Yeah, but what if it's broke and you don't know it. Kind of like with suspension set up. You may think the bikes fine and then get the suspension set and realize how screwed up it was. Ok, maybe not the best comparison but like how it's been said plenty of times before. It comes down to personal preference.
You're right it's just personal preference and it's just an opinion. I'm used to it and I don't intend on shifting mid-turn anyway. If I have to change gearing to do that later I will. JUST MY NEWB OPINION THOUGH!!!! There are alot of really good riders that stick with it though. So it can't be all bad. Take care.
Oh, and just so you know I might be a little stubborn in my ways, but I'm still not afraid to ask for advice on the track. I just thought you should know with you being a track coach and all. :wink:
I used a GP shifter for about a year and really like it a lot, but this year have had an opportunity to ride a couple of different bikes and didn't like having to always think so much about shifting. I changed back to a standard shift to avoid the confusion and possible damage.
This brings us the REAL reason GP shift exists. Back in the day (80's) superbikes began making more power than the transmissions could handle for a whole race. The transmissions would randomly pop out of gear and the riders would keep the bike in gear with their foot. Its much easier to do this while pushing down with your foot than it is trying to pull up. If only Xaus had done this recently he may have finished his race. As an aside, I remember a time when the rear brake was commonly found on the left side of race bikes because it was 'found' to be easier to modulate the front and rear brakes to their limit when one was operated by the left side of the brain and the other the right. I don?t know how true this really is but its part of history.
Hello Walt, The real reason GP shift exists is because, in the old days, most european bikes shifted this way and the ollllddd GP riders just shifted the way they learned to ride. American and Japanese bikes were down for first and up for the rest. In '75 the US D.O.T. mandated left shift, down for low/up for go and being the major motorcycle market in the world, the rest followed suit. The majority of the GP riders at the the time, Sheene, Ago etc. stayed with the old way which came to be called GP shift. (sounds better than Old guy shift pattern)
I rode standard shift pattern for many years on the street, as well as my first 3 years or so of track riding. I always wanted to try GP shift, but frankly I was a little concerned that I would slip up and grab a lower gear when trying to upshift. As my track riding progressed and my lap times dropped, I began to run into more and more situations in which I wanted to upshift while leaned over and hanging off. It was particularly problematic for me in fast right-handers (like cresting the hill at Barber's Turn 4) through which I wanted to grab an extra gear while hanging off to the right (my leg was not long enough to comfortably reach under the shift lever). This finally motivated me to give GP shift a try last year, and I love it! I had no problems adjusting to it like I thought I might. I just made an extra effort at first to consciously think about what my left foot was doing. After a few sessions, it was pretty much engrained in my mind and muscle memory and it seemed as natural as standard shifting always did. I agree that it is mainly a matter of what feels better to you, but the GP pattern makes more sense to me.
Here's my two cents. I ride GP at the track on my SV and Std on the street with my 600cc. Usually whenever I shift in the wrong direction on the wrong bike it makes the biggest difference on the 600cc of course. It makes you want to squeal sometimes. I finally decided to write up and down arrows on the triple tree of the SV to help me remember if my brain decices to malfunction entirely while on the track. I like GP for the track and would do it on the street as well, but I don't think there is a GP shifter for my Triumph (at least last time I checked). Have fun deciding!!!
I bought my track bike from an AMA pro and it came with GP shifting. I came from years of motorcross and never heard of GP shifting until this year. Was a nightmare learning. The event folks came to me on my first couple track days of getting off the track too many times. Hell, I kept getting into that wrong gear by up shifting to go faster at Road America. Sh*t ..... And pulled in the clutch and lost all ability to turn. Off the track again. When they came to talk to me about being too wild I just smiled and said I am just testing the pavement. They did not laugh. It helps to make everything you ride GP. After riding on the track I don't even want to ride on the street anymore.
I think I got the hang of GP shift now.... ... but I would recomend switching all your bikes not just one.
GP Shift here too, although for the first time. It should be interesting at my first track day this year at ACC at the end of may.
Gp shift for me, It really makes upshifts coming out of long sweeping right handers much easier. I'm so use to gp style, felt like a moron when I rode my buddy's standard shift gsxr! Unless you're completely comfortable with it, meaning your panic mode still gp shifts, don't ride gp on track.
GP shift track and street - switched over last year and would never go back....have a mantra for when I'm on a std shift bike hehe (One down five up, one down five up, one down five up....)
slipping fast across turn six at Barber then grabing two up across the concreate pad to flick it into the right hander.... thats one place I don't like GP shift. How do I switch a motorcross bike to GP shift?
i am set up for gp shift also w/ a quickshifter. the bike i ride on the street is a suzuki drz 400 sm (motard) can only shift the conventional way. i never confuse the two.......apples and oranges.
Many years ago I had a Triumph with "Old Guy" shifting. Of course, that was also on right side of the bike. That was real fun changing between that and my Honda dirt bike. I have some Gilles Tooling rearsets on order for my Triumph Speed Four which support both standard and GP shifting pattern. I am thinking of setting it up for GP just to try it out. Perhaps I should put a warning sign on the back of my bike when I try it, just in case I decelerate very quickly while coming out of the turns. :lol:
Altho my opinion is i like the gp shift better.. specially for the left handers like at nashville the last corner where you enter wide open in 2nd and switch to 3rd. Now with that being said, i think its personal preference.. My bike is gp, but ill tell you what confuses me more and mroe, and thats people talking about whats better or worse. I read this topic and it confuses the crap outta me just trying to listen to some of the stories of why one is better than the other lol. im having a hard time remember what im spoda do. Seriously, try gp once, if you dont like it go back to standard.. Its all personal preference if you ask me. But who am i. What ever you do, be safe, have fun, and enjoy that we get to take in the beautiful moments known as track days, while some of our best friends who should be there with us, are over seas, making sure that we can... drop