Motorcycle Shifting Techniques

Shifting up was easy, you simply let off the throttle just a bit and shift. No problem. You could do it at any speed under most circumstances. Downshifting was a bit more difficult, but easily mastered with a little practice. You couldn't really compression brake without a clutch, because it beat up the transmission, but you could downshift. Just bring the RPMs down to just above or right at idle speed, and shift down. It would pop right into gear. The hardest part to figure out was taking off. Stop signs were easily mastered by simlpy doing a "Califronia Stop", or rolling slowly through the intersection, hoping there weren't any police there. Signals were a different story and often required you to remain stopped for extended periods. I quickly figured out that by shifting into neutral just before I stopped and shutting off the engine, I could wait for the light to turn green, put it in first gear, then hit the start button. It pushed the bike forward while starting it. I guess it was a cross between a compression start (push start) and normal starting with the starter motor.