Coasting question

[Rick323]

When you coast with your motorcycle, do you just pull in the clutch or do you shift to neutral? My bike is a 6 speed and it's kind of tricky trying to figure out what gear I'm in (unless it's 1st or 6th) or should be in, when I need to move under it's own power again. Just wondering?

[skyl4rk]

It is too dangerous to go to neutral every time, shifting in to 2nd gear at high speed would be dangerous.

[alvaro84]

I almost always coast in gear, with the clutch in. I've tried to shift to N then back, but if our bikes are not in the right mood, the gears grind scarily when I try to shift out of N over ~30km/h (<20mph). I'm sure it does no good to them.
I often shift to N when I want to go to a full stop FASed, though. Makes the glide a bit longer. Not shifting down as your bike slows down can also help a tiny bit (just don't forget to shift to a correct gear before you pulse). And, at higher speeds, tucking yourself behind the windscreen helps more.

[WE3ZS]

I always coast with the clutch just pulled in and then I downshift to match my speed as it bleeds off. Over time you should develope a decent feel for what gear at what speed.

[kawboyCAFE]

not trying to make you mad here, but you really should have got something smaller than a 650 versys if you were worried about MPG. you just cant make those bikes get much more than what you are already getting no matter what you do. sorry.

[Rick323]

Originally Posted by kawboyCAFE

not trying to make you mad here, but you really should have got something smaller than a 650 versys if you were worried about MPG. you just cant make those bikes get much more than what you are already getting no matter what you do. sorry.

but not mad at all!

Compared to my tacoma and ford, the Versys gets great mileage. I've never got lower than 47 mpg (late November, December and March--cool temps. I don't ride it much when it's below 25 deg F) or higher than 60 mpg. I've done nothing so far, to get good mileage--I just ride it. Last summer I averaged 58 mpg, I might be doing slightly better than that, my rear tire is a little bigger than stock. I think if I do some coasting, I should be able to get over 60 mpg consistently.

My ATK 500 (~45mpg) gets worse mileage than my Versys. I had an 1986Yamaha XT 350 that got 65 mpg and I thought that was pretty good.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by Rick323

I think if I do some coasting, I should be able to get over 60 mpg consistently.

I think it's perfectly possible. I'm not sure about winters, though. My FE suffers when it's cold too (though that 25F you mentioned is like an absolute limit for me, but I ride much above that, with Teresa being my only vehicle); and my non-hypermiling base FE was already like 70..75mpg in the summer/fall (I started in a very conservative style, though!). The main difference is that I can get that in the winter now.

[redyaris]

I find that I don't do much coasting on my motorcycles. I do coast to a stop at traffic lights and stop signs. Then what I do is pull the clutch in and hold it in while I shift into neutral as soon as it is reasonable and coast to a stop. What I have been thinking about is using the kill switch on the handle bars for engine off coasting to a stop.

[ATaylorRacing]

I asked the local speed shop owner/engineer this question...he said that I'd get better mpgs by depressing my clutch pedal when I coast since that prevents more transmission parts from spinning!? On my Geo I notice that the engine rpm raises nearly by 100 rpm when I coast in gear with the clutch depressed compared to neutral!

[alvaro84]

I think neutral is better in this respect, it's just complicated to use on a motorcycle. That raise in rpm must be because of some clutch drag, I experience it too when the engine is cold. When the oil is warmed up (motorcycles mostly use the same oil in the engine and the transmission and have wet clutches) my idle rpms are about the same standing still and coasting (with the clutch).