the noobiness in us 250 riders

[Revelations]

Well im about 3 weeks into my RE licence and still, on the odd occasion, find nutral when trying to click into 2nd. I have no freakin idea why. Just everynow and again I will change it up and i musnt do it hard enough or im doing something wrong coz on those occasions, i will find nutral and it will rev its tits off because im thinking i would have grabbed 2nd ok. Now it doesnt happen all the time, but its something i still am yet to iron out. Any other 250 riders (probably newish ones) that have things to iron out in their riding skills?

[Jedi]

Try moving your foot a bit just to put pressure on the lever before you actually make the change, it will increase your feel and generally make it a more positive shift.

[Bendito]

try adjusting your shift lever down a little

[chief wiggum]

you've got a gay left foot



it's no biggy, i still do it after 18 years. you'll get used to it and give more positive pressure on the shifter one day.

[Fozzy]

Yeah i would move your lever 1 notch down on the spline.

[modoc]

Yeah, i got my licence last Thurs and thought i'd try my hand at a run to York. The run itself was great although i was absolutley crapping myself having to do 110km...never been above 80km up until that point. So nearing the end of the run i had cramps in my hands from gripping too tightly and a neck/shoulder pains from being too tense. Hoping the feeling of impending doom goes quickly as i get some more experience under my belt...

[evilmart]

yeah, I have had my lisence for about 6 weeks, and bike for about 4.. still do it on occasion...but almost never did it on the instructors bike

I have found it happens less in my black boots I wear to work... go figure

probably is lever positioning from what has been said above...

another newb thing I found myself doing today is holding on in 4th, not wanting to come off throttle to change up.. got to break that new habit

<Modoc>: I found the first run to Toodyay did that to me, but commuting the next week I fel alot more confident on the bike, dealing with the wind was my bugbear, and so the wet weather is not as much of a worry since that run

100th post! wooo :-)

[thro]

What jedi said - changing gear on a bike is a little different to on a car.

On a car its:

Press clutch
move lever
release clutch

On a bike, its more like
pre-load gear lever
flick clutch/drop revs slightly
wait for it to pop into gear
release gear lever (only once the next gear has clicked in)


If you change gear on a bike like you do on a car, it will "work" (normally, anyway), but the way the gearbox works, its better if your technique is slightly different - its impossible to hold pressure on the lever for too long (it will only go up/down one gear at a time), but (particularly with 1-2 as you've discovered) if you don't hold it long enough, you'll miss gears.

[modoc]

Yes!! I felt like i was gonna be blown into the next state at any given second!! Although, i couldn't quite make up my mind weather it was the wind or just the noise of it blowing through the helmet...May try plugs next time. It was interesting riding in the fog too...funnily enough, right where it began to hit 110km

[evilmart]

so if the gear seems to take longer than usual to 'click-in' I have done something wrong then?

[thro]

Originally Posted by evilmart

so if the gear seems to take longer than usual to 'click-in' I have done something wrong then?

Hmmm...

Maybe didn't use the clutch/drop throttle enough...


Basically, it won't want to deselect the previous gear and select the next gear while the gears are "loaded"


Also, if you're riding the bike like too much of a pussy and running the revs way too low, the bike may not want to go into gear either, because when you're unloading the gearbox you're losing too much momentum (for lack of a better description) and the gear speeds aren't matching...

Not going to get into how a gearbox works, but you'll find that can be harder to change up gears when riding like a sissy really low in the rev range.. this is why.


Could also be that your clutch/lever/throttle timing is a bit off....

[Revelations]

i tend to rev mine till its screaming on the blade- anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000...if im feeling adventerous ill near redline, but hardly never. It seems when i rev to about 8,000rpm in 1st and then change into 2nd its ok. Rev its head off then change to 2nd it doesnt seem to like- well, the newb in me seems to find nutral instead.
But alas when i bought the bike i havent changed any of the levers. I will move the gear lever down a bit and pre-load somewhat as thro suggested and see how i go. Its freakin embarrassing on a 250 with a ballistic pipe which demands attention. Sometimes i hit nutral and just shake my head at myself and hope no serious bike nuts saw/heard me do it. And im sure they have. Ah well. Could be worse, could have dropped it...touch wood

[thro]

12,000rpm on that bike is nothing, you should be able to rev it out until at least 17,000 (indicated) or more, as I'm pretty sure thats about where peak power is on it...

But yeah if the gear lever is too high it will make it tricky to apply enough force as the lever moves upwards.

[Stoneville]

meh don't worry, I still hit neutral on the gixxer (though I ain't revving it's tits off ), as others have said, a little more pressure on the gear lever before the change. Do you have to 'reach' for the lever or is it set right for you?

[evilmart]

I should have clarified, the slow change is only changing down...

before her 1000k service, she was horrible changing down... I would really have to almost kick her in, sometimes pump the clutch and blip the throttle...

she doesn't take ages changing up, so I guess.. it could still be my clutch work

it could be the angle my foot is on also, maybe I am not being (how do i put it) decisive enough?

[thro]

^^ ahh brand new bike?

gearbox could still be bedding itself in, and yes fresh oil will help.

My 600rr gearbox has only really loosened up in the last 10,000km or so (23k on the clock).. to start with it was a bit "notchier"...

[Rix 675]

I take it by your avatar that you have a VTR250. As do I, and I have also experienced the 'neutral' instead of 2nd gear phenomenon.

As others have mentioned, you might like to pre-load the gear lever before a change. You might also like to change at higher revs for a better 'meshing'. If your changes are better with your work boots on, this may indicate that in normal shoes the lever is further away from your foot, thus you have to 'reach' for the lever to make the change. You could lower the lever, depending upon what shoe you do most of your riding in, or you could just be aware of the shoes you have on and make the mental adjustment for the extra gap. I can't ride my VTR with my workboots on, but they are perfect for riding the 675.

It still happens to me occasionally, and I guess the more I ride, the less it will happen.

[Drach]

I still kick it into neutral occasionally after 18 months riding, so it still happens. I find that sometimes you really need to push the gear level just to make sure it gets past the neutral and into 2nd.

+1 for Bendito's suggestion of lowering the level a bit

[evilmart]

yeah, I ride in my old army boots.. the blacks I wear every workday, so more often, and of course I have less problems with it...

yeah, new bike... the gearbox was really bad before first service..much better now, so hopefully she will continue to improve...

the 4th to 5th upshift is usually as she is getting near 8-9k in revs and is trying to powerband me off (such as it is.. LOL).. I just need more practice to get used to it I think

[Dirty Sandchairs]

Originally Posted by Revelations

Its freakin embarrassing on a 250 with a ballistic pipe which demands attention. Sometimes i hit nutral and just shake my head at myself and hope no serious bike nuts saw/heard me do it. And im sure they have. Ah well. Could be worse, could have dropped it...touch wood

I feel your pain

I used to do exactly that when the ballistic pipe was on and I hit neutral.