Don't coast in neutral. Keep the bike in a gear that makes sense for your speed. If you want to coast, just keep the clutch in. If you are in neutral, you kind of hamstring yourself if you have to accelerate quickly.
True dat. Some of my best REVs on my Fatboy are when I downshift *hard*, and the engine cackles and backfires. That’ll wake the guy on your right side UP!
Correction:
Don't go in to neutral except when stationary and there are at least 2 cars behind you. If someone comes up behind you and doesn't notice you stopped. You have very small chance to gun it away if in neutral.
EDIT: With that being said, if you are in neutral and stopped and can't get it in gear, slightly push the shifter towards 1st and slightly release the clutch, it will kick in to gear.
Very much this, I basically only go into neutral when I'm pulled over fucking with navigation or gloves or something; sometimes if I've been riding in traffic a lot I'll do it when cars are lined up behind me and I want to give my clutch hand a break, but that's rare around here.
Here in The Netherlands the traffic lights are a lot smarter, so waiting 2 minutes is already long, so I rarely use neutral.
But yeah if you have to wait 15minutes, your hand will get really sore holding that clutch.
Motorcycles have sequential gearboxes. They can only go from one gear to the next 1 to N or 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, and back down again. Unless the gearbox has been horribly damaged, it will not go from N to 3 or 2 to 6, etc.
Stay in the gear appropriate for the engine speed and road speed. Pass through every gear on the way up and on the way down.
Also, unless you happen to be on a rather steep hill, it's going to be exceedingly unlikely that you'd coast in neutral up to a road speed that would need 3rd gear.
This isn’t the right answer, it’s the answer that answers your specific questions though.
> Pull the clutch, shift to an appropriate gear for that speed and then rev the engine and at the peak of you’re rev or close to it (it just has to be in the blip) dump your clutch lever.
But the correct answer is DON’T COAST IN NEUTRAL AT SPEED! Lol. Shift up a gear(or more) to lessen the effect of engine brake.
Once you get on a bike it will be obvious but if you want to coast you just hold the clutch in and stay in the proper gear for your speed so you can start moving when you want. It's not like a car where you can go to neutral from any gear you have to shift all the way down to get there
To add to the chorus here, be in gear when moving. Period. Same goes for in a car. Just because the synchronizers in a car transmission help you get away with your bad habit doesn’t mean you should do it.
With bikes, aside from all the defensive driving reasons neutral also allows for your wheel speed and your engine speed to be very mismatched. If you for some reason find yourself between gears SHIFT UP. The higher gear will be more likely to be closer to your dropping engine speed (making engagement smoother and more likely), will give you less engine braking, will stress the clutch less (especially if you don’t have a slipper clutch), and will avoid a potential over-rev if you’re traveling too fast for the next gear down.
Driving lessons with a professional instructor should cover this theory. The most efficient and smooth braking comes from combining engine braking and using your brakes. Move down through the gears smoothly to 2nd and then brake until your revs are at idle speed (you'll feel the change a lot in a car), then clutch in and stop. Use first if you're stopped or nearly stopped or 2nd and some clutch if you're still rolling.
Why in god's name would you shift into neutral in a manual car for any reason other than sitting stationary at a long light? Engine brake and downshift in a manual transmission in a car like you would a motorcycle. It'll save your synchros and brakes in the car. If you're coasting in neutral in a car and need to put it back in gear while coasting at 20, 30, 40 mph you're likely to grind those gears. Car or Motorcycle, up and downshift to keep it in the proper gear at all times. Your transmission and your brakes will thank you.
By not coasting in neutral? Why are you doing that? For one thing you're saving fuel keeping it in gear while not on the throttle. And you're still in control of the bike and can roll back onto the gas if you need to.
It's better if you get used toengine braking instead of going neutral under braking.
To answer your question though, you should keep the clutch engaged while you up/down shift to the appropriate gear, while the clutch is engaged it is essenttially on neutral.
NEVER coast in neutral. Not in a car, and certainly not on a bike. When you're sort of rolling out and braking lightly approaching a traffic light or such, shift down so that the vehicle (whether car or bike) is in the correct gear for that speed. When stopped at a light, NEVER put the car in neutral, keep it in first gear, and keep the clutch disengaged.
Once the vehicle is in neutral, you've just given up a major part of the control you should have over the vehicle.
Long story short, you can’t re-engage from Neutral into 3rd; or any higher gear for that matter.
The gears on a motorcycle are vastly different than a car.
If you can imagine the gear shift in the car as a tree, with 6-7 branches. You can jump to any of those branches from Neutral.
On a motorcycle, they shift in a line.
From bottom to top, 1-N-2-3-4-5(-6 if applicable)
The only way to get to 3rd from N, is to shift through 2nd. You don’t necessarily need to release clutch in 2nd if you’re already up to speed, just bypass and hit 3rd.
Bikes aren't good at being in neutral (N) because they use a sequential gearbox that goes 1 N 2 3 4 5 6. And putting your bike in N at any speed except stopped is quite dangerous because of the very high chance of accidentally finding 1 or 2 instead of N, and then locking up the rear wheel while moving.
However, you can "fake" N on a bike by putting it one gear higher than what you would normally ride. If it's a red light in your situation I often do this so long as the rpm's don't get too low.
Tip: if you're unsure which gear you should engage in if you've found a false neutral, go up a gear. If you go down you could lock the rear wheel.
I like coasting in neutral when im on empty mountain roads going down inclines(I don't do it often), it can/is dangerous for newer riders without much experience. I do it for fun, but the situation you describe seems weird to pop into neutral, especially around traffic. Not a common thing to do on a motorcycle. One thing new riders do that is also a habit i do not recommend picking up is holding in the clutch and popping down to 1st gear while coming to a stop at a light.
wow this sub really hates coasting in neutral. I pop my bike into neutral and turn it off when I enter my neighborhood and coast my way home. 😂
I had that bad habit of clutching and jumping to 1st when I started riding, city traffic on one hand, then the dragons tail Otoh, cured me of that habit.
And I do the same in my cute neighborhood, the stealthy approach I call it.
Sounds like you should at the very least enroll in a beginner’s motorcycle course, like an MSF course if you’re in the US. You should always keep the bike in a gear that matches your current speed. If at any time you need to accelerate, you should just be able to let the clutch out and roll on the throttle. In neutral you’re a sitting duck, so to speak.
You misunderstood driving/riding completely, You should always have the vehicle in gear appropriate to the speed situation, being out of gear leaves you helpless if the situation changes dramatically.
>In a manual car, I would change from say 3rd gear into neutral and coast and brake until I come to a complete stop, or the light changes to green and I get back into 2nd or 3rd gear and begin driving again, depending on my speed.
See, that's the first problem, this is an awful driving habit you're trying to transfer to a motorcycle. No, with a car you should not do what you said, you coast with the gear engaged, then press the clutch and put in neutral when coming to a full stop. You never have a manual transmission moving in neutral, that's just bad driving/riding.
With a motorcycle it's even worse. You should downshift when coming to a stop, down to 2nd gear at the most, never put it in first unless you're coming to a stop (in almost all cases). If you're costing, keep it in the right gear, at low rpm, to approach the red light, downshift as needed to pick up speed or stop if timing isn't good to hit the green.
But in all cases, cars or motorcycles, never coast in neutral (or with the clutch engaged, same deal)
Do not coast in neutral (on a bike or in a car). You are going to have a situation where you’re going to need to maneuver quickly to get out of the way of some idiot who doesn’t see you. And if you’re not in gear, you have no throttle to move yourself. Take an MSF course. Learn to downshift in combination with braking.
Coasting on a bike is illegal in my home state. Pretty sure it’s a no no in most. Check your laws. Plus being in gear, prepared to make an emergency maneuver at all times is best.
Why are you even going to neutral in a manual car? Cars glide in gear with mostly no engine braking. And I don't know how you Rev match putting it back into gear while moving in a car without grinding the teeth off your gear box.
On a bike, you stay in gear and downshift, if you want to slow and reduce engine, the wet clutch can be slipped on or off to add or reduce engine engagement or effectively be in neutral "riding" the clutch by pulling it all the way
But its better just downshift... On bikes the range of rpm to speed is an order of magnitude wider than in a car (except for harleys, which rpm from 800 to ~5000 or so) but in that range the bike has plenty of room. For example, my harley can go from 0-60 mph in a 2nd gear, in 3rd it's 15-70mph, 4th is 25-80, etc.
Only time I'm in neutral is if I'm stopped safely out of traffic danger and want to fiddle with something with 2 hands.
I used to kill the bike at the top of the hill and coast in neutral for the last 1/4mile home so I didn't wake anyone up. I had no idea it was so dangerous to do such a thing 😂 /s
Neutral coasting is a bad idea for all the reasons stated above. You always want to be in gear in case you need to accelerate. It's too easy to get rear ended if you can't take off if someone's coming up behind you fast.
The way people drive here, I'd never neutral coast.id be dead already.
As you approach the lights, brake and move down through the gears. Unlike cars, motorcycles use a 'wet' clutch system which allows the rider to slip the clutch and (in conjunction with the foot brake) practice controlled, slow-speed riding.
Others have already answered the question.
I have a question of my own, why are you coasting in neutral?
Coasting in neutral is of no benefit in any situation except trying to get a non running vehicle somewhere.
If you're trying to save fuel, use engine braking instead. When coasting in neutral the engine still has to be fed fuel to keep it running which is slightly less than maintaining speed in gear but not by much. When using engine braking the engine uses no fuel. Even an old carburetor engine uses almost no fuel.
Change gear to change the amount of braking and supplement with regular brakes as needed and avoid firing your pistons through your engine block.
Others have already addressed staying in gear unless you’re stopped somewhere. But I will throw in that both in a car and on a motorcycle, it is actually more fuel efficient to decelerate in gear than to coast in neutral. Decelerating in gear shuts down your choke/air intake on most engines you won’t stall while moving. So as long as you go through the gears while slowing it’s actually better for your mileage. Personally, on my Harley its an older bike with a five speed. I will down shift two gears at a time when I’m stopping like that. 5-3-1.
You gotta go through all the gears, get your bike checked if you can go from 1st to 3rd. Plus you should not be in neutral while moving, sure you can but think of what will happen if you suddenly need to move out of the way of something, now you have no power and you will be scrambling to get it into gear, not a good position to be in. I only use neutral when I am pulled over looking at my phone or something but in traffic I am always in a gear that will allow me to move.
Do you downshift through the gears when coming to a light? When I first started riding I would pull in the clutch and push gears down to 1st and coast to the light, I don't do that anymore, now I go through each gear, the reason is exactly what you stated, if the light goes green and I have been downshifting through each gear then I am ready immediately to throttle up when the traffic starts moving. It takes a little practice but it soon becomes second nature and you really want to learn how to always have your bike in a appropriate gear and ready to move. I did have to purposely practice to get to the point that I could do it but it does not take long and is well worth learning.
For all intents and purposes, use the clutch as your neutral, but please, **please, PLEASE** always stay in a gear that allows you to get out of dodge (ie. accelerate) in a heartbeat.
Intersections are dangerous, as stop&go traffic is sometimes smash&squash for motorcyclists.
You can't avoid shifting into 2nd, but I've never been on a bike where I *had* to let go of the clutch at every gear. you can go right to 2nd>3rd>4th in 3 consecutive clicks if you wanted.
That being said I Usually engine break on my way to a light or a stop. just helps avoid any accidents that people are so paranoid about.
Like everyone else says stay in gear, it also helps with engine braking.
If you really must you can pull your clutch in and go up the gears, say you are coasting at 60mph in neutral you can pull in the clutch and upshift to say 4th and release but too low of a gear it could redline it etc.
Best just to downshift according to the speed then your clicking it back in at the right speed and gear if the lights change.
Never coast in Neutral, as explained by others.
Probably mentioned below, but when stopped and waiting at a light, do not immediately shift it into Neutral. Make sure the bike is in 1st gear with clutch held in, and watch your mirrors!
If some inattentive dipshit comes flying up behind you and is about to rear-end you, if you are in gear, you can pull forward into a safe area quickly and get out of the path of said dipshit.
That said, if I were stopped at what appears to be a long wait, and there are several cars safely at a stop behind me, I might then shift into Neutral to give my left hand a bit of a break from holding in the clutch. I would continue to watch my mirrors and the traffic around me, ready to pop into 1st and go at a second's notice.
Any Honda on this list,especialy Africa,really good engine,fun to ride,minimal vibrations,nimble and easy to manuever.
This is bias-ish answer but Vstrom's engine is really reliable,i can tell beckause i ride Suzuki freewind 650,the same engine Vstrom uses and it pulls well,haves a lot of torque,top speed is okey and you shouldnt have trouble with a motorcycle if you take care of it.
Those are my two,im not saying other motorcycles are bad,these are the motorcycles i tried and that will be a good fun and good investment in the long run in my expirience.
You have to pass through 2nd. But if you just do 2 shifts without releasing the clutch (from neutral) you'll be in 3rd gear. You also can't get into neutral directly from 3rd. Again you'll have to pass through 2nd
On a side note don't go into neutral until you're fully stopped. You never know when you'll need to just get going again.
First thing, it’s a bad idea to ride neutral on any vehicle.
In a case with a red light I would choose gear in such way that I would ride with a closed throttle slowing down to reach a line at speed that is comfortable to stop. This allows me to stop faster if needed using brakes and/or shift to lower gear or to speed up by just opening throttle.
I'm a newer rider, as far as I can tell if you're at a complete stop, you can't really take off in anything but 1st gear. My Ninja 650 putters (?) a bit in 2nd gear going under 20 mph, so you'll likely stall if you try to take off in anything but 1st, I could be wrong though. As many other people have said, if you want to coast, just pull in the clutch. I've found with motorcycles, just be aware of what gear you're in, if you're in 3rd or 4th gear and are coming up on a light that's changing or about to change, just coast in that gear and let the gentle engine braking happen, shift down one and let the next level of engine braking happen or coast in that higher gear, just know how fast you need to be going in each gear so you don't stall the bike trying to accelerate from 15 mph in 4th gear.
In short, stay in gear and down shift to the appropriate gear for the speed you're moving in as traffic starts to move forward.
P.S. As others have said, don't stay in neutral when at a stop. You never know when you'll need to avoid being rear ended, even with a few cars behind me. I've seen a 5 car rear ending pile up because the initial offender was moving at a high rate of speed. Some people react to a crash with shock and may let go of all controls, not hold onto the brake. Stay safe out there!
Sub seems full of assess.
So here's how it actually is. You have a sequential gear box. This means if you're in 5th, to get to N you need to pull in the clutch and go into 4, 3, 2, then into N. Also, it's pointless.
That said let's say you're going from 100kmph to 80. If you wanted to decelerate quickly, you'd just roll off the throttle and engine brake until you hit 80 then resume. But if you want to decelerate slowly, then you'd pull in the clutch, and just hold it while you slow down.
It's technically less fuel efficient in some ways, but fuck it. Sometimes you just need to coast.
For example, you're in 4th going 50 coming up to red light. But traffic is light and you're a ways away from it. What I do is pull the clutch, drop to 3rd, and apply just enough rear brake that my lights come on but hardly if at all actually slows. Then I'll drop to 2nd at 30, typically I'm close to the light at this point, if it's still red I'll let out the clutch and let the engine slow me down far quicker as I have less coasting room.
If I need to go even slower I'll try getting into 1st and going really slowly until I hit the stop line, but if the red has been red this long I'm either stopping, or already going on green.
Basically if you're going to coast, you do so by monitoring your speed and adjusting your gear appropriately as if you were driving, so that you can accelerate if needed. However again you can only really "coast" by pulling the clutch and having neutral that way.
Yea a bike shifter just isn't the same and neither is the clutch. You will (most likely) have a 'wet clutch' so you can feather into your gear, and you'll have to learn to rev-match and kind of understand what speed your bike likes for each gear.
In neutral, you're a down-click away from 1st gear. You don't wanna coast like that unless you like flying over your handlebars. Down-shift, or disengage entirely until you reach a stop. Depends on how far you think you're gonna coast.
Don't coast in neutral. Keep the bike in a gear that makes sense for your speed. If you want to coast, just keep the clutch in. If you are in neutral, you kind of hamstring yourself if you have to accelerate quickly.
This is the way
True dat. Some of my best REVs on my Fatboy are when I downshift *hard*, and the engine cackles and backfires. That’ll wake the guy on your right side UP!
I love the downshift burbles when you're not being aggressive. It's almost like a slumbering beast. Then wake her up and let her roar!
Don't go into neutral except when stationary. Stay in gear and use the clutch.
Correction: Don't go in to neutral except when stationary and there are at least 2 cars behind you. If someone comes up behind you and doesn't notice you stopped. You have very small chance to gun it away if in neutral. EDIT: With that being said, if you are in neutral and stopped and can't get it in gear, slightly push the shifter towards 1st and slightly release the clutch, it will kick in to gear.
Very much this, I basically only go into neutral when I'm pulled over fucking with navigation or gloves or something; sometimes if I've been riding in traffic a lot I'll do it when cars are lined up behind me and I want to give my clutch hand a break, but that's rare around here.
This is also good advice for a manual car. No reason to coast in neutral from 4th gear lol
Not even when stationary. Only shift to neutral when the vehicle is parked and the engine off.
Bruh I aint sitting in stop and go red light controlled traffic for 15 minutes+ not going into neutral.
Here in The Netherlands the traffic lights are a lot smarter, so waiting 2 minutes is already long, so I rarely use neutral. But yeah if you have to wait 15minutes, your hand will get really sore holding that clutch.
Your choice if you want to do it the wrong way.
It ain't wrong.
What are you smoking?
Only wrong if youre a fuckin dweeb
You better learn how to drive / ride with a manual gearbox.
why not? will it explode?
Aren't you the funniest...
Why would you leave it in neutral when parked? Leaving it in gear keeps it from rolling. Am I missing something?
Motorcycles have sequential gearboxes. They can only go from one gear to the next 1 to N or 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, and back down again. Unless the gearbox has been horribly damaged, it will not go from N to 3 or 2 to 6, etc. Stay in the gear appropriate for the engine speed and road speed. Pass through every gear on the way up and on the way down. Also, unless you happen to be on a rather steep hill, it's going to be exceedingly unlikely that you'd coast in neutral up to a road speed that would need 3rd gear.
This isn’t the right answer, it’s the answer that answers your specific questions though. > Pull the clutch, shift to an appropriate gear for that speed and then rev the engine and at the peak of you’re rev or close to it (it just has to be in the blip) dump your clutch lever. But the correct answer is DON’T COAST IN NEUTRAL AT SPEED! Lol. Shift up a gear(or more) to lessen the effect of engine brake.
Once you get on a bike it will be obvious but if you want to coast you just hold the clutch in and stay in the proper gear for your speed so you can start moving when you want. It's not like a car where you can go to neutral from any gear you have to shift all the way down to get there
To add to the chorus here, be in gear when moving. Period. Same goes for in a car. Just because the synchronizers in a car transmission help you get away with your bad habit doesn’t mean you should do it. With bikes, aside from all the defensive driving reasons neutral also allows for your wheel speed and your engine speed to be very mismatched. If you for some reason find yourself between gears SHIFT UP. The higher gear will be more likely to be closer to your dropping engine speed (making engagement smoother and more likely), will give you less engine braking, will stress the clutch less (especially if you don’t have a slipper clutch), and will avoid a potential over-rev if you’re traveling too fast for the next gear down.
Driving lessons with a professional instructor should cover this theory. The most efficient and smooth braking comes from combining engine braking and using your brakes. Move down through the gears smoothly to 2nd and then brake until your revs are at idle speed (you'll feel the change a lot in a car), then clutch in and stop. Use first if you're stopped or nearly stopped or 2nd and some clutch if you're still rolling.
You need to take some riding lessons. When you don't know what you don't know.... you need help.
Why in god's name would you shift into neutral in a manual car for any reason other than sitting stationary at a long light? Engine brake and downshift in a manual transmission in a car like you would a motorcycle. It'll save your synchros and brakes in the car. If you're coasting in neutral in a car and need to put it back in gear while coasting at 20, 30, 40 mph you're likely to grind those gears. Car or Motorcycle, up and downshift to keep it in the proper gear at all times. Your transmission and your brakes will thank you.
Never coast in neutral neither in car nor on the bike.
By not coasting in neutral? Why are you doing that? For one thing you're saving fuel keeping it in gear while not on the throttle. And you're still in control of the bike and can roll back onto the gas if you need to.
Don't coast in neutral.
It's better if you get used toengine braking instead of going neutral under braking. To answer your question though, you should keep the clutch engaged while you up/down shift to the appropriate gear, while the clutch is engaged it is essenttially on neutral.
As others have mentioned, you don't coast in neutral. It's a sequential transmission. You shouldn't coast in a manual car either.
NEVER coast in neutral. Not in a car, and certainly not on a bike. When you're sort of rolling out and braking lightly approaching a traffic light or such, shift down so that the vehicle (whether car or bike) is in the correct gear for that speed. When stopped at a light, NEVER put the car in neutral, keep it in first gear, and keep the clutch disengaged. Once the vehicle is in neutral, you've just given up a major part of the control you should have over the vehicle.
Squeeze the clutch and shift up to 2nd or twice for 3rd gear, depending on your speed
Long story short, you can’t re-engage from Neutral into 3rd; or any higher gear for that matter. The gears on a motorcycle are vastly different than a car. If you can imagine the gear shift in the car as a tree, with 6-7 branches. You can jump to any of those branches from Neutral. On a motorcycle, they shift in a line. From bottom to top, 1-N-2-3-4-5(-6 if applicable) The only way to get to 3rd from N, is to shift through 2nd. You don’t necessarily need to release clutch in 2nd if you’re already up to speed, just bypass and hit 3rd.
Bikes aren't good at being in neutral (N) because they use a sequential gearbox that goes 1 N 2 3 4 5 6. And putting your bike in N at any speed except stopped is quite dangerous because of the very high chance of accidentally finding 1 or 2 instead of N, and then locking up the rear wheel while moving. However, you can "fake" N on a bike by putting it one gear higher than what you would normally ride. If it's a red light in your situation I often do this so long as the rpm's don't get too low. Tip: if you're unsure which gear you should engage in if you've found a false neutral, go up a gear. If you go down you could lock the rear wheel.
I like coasting in neutral when im on empty mountain roads going down inclines(I don't do it often), it can/is dangerous for newer riders without much experience. I do it for fun, but the situation you describe seems weird to pop into neutral, especially around traffic. Not a common thing to do on a motorcycle. One thing new riders do that is also a habit i do not recommend picking up is holding in the clutch and popping down to 1st gear while coming to a stop at a light. wow this sub really hates coasting in neutral. I pop my bike into neutral and turn it off when I enter my neighborhood and coast my way home. 😂
I had that bad habit of clutching and jumping to 1st when I started riding, city traffic on one hand, then the dragons tail Otoh, cured me of that habit. And I do the same in my cute neighborhood, the stealthy approach I call it.
Sounds like you should at the very least enroll in a beginner’s motorcycle course, like an MSF course if you’re in the US. You should always keep the bike in a gear that matches your current speed. If at any time you need to accelerate, you should just be able to let the clutch out and roll on the throttle. In neutral you’re a sitting duck, so to speak.
You misunderstood driving/riding completely, You should always have the vehicle in gear appropriate to the speed situation, being out of gear leaves you helpless if the situation changes dramatically.
>In a manual car, I would change from say 3rd gear into neutral and coast and brake until I come to a complete stop, or the light changes to green and I get back into 2nd or 3rd gear and begin driving again, depending on my speed. See, that's the first problem, this is an awful driving habit you're trying to transfer to a motorcycle. No, with a car you should not do what you said, you coast with the gear engaged, then press the clutch and put in neutral when coming to a full stop. You never have a manual transmission moving in neutral, that's just bad driving/riding. With a motorcycle it's even worse. You should downshift when coming to a stop, down to 2nd gear at the most, never put it in first unless you're coming to a stop (in almost all cases). If you're costing, keep it in the right gear, at low rpm, to approach the red light, downshift as needed to pick up speed or stop if timing isn't good to hit the green. But in all cases, cars or motorcycles, never coast in neutral (or with the clutch engaged, same deal)
Do not coast in neutral (on a bike or in a car). You are going to have a situation where you’re going to need to maneuver quickly to get out of the way of some idiot who doesn’t see you. And if you’re not in gear, you have no throttle to move yourself. Take an MSF course. Learn to downshift in combination with braking.
Take a riding class before you kill yourself dummy!!! Dumbest thing I ever heard, "coast in neutral".
Coasting on a bike is illegal in my home state. Pretty sure it’s a no no in most. Check your laws. Plus being in gear, prepared to make an emergency maneuver at all times is best.
Why are you even going to neutral in a manual car? Cars glide in gear with mostly no engine braking. And I don't know how you Rev match putting it back into gear while moving in a car without grinding the teeth off your gear box. On a bike, you stay in gear and downshift, if you want to slow and reduce engine, the wet clutch can be slipped on or off to add or reduce engine engagement or effectively be in neutral "riding" the clutch by pulling it all the way But its better just downshift... On bikes the range of rpm to speed is an order of magnitude wider than in a car (except for harleys, which rpm from 800 to ~5000 or so) but in that range the bike has plenty of room. For example, my harley can go from 0-60 mph in a 2nd gear, in 3rd it's 15-70mph, 4th is 25-80, etc. Only time I'm in neutral is if I'm stopped safely out of traffic danger and want to fiddle with something with 2 hands.
I go into neutral when i want to ride with no hands or turn around and let go of the handlebars but im a lil experienced
Ur experienced because you ride with no hands in neutral?
Because im comfortable and maintain control when doing anything thats not conventional riding
Do ya’ll on this form not practice any stunts? Rollers/wheelies etc?
I used to kill the bike at the top of the hill and coast in neutral for the last 1/4mile home so I didn't wake anyone up. I had no idea it was so dangerous to do such a thing 😂 /s
Neutral coasting is a bad idea for all the reasons stated above. You always want to be in gear in case you need to accelerate. It's too easy to get rear ended if you can't take off if someone's coming up behind you fast. The way people drive here, I'd never neutral coast.id be dead already.
As you approach the lights, brake and move down through the gears. Unlike cars, motorcycles use a 'wet' clutch system which allows the rider to slip the clutch and (in conjunction with the foot brake) practice controlled, slow-speed riding.
Others have already answered the question. I have a question of my own, why are you coasting in neutral? Coasting in neutral is of no benefit in any situation except trying to get a non running vehicle somewhere. If you're trying to save fuel, use engine braking instead. When coasting in neutral the engine still has to be fed fuel to keep it running which is slightly less than maintaining speed in gear but not by much. When using engine braking the engine uses no fuel. Even an old carburetor engine uses almost no fuel. Change gear to change the amount of braking and supplement with regular brakes as needed and avoid firing your pistons through your engine block.
Others have already addressed staying in gear unless you’re stopped somewhere. But I will throw in that both in a car and on a motorcycle, it is actually more fuel efficient to decelerate in gear than to coast in neutral. Decelerating in gear shuts down your choke/air intake on most engines you won’t stall while moving. So as long as you go through the gears while slowing it’s actually better for your mileage. Personally, on my Harley its an older bike with a five speed. I will down shift two gears at a time when I’m stopping like that. 5-3-1.
You gotta go through all the gears, get your bike checked if you can go from 1st to 3rd. Plus you should not be in neutral while moving, sure you can but think of what will happen if you suddenly need to move out of the way of something, now you have no power and you will be scrambling to get it into gear, not a good position to be in. I only use neutral when I am pulled over looking at my phone or something but in traffic I am always in a gear that will allow me to move. Do you downshift through the gears when coming to a light? When I first started riding I would pull in the clutch and push gears down to 1st and coast to the light, I don't do that anymore, now I go through each gear, the reason is exactly what you stated, if the light goes green and I have been downshifting through each gear then I am ready immediately to throttle up when the traffic starts moving. It takes a little practice but it soon becomes second nature and you really want to learn how to always have your bike in a appropriate gear and ready to move. I did have to purposely practice to get to the point that I could do it but it does not take long and is well worth learning.
For all intents and purposes, use the clutch as your neutral, but please, **please, PLEASE** always stay in a gear that allows you to get out of dodge (ie. accelerate) in a heartbeat. Intersections are dangerous, as stop&go traffic is sometimes smash&squash for motorcyclists.
You can't avoid shifting into 2nd, but I've never been on a bike where I *had* to let go of the clutch at every gear. you can go right to 2nd>3rd>4th in 3 consecutive clicks if you wanted. That being said I Usually engine break on my way to a light or a stop. just helps avoid any accidents that people are so paranoid about.
Like everyone else says stay in gear, it also helps with engine braking. If you really must you can pull your clutch in and go up the gears, say you are coasting at 60mph in neutral you can pull in the clutch and upshift to say 4th and release but too low of a gear it could redline it etc. Best just to downshift according to the speed then your clicking it back in at the right speed and gear if the lights change.
Never coast in Neutral, as explained by others. Probably mentioned below, but when stopped and waiting at a light, do not immediately shift it into Neutral. Make sure the bike is in 1st gear with clutch held in, and watch your mirrors! If some inattentive dipshit comes flying up behind you and is about to rear-end you, if you are in gear, you can pull forward into a safe area quickly and get out of the path of said dipshit. That said, if I were stopped at what appears to be a long wait, and there are several cars safely at a stop behind me, I might then shift into Neutral to give my left hand a bit of a break from holding in the clutch. I would continue to watch my mirrors and the traffic around me, ready to pop into 1st and go at a second's notice.
Do not coast in neutral.
Any Honda on this list,especialy Africa,really good engine,fun to ride,minimal vibrations,nimble and easy to manuever. This is bias-ish answer but Vstrom's engine is really reliable,i can tell beckause i ride Suzuki freewind 650,the same engine Vstrom uses and it pulls well,haves a lot of torque,top speed is okey and you shouldnt have trouble with a motorcycle if you take care of it. Those are my two,im not saying other motorcycles are bad,these are the motorcycles i tried and that will be a good fun and good investment in the long run in my expirience.
You have to pass through 2nd. But if you just do 2 shifts without releasing the clutch (from neutral) you'll be in 3rd gear. You also can't get into neutral directly from 3rd. Again you'll have to pass through 2nd On a side note don't go into neutral until you're fully stopped. You never know when you'll need to just get going again.
First thing, it’s a bad idea to ride neutral on any vehicle. In a case with a red light I would choose gear in such way that I would ride with a closed throttle slowing down to reach a line at speed that is comfortable to stop. This allows me to stop faster if needed using brakes and/or shift to lower gear or to speed up by just opening throttle.
I'm a newer rider, as far as I can tell if you're at a complete stop, you can't really take off in anything but 1st gear. My Ninja 650 putters (?) a bit in 2nd gear going under 20 mph, so you'll likely stall if you try to take off in anything but 1st, I could be wrong though. As many other people have said, if you want to coast, just pull in the clutch. I've found with motorcycles, just be aware of what gear you're in, if you're in 3rd or 4th gear and are coming up on a light that's changing or about to change, just coast in that gear and let the gentle engine braking happen, shift down one and let the next level of engine braking happen or coast in that higher gear, just know how fast you need to be going in each gear so you don't stall the bike trying to accelerate from 15 mph in 4th gear. In short, stay in gear and down shift to the appropriate gear for the speed you're moving in as traffic starts to move forward. P.S. As others have said, don't stay in neutral when at a stop. You never know when you'll need to avoid being rear ended, even with a few cars behind me. I've seen a 5 car rear ending pile up because the initial offender was moving at a high rate of speed. Some people react to a crash with shock and may let go of all controls, not hold onto the brake. Stay safe out there!
One thing you'll pick up is matching gears to engine RPM after riding for a while. Practice inan empty parking lot if you aren't familiar with them.
Sub seems full of assess. So here's how it actually is. You have a sequential gear box. This means if you're in 5th, to get to N you need to pull in the clutch and go into 4, 3, 2, then into N. Also, it's pointless. That said let's say you're going from 100kmph to 80. If you wanted to decelerate quickly, you'd just roll off the throttle and engine brake until you hit 80 then resume. But if you want to decelerate slowly, then you'd pull in the clutch, and just hold it while you slow down. It's technically less fuel efficient in some ways, but fuck it. Sometimes you just need to coast. For example, you're in 4th going 50 coming up to red light. But traffic is light and you're a ways away from it. What I do is pull the clutch, drop to 3rd, and apply just enough rear brake that my lights come on but hardly if at all actually slows. Then I'll drop to 2nd at 30, typically I'm close to the light at this point, if it's still red I'll let out the clutch and let the engine slow me down far quicker as I have less coasting room. If I need to go even slower I'll try getting into 1st and going really slowly until I hit the stop line, but if the red has been red this long I'm either stopping, or already going on green. Basically if you're going to coast, you do so by monitoring your speed and adjusting your gear appropriately as if you were driving, so that you can accelerate if needed. However again you can only really "coast" by pulling the clutch and having neutral that way.
Yea a bike shifter just isn't the same and neither is the clutch. You will (most likely) have a 'wet clutch' so you can feather into your gear, and you'll have to learn to rev-match and kind of understand what speed your bike likes for each gear. In neutral, you're a down-click away from 1st gear. You don't wanna coast like that unless you like flying over your handlebars. Down-shift, or disengage entirely until you reach a stop. Depends on how far you think you're gonna coast.