How To Shift a Motorcycle For Beginners

It's only three steps to shift. Close that clutch slowly while giving it some gas. We Gucci, baby. Open the clutch, kick up, close the clutch, and give it some gas. Release the throttle and open the clutch. I know this video is long overdue because I had a few of you request it. So, super simple. All we're gonna do is talk about how to shift the motorcycle today. Here is where we open and close the clutch to allow us to move our shifter. Right down here is where we're gonna shift our gears. One shift down is gonna get you in the first gear. One full shift up is gonna get you in the second gear. Another one into third, another shift up into fourth, another shift up into fifth and sixth. If you're in first gear, a half a shift up will put you in neutral. If you're in second gear, a half a shift down or a half a click will get you in the neutral. Open the clutch while releasing the throttle at the same time. That's step one. Step two, I wanna move my foot in the direction that I wanna shift. So, if I wanna shift up, my foot's gonna pull up. If I wanna shift down, my foot's gonna push down. Step three, close the clutch while simultaneously giving it some gas. It's super easy. Three steps, bro. Three steps, sis, because I know we got some women that be watching this channel. It's it, it's a three-step process. Step one, release the throttle and open the clutch. Boom. Step two, pull up because I'm shifting up. Step three, give it some gas while releasing that clutch. Three steps, watch this. Wanna shift up? Step one, release that throttle, open that clutch. Boom, pull up on step two. Boom, you know what I'm saying? Close that throttle while giving it some gas on step three. Man, we rocking and rolling, baby. We rocking and rolling. All right, so we wanna downshift. Same three-step process. Step number one, step number one, we're gonna open that clutch while releasing that throttle. Here we go, boom. Step two, push down because we're shifting down. Step three, give it some gas while slowly releasing that clutch. Super easy, right? Super easy, let's do it again. We wanna downshift. Step one, release that throttle, open that clutch. Boom. Step number two, push down because we're shifting down. Step number three, release that throttle while slowly giving it some gas. Super, super easy. So that's all it takes. That's all it takes. Let's do that one more time. I wanna downshift. Step number one, release that throttle, open that clutch. Boom. Step number two, push your foot down because we're shifting down. Step number three, give it some gas while slowly releasing that throttle. I mean, slowly releasing that clutch. Let's try that again. Super easy, super easy. We're gonna downshift. Step number one, open the clutch while releasing the throttle. Step number two, push the foot down because we're shifting down. Step number three, give it a little bit of gas while slowly releasing that clutch. That's it. It's easy. That's all it takes. When I'm riding the bike, what I'm looking to do, you know, when it comes to shifting is, I'm gonna squeeze my clutch in. That opens up my clutch. Then I'm gonna push my foot down. That's gonna get me in the first. I slowly release that clutch while giving it some gas. That gets my bike going. When I'm ready to shift in the second, all I'm gonna do is release the throttle with the right hand while simultaneously opening up the clutch with the left hand. I'm gonna take my foot and I'm gonna shift up. Boom, just like that. That's gonna throw me in the second. And it's just the same thing for third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. Same thing when you're going down. All you're gonna do is open up that clutch while releasing that throttle. You're gonna shift down. Then you're gonna slowly release that clutch while giving it some gas. SoCal Rider B, how do I know when to shift? Should I shift at 3,000 RPM, 4,000 RPM, or 7,000 RPM? And the answer is twofold. One, it depends on your bike. Two, it depends on where you're riding and what you're doing during that riding. So for example, for me, on this bike, I got a eco mode, right? So if I wanna get the best gas mileage, I'm usually shifting around 4,000 RPM. You see what I'm saying? If I wanna maintain more power because I'm around other cars and I wanna have that power to maneuver, then I'm shifting probably around 7,000, 8,000 RPM because I'm trying to keep that gas, you know what I'm saying? I'm trying to keep that power. So right now, bike's in neutral. To get it in first, I'm gonna squeeze, push down, give it a little bit of gas, slowly release. Now we're on our way. If I wanna shift up, release the throttle and open the clutch, kick up, close the clutch and give it some gas. Same thing. Wanna go up to third, release the throttle and open the clutch, kick up, slowly open the throttle while giving it some gas. Wanna go up to fourth, release the throttle and open the clutch, kick up, slowly release the throttle while giving it some gas. Wanna go up to fifth, release the throttle, open the clutch, kick up, slowly release the clutch while giving it some gas. Let's go down, close the throttle, release the clutch, kick down, give it some gas and slowly close the clutch. If I wanna jump from fourth to first, as I'm braking, open the clutch, kick, kick, kick, now we're down in one. All right, let's go. Wanna shift up, release the throttle, open the clutch, kick up, slowly give it some gas while releasing the throttle. I messed that one up, that was what I said. Let's do it again. Wanna go to third, release the throttle, open the clutch, kick up, slowly release the clutch while giving it some gas. Wanna go to fourth, release the throttle, open the clutch, kick up, slowly close the throttle, sorry, slowly close the clutch while giving it some gas. If I wanna go down, release the throttle, open the clutch, kick down, slowly close the clutch while giving it some gas. If I wanna go down to third, I'm sorry, if I wanna go down to second, release the throttle, open the clutch, kick down, give it some gas while slowly closing the throttle. Now, when you're downshifting, there are some guys that what they'll do is they'll rev match because you'll notice that when I shift down, the RPMs are going higher than where they were in the gear before, right? So what some guys will do is they'll do this. So notice how I'm in 4,000 RPM at third gear, at 29 miles. If I go down to second, at that same speed, my RPMs is higher, right? So what some guys will do when they're going down is they'll shift down and throttle blip. Now, I'm not that good at that, I don't do that. I don't do that often, maybe I'll get good at it, but I guess it's something you can try if you really want to. But yeah, that's good, super simple, super easy how you shift. If I wanna go down, I release that throttle, open the clutch, kick down, slowly close the clutch while giving it some gas. Same thing, if I wanna go down to first, I will let go of the throttle, open the clutch, kick down, give it a little bit of gas while slowly releasing the clutch. That's it, man. That's how you shift, super easy. Now that's the city speed. Sorry, that's a back road speed. So let's ride in the street. I'm not gonna really talk through this because I'm gonna focus, but I want you to just pay attention to my hands, think through what I'm doing, and I'll show you how it works when you're on the street, you know, super simple. So let's just do that really quick. So see, I'm in the city right now. I'm riding in sixth gear around 5,000 RPM. The way I like to shift is if I know that I'm gonna come up between traffic or I'm about to lane split, then I'll downshift, you know, and get more RPMs. But like for this stoplight right here, all I'm doing is, the way I do it is, notice how many gears I drop before I close the clutch. And you'll do that, you know, as you get a feel for your bike and how your bike works, you'll know where you wanna be in the gear range. But this is easy, watch. Release the throttle, open the clutch, kick up, close the clutch while giving it some gas. Easy. Easy, easy, easy.