Down shifting to neutral at high speed

[Ny0ng1]

Let say you are running around 80kmph at 6th gear. Then for whatever reason (red light ahead, want to both-hands-off, etc) you want to go down to neutral. So you pull in the clutch and start down shifting all the way to neutral.

 

now the question are:

1. is it safe to do so to the clutch/gearbox?

2. i used to do this very often back then using my 200cc honda (cbx twister style) which i purchased from new. its not giving me any problem with this, except a slightly loud knocking noise when i reach the 3rd or 2nd gear. slightly only. after 2nd gear then its neutral ofcourse.

However, on my recently acquired 2nd hand cbr150r, its very hard to do this. i get a very loud noise even when i downshift to 5th gear. it gets louder as you go lower.

is this normal?

 

other things to note:

- just found that my chain is loose/slack, any effect?

- now its getting hard to get in to neutral when its stationary. always overshoot from 2nd to 1st or 1st to 2nd.

 

any insight into this? if i need to bring to a workshop, any shop to recommend?

 

thank you in advance guys

[HONG]

It is not safe to slow down in neutral gear....u might self skidded or won't stop in time... especially during e-braking. Make it a habit to use ur engine brake by lowering ur gear one after another as ur speed decreases and applying the brakes. No harm to the engine... and of cos... depressing the clutch the whole time when slowing down at high speed is not advisable too.

 

For getting to neutral when stationary, if u have difficulties, try to throttle a bit b4 u engage to neutral. Might be easier. I dunno why, but most 2b bikes are like that. Bigger cc bikes oso have the same problem.

[Ny0ng1]

Yeah, im fully aware about the danger of free rolling without any engine braking effect, thx for the reminder. Just that i find its not right that i 'cant' do it smoothly on this bike like i did to my old bike. Afraid that something is wrong with it, as its really giving a loud sound when downshifting.

[project.d]

Originally posted by Ny0ng1@April 18, 2007 01:02 am

Yeah, im fully aware about the danger of free rolling without any engine braking effect, thx for the reminder. Just that i find its not right that i 'cant' do it smoothly on this bike like i did to my old bike. Afraid that something is wrong with it, as its really giving a loud sound when downshifting.

ur going to crush ur gear box bro just pull in th break and don care about the gear when u cum to fully stop then you star to drop ur gear..

[PegScraper]

Downshifting like that at high speeds will screw up your gearbox... If you value your bike, you should not probably do it...

[Strong Eagle]

Motorcycle transmissions are not like car transmissions. In car transmissions any gear not engaged does not turn... it uses a synchronizer (a ring which fits inside another) to bring the gear up to speed when you shift.

 

In a motorcycle transmission, all gears are always turning, that is the gears on the input shaft are always connected to the gears on the output shaft. A dog clutch (basically something that looks like a bunch of screwdriver tips) gets pushed into the gear when you shift.

 

I can't really see why this would hurt anything. If you have the clutch pulled, the output shaft is disconnected from the rear wheel. The transmission will be rotating at engine speed. Downshifting will simply cause the shaft to rotate at slower and slower speeds until you hit neutral.

 

The only thing that might make a difference is that it is sometimes useful to release the clutch between shifts to insure that the dog clutch is fully engaged. In neutral, the dogs are in between gears.

[EvilGixxer]

Downshifting all the way to neutral at high speed wun destroy the gearbox... Only if u downshift to like gear 2 or gear 1 doing this will prolly throw u off the bike and wreak your gears... But why in the world would u want to do that? Being in neutral while travelling will cause the bike to go faster. This will increase the chance that you might not stop in time. To use this method at 80km/h is crazy unless u are quite far from the traffic lite. Better stick with the method they teach u in the driving schools drop a gear each time and let the engine brake slow u down... Ride safe!

[Strong Eagle]

Originally posted by genez@April 18, 2007 09:47 am

Downshifting all the way to neutral at high speed wun destroy the gearbox... Only if u downshift to like gear 2 or gear 1 doing this will prolly throw u off the bike and wreak your gears... But why in the world would u want to do that? Being in neutral while travelling will cause the bike to go faster. This will increase the chance that you might not stop in time. To use this method at 80km/h is crazy unless u are quite far from the traffic lite. Better stick with the method they teach u in the driving schools drop a gear each time and let the engine brake slow u down... Ride safe!

Yes, I agree. I am not sure why you would want to do it. Just hold the clutch in if you want to coast along.

 

One exception: I was coming down a very long mountain pass in Vietnam... about 30 kilomteres of downhill. Switched the motor off, shifted into neutral, and coasted all the way down hill... lots of fun.

[lionfuR-]

Originally posted by Ny0ng1@April 18, 2007 01:02 am

Yeah, im fully aware about the danger of free rolling without any engine braking effect, thx for the reminder. Just that i find its not right that i 'cant' do it smoothly on this bike like i did to my old bike. Afraid that something is wrong with it, as its really giving a loud sound when downshifting.

loud sound as in engine sound?

i think you might have to brake more before downshifting the gear, if you juz change gear without slowing down there will be a loud engine sound.

 

learn to use engine braking, its useful..

[jkaiser]

Originally posted by Strong Eagle@April 18, 2007 10:09 am

Yes, I agree. I am not sure why you would want to do it. Just hold the clutch in if you want to coast along.

 

One exception: I was coming down a very long mountain pass in Vietnam... about 30 kilomteres of downhill. Switched the motor off, shifted into neutral, and coasted all the way down hill... lots of fun.

wah that one quite extreme...

 

i do the clutch in routine when i'm on AYE going into tuas 2nd link...running out of petrol..all the flyovers..once i reach the top, i clutch in n just roll down... but b4 release clutch, have to rev up to to match engine revs with wheel rev

[Ny0ng1]

haha thanks for all the concern guys

that dog clutch and car sync system sounds interesting, going to google and find the graphical explanation/ilustration of that for sure!

 

anyway, i did that downshifting alot back then in indonesia. The road going to my house is a very long empty stretch of road. I like to just speed up in the beginning, then goes to neutral, then hands off!! hahahha, childish huh.

 

did it alot whenver i feel like stretching or relaxing both my hands on a long ride.

[Ny0ng1]

oh update today: i found that my clutch lever slack was too much, ard 30-40mm. adjusted it to aroundd 10mm and the shifting and going neutral at stationary is much better now. silly me, never check this

[RadBaron]

Originally posted by jkaiser@April 18, 2007 01:03 pm

wah that one quite extreme...

 

i do the clutch in routine when i'm on AYE going into tuas 2nd link...running out of petrol..all the flyovers..once i reach the top, i clutch in n just roll down... but b4 release clutch, have to rev up to to match engine revs with wheel rev

Thats quite a tight judgement on the amount of petrol left. You might just run out of fuel before you reach GP esso one day. Imagine the amount of pushing

[ahcongie]

the lowering of the gear from high speed.. making noise is u doing an engine braking..