Over 30 years and hundreds of thousands of miles I have yet to wear out a gear front or rear side. I always try to match my gear to my speed whether I am accelerating or slowing. If I ever do wear out a gear I'll have fun doing it.

 

+1 on the wear is wear. its gonna wear. I down shift whenever possible to stay off the brakes. Just seems safer to me.

 

Boy oh Boy we are now riding bikes with disc brakes these days, you guys don't rember when drum brakes were only a sugestion and not a real stopping power. Add
water and drums were non braking, when you grabed a handful.

 

I have to agree that I would rather be in a gear that has enough power to get me out of a dangerous situation. I always engine brake.

 

The same people that worry about engine braking are probably the same ones that will never see 100K mi. on their bikes because they trade them in every other year. Worry about something else.

 

Where in the world do you suppose this rumor started,no way it can hurt a motor.It is actually part of the breakin procedure.Closing the throttle will help draw oil up around the pistons aiding cooling the motor.

 

Same here, always have and always will use the engine to assist in braking.

 

Good point. I remember those old drum brakes and also when they were mechanical not hydraulic. Guys who never experienced that feeling of no real stopping power don't know how good they got it.

 

47 years of high performance riding & driving and matching speeds while downshifting.

I have yet to ever have any transmission problems.

 

I couldn't imagine that after 100+ years of development, Harley wouldn't design for a normal, and widely accepted practice of engine braking!
I do it constantly. Replaced all 3 brake pad sets at 20K, with dead even wear. They probably still had a couple K left in them. And that was with a lot of 2-up mountain riding with sprinkles of twisties throughout!