Second gear is your friend on the F6B or any 1800 Wing. I short shift first gear into second for tight or close quarters maneuvers. A whole lot less jumpy.
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Depending on the day/situation, I do that, too. I had a '14 Valk before the B, and with the weight loss and the same transmission, its 1st gear was good for about 3 feet. I used second a lot, but wasn't crazy about it. The B feels far more natural to me, but still feels a little twitchy just off idle sometimes.
Jason
Absolutely 100% correct...That is one of my first responses when I hear a complaint about how "twitchy" the throttle is just off idle. I know what Honda sayes the throttle free play spec is, But I don't agree. I have found on almost all EFI engines you need to remove all the throttle cable slack to get a smooth throttle response as well as stopping another bad habit a lot of us have..... blipping the throttle on downshifting which just confuses the ECU. Just think about it, here you are slowing down and you blip the throttle which in effect is telling the ECU that you are accelerating...do you blip the throttle when you downshift a manual shift cage?......No and neither should you blip throttle when downshifting a EFI MC.
The ECU reads the data from various sensors to determine how much fuel the injectors get(injector pulse width) like the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) or where the ing. timing should be for the load on the engine, as well as the MAP and KNOCK sensors, all which tell the ECU what is going on and what the engine needs at that time. By blipping the throttle the data sent to the ECU is wrong for what is going to happen next...slow down or stop, so the ECU thinks you are accelerating and gives more fuel than needed, changes timing agin thinking it is going to accelerate. If you are running open or more free flowing exhaust pipes you will more than likely hear decel popping which blipping the throttle exacerbates.
Now on a carbed engine decell blipping was to clear the engine as the vacuum will suck in more fuel and can cause a stumble if you were to suddenly accelerate. There is no need to blip a EFI engine, but old habits are sometime hard to change.
As to matching the engine RPM to the trans gear speeds.... Do you let the engine come to an idle before each down shift? Of course not, the engine is turning enough RPM under normal riding conditions for a nice downshift, try downshifting without blipping the throttle and you will see the F6B as well as all Goldwings will downshift perfectly.
Yes, interesting about confusing the ECU. So, does the ECU also get confused when up-shifting? Most people have the throttle twisted for acceleration, then as they pull in the clutch to up shift, they back off the gas for a fraction of a second, then right back on the throttle. Seems like the "blip" process, almost in reverse. Any thoughts?
I think we're talking about different circumstances. If I'm anticipating a stop, I simply roll off the gas and start braking. As the bike slows and rpm drops, I pull in the clutch and tap down through the gears to arrive in neutral as I pull up to the stop. I'm not downshifting technically, as I'm not releasing the clutch to engage the gears as I slow. This is not my most used technique, because generally, I'm trying not to come to a complete stop. I'm selecting a lower gear in anticipation of accelerating again. So generally, I'm braking, then selecting a lower gear and releasing the clutch. This typically requires raising the rpm to match engine to road speed in the lower gear. To do this I use the throttle to raise the rpm (the blip), and then let out the clutch. I'm now in a lower gear, at a higher rpm, and ready to accelerate - out of the corner, or away from the light, or past the car - whatever...