Proper shifting technique

Post by **dwayne** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:08 pm

I picked the new bike up today, wow what a difference in riding. I had to relearn how to ride a motorcycle, the riding position makes the foot controls seem foreign. I've been taking it around town, and a quick junt on the highway. One thing causing me "issue" is the shifting; when I started riding this morning I was surging the bike in every gear shift, was shifting it the way I shifted my big crusier, hence, relearn how to ride. I am now at the point that I can shift with little or no surging. With the crusier I had a lot of clutch play so shifting was easy, but the Beemer I notice, you have to be precise with the shifs and keep the RPM's up, which is not that easy as I am keeping it under 4K RPM for the first 1000Km's. I noticed that if I am quick and light on the clutch, she shifts better. Anyone have a system for doing it, I'm just going by feel here. Oh, and what is that tick tick tick sound???

johnt650 · Post by **johnt650** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:43 pm

It is not necessary to fully pull in the clutch lever just a quick blip. Preload the shifter just before you blip the clutch and it should move right into gear. The big twin decelerates so quickly that any delay in shifting causes more problem.

Post by **jm1515** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:51 pm

dwayne wrote:..... I noticed that if I am quick and light on the clutch, she shifts better. Anyone have a system for doing it, I'm just going by feel here....

Yer on to somethin'....
Downshifting....

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/s ... art/1/vc/1

Upshifting....

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/s ... Post669034

Post by **dwayne** » Sat May 13, 2006 9:49 pm

Okay, not sure exactly what preloading the clutch means. Do you mean blip the throttle just before the shift????

OneShot · Post by **OneShot** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:43 pm

Preloading the shifter simply means applying pressure on the shifter in the direction that you are about to move it before you pull the clutch lever in. For example, you would apply pressure up on the shifter before doing a 2-3 shift, or apply pressure down on the shifter on a 4-3 shift.

Post by **dwayne** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:44 pm

OneShot wrote:Preloading the shifter simply means applying pressure on the shifter in the direction that you are about to move it before you pull the clutch lever in. For example, you would apply pressure up on the shifter before doing a 2-3 shift, or apply pressure down on the shifter on a 4-3 shift.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. Never heard of that before.

gel9001 · Post by **gel9001** » Sun May 14, 2006 8:01 pm

I've never done that either with 40K miles on boxer motors in the past few years. Not necessary and sounds like a good way to wear out expensive parts. just ride and try to get rid of pre-BMW prejudices.

good luck,

Gene

leno · Post by **leno** » Mon May 15, 2006 3:31 am

gel9001 wrote:I've never done that either with 40K miles on boxer motors in the past few years. Not necessary and sounds like a good way to wear out expensive parts. just ride and try to get rid of pre-BMW prejudices.

good luck,

Gene

It is quite common practice. I was taught it at my learner classes, but the method is realy not needed now days. The pressure is very slight so you are not going to do any harm, but it does mean that there is less delay in the change. It's also the way to start cluchless changes.

chris · Post by **chris** » Mon May 15, 2006 3:38 am

Mines OK, can change up with no clutch no bother, down I use the clutch but it's as smooth as my XR or CBR was. Only getting first has been tricky occasionally but if I get ready with the boot and hit the lever as soon as the clutch is in it never fails.

Jonny_L · Post by **Jonny_L** » Mon May 15, 2006 3:54 am

Glad to hear you've got it now. I hope you're having as much fun as i am!

Mine took a bit of getting used to. I was finding it difficult to get 3rd and 4th for some reason. Seems to be nearly ok now, so it's probably just me!
My trouble was changing from the cbr, I hardly ever used the clutch for upshifts on that, whereas I find I have to be more laid back and smooth with the R.

Post by **dwayne** » Mon May 15, 2006 4:55 am

Jonny_L wrote:Glad to hear you've got it now. I hope you're having as much fun as i am!

Mine took a bit of getting used to. I was finding it difficult to get 3rd and 4th for some reason. Seems to be nearly ok now, so it's probably just me!
My trouble was changing from the cbr, I hardly ever used the clutch for upshifts on that, whereas I find I have to be more laid back and smooth with the R.

I have to ask, how many KM's have you put on her??

I am at 200 already

Jonny_L · Post by **Jonny_L** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:18 am

good work! I've done 100 miles (160km), so i've got some catching up to do! My excuse is that it's been raining and I've not bought any textiles yet. hopefully this afternoon i'll have bought some.

Do you have to keep the revs low for a while to break it in? I'm sure you'll be done in no time if so!

Post by **dwayne** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:47 am

Jonny_L wrote:... Do you have to keep the revs low for a while to break it in? I'm sure you'll be done in no time if so!

The dealer told me to keep at 4000 to 4500 for the first 1000....though actually he said after 500 km's or two tanks I could take it to 5000 RPM, but I'll wait the full 1000 Km's.

AKIrish · Post by **AKIrish** » Sat May 31, 2014 9:45 pm

I was about to post about the same clutch shifting issues as well with surging. Just picked up an 02 r1150r with 7300 on it. I had a cruiser as well prior to this. Now that I have this info on pre loading I'll be experimenting.

One question in regards to this. What is the proper RPM for shifting? My cruiser didn't have a tach so I played it by ear. On my new ride I've been shifting at around 3500-4000. Trying to go by sound as well but this engine has a lot more power and different sounds. For reference I was riding a Shadow 600 with a lot less power. I've never needed to research this before on other bikes because listening to the engine worked very well. This however is my dream bike and I don't want inadvertantly hurt or damage any part of her. With a completly different layout than my old V-twin, different sounds, more power etc., I'm a lot more critical of my riding style. Maybe I'm just over-thinking this. Thanks for any help guys.

captaincable · Post by **captaincable** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:41 am

My old r850 does not have a tach ,I just shift by sound and feel, my trans reminds me of a old truck shifting very "clunky" as have other boxers I have ridden but you get used to it and they seem to be tough trans that hold up well.
Have fun getting to know your machine and all the subtle nuances as I am sure you will grow fond of it soon.
Mike
BTW the shifter is adjustable the past two BMW's need to be adjusted so my thick boot toe would fit, rode a VTX 1800 this past weekend and had to use edge of boot to shift.

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Proper shifting technique

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