GP or standard shift pattern?

[dryheat]

Well, at least I can say I tried it.  :-/

I changed it the day before and ran around on the street for the better part of the afternoon. I THOUGHT I got comfortable with it... until I got to the track and what I feared happened. When I would get into "track mode" I would revert back to my old ways and shift the standard way, which is a problem if the bike is set up for GP pattern :o :o

Needless to say, I switched it back and got my track times back down ( I was 2-3 seconds off my normal pace because I had to keep thinking which way to shift). I guess GP shift is good if this is what you do for a living or aren't use to standard. I just figure my time could be better spent thinking about my line or brake points then trying to remember which way to shift. It was worth the experiment though...

:patrick
#93 SW AM

[ceesthadees]

I cannot really say which is better, only that I would strongly suggest having the same pattern on both your street and race bikes.

I saw some dumb a$$ come out of a third gear corner once and go to second instead of fourth. Only a miracle saved him and the bike. The leathers needed some cleaning however.  ;D

Doh, wait a minute, that was me!

[Baltobuell]

 Switching patterns from 1 bike to another is going to be just 1 more thing to screw me up. Keep it simple. On my bike I heliarced a heel lever so if I needed to upshift on a lefthanded with my toes on the peg I can push my heal down. Worked out fine, and cheaper than a new shifter setup. Also worked well on starts when I'm fishing for footpegs.

[Super Dave]

I'm impressed by all the resistance to GP shift pattern.

Street riding and racing are pretty different.  I mean, you're in a really different state of mind.  That's probably why I can jump on my race bikes and go with GP shift pattern.

The upshifting is efficient with a little push down for an upshift.  Again, that's where you can gain time with positive, correct shifts.  When you're downshifting, you're on the brakes.  If you blew it, well, you could shift again.

Pushing down is easier because you have a big calf muscle.  You don't have much of a muscle to pull up on the shifter.

If you race long enough, you will go to tracks that you cannot upshift while leaning over.

Everyone has to make their own decisions, but the GP pattern is very efficient.

[buellracer]

Dont be too discouraged with your GP experiment ...when any change works it will usually change your reference points...cuz you'll be going faster.  Keep trying the GP shifting.  Practice Practice Practice... once you do it enough on the track(when it needs to be second nature), you won't question it.  Your attack mode will be GP shifting.  Just take it slow.  I had to do several laps telling myself ...Upshift, Backshift, upshift,....etc.  Draw a map of the track and mark off all your shift points as Up or Backshifts.  AND call them BACKshifts..."down" is not the operative word.  This will come natural eventually with... Super Dave say it with me...Practice.  Good luck. 8)

[wpasicznyk]

The real reason GP shift came into being was back in the day......the transmissions couldn't handle the power and racers would find themselves having to keep pressure on the shifter to keep the bike in gear.  That being said, it is much easier to hold the bike in gear while pressing down, not pulling up.  

Those who don't or haven't used GP shift should at least try it.  It feels much more natural and a side benefit is less wear and tear on the upper left foot.  Because you down shift using the clutch this action is easier to do.  On my TZ I can switch the gearing in the trans so that I don't need to pick up a gear mid-corner; however, I can't do this with the R6 or R1.  On almost any track there will be at least one corner where I'll need to grab a gear.  I switched for this same reason, sometimes the corner is a left.  Its tough to get your foot under the shifter when your already dragging your toe.

[MightyDuc Racing]

I had 22.5 years of regular shifting under my belt when I bought my race Duc with GP shift.  I rode about 1/2 of a track day and shifted the wrong way once.  Went to my first race a month later and never gave it a second thought, and I had a lot of near get-offs.  Seemed more natural to me.  And the dirt bike thing...you don't upshift a dirt bike while you're dragging your knee and also tend to downshift with a lot more force heading into a turn when the bike is bouncing and sliding that much underneath you.  Just my .02, but I'll never switch back.

[GPgofast]

Well, I also have many years on a bike-standard shift-and went to GP shift at the begining of last year. After a few weekends I was completely comfortable with the GP pattern BUT I was having a VERY hard time making 2 or more downshifts with the GP pattern and was finding that the downshifts were much more critical to me than the upshifts. I really think it depends on the tracks you ride at. There are many tracks that don't require an upshift while leaned over to the left and for myself who's greatest weakness is corner ENTRY I feel at my current skill level, GP shifting actually hurts my lap times. It is a very individual thing. GP

[tzracer]

Have you tried adjusting the shift lever to make down shifting easier?

[eroeder288]

over memorial weekend i switched over to GP shifting. during the track day i screwed up a few times but by the end of the day it was weird to hop on the pit bike with standard shifing. Granted im only 17 and been racing/riding bikes for a year so i have to habits but if you can get it into or brain go with GP

erich roeder #288 CCS

[Super Dave]

Erich, you related to Jess and the rest of the Roeder family?

[Mark Bernard]

I use GP shifting. I have never been on a track with anything but GP shifting. Like Dave said. When I am in race mode. Its an automatic thing for me mentally. It took about a day for me to get use to it and now I would be lost on a standard shift bike on the track. It just comes down to personal preferance.