Ducati Monster Forum

Off late I have been finding myself in situations where I'm having to down shift when I'm into a turn and at a moderate lean (no knee dragging) which is creating a slight unsettling movement of the bike.. I guess the pressure I use to shift kind of straightens the bike up a bit.. noticed this mostly on right handed leans... It probably happens on lefthanders too, just hasn't registered in the brain yet.
And YES I do downshift and adjust speed to that of the turn and my skill.. I'm talking of when the person [idiot] in front slows down to a crawling speed pretty quickly..

Is this a common occurrence, or is there room to improve on the shifting.. Thoughts, ideas??

leave more room between you and the other rider/driver.

Anything done during riding will upset the bike - things done mid turn tend to upset it more.
If it's manageable or not depends on many, many factors - mostly riding skills.

Are you giving a bit of gas to match the revs to the speed when you let the clutch back out?  Or are you letting the clutch and tire take up the slack, thus causing engine braking to occur?  If the latter, then that's your problem.

PhilB

If you're actually worried about it, simply don't do it.  Develop your skill set to make it comfortable by fiddling about shifting at lesser lean angles until you're comfortable.  If you're not leaned hard, it's not a problem as long as you're smooth and work within your comfort zone.

As someone else mentioned, if you're uncomfortable because of your proximity to another rider you have several options.  Leave more room.  Pass before the turn.  Leave the bike in the higher gear and downshift on exit (if you're really uncomfortable shifting leaned over).

The best response, I think, is just to do what feels "right" to you!

You should get all of your downshifting done BEFORE you are in a turn. It is much better to go in slow and roll on the throttle (much stabled bike) than trying to downshift while leaned over. Awful technique.

what he said!

Thanks guys for the feedback.. As I have stated in my OP, I do down shift to the appropriate gear to match the speed of the turn.. Its in scenarios when the car/SUV/Truck in front slows down way too much (like coming to 20mph, when the turn can normally be taken at over 50mph)


I usually keep my rpms at about 6000 when I enter the turn so I have +/- 2000 on either side before I need to switch gears.. That said, When I come into these situations, I let the rpm fall to 3500 before I decide to drop a gear.. I think its in my muscle memory to give it some gas when I let go off the clutch.. Will need to consciously check the next time that I'm doing it..

In the situation youre describing I agree with Raux.

Otherwise, you should be setting up for the turn (i.e. body position, braking, gear selection, etc.) way before you flop the bike into the turn. All in an effort to keep the bike stable while cornering. Destabilizing mid-corner can lead to bad things.