AE Owners, Shifting

[ugar-6]

AE owners, how do you shift, up and down? Do you roll off on the throttle all the way, part of the way, or stay in it? On my test ride I felt smoother shifting staying steady on the throttle. However, the manual says to close the throttle to shift. I just wanted to hear what everyone does and if they have had any problems if they stay in the throttle for up or down shifts. Thanks.

 

[copron]

If you try to shift like a regular clutch bike by rolling off the throttle the thing will try to buck you off it. I find it much smoother to shift with the throttle left open.

 

[thewoodman]

I find if I roll off just a hair the shift is a bit smoother. I find if I squeeze the grip my wrist tends to automatically roll forward slightly and that's enough for shifting. From 2nd up it's smooth enough without rolling off.

Copron is right about being bucked off. Following the manual and closing the throttle completely, particularly from first to second at say 6-8000rpm feels like it will pitch you over the bars. And the shift is very rough.

The roads just cleared enough by Monday to start riding again. I have put on a couple hundred miles and it took a few shifts to get back to being smooth.

And don't forget, when you take it out of winter storage (if you store it) remember that first gear is up not down. After about 4 tries to get it into first I remembered this.

Greg

 

[JimNtexas]

I find if I roll off just a hair the shift is a bit smoother. I find if I squeeze the grip my wrist tends to automatically roll forward slightly and that's enough for shifting. From 2nd up it's smooth enough without rolling off.

That's my experience exactly. Honestly I usually just hit the paddles, but it is smoother to very slightly roll off.

It would be insane to try to make a big throttle roll off.

 

[FJRScrewball]

I find if I roll off just a hair the shift is a bit smoother. I find if I squeeze the grip my wrist tends to automatically roll forward slightly and that's enough for shifting. From 2nd up it's smooth enough without rolling off.
Copron is right about being bucked off. Following the manual and closing the throttle completely, particularly from first to second at say 6-8000rpm feels like it will pitch you over the bars. And the shift is very rough.

The roads just cleared enough by Monday to start riding again. I have put on a couple hundred miles and it took a few shifts to get back to being smooth.

And don't forget, when you take it out of winter storage (if you store it) remember that first gear is up not down. After about 4 tries to get it into first I remembered this.

Greg

I totally agree.

I still remember the ride home from the dealer. After trying to roll off the throttle like a bike with a rider operated clutch a few times I realized this wasn't the way to do it. I started shifting without rolling off at all. If you upshift at very low rpms without rolling off at all and then roll on the throttle aggressively, when the clutch re-engages it will slip some. But doing this with a rider operated clutch would mean having to slip it some on re-engagement also.

As stated above, about the only time I even slightly roll off the throttle now is when upshifting from 1st to 2nd. The rest of the time its just a slight pause with the throttle hand, upshift, and then back on the throttle at moderate riding tempo and no pause at all when riding aggressive.

 

[Sir Price]

Squeeze the gas off very slghtly , more a twitch of the wrist rather than a flick oh the wrist on the up shift from 1 to 2 after that dont back off but shift when the bike isnt accelerating hard. I have under extreme circumstances shifted flat stick at redline now that is interesting and fkin fast

On decell just close the gas and down you go .

 

[happyPuppy]

upshift, increase RPMS a tad , shift while steady. downshift just keep it steady and shift.

 

[cruppelt]

Well, I agree that you don't have to decrease throttle for upshifts if you are on the low end of the throttle anyways, but if you actually have the throttle wide open as in "hang on for your life" or "get out of my way", and get let's say past 5500 rpm or more - then I found that I HAVE to let off the throttle to upshift, otherwise it takes FOREVER for the clutch to disengage. It feels like you could burn/wear the clutch plate out in no time if you do that repeatedly.

I've found the downshift works pretty smoothly for me however I shift.

 

[dustyrains]

One of the beautys of "shift by wire" is that you will never, ever blow a shift. Shifting in town from 1 to 2 -- smoothest way -- pulling away from a stop, as soon the bike is rolling and clutch has fully engaged, flick into 2nd with no throttle movement at all. Like maybe 15 feet from the stop, flick up. On the highway, hard accel, just the tiniest, briefest, very fast throttle twitch will get you very very smooth, fast upshifts with no lag. All you want to do is unload the clutch and gearbox for just a fraction of a second. Although you can upshift with no throttle twitch at all, it's smoother and faster the way I just described. I don't know why Yamaha ever said to roll completely off the throttle. That's just stupid, like they never even rode their own motorcycle. It took me a couple weeks practice to master the timing of the "twitch". I discovered it on my own, as I am sure others did also, now you have the benefit. Downshift, just close the throttle and flick down when appropriate. Fun.

 

[ScottyUSN]

One of the beautys of "shift by wire" is that you will never, ever blow a shift. Shifting in town from 1 to 2 -- smoothest way -- pulling away from a stop, as soon the bike is rolling and clutch has fully engaged, flick into 2nd with no throttle movement at all. Like maybe 15 feet from the stop, flick up. On the highway, hard accel, just the tiniest, briefest, very fast throttle twitch will get you very very smooth, fast upshifts with no lag. All you want to do is unload the clutch and gearbox for just a fraction of a second. Although you can upshift with no throttle twitch at all, it's smoother and faster the way I just described. I don't know why Yamaha ever said to roll completely off the throttle. That's just stupid, like they never even rode their own motorcycle. It took me a couple weeks practice to master the timing of the "twitch". I discovered it on my own, as I am sure others did also, now you have the benefit. Downshift, just close the throttle and flick down when appropriate. Fun.

I concur, very well said.

 

[bigjimbiker]

I concur, very well said.

I concur with your concurrence...very well said, also... :clapping:

 

[copron]

I concour with the recurrence of the concurrence.

 

[Slade]

Concuring to the 4th degree. Not to be confused with that Kawi lump.

 

[flyball]

I concur with the concurrence of the recurring concurrences. A "twitch" of the wrist is all that is needed.

 

[Joe]

I agree with flyball. Just a twitch of the wrist for a smooth shift.