Shifting gears question

Do you guys skip a shift when upshifting? For example, 1st into 3rd, 2nd into 4th, etc.?
The reason I am asking is my engine shut of when I tried once. I was going in a 3rd picked up plenty of speed and I thought I would shift into 5th... Then the engine shut off with a clutch pressed in when I shifted to 5th. So I was coasting for a moment and pressed the starter button, and it came a live.
Is that weird? Why would it do that?
It also happened this morning 1st into 3rd...

 

Why are you skipping gears? I have never tried that, so I have no idea.

 

Somefin's not normal !!

Needin to use the starter is an error. Thinkin you need to skip gears another error unless you ridin' in severe rain.

 

I do quite often in my car. But just tried that on my bike recently. In my car, I do that to avoid an extra shift. I would do it only if I have accelerated fast enough before skipping the next shift.
I guess tt's the same principal when you downshift from 4th to 2nd to avoid extra downshift. Except when upshifting, you save gas, or that's the idea. Early 2000 Camaros/Corvettes had from the factory to skip 3rd gear(i think) to conserve gas when accelerating modestly.

 

Never skip but I'll shift quickly after a good second gear pull, then bang up to 5th, letting the clutch out at each gear though. If I didn't I'd end up accelerating through each gear til the next braking zone...not a good idea for street riding...

 

I don't see the gas saving component in this. Revving the engine that fast in one gear to avoid the next is Going to negate any gas savings. Down shifting is another animal. You are slowing down, there fore you are not taxing the drive train or engine, unless you downshift for engine braking so far you over rev the motor by the double step of gears.

 

Right, it's not a good idea for gas saving for bikes. I just did it to avoid releasing the clutch twice. For example, if I'm exiting a corner in a 3rd, and want to accelerate to 60mph and stay at at that speed, it would be nice if I could bump into 5th with one clutch-press. Obviously, my bike doesn't like it... or all VFRs?

 

Your bike may be telling you something.

 

I know, I will not attempt it anymore. I was just curious if it's all bikes or my bike is malfunctioning or something...

 

I will go try it out a bit later today, but I can't see a reason that it would die by doing this.

 

Some of the real wrenches will be able to answer the technical aspect. From a riding POV,

This could happen if you skip a gear or two downshifting. A possibility that instead of dropping one notch you drop two or maybe even three and your revs don't match.

The ass end swings out then hooks up and you get a very costly lesson in torque 101, aka
a highside.. Assuming this might be going into a blind corner and there might be all manner of slick stuff on the roadway.

Upshifting to save gas? Could be, but why go from 2nd to other than third. What you might try is loading your shift lever or if you want to play with upshifting use the throttle cutting method without the clutch. Nor really recommended unless you are damn sure of what you are doing.

BB has spoken..

 

There is a bit of a strain on the drive train in the down shift. Some pressure on the chain but I don't think this is anything to concern yourself with.

If you are trying to eliminate the clutching aspect of this, why not master the clutchless shifting. Google Clutchless Motorcycle Shifting and you should be able to find instructions how to do this. Some say you can clutchless shift from 1st into second, but I use the clutch for that one and if is so suits me, will not use the clutch through the rest. It is easily mastered. They say you can do this downshifting too but I personally don't like the thought of what that may be doing to your gears. A very quick an light flick of the throttle when you down shift makes the engagement into the lower gear so much more smooth.

I can't see any benifit of skipping a gear on the up shift either, financial or otherwise. I have dropped two gears setting up to pass on the highway though. Gives you lots of get up and go. But you have to keep in mind, you really have to get onto the throttle hard if you are going to do that.

 

I'm still learning that smooth shifting on my VFR (I had 1for a month). It is especially important when riding two up to have smooth transition between gears.
I learned something new-clutchless shifting. Thanks. I did it once on my 1st bike and I thought it would ruin my transmission. Here is a good youtube video on that:
Clutchless Shifting on Motorcycles - YouTube

 

That guy must play all those vlogs back to himself every night. I think he likes to hear himself talk.

Start off slow.

1. Get rolling in first gear. While reeving up in first "preload" the gear leave with slight pressure of you left toe.
2. When you are ready to shift into the next higher gear, just a quick snap of the throttle backing it off and on again while maintaining that pressure with your toe. Bike should nicely jump into the next gear.
3. Repeat through the gears.

Going from 1st. to second required a bit more pressure and definitive action because you are not only going up a gear, you are going through the neutral position, so use the clutch there until you have mastered the action in a couple days.

Simple as that. Go forth and improve son

 

I skip gears all the time! Never had bike die on me. When getting on single lane highway from a side road hit first gear hard to 65 mph then shift up to sixth without letting clutch out till sixth no problem.

 

I never skip a gear on upshifting, just too much fun. I will skip a gear or two downshifting, but not up.

 

Does being shiftless count here too?

Anybody that says, "in a clutch" has to do better than that.

 

Ok. So, I guess it's something weird with my bike. Not good. The bike performs flawlessly otherwise. I'm not going to worry right now...

 

My only thought about the engine shut-off would be that maybe you bumped the kick stand, or the shut-off switch for the kick stand might not be working properly.
Other than that, I can't think of a mechanical reason why the engine would die when you are moving with the clutch "in".

I never really gave it much thought, I select gears based on load and speed, and really have not spent much mental energy thinking about the how of what it is that I am doing as far as shifting goes. Most of the time on the bike, my shifting is sequential, following the way most motorcycle gearboxes are designed, but again, without really thinking about it, when I need more revs, or fewer revs - I must be skipping gears sometimes when using the clutch, which I use much of the time, but not always. I am just about as comfortable shifting without the clutch as I am with it.

Years of racing cars and having to manage tire adhesion (avoiding wheel spin or skidding - unless I want it to happen) has made process of matching engine speed to road speed second nature (but a skill which needs to be practiced to stay proficient) for down shifting - as well as up-shifting.

I also know it is possible with some car transmissions (usually ones with an external linkage) that you can, when messing around, accidentally select 2 gears at once, and cause it to lock-up. I don't know if this is possible with the VFR's transmission, but if so, then Badbilly's example of possibly tragic consequences may be a concern.

Just some random thoughts on the whole matter - if it matters..... :wink:

 

Utube has some mightyfine examples of various styles of highsides. (google>Utube>motorcycle highsides) One at PIR is in the "bus stop" where the speeds even for Superbike are "relatively slow" is a good example.

Even Stoner gets tossed off in one, so can it happen to even the fast guys? Yep.


Don't miss the vid and narrative by the dude "Megadeath" who is a fucking idiot..