When to use the clutch...

[Water Warrior 2]

You can brake in a turn if you use the rear brake only. You can use both in an emergency in a low speed turn but will like go down as the front end geometry will be upset in the turn as the forks compress and weight shifts.
As for higher speeds you can use both brakes to reduce your speed. The wheels act as gyroscopes and want to stay upright. The higher the speed the more stable you will be. There we go with the learning curve again !! I practiced high speed braking into a curve. I used a good piece of smooth curvy road (slightly downhill)with no dead critters or garbage on it. And definitely no tar snakes as they are scary under normal conditions in my opinion.

[5th_bike]

No problem shifting gears in a turn, you see the GZ250 is not a race-bike and doesn't have enough power to "throw you off the road" if you accidentally "drop the clutch" going say from 3rd to 4th gear.

Like dentheman said - You will learn to ignore its little jitters - and enjoy the ride ! :2tup:

[mole2]

Originally Posted by 5th_bike

No problem shifting gears in a turn, you see the GZ250 is not a race-bike and doesn't have enough power to "throw you off the road" if you accidentally "drop the clutch" going say from 3rd to 4th gear.

Like dentheman said - You will learn to ignore its little jitters - and enjoy the ride ! :2tup:

You shouldn't be shifting during a curve or turn as you run the chance of breaking friction on the rear wheel which will take you down. That's why you set up before the curve and roll your throttle slightly to maintain speed and keep friction at it's max.

[AndrewGZ250_02]

And it will throw off the gyroscopic force that keeps you from falling when you lean. At slow speeds you might be able to pull off gear-shifts, but its a habit that will carry over to higher speeds and someday it'll bite you. Even the GZ is capable of losing grip due to too much turning + imbalance, and that limit closes in fast when you are going over a puddle, slick, uneven pavement, etc. Better to create a safe foundation that you won't have to revise in an emergency situation.

[Skunkhome]

I find proper clutching to be much easier when you can hear the engine. Until yesterday I could feel thar my clutching and gear changing was choppy but could not get a handle on it until I readjusted my windshield and got my head out of the turbulence. I can imagine it sounded horrible to bystanders even though I couldn't hear a thing. Now my shifting is smooth as glass even from 1st to 2nd.

[kmrcstintn]

the 'throttle down, clutch in -- shift -- clutch out, throttle up' sequence is different for each type of bike and each rider must 'feel' the intrinsics for his/her own bike; my first bike, a 2008 Buell Blast, had a horrendous transmission and being a single cylinder bike (without counterbalance) made the shifting sequence alot more herky-jerky than the Kawaskai Eliminator 125 I used for my MSF course; on the opposite side, the shifting sequence on my 2009 Yamaha V Star 650 is smooth as glass compared to the Blast, but there are intermittent 'jerky' feelings in first gear due to the shaft drive, but nothing like the Buell; my smaller bike, a 2009 Suzuki GZ250, has a 'clunkier' shift sequence than the V Star, but nothing as unforgiving as the Blast; sometimes on the Blast I would get a 'grind' when trying to shift into first or if I was trying to downshift through the gears too quickly (RPM's too high), but 2 different H-D/Buell shops said it was just the 'harley-esque' transmission on the bike and I just went with it; I have to push the shifter further on the GZ than the V Star to engage the gears, especially when downshifting into first (sometimes I don't get it and hit neutral, then I have to roll the bike a bit to get first to engage at a stop); there is no one 'correct' answer to the OP's question...each bike has it's own 'feel' and overthinking the sequence can make the experience of riding unpleasant :shocked: