What Really Happens When You Shift Mid-turn?

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[MotoJitsu]

Perfectly fine to shift mid-turn, just do it smoothly :)
Merch -

[jaredmonk]

Love the look of the GS dash and GPS combo. Super clean bike.

[richardjeffery]

As always actions whilst riding the accent is always smoothness, wether it's acceleration, braking, steering and as you've demonstrated clutch operation .all must be smooth

[IrishBog]

New rider here. Had a little heart stopping moment a couple of days ago. Was on a left turn slight uphill and I think I was accelerating coming up into the turn. As I’m trying to lean the bike I realize it ain’t moving enough. Start to panic as I feel I’m going straight to go off the road.
Took off the throttle - brakes slightly and increased counter steer big time. Managed to stay on the road.

[rao-foto]

I consistently rev-match on downshift on my 750cc v-twin since the engine brake torque is really strong. If I commit to a corner in a too tall gear I just rev-match as I shift down and go a bit easy when letting go of the clutch. Almost doesn''t feel like the bike knows I shifted.

[vijayam]

Good information. Many people have a wrong understanding with gear shifts as same as brakes i.e. don't brake in corner, don't brake here, don't brake there. As Champ School says, let the weight transfer happen gradually. Same goes with gears shifts, unless one's not grinding the gearbox with mis-shifts and bad-shifts, not astute enough to know the bike's powerband, getting that powerband right before, to get in and exit out of a corner comes with experience and finesse. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast, I always say. Whatever you do, do it slow and smooth.

[vicinvesta]

Man. Hands down your presentation is the best on YT. Does not matter what format - on the road, at home with these cool hand drawn charts or in the parking lot. Your explanations are particularly accessible and clear. Signal to noise if off the charts.

[thedoubleton]

Great video.
I think rev matching while dropping gears is a great habit, can also be practised on the straights....makes riding more enjoyable 👍

[grandiagod]

I think a warning for people with older or cheaper motorcycles that don't have slipper clutches/electronic assist clutches is in order. Yeah you can downshift in a corner smoothly with them but the room for error is a lot smaller and it might just be better to lug the engine or pull in the clutch a tiny bit.

[mky]

Tbh this happens a lot to me because I have a yamaha r125 and the bike has such small power band that it's sometimes hard to judge and the bike can't pull you out with torque. But yeah I've somehow learnt that if I just go smooth I can downshift midturn no problem

[wanderingastred]

When I was taking the Advanced Rider Course, we spent some time talking about traction management and the things that impact our traction budget. I've got a physics degree so I started thinking about this a little deeper. Then, when I learned to trail brake and got smooth enough to be comfortable shifting and using my speed to actually change lines safely mid-term, it made sense at the next level. It also changed a lot of "Oh shit this is going to hurt" times due to coming into a corner too hot or getting into a turn and seeing something in my line of travel that might be predjudicial to good traction into "I'm just going to adjust a little bit and get on with my ride."

This probably isn't the place to get into the physics because explaining it without equations needs a lot of words. But here's the gist of it. Riding a motorcycle is balancing the downward forces (which gives you traction) and lateral forces, which cause you to move, well, laterally. Anything that affects this balance potentially puts you in a situation where the lateral forces are greater than the downward forces and you are going to slide. How fast you apply addiitonal non-traction giving forces (in this case by changing power delivery to the wheel by shifting and slowing down) matters. Do it slowly and you'll probably be fine. If you do it fast, probably not.

The old military saying "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast" definitely applies here.

[lyess]

Since I have been watching your videos for a while (2, 5 Years) now, I am quit a seasoned rider. Not just because of the Videos of course, but because I practice all kind of maneuver!! Just as you preach

[THEelduderino]

The key is don’t panic when caught in the wrong gear mid corner, when in doubt, better to just clutch in, cover front & back brake gentle & roll out. Also great benefit of a quickshifter, can upshift & downshift all day mid corner smoothly

[benwells]

I still consider myself a “newbie” rider with only a few years under my felt but the longer I ride, the more I realize many of the supposed motorcycle “absolutes” are very rarely actually absolute. Braking mid corner, shifting mid corner, many others that people will tell you to NEVER do, the common denominator being smoothness. Essentially, don’t do anything to disrupt the chassis, versus this action or that is inherently “bad”.

[dieselever]

I have downshifted in a highway exit mid turn already, and had no problem with it. I always take in account the grip avaliable, so i basically let go of the front brake, downshifted and slowly released the clutch. This was on a 5 speed motorcycle, downshifting from 4th to 3rd. As long as you're smooth, you can do pretty much anything. Never had a problem.

[YourFavoriteRoadCaptain]

Thanks to what I've learned on this channel, I'm pretty smooth on the front brake, even in a turn. Semper Fi, brother

[RoentX]

I had a accidental mid shift in turn while back ago; it was a high speed turn to the right and had my outside heel little closer than normal do so moved it forward, accidently hit the shifter (I GP shift) but thankfully it didn’t upset the bike but threw me off on remembering what gear I was in; now waiting for my bike to get out of shop including a gear indicator installed.

[RVMTube]

Thank you Greg!!! Thank you much! I asked you this question about a month ago, it was something I have been wondering at and experimenting with, for months (I've been riding for less than a year.) and I see this video!!!! Love your work mate! Thank you, from Malta... a tiny island in Europe.

[neildewitt]

Hi from Alaska. We have very tight clover leaf corners on our on ramps in Eagle River to head north or south. You have to upshift in mid turn or get run over. Like you said easy and not abrupt worksteally well up or down shifting!

[scotthart]

MotoJitsu is THE most enlightening riding channel EVER.
Please keep the super content coming!