Double upshifts when going downhill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chris]

Did 135 miles today cruising around NW Georgia. Pretty good weather so I thought I should ride in Janaury while I can. Rain and cold coming so I snuck one in.

It occurred to me that many of you don't know you can double upshift when going downhill. Dosen't work at all going uphill, but going downhill it makes riding easier and smoother.
For example on a long downhill you could go first, third, fifth. Or 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th. Or 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th. No problem at all and, again, makes the ride a bit smoother.
This works OK on the level if you give it a few more revs and then double upshift. You will know if you like it on the level. But it works great going downhill. Try it and let me know.

Chris, retired guy near Atlanta
GZ250 is my 12th bike

[dan_]

I don't really get what your saying BUT I go up hills in fourth and shift to fifth going down.

[JWR]

Just skip a gear and use gravity..

On a big enough hill I use Georgia overdrive.

[alantf]

Hey JWR,
What's Georgia overdrive? I heard a reference to it in a country music trucking song, once. I didn't know what it meant then, & I still don't. (please let me know!)
There used to be a saying that " England & America are two countries separated by a common language" I think that it still holds true, as I notice quite a few things in the posts that are strange to me. It's great to see the different cultures, but sometimes a little baffling!
(re. the country music thing - it's always been my favourite music)

[patrick_777]

On a downhill slope, you disengage the transmission with the clutch or neutral and let gravity do the work.

[alanmcorcoran]

I thought this first post was an attempt at humor, but now I'm thinking it was actually serious.

To me, shifting is never a robotic 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 thing. When you are going downhill, uphill, have extra weight, have a stiff wind, trying to accelerate, trying to slow down, all of them have an impact on what gear is going to give you what you want. Some of it is also personal preference. I often "quadruple down-shift" when pulling up to a light (in town) as I generally am not going fast enough to warrant using the engine as a brake (plus I also find the engine braking to be unpredictable based on how warm the bike is, how my idle is doing, etc.) I guess wouldn't have considered this practice to be noteworthy or postworthy.

[JWR]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

On a downhill slope, you disengage the transmission with the clutch or neutral and let gravity do the work.

Called... Knock it out John.....

Let it ROLL.....

[Chris]

Someone thought this was a joke???

This is a smooth and efficent way to ride when going downhill. Before you think it is a joke perhaps you should try it.
Someone said they had no problem doing a four or five gear downshift when coming into a stop light. And I do the same thing although I usually let the machine coast down easily. So why not skip a gear when going downhill?
Lets hear from someone (else) that has actually tried it before anyone says it is a joke. I'm riding 1000 miles a month and I do it on every ride.

Chris, retired in Georgia

[JWR]

I may be a little slow....but what post did you think was a joke?

From the location on my avatar you can coast about 3 miles down the hill.

We have coast races, no gas but a lot of brake.

[alanmcorcoran]

I thought it was a joke because it was presented as if it was a major discovery. (The !!!!!!!!!!!!!'s)

I only have six months of experience driving a motorcycle, but I've driven dozens of cars with manual transmissions (I sold used cars) and I have 40 years of experience on (manually shifted) bicycles. I don't ever recall thinking I had to use all the gears, in a row, all the time, or even regularly. In every vehicle, there were times (or gears) that, under certain circumstances, just didn't need to be visited. Sometimes second was sort of useless, sometimes third. One car I drove had 4 gears and an overdrive. Never used fourth.

There's 18 gears on my bicycle. I've skipped eight of 'em going downhill and vice versa. I know there's only five on the GZ, but, it's pretty much the same principal - if you are heading downhill, and you're at speed - get right to the gear you need.

To me, the post read like, "Hey guys, if you use the pedal brake with the hand brake, you'll slow down faster!"

Yes, you can skip gears. Especially when going downhill. Is this news to anyone? If so, I apologize.