Reverse shifting

[bdub]

When I first started riding about three years ago I went reverse shift. I did this because my hiking boots didn't fit under my shift lever very well, and it seemed like a practical solution to my problem. Fast forward to now and I'm considering rearsets and am thinking about switching back to regular shifting (plus I wear real boots now). I'm wondering if anyone has any input as to why or why not. I have never ridden anyone else's bike for fear of screwing up. Comments/advice? TIA

bdub

[somegirl]

Personally, for street riding I find it more important to be able to downshift quickly than to upshift quickly (for example you come around a corner to find you are suddenly on a really steep uphill), so I prefer regular shifting.  I don't really see the benefit of reverse shifting except for at the track or if you are mostly doing freeway on-ramps.

[bdub]

Agreed, that's  why I posted. It's just after getting used to it I wonder if relearning is worth the trouble?

[ducpainter]

Agreed, that's  why I posted. It's just after getting used to it I wonder if relearning is worth the trouble?

I don't think either is 'better' for the street...

it's more what you like/are used to.

I think the reverse shift definitely works better on the track.

[He Man]

on the street i dont find any difference in either or, EXCEPT you get a better feel for the gearbox with reverse shift since it gets rid of all that linkage. iI remeber neutral was really hard to find on regular shift, but its very crisp and clear on GP.

[Popeye the Sailor]

I think that just falls under whatever is comfy.

[Veloce-Fino]

Personally, for street riding I find it more important to be able to downshift quickly than to upshift quickly (for example you come around a corner to find you are suddenly on a really steep uphill), so I prefer regular shifting.  I don't really see the benefit of reverse shifting except for at the track or if you are mostly doing freeway on-ramps.

This makes a lot of sense. I ride standard shift on the street.

BUT reverse looks cooler 

[ScottRNelson]

If you only ride reverse shift bikes, or can get your brain to adapt to both without screwing up, then reverse shift is probably better.

But if you've been doing it down for down and up for up for many decades it will lead to confusion.  And if you also ride dirt bikes that can't be switched, same problem.  And those two reasons are why all of my bikes use normal shifting.

[psycledelic]

This makes a lot of sense. I ride standard shift on the street.

BUT reverse looks cooler 

Nothing like the exaggerated stomp to let your buddies know that you mean business.


If you really don't have a preference between the two, I would say to stay with what you know, because that is probably what your instincts will call on in a spur of the moment situation.   

[lethe]

I like having mine as reverse, less false neutrals.
Feel like a dick when I forget to tell them at the dealership when I stop in for inspection and it screws them up though. 

[avizpls]

I run my monster reverse and my triumph regular. Back and forth with no problem. If I could, they would both be reverse.

so I'd stay with reverse.

[Jaman]

on the street i dont find any difference in either or, EXCEPT you get a better feel for the gearbox with reverse shift since it gets rid of all that linkage. iI remeber neutral was really hard to find on regular shift, but its very crisp and clear on GP.

This.

[Cider]

I noticed last weekend that Rolfo uses standard shift (Moto2 race).

I tried GP and liked it OK, but I'm too clumsy to switch back and forth.  Since most bikes are standard-shift, I stuck with that.

[Spidey]

If you switch back to regular from reverse, you'll screw up an occasional shift for a while.  But you learn it pretty quick.  It's not a big deal.  As you've heard, plenty of people have a few bikes and run some of them with a normal shift pattern and some with reverse.  My bikes are all reverse, so when I'm riding a normal shift bike it take me a few shifts to have muscle memory take over so I can shift without thinking.

That said, I learned to ride with normal shift, rode the track with normal shift and raced with normal shift.  In panic situations, I've on a few occasions instinctively gone back to my normal shift habits.  It meant that I upshifted when I intended to downshift.  But that's only happened a coupla times. 

[bdub]

This is all very interesting. I'll end up keeping reverse shift on my monster. i have wanted a sport tourer and can't really justify spending the money so the question was more about what multiable bike owners did. I understand that not all transmissions can be switched as easily. Thanks for everyone's input