Missing a downshift?

[chickenfried]

New rider, need help recognizing what I'm doing wrong. When tooling around the neighborhood I'm in second gear. Sometimes when I think I downshifted to first coming to a stop turns out I'm still in second when I take off. Takes me a couple of more stops to figure out why I need to give more throttle taking off to keep from stalling . I'm not shifting into neutral. feels like any other downshift. Any ideas for figuring out what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for the help

 

[Whammy]

Practice downshifting completely,or better yet start downshifting sooner and get to neutral before you come to a stop.
When you get the stop you should be in neutral.
Does your bike have neutral indicator?
It takes practice to go up and down the gears.
Talk yourself through it when you are riding.

 

[Aware]

Hmmm. Coasting to a stop in neutral would fail your test in the UK. The instruction is to come to a halt in 2nd or first, then select neutral after you stop if you are halting for more than a couple of seconds (e.g. stop light vs stop sign).

OP if you are just driving around in 2nd, buy an automatic. Otherwise learn to play tunes on your gearbox like a pro, then you will have way more fun.

Also, it doesn't hurt to prod the shifter a time or two once you stop to be certain you are in 1st, or neutral, depending on which you need.

 

[Slow Goat]

Most bikes have a Neutral that is easy to skip when slowing & shifting down. Use the clutch, tap down a gear, clutch and downshift again until you’re bottomed out in 1st gear. Once stopped, clutch in and lift the gear lever up. The trans should stop in Neutral. Even those without gear indicators usually have a green Neutral light.

Practice makes perfect (or close enough to it) as they say.

 

[chickenfried]

I'm in 2nd going around the neighborhood, <30mph.

the neutral vs. 1st at stop is a debate for you experienced riders to hash out. First gear is what I learned...

What's confusing to me is I thought missing a downshift I would end up in neutral like when I miss an upshift. But I'm not ending up in neutral. It feels like a normal downshift. But it's like nothing happened, I'm still in second gear. Maybe I was really in third gear :laughing

Hopefully even without knowing exactly what I'm doing wrong it goes away with practice. and I'll give it an extra prod.

Hmmm. Coasting to a stop in neutral would fail your test in the UK. The instruction is to come to a halt in 2nd or first, then select neutral after you stop if you are halting for more than a couple of seconds (e.g. stop light vs stop sign).

OP if you are just driving around in 2nd, buy an automatic. Otherwise learn to play tunes on your gearbox like a pro, then you will have way more fun.

Also, it doesn't hurt to prod the shifter a time or two once you stop to be certain you are in 1st, or neutral, depending on which you need.

 

[Enchanter]

You are either simply forgetting to downshift, or not pressing hard enough. Either way, it's an easy fix.

When stopping, think of it this way:
Both hands in (front brake and clutch)
Both feet down (rear brake and downshift)

As you are stopping, squeeze the clutch and downshift multiple times. I've been riding 30+ years and still downshift in this manner many times during a ride.

 

[LectricBill]

If you arrive at the light, still in second gear, I'd guess you're just not stomping the shifter decisively enough. Enchanter's "multiple times" can also be helpful, but I'll bet your downshift foot movement is still too timid. Stomp it like you mean it and see what happens.

If these methods don't improve things for you, maybe have a mechanic look at the shift linkage's adjustment, and/or shift lever placement with regard to your boot.

 

[Aware]

I'm in 2nd going around the neighborhood, <30mph.

Bikes vary, but every Honda I have owned in 30 years will happily pull 25mph in top. Your CB500 should too.

 

[Whammy]

Awareness as to what gear you are in helps you know what you need to do.
Count the shifts, remember what gear you are in. (not all bikes have the fancy gear indicator)
What happens over in the UK doesn't matter over here. I highly doubt the OP wants to go the the UK, and ride a bike over there anytime soon.
Besides you all drive on the wrong side of the road anyway.
Lets just leave it at that.

Practice OP practice!

 

[Aware]

Awareness as to what gear you are in helps you know what you need to do.
Count the shifts, remember what gear you are in. (not all bikes have the fancy gear indicator)
What happens over in the UK doesn't matter over here. I highly doubt the OP wants to go the the UK, and ride a bike over there anytime soon.
Besides you all drive on the wrong side of the road anyway.
Lets just leave it at that.

Practice OP practice!

Wow. Great riding advice. Happy new year.

 

[chickenfried]

Maybe it can. But don't see the point, it's happy in second. Going from 1st to 6th gear then back down, block to block, stop sign to stop sign at low speed seems pretty silly.

thanks for the advice guys guess it's just practice, practice, practice. It'll sort itself out

Bikes vary, but every Honda I have owned in 30 years will happily pull 25mph in top. Your CB500 should too.

 

[Rumbo Sur]

If these methods don't improve things for you, maybe have a mechanic look at the shift linkage's adjustment, and/or shift lever placement with regard to your boot.

This is what I thought of too. Have a mechanic ride it and look at shift lever and linkage and check it. :thumbup (5 minutes to do)

Often the shift lever or linkage loosens up over time ... will make for sloppy shifting and missed shifts. Or sometimes lever is contacting side case preventing full lever movement and missed shift.

If shift lever is loose (happens from falling over and bending it multiple times) it can be adjusted and tightened up. Also should be adjusted to suit your Boot size.

Rear brake lever can be adjusted too for perfect engagement point.

Ask your mechanic about ALL this stuff.

As mentioned, get out of your neighborhood and start using your gear box.
Go all the way UP and all the way back down. Blip throttle with each down shift ...and PRELOAD the lever on upshifts.

And as mentioned ... Practice Practice Practice. It's really not at all hard.

 

[Chris12]

You could always just buy an aftermarket gear indicator.

Red Universal Digital Gear Indicator for Motorcycle New https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/320907030237

 

[stangmx13]

- its very ez to check if you are in 1st while stopped. the lever just doesn't shift down again. theres a hard stop. do a check while stopped so theres no question what gear u are in.

- a lot of moto gearboxes shift better with only partial clutch disengagement. really, the only time u should be pulling the clutch lever all the way to the bar is at a stop. all other shifts need far less clutch lever movement. some bikes like 25% disengagement, others need 50%, etc. experiment. u aren't driving a car.

- a lot of moto gearboxes shift better while the bike is rolling. if u wait to shift while stopped, you'll need to press the lever harder and/or farther to get positive shifts. sometimes it helps if u slip the clutch a tiny bit to get a positive shift. this can help u find neutral as well.

- bikes generally have a sweet spot in the rpm range for cruising. I really doubt 2nd gear @ 25-30mph is one of them for your bike. the throttle response is probably jerky and I wouldn't be surprised if u were having a hard time controlling it. 3rd gear is probably a better choice for residential streets. 4th will prob work too, but might start lugging if u slow. 5th and 6th are def unnecessary.

 

[MysterYvil]

You are either simply forgetting to downshift, or not pressing hard enough. Either way, it's an easy fix.

When stopping, think of it this way:
Both hands in (front brake and clutch)
Both feet down (rear brake and downshift)

As you are stopping, squeeze the clutch and downshift multiple times. I've been riding 30+ years and still downshift in this manner many times during a ride.

This! So very much this.

 

[KazMan]

Whether State side or any other country, I prefer to have the bike in a gear should I have to move myself suddenly when coming to an intersection.

Keep in mind, that when shifting from 2nd to 1st, you have to go through neutral so the throw is a bit more pronounced. You can also hit the lever a couple of times to ensure you are in 1st gear until you get used to getting it in 1st gear.

I also concur with stang about using 3rd gear in the neighborhood. Not only will the bike be a bit more smooth, but audibly, your neighbors will like you better. I leave my neighborhood pre 6am so will actually use 4th to go 25-27 mph so as to be a quiet as possible (for a naked bike lol).

 

[Aware]

Maybe it can. But don't see the point, it's happy in second. Going from 1st to 6th gear then back down, block to block, stop sign to stop sign at low speed seems pretty silly.

thanks for the advice guys guess it's just practice, practice, practice. It'll sort itself out

The point is understanding how your bike works. Exploring the gearbox is one of the best parts of riding a bike. Each of your 6 gears can work at 25 mph. Not one of them is *necessary* at that speed, and any one may be *appropriate at any given moment, depending on road conditions, whether you are accelerating or decelerating, going uphill, downhill or on the flat etc.

It is likely that unless you are riding a large capacity V-twin (your profile says CB500, so nope) 2nd gear is typically inappropriate for just riding around the neighborhood. Some of the reasons for that have already been given.

Riding around in second is pretty silly.

 

[chickenfried]

I'll give it a try

I also concur with stang about using 3rd gear in the neighborhood. Not only will the bike be a bit more smooth, but audibly, your neighbors will like you better. I leave my neighborhood pre 6am so will actually use 4th to go 25-27 mph so as to be a quiet as possible (for a naked bike lol).

 

[Enchanter]

An admittedly new rider posts saying that he’s having difficulty downshifting into first gear from second gear and he is advised to upshift even more. No one here knows exactly what speed he is traveling yet he obviously doing it wrong.

Only on BARF.

 

[Honey Badger]

I think you've been given the proper advice for your specific problem.

Just a reminder, however, that neutral lights lie. My current street bike really seems to enjoy lying about being in neutral LOL, if you think you're in neutral, still let the clutch out slowly - just in case your gear box isn't in neutral.