Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: my yamaha shifting, motorcycle class, motorcycle safety

Question
I rode cycles some years ago.  I have a 2003 1100 V-star Classic.  My nephew got it for me and I have a hard time remembering how to shift it.  There wasn't a manual with it.  I am a 60 yr old woman and I just need some help.  Thanks

Answer
Madam,

The first order of business is you need to take a motorcycle safety class. Call 800-446-9227 and relearn to ride the right way.

There is a lot more to riding than just knowing how to shift. Please forgive my saying so, but I fear for your life. If you can't remember how to shift, you should not be on a motorcycle!

I will include instructions for shifting at the end of this message. They will come from my most recent book, "How to Ride a Motorcycle." Do yourself a favor and read that book, and take the motorcycle class, before you try to ride that bike. It is too big, too powerful, and too heavy for a beginner. I understand that you rode years ago, but believe me, with the rate that older riders are dying nowadays, you can't afford not to take the class.

Shifting:

Left Hand Lever: The Clutch

The clutch controls how much of the engine’s power is sent to the rear wheel. Squeezed tightly against the handgrip, 0% of the power will be transmitted to the wheel, equivalent to having the engine off. Released completely, 100% of the engine’s power will go to the rear wheel. That means the bike will then do what the engine does. (Once the clutch is fully released, the clutch no longer controls the bike: at that point the bike’s forward motion will be turned over completely to the throttle grip.)

Expect the clutch to give you some trouble. It takes awhile to get used to it; every bike’s clutch has a slightly different feel. You’ll stall the bike—and make the bike lurch forward suddenly—at least a 500 times while you’re learning. Don’t get frustrated with it, just take your time, focus, and try to get a feel for it before you accidentally let it slip and send you and your bike into the nearest cornfield. And if you made the rookie mistake of buying a 600 cc or bigger bike for your first bike, when you head for that cornfield you’ll be doing it on the rear wheel!

The first few times you use the clutch lever, ease it out without giving it any gas. The bike will feel lurchy and try to stall because it needs throttle, but you’ll get a really good feel for exactly where the friction point (transmission of engine power) is and you’ll have more control when it comes time to use both. When the bike lurches or stalls, or if it tries to leap away from you, just squeeze the clutch and try again more smoothly.

Friction Point: The imaginary point in the clutch travel where the engine begins to engage the rear wheel and move forward.

The big secret to smooth clutch operation is to take it very, very slowly. As you ease the clutch lever out from the handgrip, the bike will begin to pull you forward. Hold it in place with your feet. Once you have the clutch lever about halfway through its friction zone, the bike will feel like a jittery horse that wants to go Go GO! That’s what you want, but don’t get excited and pop the clutch and get launched into the bushes. Hold the clutch lever right where it is, but now give it a little gas; ease it out from the grip a tiny bit more and give a little less resistance from your body; a little more throttle, ease it out a little more, and a little less body, and so on until the bike is moving and your feet are off the ground.

Lugging: Using the clutch, brakes, or inertia to lower the engine rpm almost to the point of stalling.

The whole process from 0% to 100% should take you at least ten seconds when you’re first learning. With a day of practice, you should have it down to about five seconds, and by the time you have about 500 miles under your belt, it should take no more than a few seconds.

Left Foot: The Shift Lever

Probably the most feared and hardest to learn of all motorcycle operations, shifting gears is actually very simple. At your left foot there’s a lever. Squeeze the clutch and roll off the throttle, lift up on the lever with your toe one click, and smoothly release the clutch and roll on the throttle, and you’ve just shifted up one gear. Clutch and throttle, press down with your toe one click, clutch and throttle, and you’ve just downshifted one gear.

Your bike will have four to six gears. By nature, the bike is always in gear. There is a “neutral” position kind of midway between first gear and second gear. It’s easiest to find with the bike stopped and the engine running. Put the bike in neutral only when parking on level surfaces, warming it up in the morning, or when you need to give your clutch hand a rest. There is rarely a time you’ll need to put the bike in neutral when riding.

Timing is the hardest thing to learn when shifting—sometimes the bike “wants” to shift and sometimes it doesn’t. (Stubborn little buggers, sometimes.) Your goal when shifting and selecting a gear is to keep your engine running in a desired rpm range—generally, at the bottom of the powerband. Only shift when you need to shift. If you shift too early, your bike will not have spun up to the desired range yet, and it will resist the shift or lug the engine. If you shift too late, the bike will want to “slam” into gear and scream in protest. If you’re having trouble shifting, it’s probably not your technique but your timing.

Powerband: An area in the rpm range where a motorcycle makes maximum power due to engine design and fuel combustion rate (octane).

Shift Points
First Gear: 0-10 mph Shift up at 10 mph
Second Gear: 5-25 mph Shift up at 25 mph, shift down at 5 mph
Third Gear: 20-40 mph, Shift up at 40 mph, shift down at 20 mph
Fourth Gear: 35-55 mph, Shift up at 55 mph, shift down at 35 mph
Fifth Gear: 55+ mph, Shift down at 50

Every bike will be different, but here are some basic guidelines for when to upshift (when accelerating) and downshift (when slowing) to keep the engine spinning in the desired rpm range. Another easy way to judge shift points is to shift at a certain rpm range—check your owner’s manual or performance specs to find the middle of your powerband which would be your ideal shift point.

Pat