Smooth Gear Changing

[bobbi12]

Hey guys when i ask this question please don't laugh ok. I'm pretty new to the manual bikes right and i'm changing the gears somewhat ok but i dont feel i'm doin it the right way(not shifting and downshifting smooth enough) and every now and then the bike manages to stall. I lnow it will take sometime to get it smooth and right but i dont want to damage the gearbox so any advice on helping me get that smooth shift and downshift would be grateful.

[ACE]

Dont rush but dont do it slow IMO this is a sport bike and it wonts quick shifts. Some times I rev it on down shifts just a bit to make it smoth

[Boz]

it is pretty difficult to ruin a bikes gear box. Eventually (with practice) you will figure out just how much throttle is required when letting the clutch out each time. I am sure everyone when learning managed to stall quite a bit...

[TiMBuS]

I've stalled it, even recenty, and worst of all the petrol tap was off (careless me. explains why it stalled so easy tho)
Ever sat at the lights fogging up your helmet with expletives waiting for your floats to refill so u can start the bastard, while cars whiz by? Not cool.

Also. If it stalls so easy I suggest slower clutch release and rev it higher when you take off. I know it seems weird to have to rev it to 4-6krpm just to take off, and people probably look at you funny, but you'll notice a lot less stalling. PROTIP: Rev it to 10krpm before releasing the clutch for a fun takeoff!

[mrcleen]

i just have a query, the gear lever on my steed is set a bit high so u really have to give it a kick up when going from 1st to second, and when i on the odd ocassion miss 2nd and hit nuetral, i go to put it into 1st and it clunks a bit when catching, is this normal. from what i can tell this is the only time i hear the gear box make any weird noises

[koma]

Id start off my saying adjust the gear lever to the lowest comfortable point so the up gear changes are less of effort. Gear changes shouldnt be something you need to think about - they should just happen intuitively.
Aside from that, you need to learn an action on your bike that doesn't make a clunk noise when shifting gears. Usually it just needs a firm and direct push from your foot and it'll shift smoothly, otherwise perhaps your not disengaging the clutch properly.

[ACE]

Is the dot on the gear shaft lined up with the slot in the lever

[TiMBuS]

Clunking from neutral to first is fine. It's the gears kicking in and even though your clutch is in, because it's wet it never fully 100% disengages. You may notice the bike ever so slightly jerk foward for half a second. Not uncommon.

If you're referring to some other noise, perhaps you should freak out.

[ArmyLad]

ok, I'm going to ask something that would probably get me laughed at by most people, but i kinda need to know
My question is this: How to you change gears?

After you have finished laughing ( ) i will clarify my question further.

I do know how to change gears. clutch and accelerator and what-not, but the this is my first motorbike. Am I correct in thinking that you push the gear lever DOWN from neutral into first, then to get into second and above you LIFT the lever to go out of first, past neutral and into second? I think I am right in my thinking, but it never hurts to ask/check (except your ego :P)

Thanks.

[Trev084]

Yes, this is where the term 1 down, 5 up comes from, just pull up on the lever in one movement until it stops and release it, you will work out what I mean.

[ArmyLad]

Thanks for that Trav. Good to know im not completely off the tracks :P

[deadbirds]

dont be embarrased. its one of those things no one ever actually tells you how to do it. lol.
i remember sitting on my driveway and wondering why it allways stalled when i tryed to pull off unless i really gave it some, turned out that first gear helps.
practice makes perfect. then makes for cutting corners. then makes for not using the clutch. then makes for new sprokets.

[rodeobob]

The gear box in a motorbike is nothing like that in a car so you can not compare it.

Car gearboxes have syncronsing rings that are on the edge of the gear and drag on the gear to help get the gears spinning at the same speeds so they will mesh together. Take these rings out of Ma and Pa Jones' daily driver and neither of them would have a hope of driving it.

The gearbox in a motorbike is a 'dog' box. It has a gears with teeth that engage in another gears with holes in them.

How that works is that changine gears you have to match your engine RPM to your road (wheel) speed for the given gear you are in. (Thats the same as a big truck)

You have to be fairly brutal with a bike gearbox to hurt it.

Basically you have little choice but to sort of force the upshift. I rarely use the clutch on an upshift. Just roll the throttle off and kick it with your toe and its nice and smooth. Practise, even hopping on a new bike for the first time can be a clunky thing for an experienced rider.

On the down shift, if you give the throttle a blip/rev, and give it just the right amount it will be a super smooth shift.
Let the revs drop too far on a down shift and when you let the clutch back out you can actually compression lock the back wheel (thats where spinning the engine up a few thousand revs takes more effort than the tyre can handle so the tyre breaks traction.)


Bob.

[Romantix]

practice makes perfect

Soon enough you'll have your clutch poppin out @ 12krpm and have the front wheel pop up on you (with confidence)

Just ride everyday, starting/stopping @ lights you wont have a choice but to be perfect, it'll all become second nature just like driving a car

Bob mentions not using the clutch for upping gears, i would recommend not getting into this habit

[rodeobob]

Yeah i got bad habits.

Pictures tell a thousand words.

This is a bussa box but same deal as your FZR



Theres 3 sets of gears. A gear on the left, dog in the middle and gear on the right. One is spun and the other spins when its engaged. Different sizes (tooth counts) mean different ratios. The groove you can see in the middle of each dog is where the shift fork goes.

Not much too them, thats why they can be clunky.



This is a good example, main shaft out of a land rover.


The gold coloured rings are the syncro rings, as the 'dog' slides over the syncro ring the drag of the rings helps to speed up or slow down the non driven gear so the gears mesh together easily. If a syncro is badly worn IE: no drag, thats when you get a crunchy gearbox.


Bob.