Your welcome Toad.

And yeah Cyndia, Back off the throttle slowly and you wont get that jerky feeling. It is just the engine slowing the bike down.

 

if youve never driven a stick shift car.. well lets just say you should probaly do that before a bike. but either way u gotta learn manual somewhere. when i first started i spent an afternoon in my driveway just practicing starting in first and slowly letting the clutch out and easing on the throttle, to find the "friction zone" (msf course word ha). its all about one or the other and a slight in between for when your changing gears. i had the same problem with my car. u just gotta find that area where it grabs andalways fully get off the clutch ones ur going.

 

Sounds like you are in too low of a gear to me.

 

Hey cyndia,

I myself just started riding and barely ever drove a manual car. I am getting a little more used to it. Does ur always jerk when u down shift. Mine does and I dont know why anyone answer that?

 

Nitro, try blipping the throttle just a tad with the clutch pulled in just before downshifting. See if that helps your situation.

 

if you are talking about cruising along in second gear then letting off the throttle "jerks" the bike - thats called engine breaking..

its not the bike that is being rough, its the throttle hand being rough. you have to make slow smoothdecisive motions when riding.

the reason the engine breaking force is so strong on bikes is due to the high gearing, the light weight compared to the displacement, and the high compression ratio.

once you understand the beast it will be easier for you to get used to how to handle it. then it becomes more enjoyable

 

yeah the thing i was doing wrong was down shifting and letting go of the clutch immediately...... even when i wasnt down shifting, i was letting go of the throttle too quickly....

practice helped indeed

 

Tip: there is not any need to engine brake or to down shift through the gears. You should be using the brakes to slow or stop and then select the appropriate gear for your speed.

Example; if you are stopping you would select 1st gear after pulling in your clutch when the baking has you almost stopped.
If you are slowing from 65 mph to 25 mph you would be selecting 3rd gear after breaking to the slower speedand then ease out the clutch and add throttle to smoothly enter 3rd gear.

As always Practice Practice Practice.

 

not, good advice. I keep having to remind myself that everyone doesnt drive a stick shift for a cage. i have been driving sticks since i was 16. so i dont think it will be as hard for me.