It doesn't matter if you hold in the clutch or put it in neutral, either bike or car. I typically hold the clutch in unless my hand is getting tired or it is a long light. A note on shifting, what you want to do is match the engine speed to what it will turn once the clutch is engaged. I'm sure you have felt either a loss of speed or a brief acceleration when changing gears. That is what happens if you don't have the engine at the right RPM when you let out the clutch. Practice smooth up and down shifts, if you get it right you won't be able to feel the shift. Usually this means slight to moderate throttle before engaging the clutch. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
-----Original Message----- From: Max <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 07:21:33 To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!<[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: RPM's and cruising (or shifting) speed Thanks everyone for your responses. I've been listening to the bike and trying what you all suggested, which is to shift a little early, or earlier than I had been, and the ride is definitely a bit smoother. Also, I received my manual in the mail, and there is this page that sort of suggests at what speeds shifting should occur, which was very interesting. It also indicated that on the speedometer, there's an area (probably the red area), which has some kind of stationery shifting information - I looked at my bike, and it's there, but there's no way you'd want to be riding and glancing down at that small pattern for guidance, you know? I also remember watching my riding coach, and although we didn't talk much about exactly how to shift (remember we spent the entire class in 1st and 2nd), I remember seeing him closing the throttle each time he shifted, and I read that in the manual too, and I think that's something I wasn't doing. And another thing that I'm sort of having trouble remembering, or not remembering but getting used to anyway, is constantly holding in the clutch at stop lights and such; that feels so foreign. My dad and granddad were both truck drivers and they fixed up old cars, so I spent a lot of time around cars and my dad taught me how to drive a stick on a 1986 Ford F-150 4x4, and I can remember him saying over and over, "always put the truck in neutral - don't hold down that clutch unless you're shifting." I know that cars and motorcycles are pretty different, but several times at stop lights, I've put the bike in neutral and then haven't been ready when the light changed. Do most of you all keep the bike in first at lights, and when stopped? My rider coach approached it from a safety standpoint, indicating that the bike should be in first because you should be ready to react, so I've kept that in mind, but sometimes neutral just happens out of habit. Anyway, thanks for all the advice. -Max On May 10, 8:41 pm, jaybird248 <[email protected]> wrote: > Max, +1 on Javier's guidance that when the engine feels like it's not > making more power as you open the throttle, it's time to upshift. At > that point your engine will kind of be thrashing around instead of a > steady build of sound. As you upshift, the sound will return to a > smooth build. It shouldn't take long to learn to do it. As the old VW > Bug ads used to say, "yes, our car has a manual transmission, but > after you use it a few days, it becomes automatic." > > On May 10, 3:56 pm, Max <One of the things that I'm really > > > getting used to is the idea/feeling of when to shift, what the engine > > should sound like, etc. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
