BLSJDS Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 I've been having trouble performing quick upshifts while exiting (or very shortly after exiting) corners when I need to quickly prepare my foot position for the the next corner. I wear a size 12 boot and it is difficult for me to get the ball of my foot forward, under the shifter, perform the shift, and then get properly back on the peg without a lot of body movement / re-positioning, etc. By the time I'm done crapping around with shifting, I'm not even close to being in the proper position for the next turn. Heck, sometimes I'm already half way through the next turn. I will probably raise the shifter itself to see if that helps any, but I was also thinking about giving the Moto GP pattern a try. Has anyone switched over and found it helpful? Was it a steep learning curve, or did it come naturally after a few laps? I also ride motocross, so I'm wondering if the two different gear patterns will really screw me up or not . Thanks for any / all input! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khp Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Hi Dan, I've changed over to "race pattern". I did it mainly because my trackbike came like that, and it felt 'more natural' to have it like that on the track. I rode about a season with different shift patterns on the road and the track without ill effects. Eventually I bought rearsets for the roadbike so I could switch the shift pattern on that as well. To answer your questions: for me, learning the other pattern was quite easy, but I can still see that 15 years of "road shift pattern" is hard to unlearn. I did not find using both patterns a problem, but I prefer to have the same shift pattern on both bikes, in order to reprogram my brain better. Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotfoot Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Hi Dan, I've changed over to "race pattern". I did it mainly because my trackbike came like that, and it felt 'more natural' to have it like that on the track. I rode about a season with different shift patterns on the road and the track without ill effects. Eventually I bought rearsets for the roadbike so I could switch the shift pattern on that as well. To answer your questions: for me, learning the other pattern was quite easy, but I can still see that 15 years of "road shift pattern" is hard to unlearn. I did not find using both patterns a problem, but I prefer to have the same shift pattern on both bikes, in order to reprogram my brain better. Kai I did it, I liked it a lot better, I definitely was quicker with upshifts and it REALLY helped in the situations where I needed to upshift while still leaned over, especially in a left turn. It took a little getting used to but I did actually find it more intuitive - I think of it as leaning forward when I want to go faster (stepping down on the shifter) and sitting up when slowing to upshift, pulling up on the shifter kinda like pulling back on the reins of a horse to slow down, it's my mental trick to keep me shifting the right direction. I have a race bike that is GP, then a dirt bike and a street bike that are standard pattern. I was worried that switching back and forth would be confusing, but after doing it a few times it wasn't too bad. The hardest thing for me is remembering which way to shift in the pits when trying to put it in first or nuetral. I also had a very ingrained habit, on the street when approaching a stoplight, of pulling in the clutch and stepping down repeatedly on the shifter to make sure I got it all the way down to first; that was a hard habit to break and at the racetrack a few times I found myself pulling into the pits in sixth gear. I can be a distraction at first, so just ride at a reduced pace until you get comfortable with it, because that initial hesitation of making sure you are shifting the right way can make you late on the controls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warregl Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 ...I think of it as leaning forward when I want to go faster (stepping down on the shifter) and sitting up when slowing to upshift, pulling up on the shifter kinda like pulling back on the reins of a horse to slow down... That's a great mnemonic Hotfoot. Thanks. I've been thinking about this as I look at track bikes as many of them have race pattern shifting. I'm also thinking I should change the street bike as having them different seems to be a recipe for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc-f Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Hello, i did try it when I installed the rear sets and tried it out on the street: I couldn't break the down shift association between my right hand throttle blip and the (normal) down shift movement of the left foot so for the moment I am back to normal. I'll try again sometime, I guess it takes practice. Cheers Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khp Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 I can be a distraction at first, ... Freudian slip ... ? Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSJDS Posted May 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thanks for the feedback, guys! I think I'm going to give it a shot. If I can adapt easily, I believe it will really help. Kai & Hotfoot - good to hear that switching back and forth wasn't really an issue, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotfoot Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 I can be a distraction at first, ... Freudian slip ... ? Kai Oh, jeez, that's hilarious, I can't believe you even noticed that. Very funny, good catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Rutter Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Think of it almost like having two cars where the indicators and windscreen wipers are on different sides of the steering wheel. The first few times you'll turn the wipers on when you want to signal, after a while you simply learn to associate one way with each vehicle and pay it no further thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 I had it on my streetbike after I replaced the Thunderbird with a Daytona engine and learned they have reversed pattern. I never got fully used to it. No problem as long as I went through the gears in a normal manner, but under stress I made mistakes. Luckily, I could hear it if I went from 3rd to 2nd at redline and avoided letting the clutch out, but in the end I took the trouble to revert to a normal pattern. There are world champions that use or have used the typical street pattern as well, like Biaggi and I believe Bayliss and more. But you should try it - you may like it, and many I know have no issues changing between up/down pattern or even right/left side shifter. Strangely, I have zero trouble switching between auto and manual shift cars, never even cross my mind even if it's been years apart - it comes fully natural and automatic to me. Sadly, not with bikes, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Left corners on lean angle are always messy with conventional gear pattern... i find it's better to short-shift before so you're in the right gear for the exit. However, if it's a long turn even that doesn't help. I've been wanting to convert my bike but up to now I still don't have a clue how to do this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSJDS Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 I have a set of Woodcraft rear sets that can be set up to accomodate either pattern. However, I've seen some DIY set ups for my bike (CBR600RR) making use of the stock components, just configured differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Race Shift Pattern Head down - push down. Head up - lift up. Personally, the only significant issue I encountered was going from neutral to 1st. Well, that's my excuse for my occasional very poor race starts (starting in 2nd gear). Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Suzuki Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 I was lucky enough to have a ride on a 125GP bike with race shift pattern and i was worried about it but it only really took a session to get used to it and now I'm going to convert my 600 to race shift i like it that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSJDS Posted May 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 I'm making the switch tomorrow, so I'll post up my thoughts on it shortly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSJDS Posted May 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 I only rode for about 30 minutes with the GP pattern (because it started to rain ), but I really like it so far. Upshifting is MUCH quicker and easier, and started to feel natural after only 20 minutes. Downshifting requires a little more thought and feels less "natural" for some reason, but I can see it becoming natural after a few more longer sessions on the bike. Overall, I like it very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.