Question about how to slow down/stop a GS.

[Anonymous]

How exactly am I supposed to slow down for turns, or come to a stop? I mean, am I supposed to always disengage the clutch before applying the brakes, or is it okay to switch down gear after gear, letting the engine help slow the bike down until the bike is nearly stopped, and then disengage the clutch? .....If someone could just give me a quick briefing on how and when to use a clutch, that would be alota help.

[snowbeard]

ha! almost forgot to preface this with "go take the motorcycle safety course, you'll be glad you did" :P


not sure how far from riding you're asking this, but I'll give a little info. you can use your brakes without pulling the clutch to slow down for turns, etc. you might want to use the clutch to shift down if you're going to slow enough to need it (before you enter the turn you should be slowed down enough to make the turn and then some, as you want to be accelerating slightly as you come out of the turn.)
I use the clutch to change gears all the time, just to save wear on the engine/clutch basket etc.

and always pull the clutch when you come to a stop

I'm sure someone else has even more to say!! good luck!

[skreemer]

either way works, it's mainly what your comfortable with. I am new to vehicles with manual transmissions. So when I pull up to a stop light I squeeze in the clutch and ring all the way down to 1st as I'm applying the brakes. On days I have alot of confidence and plenty of room I'll go down gear by gear letting the engine slow me up and then just lightly apply the front brake to stop. As for turns just let off the throttle a little... if you are still going too fast for comfort apply the brake gently. BE WARNED: apply the brake before the turn not while you are in it. If you make sudden or "unsmooth" changes in speed during a turn especially if you are leaning at all you will make the bike become unstable.


Oh yeah.. go take an MSF course. It's a heck of a way to spend a weekend and is greatly helpful in answering these types of questions.

[HiSPL]

Get thee to an MSF course.....


Other than that, I use engine braking almost every time I come to a stop. It doesn't hurt anything at all. Just be sure to use less (or no) rear brake than normal. If you have the rear brake on and downshift, you could break the rear end loose and slide for a little bit. That doesn't hurt anything either, but could put a stain in your pants if your not used to it!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help. My bike before this one was a 2 stroke, so it had no engine braking at all. So when I got this bike it felt weird when I let off the throttle and I could feel the engine tugging like that. I wasn't sure if it was bad for it or not.

[Dink]

My first bike was also a two-stroke I near shat first time I really tried to stop a four stroke 8O I locked up the back end, it was waving allover the road then again I fairly quickly worked out you can not just bang it down three gears appraoching a corner, unlike a two stroke.
Nowadays I ride big bore four strokes and would probably scare the heck out of myself on a two-stroke. Mind you it is an experience I have been very tempted to try.
Dink
Maybe I should add an RG500 to the "wish list" as well???

[Clone]

Depending on the corner, I often let compression slow me down into my comfort zone for corners, I rarely need to brake or downshift, most of the roads I drive have high speed gradual corners. Stuff with sharp 90s or a lot of switch backs really limit my speed anyway. I don't do a lot of clutch braking. I always figured brakeshoes are cheaper and easier to replace than a clutch.

[Anonymous]

TAKE AN MSF course!!!!!!!

Take an MSF course.

You will learn many life saving lessons.

Like counter steering, escape paths, keeping it in gear, avoiding obstructions, how to use your FRONT brake, cornering, STOPING in a corner, ........... and on and on and on.

Years from now when you are still alive and have turned many neer misses into well handled expieriences you'll be glad you took the course.

I have even avoided accidents in my car since the course.

EX: I was making a left turn and watching out behind me for drivers who might not notice me stoped in the lane. As a lady comes over the hill and is not paying attention I gun it through the turn to avoid beeing rear ended. As she slides side ways past the point where I would have been if I had not learned to watch my mirrors in the MSF course I thank god that my three kids did not have the expierience of getting smashed from behind.

This same habbit has saved me on a couple other occasions as well.

[oldschoolGS]

Try engine braking on a big twin like the TL going into a corner-next thing you know you are riding on the tank.
Engine braking is good if you are going downhill and in danger of overheating your brakes, but why for everyday use? Brake pads are much cheaper to replace than engine components.
My technique is to engauge the clutch and downshift to the appropiate gear for the drive while using the front brake to slow. Before turning come off the brakes and crack open the throttle-which unloads the front end and improves corning clearance-and use power to drive thru the turn. Works on any bike regardless of size or engine configuration. Ride On or should I say Drive On, Ed.
1983 GS750ED (roadworthy Spring 2005)

[Anonymous]

Whenever I see that a stop is coming, I just remove my feet off the footpegs, lower them to the ground, and start grinding away. Funny, my tires far outlast my boots!

Hell, that's the way I slowed down my tricycle way back in the 50's. Why should a motorcycle be any different?

Nick

[dwarf8]

I use the gears to slow down so much I don't think of it any more so I had to run the process through my head.
I apply the front brakes slightly and use the compression to do almost all the braking when I'm riding. I also use the gears for speed modulation into and through corners.
I use rear brake and gears on gravel roads.

[Hap Call]

Whenever I see that a stop is coming, I just remove my feet off the footpegs, lower them to the ground, and start grinding away. Funny, my tires far outlast my boots!

Hell, that's the way I slowed down my tricycle way back in the 50's. Why should a motorcycle be any different?

Nick

I normally just throw out an anchor...

AAARRRGGGG....there be a fair wind blowin' today!!!

Hap the Pirate

[Don Lobacz]

The original owner's manual actually instructs you to downshift through each gear. Engine braking lessens the wear on the brakes, as well as the bike being in a gear ready to accellerate if needed. Each gear drops smoothly and cleanly into the next as you downshift, whereas waiting till stopped can get the gears caught between shifts. This can result in a frantic banging on the shifter (when the semi behind you starts to move) and this has a good chance of bending forks.

[chuckycheese]

Brakes

I use compression, mostly, and sometimes hardly use my brakes at all.

Another option is to put both feet on the pavement and holler "WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA".

[Anonymous]

I use the engine and the gears to control my speed most of the time. I try to have it in the right gear and at the right RPM for whatever the road and conditions dictate. I would go up a 35 MPH hill in 3rd, and go down it in 4th. I try to be in the gear I will need in the corner before I enter the corner because changing gears in a corner can change the handling more than I'd like. It is amazing how quickly the bikes can slow down just using the engine and gears. I also down shift while approaching a stop as would be best for the engine and bike speed. In other words, I don't try to put it into 1st at 30 MPH, but rather at about 5 MPH--just before I come to a full stop--because it's easier to get it into gear while the bike is moving. I also always try to be ready to go forward rapidly, just in case the vehicle behind me wants to stop in the spot on the road where I happen to be.

I think it's important to be very aware of both the road in front of you as well as the road behind. Bikes both accelerate and decelerate in much shorter distances than a car. Ever hit the throttle and suddenly realize you're running out of space between you and the car in front of you? I think distance means safety.

A rider was killed here last year. He was out in front of a car on a two-lane road. A driver two cars back decided to pass and merged into the back of the bike. Watching your mirrors and being able to accelerate in a hurry can make a difference.

I think bikes, by themselves, are perhaps safer than cars. Bikers tend to pay closer attention to the road and bikes have much greater stopping and acceleration than a car, giving the rider more options than the car driver.