Was reading the other post about downshifting and have a similar question but a little different than the other thread so I decided to start a new one. When I know I'll have to come to a complete stop or at least turn soon, sometimes I'll just pull the clutch in and go ahead and down shift all the way to 1st gear then just coast to my turn or stop so I can do a few throttle ups to hear my pipes.. I'm assuming there's nothing wrong with doing this? As in, it's not bad for my transmission?

 

Throttle ups?? I guess what you mean is you just want to make noise and want to hear your pipes?? When slowing down to come to a stop or a turn, just down shift a gear and let your motor slow you down, should make all the noise you will want to send out to everybody that is already sick of hearing loud pipes..

 

Yes that's what I was referring to.. just coasting at idle rpms and reving up my engine while I coast.. not sure why I do that as opposed to just letting my engine slow me down.. just some qwirky thing I've done ever since I've owned motorcycles. Would same some breakpad life if I'd downshift though..

 

Ok here is my take on it.....you take it for what its worth.

By slowing down like that IMHO you are putting unnecessary wear on not one item, but two. First, by not letting the engine help slow you down, you are using your brakes only......I am not saying it will, but it may cause reduced service life of your pads. the second thing is the clutch. Even though you have the clutch disengaged, part of it is still spinning and the other part is not, but they are still touching slightly along the friction plates....just there is not enough spring pressure on the plates to hold them tight enough to transmit the rotational force of the trans output shaft to the counter sprocket. It would be the same this if you sat at a red light for two or three minutes while holding the clutch in (disengauged).....its the exact same thing.

When I am slowing for a light, and I know I will have to stop for the light, I usually apply some front & rear brakes, and drop one gear and close the throttle.....sometimes two gears depending on how fast I was going when I began to slow down. Then as soon as I stop, or just before I drop it into first and click up into N,then release the clutch. By doing it this war I believe it puts the least amount of wear on the clutch.....and I would much rather change out a set of brake pads, than replace the clutch plates.....JMHO....YMMV.

 

From a safety perspective you are always better off having the bike in gear. I would not coast.

 

Keep practicing it will come to you.The damage would come to the throwout bearing for holding in the clutch so long.

 

It sounds kind of dangerous to me. I dont know what speed you are shifiting into first at, but if you are rolling along at 45 or so and shift into first gear to coast, what happens if the clutch cable breaks or you accidentally let it out?
Rear wheel locks up and skids. You are screwed.
My bike doesnt like first gear slowing down to 20 or so. It clunks pretty good sometimes. I would say use the gears and downshift to a stop accordingly.

MikeM

 

The best way to cure it..............is to STOP COASTING and RIDE the BIKE!

Downshift accordingly with your MPH. If you MUST hear your pipes as many of us do. (I don't care what anyone says... we all like to hear the pipes!) Each time you downshift blip your throttle a little and come off the clutch using engine break until you get to the actual stopping point and apply your break. This also keeps you out of harms way in the event you need to get the hell out of dodge! The last thing you want to do while "COASTING" is be in neutral or the wrong gear when you need to make an emergency move because a cage is approaching from behind and does not see you or "Rover"..the area mutt wants a piece of your leg.

Ride safe!

 

while we are on the topic - let me just run this by everyone and see what ya all think

all the talk about saving the brakes and wear and tear on the brakes, so save them and let the engine do the braking. i definintely understand that an engine will help slow down the bike, but it was not made for that per se.
so we use less brakes and save the brake pads. but if we are in 6th and we are coming to a stop and we downshift through the gears, we are pulling and releasing the clutch 5 times. and we most definitely are still using the brakes. so exactly how much wear and tear are we saving.

in which case would a clutch last longer.
fully engaged,
disengaged and lever released with tran in neutral,
disengaged and lever held with tran in neutral,
disengaged with tran in gear and level held in,
constant shifting?

i have no proof, but i would be tempted to say that it would last longest if just left engaged. running a close second would probably be with the tran in neutral, maybe with lever released might be just a tad better. right behind that would be with it disengaged and in gear, i would think.
but the big wear and tear is with the shifting.

i am really not sure if pulling in the clutch really leaves any friction on the clutch plates at all as i never feel any thing close to the bike wanting to move. but i will accept that there might be some, although i would think negligable.

so i would be tempted to say that the wear and tear on the clutch and lever, etc is probably more than the wear and tear on the brakes.

to somewhat oversimplify, if the clutch plate on the engine side and the clutch plate on the trans side are rotating at exactly the same speed, then there would be no wear and tear on the clutch plates when engaged. so a perfectly executed shift, either up or down, would cause next to no wear and tear on the clutch plates themself. the only actual wear would occur when starting off in first. but there would be wear and tear on the levers and cables etc. but with most shifts, we never exactly get them going at the same speed, maybe close, but not exact.

what i am attempting to say is that the wear and tear on the brakes should not in anyway be the factor for down shifting.

what should be considered is:
if you are in gear then you would be ready for an acceleration that just might be necessary. whereas if you are all the way down to first and coasting and still going 35 and you need to accelarate NOW, too bad. you have to check your speed and figure out ecactly what gear you need to be in and shift up maybe to third and oops, to late. so even if you don't release the clutch, it would probably be a good idea to have the bike in the gear that would match your speed.
another factor would be the possibility of locking your brakes. if you are applying brakes and you hit something on the road (a banana peel?) then the wheel could lock putting you in a precarious situation. if you are in gear with the engine slowing you down, then you most probably will not have any issue with locking. that is unless you are downshifting way too early and the engine is really pulling down your speed, but even with that, the wheel would have a better chance at regaining traction and not locking.
and another completely worthless reason is that sometimes a bike will sound pretty neat if the engine is being pulled down.

so in conclusion (and yeh i know, it's about time) - IMHO - the only reason to downshift while stopping is for safety and control.

 

Do what you want to... but don't complain when it bites you in the ****.

what most would or should recommend is downshift within the RPM range for the speed you are going. Like stated before its a safety thing, the time it takes to react by pulling in the clutch dropping into 1st, and giving it some throttle your already dead.

The best piece of advise is to take a MSF class.

BTW - Who cares how long your "clutch plates" "tranny" or "break pads" are going to last? RIDE THE DAMN THING! when it breaks learn how to fix it or pay someone to fix it... They are meant to be ridden not to collect dustand be washed once a week and re parked! If you ride it stuffs going to break and wear out... ohh and you might as well scratch the damn thing now and get it over with so you wont sound like a sissy girl in public when you finally do...