I always though that down-shifting was the natural process of up-shifting...
Heck, I even downshift my automatic in the car when I'm coming down the back side of these tall Florida bridges... (Some are nearly a 20% grade...)
But, everything that's natural says that if you've got a manual transmission... Downshift...

I've always down shifted all my vehicles with no problems.Done right and you will save brake pads and be ready for anything in the right gear.
Enjoy your rides!! Ken

I've always down shifted my manual transmissions.If done right you should never have a problem.Enjoy your rides!! Ken

I'm with Papa Bear. I want to be in the correct gear to get the heck out of Dodge is something goes wrong. Nothing worse than having a teenager on a cell phone bearing down on you while you're lugging it in fourth gear instead of powering out in second.

Downshifting... aside from the mechanical and operational reasons already provided here, I think it's just part of the fun of riding a motorcycle, and it sounds and feels good too.

Ok now my posts are working so here goes. Road* test pilot from Bellflower, Ca. checking in again. Back when I was doing my crazy testing on the beast I did a super hard decell without brakeing. Went from 80-0 as quick as possible by down shifting. Everything worked fine, except for the following. You think the rev limiter sounds bad while accellerating you should hear what it sounds like on hard decell. It literlly sounds like World War III (yes I do believe that is just a mater of time) IMHO. Anyways just downshift from 2nd to 1st at 40mph and hold on tight because the first second your back tire is skidding waiting for the Rpms to catch then the next two seconds the rev limiter kicks in then finally things smooth out. Yes I have always done normal downshifting on all my vehicles Bikes, Cars, Trucks and Vans. My bucket car 1995 Hyundai Accent has 180,000 miles withthe same clutch. I firmly believe like the others that ii is best to be in a lower gear while coming to a stop for that quick get away if need be. Like the kid driving Dads Escalade , stereo bumping, kids yelling over the stereo, texing girlfriend and not paying attention while coming to the red light. Thats enough for now. Take Good care my Brothers and Sisters. Ride Safe and God Bless OSO

downshifting, yes, always.

properly executed gearshifts both up and down the box should be smooth and hardly notaceable. hell, the box on the roadie is that good that i do around 60% of my upshifts clutchless with no jerkyness at all, and the other 40% with literally just a light stroke of the clutch lever. some may wince at that, but if the gears snick in quickly with no noise or jerks, no harm is being done. downshifts i always do with the clutch, using engine braking.

smooth downshifting is down to throttle/clutch control, as is upshifting (although clutchless upshifts are throttle/gearlever). done properly, each gearshift should be practically seamless without any `woodpecker effect´ from the passengers helmet.

as for the durability of the gearbox, there are heavily modified 100+ bhp roadies around using the same standard gearbox without any problems whatsoever.

BTW, 50,000 miles up on mine from new, and the `box is beautiful!

Been ridin'... and downshiftin' for some 38 years now, and on some 11 different motorcycles... ain't never hurt a one yet!

And, downshiftin' the Roadie with a good throttle blip, is the sweetest sound yet!

Questcap wrote:
Been ridin'... and downshiftin' for some 38 years now, and on some 11 different motorcycles... ain't never hurt a one yet!

And, downshiftin' the Roadie with a good throttle blip, is the sweetest sound yet!

Oh yes!! I love the way it hums... It really IS a sweet sound!

I always downshift