Comments for slow and stop in various gears

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Comments for slow and stop in various gears - ok?

Oct 17, 2012

While it won't harm anything, as long as your
by: Judy

clutch is working properly, it would be better to learn and have it become second nature to downshift gear by gear to 1st. For one, the compression-braking of decelleration will save on some brake usage. Also, if you get to a stop (say waiting on a red light) and forget you're not all the way to 1st gear, you might stall and kill the engine when releasing the clutch if you are in too high of a gear. Now, this may not be the problem as long as there isn't an over-eager car behind you..and keep in mind people are in such a hurry these days, if a car was coming up on the light, sees it's green, and doesn't see a brake light while you are trying to take off you could run the risk of being rear-ended if when you stall or take to long to get underway because of that higher gear.

All aspects of riding functionality, including proper shifting, clutch and throttle modulation, braking, etc., need to be fully mastered for you to become as safe a rider as possible.

The only time I have come to a stop without downshifting is if something happened aheard which necessitated a quicker than normal stop.

It should not become a habit, though.

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