My shiftng still sucks

[dwayne]

Going from first to second still causes grief, not all the time but about half, thouh it has been getting better progress seems painfully slow.

[EddieRR]

dwayne, you are not alone...same here...after 2 weeks I still can not shift smoothly half of the time...

[machew01]

Hang in there; it will improve.

mac

[DJ Downunder]

You are probably trying to shift too fast..that's one change that I don't rush (first to second)..there is a real nack to it...

I've been working on two fingers on the clutch for the past couple of years and it works great..it forces you to only half pull the lever.

DJ

[popgazer]

The way we learn to shift is in these sequence of steps:

1) Throttle closed, 2) clutch squeezed, 3) shift, 4) clutch released as 5) throttle open.

Because of the strong engine braking, as soon as the throttle starts of shut, the bike brakes. Then, after shifting the engine is typically not revving high enough, which makes the bike brake some more, then you open the throttle, which makes the bike go from slowing down to accelerating. Bang! that was the helmet of my girfriend hitting mine. Not smooth at all! At least that was the way I did it.

I had to abandon the above sequence almost entirely with this bike.
Here's how I attain my best shifting: I try to do all steps 1-5 in 2 steps.
Generally I don't worry about the throttle.
I just squeeze the clutch first so to avoid that engine braking, and at the same time I start shifting, giving that nice preload, which makes the gear sniks nicely in place.
Right then, I just let go of the clutch.
If I don't do anything with the throttle (just keeping it in the same position), the engine will rev up, then when the clutch is released the engine goes back to revving according to the load. It is then very easy to learn to adjust the throttle down just a little so that the engine doesn't go crazy.
Oh! and it sounds real good, too.

[dwayne]

The way we learn to shift is in these sequence of steps:

1) Throttle closed, 2) clutch squeezed, 3) shift, 4) clutch released as 5) throttle open.

Because of the strong engine braking, as soon as the throttle starts of shut, the bike brakes. Then, after shifting the engine is typically not revving high enough, which makes the bike brake some more, then you open the throttle, which makes the bike go from slowing down to accelerating. Bang! that was the helmet of my girfriend hitting mine. Not smooth at all! At least that was the way I did it.

I had to abandon the above sequence almost entirely with this bike.
Here's how I attain my best shifting: I try to do all steps 1-5 in 2 steps.
Generally I don't worry about the throttle.
I just squeeze the clutch first so to avoid that engine braking, and at the same time I start shifting, giving that nice preload, which makes the gear sniks nicely in place.
Right then, I just let go of the clutch.
If I don't do anything with the throttle (just keeping it in the same position), the engine will rev up, then when the clutch is released the engine goes back to revving according to the load. It is then very easy to learn to adjust the throttle down just a little so that the engine doesn't go crazy.
Oh! and it sounds real good, too.

I will try that tomorrow morning. Thanks!! The way you described the problem IS EXACTLY what my problem is, and I'm worried that if I don't fix it soon I'm going to be buying a new tranny.

[DSKYZD]

Such is the character of this bike. I use the "on throttle" technique described and it works very well when the bike isn't hot. After riding a while and all the oils are up to temp it seems I ALWAYS hit neutral. A full clutch pull seems to help this problem somewhat. I can feel it come out of first when pulling the clutch in, then go into second as I begin to let the clutch out. Rush this process as DJ says and it goes all the hell.

DSKYZD

[Xray28]

Just the other day I did a perfect runup through all the gears. I was entering a freeway with heavy truck traffic. I wanted to be up to speed in a hurry soI just did th eclutch/shift thing as the revs seemed to demand. It went smooth...I found I was going 90 mph (65 zone) Well, I was up to speed anyway. Fortunately no cops in the area at the time.

[Croc]

When cold I leave the idle speed lever on the 1st notch. This stops the revs dropping too low and just that little thing makes all the difference - smooth changes up and down from cold.

Croc

[Tlaloc]

I'm a new owner of a 2002 and new to this forum. These postings are very helpful. I thought I was making newbie mistakes in my shifting. I've been riding since last summer and have gotten very comfortable on my Bonneville. I picked up the BMW in Sacramento last weekend and rode it back to Portland. I'm going to try this shifting method on the R1150R.

Thanks!

[R4R&R]

What are you wearing on your feet while riding? I've noticed that I don't really have any shifting problems and most of the time I wear riding boots (Alpinestar). I think the lower calf support helps on the upshifts since more of the leg is moving the shifter. When I ride with normal shoes (currently Reeboks - and it is VERY rare) I miss a lot of those shifts. I think the more flexible shoe makes you work harder to move the shifter up two clicks. Kind of like your foot needs to press harder on the shifter, while wearing boots, the stiffer overall boot does the work for you.

$.02

[EddieRR]

That is very true, normal shoes does make shifting more effort. after couple days practice, I remember when I was ridding in school I put some thick wristbend on my left foot. just perfect for protect the shoes and make shifting lot more easy. of course boots it's the best but this can be alternative way for normal shoes when you ridding.

I'm getting better on shifting...thanks, guys!

preload and don't shift too fast is the key for smooth shifting... lesson learn.

Eddie

[MikeCam]

Foot position - sometimes I have my foot shoved too far under the shifter, lifting with the inner ankle instead of the toe. Bad.

Timing - as described above, do 5 steps in 2 steps....once you get it, it stays gotten.

Mental mind set -- some days I'm just off or not warmed up or tired/lazy. It shows in the missed shifts.

Hot fluids - definitely changes the shift characteristics. I changed to Redline HD Shockproof in the tranny and found great improvement.

Don't worry. I often miss the 1-2 shift and have learned to just get on with it. Thinking about the last bad shift ruins the next 10 minutes of the ride.