Noob questions (they go better in pack)

Hello Guys, I am a new rider so don’t judge me if I am asking dumb or silly questions, I tried researching some of my questions, but I thought that perhaps in combination these questions will make more sense. Here it goes, I ride CBR300R 2015 (1 previous owner)


1)How do you guys slow down when going from 60-70 to 0?(on a light for example) do you just hold clutch and go to 0 then switch to 1st gear? or what


2)Related to previous question, if I am going 60, and pull the clutch and I want to go from 4th gear to 1st, since I know im coming to a stop, the second I go to N it click very loud, and it will not allow me to go to 1st by making racketing and vibration sounds? Am i doing something wrong or is something wrong with a bike?


3)When turning off bike, after a ride, my bike makes a loud ventilating sounds even if not started(but keys are in ignition and lights are on) is this just engine cooling?


4)IMPORTANT: I noticed recently, that when I am switching to N, it will not allow me to go to 1st or 2nd gear while i still hold the clutch(from original switch from gear to N), so I have to do one of the following:
a)Let clutch go and engage it again or b)Move the bike like 1 inch forward or backward. What is this caused by? Is this normal? I tried adjusting clutch cables, seems to have no effect.


5)Last but not least, I dont understand how do you guys make such a clear and perfect turn on lights, I always end up going to the 2nd lane and it seems that my bike is revving too high (1st gear on this bike is like from 0 to 10-15 km) and I dont feel like changing gears mid turn.


Thank you!

shadowelement said:

Hello Guys, I am a new rider so don’t judge me if I am asking dumb or silly questions, I tried researching some of my questions, but I thought that perhaps in combination these questions will make more sense. Here it goes, I ride CBR300R 2015 (1 previous owner)


1)How do you guys slow down when going from 60-70 to 0?(on a light for example) do you just hold clutch and go to 0 then switch to 1st gear? or what


2)Related to previous question, if I am going 60, and pull the clutch and I want to go from 4th gear to 1st, since I know im coming to a stop, the second I go to N it click very loud, and it will not allow me to go to 1st by making racketing and vibration sounds? Am i doing something wrong or is something wrong with a bike?


3)When turning off bike, after a ride, my bike makes a loud ventilating sounds even if not started(but keys are in ignition and lights are on) is this just engine cooling?


4)IMPORTANT: I noticed recently, that when I am switching to N, it will not allow me to go to 1st or 2nd gear while i still hold the clutch(from original switch from gear to N), so I have to do one of the following:
a)Let clutch go and engage it again or b)Move the bike like 1 inch forward or backward. What is this caused by? Is this normal? I tried adjusting clutch cables, seems to have no effect.


5)Last but not least, I dont understand how do you guys make such a clear and perfect turn on lights, I always end up going to the 2nd lane and it seems that my bike is revving too high (1st gear on this bike is like from 0 to 10-15 km) and I dont feel like changing gears mid turn.


Thank you!

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#1 I always gear down through the gears. You never know, the light may turn green before you get there, and if you've already gone down to first, you now have to find what gear you need for the speed you're going.

#2 Not quite sure what you mean

#3 Is this your radiator fan you're hearing?

#4 Not sure why your bike would do this

#5 Practice practice practice. Nothing wrong with shifting mid turn if you have to. Just practice being smooth.

shadowelement said:

Hello Guys, I am a new rider so don’t judge me if I am asking dumb or silly questions, I tried researching some of my questions, but I thought that perhaps in combination these questions will make more sense. Here it goes, I ride CBR300R 2015 (1 previous owner)


1)How do you guys slow down when going from 60-70 to 0?(on a light for example) do you just hold clutch and go to 0 then switch to 1st gear? or what

Click to expand...

As you slow, gear down when appropriate for the speed you're at. If the light goes green, you'll be in the right gear ready to accelerate normally again. As you slow to, say, 20kph, you should be in a low enough gear that you could pull the clutch in and gear down until you find first. When you stop, you're in first and ready to go.

2)Related to previous question, if I am going 60, and pull the clutch and I want to go from 4th gear to 1st, since I know im coming to a stop, the second I go to N it click very loud, and it will not allow me to go to 1st by making racketing and vibration sounds? Am i doing something wrong or is something wrong with a bike?

Click to expand...

Don't try to select 1st gear when your speed is high. You'll get a feel for what's normal with more practice. Make note of your engine RPM and speed when you're shifting up as you accelerate. Use this as a guide when going down the gears as you decelerate.

3)When turning off bike, after a ride, my bike makes a loud ventilating sounds even if not started(but keys are in ignition and lights are on) is this just engine cooling?

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Hard to know exactly what you're referring to here but I suspect it's the sound of the exhaust system "ticking" as it cools. Exhausts run very hot and as such, the metal expands a bit. When the heat is taken away, it cools and the material contracts. That's likely what you're hearing and, if so, is normal.

EDIT: Nevermind, the other guys likely have it in that it's the cooling fan running. Turn the key off the prevent running down your battery...

4)IMPORTANT: I noticed recently, that when I am switching to N, it will not allow me to go to 1st or 2nd gear while i still hold the clutch(from original switch from gear to N), so I have to do one of the following:
a)Let clutch go and engage it again or b)Move the bike like 1 inch forward or backward. What is this caused by? Is this normal? I tried adjusting clutch cables, seems to have no effect.

Click to expand...

This is normal for motorcycle transmissions. Unlike cars, manual gearboxes bikes don't have synchronizers. Our transmissions use "dogs" to engage each gear. These rely on "pegs" or "dogs" on one gear to engage corresponding "holes" in adjacent components to engage a gear (e.g. connect that gear to a shaft.) If the pegs and holes don't quite line up, the gear won't engage. Rocking the bike a little can shift the bits or letting the clutch out a bit can get bits rotating allowing the dogs to engage.

We normally never see this when the bike is moving because the rotation of the gears allows the dogs to engage easily and quickly. When stopped, you may have an issue like this.

5)Last but not least, I dont understand how do you guys make such a clear and perfect turn on lights, I always end up going to the 2nd lane and it seems that my bike is revving too high (1st gear on this bike is like from 0 to 10-15 km) and I dont feel like changing gears mid turn.

Click to expand...

The MTO's "motorcycle manual" doesn't recommend shifting in mid-corner (or in an intersection at all...) precisely because a rough shift can upset the rear tire leading to a spill. As you gain experience, your technique will clean up and you'll get smoother. When that happens, you can think about upshifting but for now, I'd recommend staying in 1st until you're clear of the corner and are ready to accelerate.

Focus on your path. Look where you want to go, don't fixate on any one thing. Looking "through the corner" will almost automatically help you guide the bike to the right position in the destination lane. Don't obsess about your speed; don't dawdle but don't worry about it either. Make sure you're putting the bike on the road where you want it to be. Running a corner wide is more dangerous than going "only" 10-15kph. As your confidence builds, you'll find it'll become 2nd nature and you'll be completing the corner more smoothly and, perhaps, with an upshift and more speed. But you gotta get that placement right first.

1) Downshift one gear at a time as you slow down. Clutch in, throttle-blip to match revs while doing the shift, clutch out. The objective is to always be in a gear from which you could accelerate if circumstances warrant it. Also, the mechanical design of motorcycle transmissions does not like changing gear while stopped ... it's possible, but awkward. And this also means you should downshift one gear at a time while you are still moving. Your learner's course should have covered this.

2) Yes, you are failing to "downshift one gear at a time" and you are failing to "match revs" with each downshift via a throttle-blip. Clutch in ... simultaneous throttle-blip and ONE downshift ... clutch out. Continue slowing down. Wait until the revs drop to a plausible range. Repeat until you are in first gear. Your transmission is grinding gears AND YOU ARE DOING VERY EXPENSIVE DAMAGE. Again, your learner's course should have covered this.

DO NOT ... DO NOT ... pull in the clutch lever and do multiple downshifts. Do not EVER be in a gear that is not appropriate for the road speed that you are going at that moment.

3) Cooling fan. By the way, switch the ignition off using your key just like you do in a car. Leaving the key on with the engine not running will kill the battery!

4) It's normal. Motorcycle transmissions do not have synchromesh the way automotive manual transmissions do. If it doesn't want to go into gear, it means the teeth inside the transmission that engage the gear are aligned in a way that doesn't allow it. Doing either one of the two options that you stated moves the gears around inside the transmission so that hopefully the teeth aren't aligned in the same spot any more.

5) Considering that you didn't listen to your learner's course when you should have (points 1 and 2), now it appears that you did listen to your learner's course when you shouldn't have. The learner's course insists on not changing gear while turning or going through an intersection. For the life of me I do not understand why they teach this (and why the official government tests expect this). Change gear when the revs and engine load make sense to do so. If that happens to be halfway through an intersection, so be it. The only time you should ever hold first gear through an intersection ... is in order to pass your test. Then immediately forget that anyone ever told you that it had to be done this way. If conditions warrant shifting to 2nd gear at (say) 5000 rpm ... then shift to 2nd gear at 5000 rpm. Doesn't matter if that happens to be mid-intersection.

There are some other restrictions on changing gear in a corner ... if you do a rough gear change, or you don't match revs accurately or you let the clutch out too abruptly, AND you are nearing the traction limits, the lurch can cause the rear tire to lose traction. But if you are SMOOTH with your gear change - accurate with your throttle-blip and smooth with clutch re-engagement ... you can change gear mid-corner with your knee on the ground.

Some of what's told to you in the learner's course is to keep you out of trouble until you get good enough to not have to do it that way any more ... just keep that in mind.

1) It depends on how much distance you have to slow and why. I like to be powered, so I do not just hold in the clutch, unless I'm very near my stopping point, and shifting right down to first. I shift one gear at a time, and use a combination of engine braking and the brakes to slow the bike. You need to be in the appropriate gear for the speed that you are travelling. There is most likely a chart in your owner's manual. At some point you will be able to tell by sound, if you need to be in the next higher/lower gear.

2) If you're going 60 you shouldn't be shifting into first gear, that gear is mainly for starting the bike from a stop. You might want to slow and shift to third, slow again, and second etc. or slow really quickly and then first as you come to a stop.

3) Some bikes will run the fan after a hot ride, and cool the engine off.

4) Some bikes have a system that makes it easy to find neutral when you are not moving. Check your owner's manual.

5) Stop on an angle at the stopbar. This makes you seem wider, protects your lane better, and gives you an easier turn. Sometimes, despite the advice of the govt, you have to change gears while turning, especially on smaller bikes.

Brian P said:

5) Considering that you didn't listen to your learner's course when you should have (points 1 and 2), now it appears that you did listen to your learner's course when you shouldn't have. The learner's course insists on not changing gear while turning or going through an intersection. For the life of me I do not understand why they teach this (and why the official government tests expect this). Change gear when the revs and engine load make sense to do so. If that happens to be halfway through an intersection, so be it. The only time you should ever hold first gear through an intersection ... is in order to pass your test. Then immediately forget that anyone ever told you that it had to be done this way. If conditions warrant shifting to 2nd gear at (say) 5000 rpm ... then shift to 2nd gear at 5000 rpm. Doesn't matter if that happens to be mid-intersection.

There are some other restrictions on changing gear in a corner ... if you do a rough gear change, or you don't match revs accurately or you let the clutch out too abruptly, AND you are nearing the traction limits, the lurch can cause the rear tire to lose traction. But if you are SMOOTH with your gear change - accurate with your throttle-blip and smooth with clutch re-engagement ... you can change gear mid-corner with your knee on the ground.

Some of what's told to you in the learner's course is to keep you out of trouble until you get good enough to not have to do it that way any more ... just keep that in mind.

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Any ideas which courses teach you to not shift? The test pretty much forces you to be in second gear on the curved sections, and therefore you must shift in the curve.

Take a Basic Rider Course before you kill yourself or the bike!

Others have already answered your questions, but for #5 I'll add that I bet you are turning without leaning the bike over, you must let the bike "fall" into corners to turn smoothly and more importantly to make turns tight enough to stay in your lane.

TAKE A RIDER'S TRAINING COURSE

You are not ready to be on the streets.

/thread

If not done....take a rider training course.

#4 also adjust your clutch engagement point...maybe.

Hey Guys! Thank you for all your answers. I ended up figuring out that it was a fan running and will definitely practice my turns more. I did take rider training course at Honda and passed it with flying colours, but they never talk about questions I asked you, only thing they told us in regards of turn is to never change gear in one...The guys there also told us this: when you are about to come to a complete stop - tap all your gears down..

Anyhow, thank you all, I appreciate your time and answers!

shadowelement said:

Hey Guys! Thank you for all your answers. I ended up figuring out that it was a fan running and will definitely practice my turns more. I did take rider training course at Honda and passed it with flying colours, but they never talk about questions I asked you, only thing they told us in regards of turn is to never change gear in one...The guys there also told us this: when you are about to come to a complete stop - tap all your gears down..

Anyhow, thank you all, I appreciate your time and answers!

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honda rider training course? Never heard of it, not sure if legit

what the guys are talking about is the Motorcycle safety course, aka, M1 exit course, can be taken at any MTO approved college/institute

From the sounds of it, you didnt take it and you defiantly SHOULD, I took my'n a few weeks ago with Learning curves, was worth every penny.

Pretty sure he meant Humber, not Honda.

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bigpoppa said:

honda rider training course? Never heard of it, not sure if legit

what the guys are talking about is the Motorcycle safety course, aka, M1 exit course, can be taken at any MTO approved college/institute

From the sounds of it, you didnt take it and you defiantly SHOULD, I took my'n a few weeks ago with Learning curves, was worth every penny.

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I never said "Honda Riding Training Course", I said at Honda. The school name is Learning Curves too, this is just one of the locations they use - 180 Honda BLVD. I don't know, maybe I got bad instructor? What, from questions that I asked here, did they teach you?

And thank you for your participation.

shadowelement said:

Hello Guys, I am a new rider so don’t judge me if I am asking dumb or silly questions, I tried researching some of my questions, but I thought that perhaps in combination these questions will make more sense. Here it goes, I ride CBR300R 2015 (1 previous owner)


1)How do you guys slow down when going from 60-70 to 0?(on a light for example) do you just hold clutch and go to 0 then switch to 1st gear? or what


2)Related to previous question, if I am going 60, and pull the clutch and I want to go from 4th gear to 1st, since I know im coming to a stop, the second I go to N it click very loud, and it will not allow me to go to 1st by making racketing and vibration sounds? Am i doing something wrong or is something wrong with a bike?


3)When turning off bike, after a ride, my bike makes a loud ventilating sounds even if not started(but keys are in ignition and lights are on) is this just engine cooling?


4)IMPORTANT: I noticed recently, that when I am switching to N, it will not allow me to go to 1st or 2nd gear while i still hold the clutch(from original switch from gear to N), so I have to do one of the following:
a)Let clutch go and engage it again or b)Move the bike like 1 inch forward or backward. What is this caused by? Is this normal? I tried adjusting clutch cables, seems to have no effect.


5)Last but not least, I dont understand how do you guys make such a clear and perfect turn on lights, I always end up going to the 2nd lane and it seems that my bike is revving too high (1st gear on this bike is like from 0 to 10-15 km) and I dont feel like changing gears mid turn.


Thank you!

Click to expand...

shadowelement said:

I never said "Honda Riding Training Course", I said at Honda. The school name is Learning Curves too, this is just one of the locations they use - 180 Honda BLVD. I don't know, maybe I got bad instructor? What, from questions that I asked here, did they teach you?

And thank you for your participation.

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1)For slowing down? I dont think about it, I just tap the brakes, so people behind me know im slowing down (instead of just downshifting or engine breaking), then down shift into first and stop, i give myself enough stopping distance based on my speed and i can usually stop in time. Obviously to shift down i pull the clutch

2) for this i have no idea why your bike is acting like this, i can shift down from 4 to 1st gear no problems. Didnt they teach you braking/emergency braking? You tap tap tap to downshift while your coming to a stop. This seems to be a common issue for you

3) Not sure for this one, as others have said its probably the fan

4) Unless there is something wrong with your bike(which im guessing there is not) its probably just you, the amount of force required to get into N is different than the force required to shift up or down. N is generally more subtle.

5) Practice, and Turning your head works for me. The first gear is usually really short, and is therefore very loud when revving, but i think once you get good practice shifting up and down, you should be able to go into 2nd gear very quick after completing the turn


Its all a matter of practice/seat time to be honest. atleast thats how it was for me.

The best advice i ever could have gotten from the instructor was "Dont think, just feel" the more i would think about stuff the more i was likely to make mistakes.

More practice shifting and a better feel for the clutch will solve all your problems, just try to make everything as smooth as possible.

When the demonstrator ran the very first exercise of the evaluation. Did he not shift gears in the curve?

What type of bikes were they?

They might say that it's not a good idea to shift in a corner, and they might say you could get points on an M2X for it, but I don't think anyone would say you couldn't do it. The idea is that if you mis shift, traffic can tend to be following very close in a corner. Most small bikes aren't set up to go very fast in first gear, so you'd really have to wind the engine up through the corner, and then shift asap.

If you're stopping fairly quickly from a high gear, you can pull in the clutch and repeatedly tap the shifter down to get to first gear. But, you must be almost certain that you'll be stopping. Otherwise, you'd be better off shifting and slowing down to second, and then first if you have to, just before you stop.

Joe Bass said:

Pretty sure he meant Humber, not Honda.

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Definitely wouldn't be Humber.

Joe Bass said:

Pretty sure he meant Humber, not Honda.

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I was wrong.

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk

Baggsy said:

When the demonstrator ran the very first exercise of the evaluation. Did he not shift gears in the curve?

What type of bikes were they?

They might say that it's not a good idea to shift in a corner, and they might say you could get points on an M2X for it, but I don't think anyone would say you couldn't do it. The idea is that if you mis shift, traffic can tend to be following very close in a corner. Most small bikes aren't set up to go very fast in first gear, so you'd really have to wind the engine up through the corner, and then shift asap.

If you're stopping fairly quickly from a high gear, you can pull in the clutch and repeatedly tap the shifter down to get to first gear. But, you must be almost certain that you'll be stopping. Otherwise, you'd be better off shifting and slowing down to second, and then first if you have to, just before you stop.



Definitely wouldn't be Humber.

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I don't recall him shifting in the curve to be honest, but I might be wrong. They used CBR125, CBR250F and HONDA GROM(or something like that) - all honda bikes. Perhaps I worded that poorly, they advised us not to shift during the turn and while curving, but no one said that you "couldn't" do it. So you are right there.

I practiced emergency stopping on parking lot, however my bike will not allow for me to go in 1st gear unless my speed is under 15km/h, unlike in my safety course, where we were told to accelerate to 50 and then do the emergency brake without lifting our tail. However there, bikes went go 1st gear even when going 50, my just goes to N if im going too fast, trying to get it into the 1st until the speed slows down(will fully engaged clutch) creates a lot of noise and grinding vibration, that was my main concern - if there is something wrong with my bike, or their bikes were just different.

I am practicing in downshifting, however I have a long way to learn my bikes speed and rpms to do it smoothly.

You are being very helpful, I appreciate it.

Yep, getting rpms right takes time.

Glad you took a riding course, weird they didnt go over some of that stuff. I remember specifically them going over 1, 2 and 5 in the course when I took it. Oh well.

Sounds like that 15 in first must be a thing with that cbr? Thats really weird. Its like an almost unusable 1st gear.
As for not being able to go into first, some bikes will let you go into first even when youre going 150 and itll blow the engine and some wont. A lot of newer bikes wint let you downshift if youre downshifting above the redline, just to protect the engine and yourself.

O.k. Most likely if you'd asked, they would have said to watch the demo rider.

In lesson 13, accelerating from a stop in a curve, did they have you shift, or rev it really high?

You need to be holding in the clutch while you are shifting. There shouldn't be a grinding sound. It's a ratchet system, so you need to click down, release, once for each gear. What bike is it again?

The other thing is to be going the speed that is appropriate for the gear your shifting to.