I am new to riding and I wanted to know if anyone else is only using two fingers to pull in the clutch?

I know I am probably lazy, but I only have to pull in the clutch a little bit to switch gears. I just want to make sure it isn't a bad habit that I shouldn't be doing (for some safety or mechanical reasons yet unknown to me). Does it kill the clutch?

Just curious. I know a lot of people in this forum have a billion years experience riding and know mechanically the inner workings of the clutch.

Any comments, wise or otherwise, will be appreciated.

John

 

The number of finger shouldn't matter however pulling it in all the way will make your bike happier.

 

Use your foot for the clutch instead of your hand! (j/k) Congrats & enjoy the new ride!

 

I only use the clutch for starting , and stopping. blip the throttle for shifting most of the time.

Short clutching (not pulling all the way in) will cause wear faster but that's it. 2 fingers 4 fingers really doesn't matter but the distance of the pull does. From my motorcross days I still only use 2 or 3 fingers for clutch and brake

 

Most of the girls Ive went with like two fingers

 

I always ride with a couple fingers across the brake and clutch to cut response time,...you never know when a couple hundredths of a second can come in handy

 

You should get in the habit of using all of your fingers. That's what I was told by the instructors of the MSF safety course.

 

I'm with Billy there, just because of the time factor and my past riding history. I usually keep two on, )when I use it), (fr brake too), but use all when necessary just to keep the other two fingers outa the way!
Yups! thats wut I do! (-;
my $0.02

aka Bob

 

Im with that guy

 

You should keep one or two fingers across ("covering") both the clutch and front brake whenever you are not cruising the freeway in light traffic (to cut reaction time in case of an emergency), but pull with all four fingers when actually using them. In the real world, I cover when I think I'm going to need to use them, and use all four fingers to pull them. You should pull the clutch in all the way every time you change gears or stop. In the real world, I only pull it in when at a standstill in gear, and never even look at it for a normal gear change unless in a drag race. When drag racing, you leave the throttle all the way open, and fan the clutch for gear changes. This is exceedingly bad for your clutch life, though, so don't make a habit of it.