How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle Made Easy!

Now that you know how to start and stop your bike, we're going to focus on shifting. In this section, we will focus on both upshifting and downshifting. In order to be successful for this drill, the key objectives that we will cover are how to shift gears up and down in a smooth and refined manner, becoming familiar with and using the engine brake as a system to slow the bike down before applying front and rear brakes to come to a complete stop, using the throttle and friction zone for precise RPM management, and avoiding engine jerk because no one likes a jerk. And the key considerations for this drill include make sure you hit a speed of between 7 to 12 miles per hour. That should help with a clunky engine response when shifted in a second. Also, keep your head and eyes straight. Don't look at your tachymeter and try to learn the RPM and gears by sight. Learn to ride by feel and listen to your bike. Keep your head and eyes straight because target fixation is a real thing. And last but not least, when you downshift into first, slowly release the clutch to slow the bike down with engine brake, and then apply both front and rear brakes to come to a complete stop. For this drill, you will need six cones and a runway of about 150 to 200 feet. The drill that you will complete consists of a starting point, a shifting point, and an ending gate where you will come to a complete stop, just like you see on your screen. To set the drill up, create a starting gate with two cones that are spaced six feet apart. Walk from 100 to 150 feet to create a midpoint. This will be the point where you will already have your shifting complete. And then finally, another 50 to 100 feet for a ending gate, which is where you will come to a complete stop. Okay, step number one, moto heroes. I'm going to mount the bike. Give it that proper mount. Step number two, I'm going to turn on the bike. I'm going to verify neutral. I'm in first. I can either shift my bike into neutral, or I can stay in first. Just hold that clutch open if you're in first. Okay, I'm already ready to rock and roll. I'm going to get the bike started by slowly releasing the clutch into the friction zone while moving from a neutral throttle to a neutral throttle. Once I have enough speed, I'm going to shift up, open that clutch, shift up. Then I'm going to downshift. I'm going to come to a complete stop. That is how we start, shift, and stop the bike. So let's talk through that again. This drill is actually more simple than it looks. All you do is get on the bike, shift into first, and start the bike moving. Once the bike is moving, open the clutch. One full click, shift up in the second. Slowly release the clutch in second. When you're ready to downshift, open the clutch while rolling off the throttle. Downshift into first, slowly release the clutch. Let the engine brake do most of the work for you. When you're ready to stop, open the clutch and apply progressive braking procedures. When I downshift, I'm opening my clutch. I'm shifting one full click down. I'm slowly releasing that clutch into the friction zone while moving from a closed throttle to a neutral throttle. Let's do it again. Get the bike started, hit a good RPM, shift into second, pass my cones, downshift into first, use my appropriate braking procedures to stop at the cone gate. Very simple.