Triumphrat

TommyTFC

I'm finding that with my 1050 I often shift up two gears at a time. The engine handles it well and it saves a lot of clutching. Now I've added starting out in second gear. Any of you blokes do that?

(I don't really say "bloke". I'm from Iowa.)

Cburt

No, not really. I'll short shift sometimes when traffic is loafing along.
Non of the blokes I know do it either.

CSAW

I downshift two at a time sometimes when conditions warrant. But never take off in second on purpose. I also don't skip gears, part of the fun of riding a bike is shifting IMHO. I ride an 800 though.

OHjim

I go back and forth between skipping a gear and hitting them all. Kind of depends on my mood. I think it shifts better when I hit all gears, but could be my imagination. I read somewhere where a guy didn't use the clutch when shifting (after 1st) to save wear and tear on his clutch. Tried that too. Not sure I'm fond of that technique. Probably costs more to replace some gears than a clutch cable. . . . .

Tiger-G

There's two recognised ways to change gear on a bike - "sequential" and "block" changing.

Sequential is the obvious one that we all do. You are always in the correct gear for the speed and load on the bike. It helps with engine braking and saves wear on the brakes.

Block changing is usually only done when changing down. You lose all your speed on the brakes, pull in the clutch and block change down a few gears in one go to the correct gear for your speed. I've never heard of anyone block changing up the box. You would have thought it would put more strain on the engine and internals.

__________________
Safe riding.
Regards,
Graeme.

OHjim

I suppose it could if you are getting on it. For me, when I do it, I am not in any hurry, merrily rolling along as it were. So, I think (hope) I'm not straining anything. It seems to me that if I were to crack the throttle wide open every start, that would be a lot more stress than block changing.

When downshifting, do you use engine speed to slow or braking? I tend to downshift to slow, thinking I'm saving my brakes. But, I wonder if it's better in the long run to use the brakes as they are cheaper to replace. Thoughts?

Tiger-G

Good question about shifting down using the clutch only ??

Anyone had to change a clutch in a Tiger, and if so, how many miles did it have on it ??

__________________
Safe riding.
Regards,
Graeme.

eigenvector

With 6 gears I don't find downshifting does much for speed reduction. I will admit that I probably lug my engine more than others here - so perhaps my issues stems from not having much RPM to start with.

EsEmDee

OHjim: I have always found myself thinking that using the transmission to slow a vehicle down would eventually wear down the clutch components and/or the transmission itself.......I have had this thought in manual transmission cars and now I think about it on my Tiger 1050.........logic tells me that I would rather pay to replace brake pads at (guessing) $75 per wheel every 10K or so than have to pay (wild guess here) $500 for a clutch replacement and who knows how much for actual transmission work/replacement.

Any of you Senior Members/Triumph Experts care to chime in here?

I would love to get some detailed opinions/life experiences on this topic..........if I don't hear anything in this thread - I will start a new thread dedicated solely to this question.

IN A NUTSHELL THE QUESTION IS: Better to slow the bike with downshifting or use the brakes and then shift down however many gears to get to Neutral or 1st?

Thanks - SMD

triplestrength

I downshift and use the brakes (front mainly)
Reason:- I'm ALWAYS in the right gear, I may need to accelerate so being in the right gear is important.
Never had a worn out cluch or gears in 36years years of riding, and never been caught out in the wrong gear.
If you match revs when you change down the the stresses on the gearbox/cluch are reduced. And it sounds good too.

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