Coasting Down Hill
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
From:
I gotta admit when I was on the BRP, I would place bike in neutral, leave the engine running and let it coast down..actually watched as the engine temp reduced..don't know about turning the engine off though, I thought about it but was afraid about my tranny not getting lubrication.
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 537
Likes: 1
From: Southern California
Coasting a bike down a slope by yourself can hardly be compared with hanging on a car door handle doing ANYthing...This ain't rocket science...I start down the hill in 1st gear, kick it into N and shut the engine off...when I'm on flat ground and the bike stops rolling, I put my feet down and stop...I've been coasting down hills for 42 years, some of my friends a lot longer, but the new guys seem to get the hang of it pretty quick, too...BTW, riding a bike in city traffic and on the freeways can be dangerous...Lighten up, Francis...
I still wouldn't do it, regardless of how long you've been doing it..
BTW, the name's Psycho, anybody calls me Francis.. well, you know the rest..
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 6,235
Likes: 65
From: Joliet, Illinois
Well, if you're using the brakes quite a bit, to keep your speed down, there the chance you'd overheat them and have no brakes when you got to the bottom. Since you've already done this, I suppose you'd already have found that out. Other than that, I don't see where it would do any mechanical harm to the bike. Being an air cooled motor, it might cool the motor down a little bit and actually save you a little bit of wear and tear.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 8
From: Armpit of the Free World (Washington, DC metro area)
this is MY theory only, applied from 15 years and 3,500 flight hours as a professional pilot:
piston-powered airplanes also have air-cooled engines and operating them in a similar manner is very hard on the engine; it's a somewhat similar concept referred to as "shock cooling". in your climb, you run the cylinder and overall temps up and suddenly you shut it down at the top and coast down. it starts cooling rapidly at this point, and probably by the time you reach the bottom, it's at room temperature. you then fire it up there and run at a highway speed almost immediately. in other words, the oil has cooled greatly, its viscosity increases and when the engine is restarted and immediately operating under such a load, you can almost be certain it's not receiving the oil volume that it needs under such conditions.
i could be wrong about this as it applies to H-D engines (it's a certifiable fact for small aircraft engines), but i certainly wouldn't operate this way.
piston-powered airplanes also have air-cooled engines and operating them in a similar manner is very hard on the engine; it's a somewhat similar concept referred to as "shock cooling". in your climb, you run the cylinder and overall temps up and suddenly you shut it down at the top and coast down. it starts cooling rapidly at this point, and probably by the time you reach the bottom, it's at room temperature. you then fire it up there and run at a highway speed almost immediately. in other words, the oil has cooled greatly, its viscosity increases and when the engine is restarted and immediately operating under such a load, you can almost be certain it's not receiving the oil volume that it needs under such conditions.
i could be wrong about this as it applies to H-D engines (it's a certifiable fact for small aircraft engines), but i certainly wouldn't operate this way.
Last edited by CMac; Aug 26, 2009 at 05:43 AM. Reason: didn't read well
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 964
Likes: 243
From: right outside of town
..after reading this thread. I'm thinking maybe the metric riders are right about Harley riders..lol..
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Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 697
Likes: 1
From: Just west of Tahoe
Yes, Drops down near Genoa about 5 miles away from Genoa. I start at the top and try not to use the brakes with a few flat spots but you carry enough speed through the flats.
As for tar snakes the road is in real good shape.
I don't need to coast down this hill just mixing up the ride. I don't want to do any damage to my bike. My dirt bikes I have done this with and no issues.
Just asking anyone out there
As for tar snakes the road is in real good shape.
I don't need to coast down this hill just mixing up the ride. I don't want to do any damage to my bike. My dirt bikes I have done this with and no issues.
Just asking anyone out there
Stage II
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
I just got an IRON 883 and noticed in the manual that it specifically states do not shift to neutral and coast to a stop. It says you could damage the engine as the only way the bike is properly lubricated is when it is in gear. I found this odd as I always shift to neutral and coast. The book says coasting to a stop is bad so a big down hill sounds like a definite no. Just thought I would throw that out there as I found it a little odd.