I'm going to differ somewhat, possibly offer another perspective. Simply my personal view, although I do respect those who say "let the machine do the work (or gear selection) automatically". My Spyder is a 2017 F3L SE, so same Rotax 1330 engine and tranny for the most part. My bike typically will auto-downshift by itself when my tach drops to 1800 rpm. I assume this suggests that the BRP engineers have calculated/decided 1800 rpm is the "lug limit" below which they feel the engine is laboring too hard to remain in whatever gear it happens to be. Personally, at that level, I feel that I'm riding below the 'power band' in which my instincts tell me I'm more comfortable; I do like to feel that I have a 'moderately working' power plant beneath me, with which I can quickly react to any situation. After I became comfortable and better acquainted with my Spyder, I seemed to feel that I didn't really like to ride it in any gear at less than 2200 rpm, and really liked it more when it was kept at 2500/2700 rpms. So, I began downshifting and engine braking somewhat in advance of what the machine normally does by itself. I tend to manually 'finger it' down through the gears when approaching stop lights/stop signs and/or reduced speed zones. However, I typically only do so down as far as 3rd gear; rarely do I manually downshift as far as second, and always let the machine make the shift into first - I concede it's simply better at selecting the lower gears, while I like the feel of choosing the moment when I drop down from the higher gears. I do appreciate the 'old time' warnings about wearing out costly clutches in place of cheaper brake pads - drove many manual shift sports cars in my youth, where downshifting was pretty much standard practice. Anyway, that's my preferred way, and if it costs me, well, that's life. I'm a committed downshifter/engine-braker. On the other hand, I try not to abuse my ride. I don't do burn-outs; I don't do jackrabbit starts; I don't wind out/red line my revs before upshifting; I've never yet been at full throttle in any gear. I'm upshifting usually somewhere between 3000 to 4500 rpm, often comfortably in between. My ride is just nicely getting broken in, with about 13,000 miles/20,000 km on it; so far, so good. Hope it stays that way. However one chooses to ride, it should feel comfortable and be fun.
hyea:
