There is nothing like shifting flawlessly, and the sound gives you the feeling of exact control of your motorcycle. A perfect shift is safer and increases the amount of time you have control of your bike. In addition, it prevents your rear wheel from locking up and keeps the bike easier to handle.
Shifting perfectly will require time, hard work, and many hours of practice. The good news is once you've got it down, the rest of your rides will be smoother, safer, and much more enjoyable. Of course, if you want the easy way out, you can always get a quick shifter.
Unless your bike is equipped with a quick shifter, shifting smoothly will require some practice. The good news is, once you’ve committed it to muscle memory, you’ll be a smoother, safer, better rider.
The key to upshifting smoothly is pretty straightforward. But, first, you need to approach shifting as a singular fluid movement instead of separate steps in the process of shifting.
A smooth shift starts by knowing where the clutch sweet spot is. On some bikes, it’s right next to the grip; on others, it’s way out almost to the end of the lever movement, and most often, it’s somewhere in the middle. Practice finding your individual bike's friction zone until it's almost an instinct to reach the perfect spot. Everything functionality happens inside that sweet spot. So, for example, if your friction sweet spot is close to the grip, you know you’ll need to have the lever pulled in quite far before anything happens. Then, upon release, the clutch will re-engage immediately. It's just a matter of practice and experimenting on your bike to find exactly where this sweet spot is and how it affects your bike.