How To Shift Gears like a Pro | How to Ride a Motorcycle

Shifting for beginners, Clutchless Shifting and Pro Shifting. We’ll see 3 different ways to do it: the basic shifting like beginner riders do it, the clutchless shifting, both with and without quickshifter, and another method for more advanced riders, which makes our shifting very smooth and quick. Weirdly enough all those 3 different ways are closely related.

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On Moto Control channel you will find videos about motorcycles, motorcycle riding techniques, tips & tricks and online motorcycle training for beginner and advanced riders!
A little info about me. My name is Andrei Bodrov, originally I'm from Moscow, Russia, and now I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Back in Moscow I was a motorcycle instructor and creator of Moto Control Beginner & Advanced motorcycle rider courses, which quickly became the most popular courses in Moscow (well, at least the advanced one😁). My advanced training course makes emphasis on slow speed riding techniques at first (such as good clutch and throttle control, proper riding posture, proper use of vision, etc.), then proceeds to more advanced techniques (such as aggressive braking, trail braking, maximal lean angle). The course incorporates a lot of exercises from DOSAF slow speed riding (similar to police rodeo like motorcycle training in USA), braking and cornering exercises and motogymkhana style riding. And now, since I actively learn English - I decided to post some useful videos for both your and mine practice!😉
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Since everyone writes this, it's necessary, I suppose 🤷, so here we go. Disclaimer: Ride at your own risk, you are responsible for your own safety. Me, Andrey Bodrov and my channel, Moto Control disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of riding techniques from this channel. Use common sense, wear full protective gear and ride in a safe and predictable manner!
#motorcycle #motorcycles #moto

[David..]

Remember if you’re having issues finding neutral. Don’t worry. You’ll find it quite easily while accelerating away from a light around other motorcyclists.

[theultimatefgeek]

I'll be honest I started watching your channel because I couldn't find any reliable source of information about how operating a motorcycle works, and I have to admit you explain things in a crystal clear way, as opposed to most articles online or even reddit discussions. Every video is packed with info and explains everything in layman's terms.

In case you're wondering why I don't find any reliable information, I'm from India where motorcycle safety standards are pretty weak and there are no courses, and everyone is self taught, so basically watching your videos is like getting personal reliable coaching.

Using your videos as example I actually managed to convince my dad that grabbing front brakes during an emergency on an old scooter without ABS which I've been learning to ride on isn't definitely the way to do it.

Subbed and keep up the good work!

[nrgrlsd]

When I started riding, I learned how to fast shift first because I rode like a maniac. It actually took me a while and was difficult for me to learn how to shift smoothly at slow speeds.

[hackman]

I don’t know who you are (I’ll search you), but I never seen a video with so much precise (and true) information. You have a new subscriber, definitely going to see a lot more of you! Thank you for the time you take to share your knowledge.

[Mesk]

When the count from sesame street gives motorcycle lessons...

[sagarkalasa]

I like how his shoes are worn out and the bike has scratch marks makes you feel more connected and related. Unlike other youtubers who probably do not ride a lot or make you feel some kind of inferiority complex.

[AleeCarretero]

I never learned clutchless shifting fearing it might damage my gearbox. Saw a few lessons and practiced what some call "punta-taco", which is basically the third technique for downshifting. Not only it is faster and more comfortable, but it also gives me more control over the bike and its RPM, because I can have it always at the most suitable RPM even in emergency brakes

[natashasimmons]

As a CDL Instructor trying to get precise information on the mechanics of shifting a motorcycle, this was great. I first watched your video about counter steering and been subscribed to your channel since. Thanks for all you do 🙌🏾

[nirajjoshi]

Came across your video two days ago and have been watching lot of your stuff since then. Your videos are perfectly worded and paced for a beginner! No confusions, no rushes, properly explained and comfortably abstract!

I have been riding for a while but always had a problem with shifting. I use the first method but with bigger shift window because I have trust issues with my clutch and have to pull it all the way in and then shift with a slight delay 😂 But I love to accelerate and go from 0 to top speed pretty fast, so this shifting habbit makes my life lot harder on my new 400cc engine bike. I'll use this video to learn quick shifting that you explained in third technique. Thanks a lot!

[LSB]

Rev matching is the most satisfying thing to learn as a new rider

[julieb]

You’re a really good teacher. I’m enjoying your videos a lot, and learning a lot too. I like the positivity and the quality of your information.

[enriquemeza]

Thank you so much! The demonstration on how the gears actually work explained everything to my why my engine breaking was bucking me. I was releasing the clutch to fast. This has been something ive been looking for forever. Genuinely thank you!

[monkeyboi]

Coming from a manual car to bike myself, I'd say this is absolutely clear with those gear fundatmentals, thanks!

[gpark]

Been driving two wheeler for almost a decade but never a geared bike, and recently finished the course, learnt the basics but honestly your explanation on shifting was EPIC!! Absolutely what every newbie needs to know, I know it might take a while for me to learn fully but it takes practice but will surely keep these ideas on mind. Got yourself a new sub and also loved that you kept things real!! Thank you!!

[franciscomoreno]

Finally a video that is worth a million dollars, answers all of the questions I had, thank you,

[niscent_]

that's a super cool video. clear and well packaged for all people who struggle with shifting.

obviously didn't get into the full deeper details of what makes clutchless shifting rough for some people especially at low speed. but with good understanding of it, people can learn to make their clutchless shift close to seamless even at lower speed. which is kinda superfluous and useless since you don't need to gain time on your gear shifting when riding at low speed anyways, but it's cool nonetheless.

just as explained in the video, the base of clutchless shifting is that instead of unloading your gear box by using the clutch to disconnect it from the engine, you use a small gap in the engine power application where it's naturally unloaded. whenever you go from engine power to engine braking, and vice versa, you unload your transmission for a brief moment as the direction of power within the gear box changes. you're on the gas and cut the gas, brief unload. you're engine braking and open the gas, brief unload again.
that's the first component. you CAN change gear every time you do one or the other, but that doesn't mean you SHOULD.

as explained in the video, if you're downshifting, the engine will have to run faster to match the speed, and if you're upshifting, the engine will have to slow down.
so if you're downshifting, you want to use an unload pulse from engine brake to gas, so that you opening gas help the engine pick up speed to match the rotation of the wheel and make the shifting less brutal. and if you're upshifting, you want to use an unload pulse from gas to engine brake, so that your closed gas help the engine slow down.

when you're simply cutting the gas and opening immediately again, you are unloading the gearbox twice, it goes like this: same, but in mirror when gas is closed and you blip your throttle:
what actually happens when clutchless shifting is that most people are not perfectly aiming the timing of one of those unload to change gear. the main mistake that make some people have a rough clutchless shifting is that they get the wrong unload pulse by accident. so instead most people use a trick to not have to time the movement perfectly, they load the gear shift lever by lightly pressing it with their foot, and right as they blip the throttle or briefly cut the gas, they can feel the lever resisting less as the transmission unloads and react to that feeling to engage the new gear. that's the most common way to go, which is explained in the video: upshift by cutting the gas briefly, downshift by blipping the throttle.
the extra trick to make it extra smooth is to aim how hard you blip that throttle (or how much you reopen the gas after the brief cut) so that it matches the engine speed you'll have after changing gear. if you're actually trying that, it's not hard at all to get a feel for it, it just keeps on getting better and better as you're riding. that means, at medium speeds you'll need to be much more gentle on your gas handle inputs while keeping them just as sharp.

what leads people to have a messy shift with the previous technique at medium to low speed is that they may start their upshift while engine is not so clearly pushing through the gearbox, or they may start their downshift while engine is not so clearly braking. for example, if you're at idle speed, your gas may be shut closed, but your engine is still giving power and not braking. another example, you're riding down a slope, gas is open and you're gaining speed, but you could still be using engine brake. those examples are not the only cases of course.
with proper understanding, you can identify those special cases and adjust. so if you're riding down a slope on engine brake and want to smoothly upshift as you're slowly picking up speed, you need to blip the throttle just hard enough that the engine would be pushing you downhill, and you must aim at the second pulse of unload to pass the next gear, so that you upshift while ending on a closed throttle and help the engine slow down to match the new gear.
another classic case is when you've already slowed down and reached idle speed of your gear, but now you want to downshift. you cannot possible cut the gas harder than zero to get some engine braking, so you can't get a natural unload of your gearbox to shift. that means you have to anticipate and downshift before reaching idle speed on that gear. if you somehow need to because your clutch is damaged or whatever, the only way is to first gain the tiniest amount of speed by gently blipping the throttle, then you'll be briefly engine braking as you cut the throttle again and can use the normal downshift method by blipping the throttle again.

yeah, i love wasting lots of time on tiny technical details that don't really matter in the end. lots of fun for me to perfect my low speed clutchless shifting.

[krispewkrem]

Beat me to it. I always wanted to cover a video with these topics. Your video definitely stands out because you go over clutchless upshifting, and Almost never before seen, clutchless downshift.

And WHEN to use it. I’ve been not using my clutch commuting a FZ07 and WR250 for months. Zero issues.

[keithcanfield]

It nice to watch someone who knows what the he'll there talking about! Love this channel Im not a new rider by no means. But when I want to learn more about riding bikes I come here you have never failed me. Thank you for breaking it down also. Much thanks my friend

[SirBast]

I really like how detailed this video is. Points out mistakes and how the bike acts when you make them. Thats great! This helped a lot.

[ShubhamAtkare]

I'm a complete noob to riding a bike. But this is the first video where I bery clearly understood the concept of Rev Matching. Thanks a ton.