Survival Skills Rider Training

[BaZa ®]

July 12, 2008

Sequential or Block Shifting?

Filed under: Learning to ride, Machine Control, Progress, What's New? — survivalskills @ 7:38 am

This is one I’ve definitely done before, but for some reason can’t find it. So as it came up again recently, I thought I’d quickly go over some of the pros and cons again.
This question usually arises with either a new rider or a returning rider, who wants to know if they should slow down in one gear, as is taught in modern car training, only selecting the low gear when stopped or sufficiently slowed, or whether they should go down the gears one at a time.
The answer is slightly complicated by the fact that a motorcycle gearbox is sequential - you have to select each gear in turn, up or down the box, unlike a car gearbox where it’s mechanically possible to go from top to first or vice versa.
For a new rider, or someone just getting used to riding again, I’d recommend you shift each gear then release the clutch (slowly for a smooth change!), because it helps you feel exactly how the engine is working, and avoids sudden deceleration loads on the rear tyre.
If you hold the clutch in and shift more than one gear at a time, it’s easy to lose count and go down too many gears and when you do finally let the clutch out, you’ll find the engine braking is far too harsh and the revs go sky high, and you’re not in the right gear to drive away from the hazard.
It’s also easy to shift to first by accident too (after a while, you’ll feel the distinctively different shift into 1st) and then when you let the clutch out a bit quick, the bike will stop almost dead or you’ll skid the rear.
Furthermore, most bikes are generally reluctant to keep shifting without letting the clutch out a bit to spin the gearbox internals over. If you don’t let the clutch out to “feel” what the engine is doing, it’s possible for the box to stick and then you end up in a higher gear than the one you thought you were in after several taps on the lever, so you don’t have any drive when you need it.
Going down a gear at a time and letting the clutch out avoids this.
When you get a bit more time on the bike, you’ll have more feel for it, and you’ll probably find yourself doing some block shifting. Personally, I prefer to have the bike in a gear that it can drive in most of the time - sometimes the situation can change and you NEED that acceleration - so I don’t often block change more than a couple of gears.