To clutch or not to clutch.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 340
Likes: 26
From: New Jersey
Do I hold the clutch in through or part way through a turn? No. Do I feather the clutch as needed to control speed through a low speed turn. Yes, if I need to.
I've taken two riding courses and they both taught feathering the clutch and rear brake control for slow speed turns.
Do I mess up sometimes? Yep.
I've taken two riding courses and they both taught feathering the clutch and rear brake control for slow speed turns.
Do I mess up sometimes? Yep.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 7,684
Likes: 13,891
From: Northern New Jersey
I'm sure this will bring some debate. My wife just finished her class at the local dealership. What was throwing her was the instructors insistence that the bike be fully in gear when making a turn. She was feathering her clutch through sharp right hand turns from speed.
I understand why this could considered dangerous or improper. I went out for a ride and tested it myself and love and behold I do the same thing. Going from X gear at 55mph and dropping down to second to navigate a right hand turn I always held the clutch in through the apex and release as I accelerate out of the turn. To get the bike fully in gear and turn without the clutch was very strange to me and impossible unless I tried really hard. It felt so foreign.
so question is. Do you hold your clutch in while making sharp turns or do you let the rom drop way down while staying in gear?
I understand why this could considered dangerous or improper. I went out for a ride and tested it myself and love and behold I do the same thing. Going from X gear at 55mph and dropping down to second to navigate a right hand turn I always held the clutch in through the apex and release as I accelerate out of the turn. To get the bike fully in gear and turn without the clutch was very strange to me and impossible unless I tried really hard. It felt so foreign.
so question is. Do you hold your clutch in while making sharp turns or do you let the rom drop way down while staying in gear?
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 502
Likes: 280
From: DFW
Yeah, I downshift and feather the clutch into the apex of the turn using the engine as a break and then accelerate coming out of the turn. I think you are able to come into the turn a little hotter this way. Coming into the turn in gear would require you to drop speed before the turn, not while you are in the turn.
It is probably safer to do what her instructor is recommending - especially for a new rider.
It is probably safer to do what her instructor is recommending - especially for a new rider.
Last edited by bradleys; May 14, 2018 at 09:53 AM.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,578
Likes: 463
From: On a Lake, not far from the Gulf
Regardless of a curve or a turn, at speed the actions are the same.
I was always taught to Slipper it through a turn. Clutch out the whole way.
SLPR
Slow when approaching the turn. Shift into correct gear
Look Where you are going.
Press Handlebar into the turn. Right turn. Right bar. Left turn. Left bar.
Roll on the throttle at the apex to come smoothly out of the turn.
Always works for me at any speed. The only exception is very slow maneuvers. Then it's feather the clutch, keeping the throttle in the friction zone. Look when I'm going, and drag the rear brake a bit.
I was always taught to Slipper it through a turn. Clutch out the whole way.
SLPR
Slow when approaching the turn. Shift into correct gear
Look Where you are going.
Press Handlebar into the turn. Right turn. Right bar. Left turn. Left bar.
Roll on the throttle at the apex to come smoothly out of the turn.
Always works for me at any speed. The only exception is very slow maneuvers. Then it's feather the clutch, keeping the throttle in the friction zone. Look when I'm going, and drag the rear brake a bit.
Last edited by larsfum; May 14, 2018 at 11:41 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,239
Likes: 3,261
From: west Michigan
If the vehicle is in motion, the clutch/driveline is engaged unless you're changing gears or coming to a stop. If the clutch isn't engaged, you're coasting, and you don't coast through corners or turns.
Last edited by RK4ME; May 14, 2018 at 02:12 PM.
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Tourer
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 480
Likes: 349
From: Wilmington, NC
What in the hell are folks doing with clutches!! This is the dumbest **** I have ever heard (bearing in mind that on occasion I have actually listened to what my wife was saying!) . Are they clutching on turns in stick shift cars? It isn't like your Johnson, it's not there for recreation, it's for shifting! For those who keep saying "on a sport bike" they should be beaten and their bikes taken away....a bike is a bike is a bike. No wonder those kids are wrecking sport bikes all over the place. Calm down, learn what you are doing and don't just hop on and start wildly grabbing stuff ( actually my wife told me that one long ago). If you are going to shift, engage the clutch, shift and disengage the clutch. That's it..
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 3,751
Likes: 459
From: Here and now
What in the hell are folks doing with clutches!! This is the dumbest **** I have ever heard (bearing in mind that on occasion I have actually listened to what my wife was saying!) . Are they clutching on turns in stick shift cars? It isn't like your Johnson, it's not there for recreation, it's for shifting! For those who keep saying "on a sport bike" they should be beaten and their bikes taken away....a bike is a bike is a bike. No wonder those kids are wrecking sport bikes all over the place. Calm down, learn what you are doing and don't just hop on and start wildly grabbing stuff ( actually my wife told me that one long ago). If you are going to shift, engage the clutch, shift and disengage the clutch. That's it..