...gear-shifting begins not from the foot but from the body position and posture astride a bike. Good clean and smooth gear-shifts are the essence of good riding skills and are a great example of hand-foot-eye co-ordination.

#1 Posture: Sit on the bike with your knees gripping the tank, not hard so as to be fatiguing, but firm. The point is to load up the torso and abdominal muscles for most of the work, keeping the arms and legs unloaded - both to avoid fatigue and to allow for sensitive control inputs. (While sitting on a chair, try lifting any one leg and feel the torso/abdomen tighten in response. Thats what I mean). So, if you sit right and balanced, your control inputs can be finely controlled.

#2 Throttle control: The finer is your sense of controlling the RPM's through the throttle, the smoother can be your gear-shifts. Practice by holding throttle in say 2nd gear at 2000 rpm, gently increase to 2500 rpm and hold, without overshooting the 2.5k target. Learn to hold constant throttle on rough roads.

#3 Inner Tachometer: This is about developing an innate RPM sense. The seat-of-the-pants, ears and eyes are the primary senses that let the rider accurately access the RPM's even without a tacho. And a developed RPM sense comes to forte esp during downshifts. Train yourself by guessing the RPMs and then confirming with a glance at the tacho.

#4: Upshifts: Make them quickly. The less time you give the engine rpm's to drop below what should be for the next gear, the lesser are the chances of a jerky shift. Keeping two fingers on the clutch lever helps (provided the lever is adjusted properly). Just pull in the clutch enough to disengage the drive while you reduce throttle, upshift quickly and firmly, and let out the clutch as you get on the throttle. Smooth upshifts, especially at mid-rpm's, are usually the easiest to master. Poke the engine into the powerband and smoothness again becomes a tough co-ordination exercise.

#5: Down-shifts: Now this is what separates the men from the boys. Blipping the throttle as you downshift is not difficult to acquire as a skill. The difficult part is getting the timing right and most riders give up when frustrated at this end. In simple terms, blipping is a short sharp twist of the throttle during the tiny interval between pulling in the clutch and shifting the gear. The purpose is to get the engine in the proper RPM's for the lower gear. The downshift will be smooth if the engine RPM is almost what it should be when the lower gear is selected at that given road speed. Complex when written and read but supremely doable by any practiced rider. The best is when the blip is co-ordinated with braking for the upcoming turn. Needs practice with two fingers on the front brake lever and the remaining two with the thumb wrapped around the throttle. Brake with two fingers while blipping the throttle as you de-clutch and downshift. Saves a LOT of drive-train wear (includes the gearbox, clutch, drivechain/shaft, sprockets), makes for a smooth ride for the pillion and sounds real cool. A real necessity on high power bikes, even with slipper clutches.

These points are imperative for sports bikes though it is best even for those riding our desi bikes to practice and inculcate such good riding habits. You never know when you get the chance to upgrade. And smooth shifting will anyway help preserve your steed, whether it makes 10 bhp or 200.

Ride long and safe...

Old Fox