How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle — Smoothly
How do you shift gears on a motorcycle smoothly?
Motorcycle riders know that being butter smooth when shifting is difficult. Fred, over his decades of riding [being an Engineer by trade probably helped him find a solution too] developed a nearly fail-proof method of shifting a motorcycle transmission smoothly.
Motorcycle Quick Tip:
Fred shares his technique for how to shift gears on a motorcycle smoothly…
Are your shifts clunky?
I’ve found that most modern motorcycles respond very well to the following technique for shifting:
For each upshift to a higher gear, take up the slack in the clutch lever and gently preload the foot shifter with your toes before shifting. At the point you have the slack taken up in both controls, shift!
The shift will usually be butter-smooth and you should have fewer mis-shifts.
Fred Applegate
Note: I’ll have to admit I was a bit skeptical when Fred first mentioned this method. But IT WORKS. For me, I’m not successful 100% of the time, but with practice my shifting is noticeably smoother. I’ve tried it, and with a little practice, it works great (on cars too)!
This was originally published in the Motorcycle Riding Tips Newsletter.
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