and-toe. In a car, I can do this seamlessly, at any speed or rate of deceleration. I'm just wondering if there are any tricks to it on a bike, or if, like all skills, it comes down to practice.

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How many fingers do you use on the brake lever? I use two, max, and wrap my other fingers around the throttle...this makes it easy for me to apply brake pressure and blip the throttle simultaneously. If you are not smooth at this yet, I would bet practice will fix the problem.

 

The suggestion about throwing your downshifts while rolling off the throttle is good, too, but this technique definitely requires practice to learn.

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Couchrocket

How many fingers do you use on the brake lever? I use two, max, and wrap my other fingers around the throttle...this makes it easy for me to apply brake pressure and blip the throttle simultaneously. If you are not smooth at this yet, I would bet practice will fix the problem.

Ted has it exactly right, IMO. That's the "heel and toe" of biking. Becomes second nature after a bit.

 

And, as usual, SSE is correct about braking... the brakes should do the braking and the engine "compression" is really just keeping the RPM range appropriate to the gear you're in and the steady decrease in speed. Done correctly it should put you right in the "fat spot" for torque/power as you complete braking / downshifting so that you can go right back to adding power as you roll into your turn.

 

And, welcome to the DB. thumbsup.gif Fill in your profile a bit!

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ShovelStrokeEd

Something I did not mention, front brake is managed with the inner two fingers of the hand, throttle with the outer two or really the muscles along the outer side of the palm and the base of the thumb. It is simple, with a little practice to learn precision in both brake and throttle application doing this.

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This is one of those subjects that is alot easier to demonstrate than explain..........you are,"slowing for a turn"........what you need to be thinking is,speeding up for a turn.Braking issues simply take a backseat to how early I can get on the gas.The very best of luck to to you,BW

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