I think prior experience driving a manual helps. A person that already understands the basic concept will probably grasp gear changing on a bike easier.

I learned to drive on a manual tranny. I'm glad for it.

 

I think prior experience driving a manual helps. A person that already understands the basic concept will probably grasp gear changing on a bike easier.

I learned to drive on a manual tranny. I'm glad for it.

Agreed. My dad made my sister and I take our road tests with a 20yr old 5spd VW Rabbit, knowing how to drive one has def. helped out and if I ever have kids it's how I'll teach them as well.

 

There is?! But no personally never drove a manual car and I had no problem picking up how to ride smoothly after taking an MSF course to get my feet planted.

 

but the question isn't whether or not you had a "problem picking up" shifting a bike. the question is, "would it have been even easier to pick up shifting a bike if you had experience with a manual transmission in a car."

 

Very glad I learned and currently drive a stick-shift car. Sadly its a dying skill (in this country). I think the concepts of clutches and gears certainly helps learning how to ride a bike. Although going from a dry clutch to wet clutch was a bit of an adjustment...which made for some jerky low speed manuvers at first lol.

 

Actually, to be honest, the very first motorized vehicle I ever learned to ride was a YZ-50 dirtbike when I was 12. So technically, I learned manual shifting on a bike before I learned to drive.

 

I think knowing how a standard transmission works helps

when my ex wife was lerning to ride, the went to her first range day at msf and came home confused because of the way they were explaining shifting and clutch use

I said why? cause she had no problem driving a standard transmission then explained that it worked the same except you use the foot to shift and hand to clutch. (all of our cars have been standards, wether stick shift or column shift, at that point we had never owned an auto trans car )

as soon as I explained that, she picked it right up

 

I don't think there is much of an advantage to driving a manual car first because the clutch and throttle are different on each. The basic concept of using a clutch helps, but that can be taught to most just by telling them how it works. I had an old honda 80 when I was 6 and thats how I learned to use a clutch.

 

I think knowing the how and why's of manual shifting and knowing how to do it on a bike/car will help you with shifting in general.

For example, I'm a little better at shifting my car since getting the bike. A bike is a lot more picky about being in the right gear than my car so on a bike I pay a lot more attention, this has carried over to the car.

My girlfriend was terrible at driving the car, she would unintentionally powershift an AWD car. No amount of tutoring helped her get over it and I stopped teaching her after she busted the rear differential mounting bolts when shifting from 1st to 2nd at pretty much 4k.

When she took the MSF course she had the exact same problem with the bike, she'd leave the throttle engaged when pulling in the clutch. It was only on the 2nd day when she stopped doing that. I've since offered to let her try learning on my car again but now that she's broken it once already she's afraid of it....oh well.

 

1st. this is a very independent question, because you can't have done one or the other before, and you're comparing it to some else experience doing one or the other. You are trying to compare first time experiences that are affected by the experience, between two people. If you drove stick, then can you say it was easier to learn, compared to the other person that drove automatic, but found riding a bike just as easy to learn (time wise)?

Personally, I can tell you riding a dirt bike in my youth, did not help me learn to drive a manual car. I understood the principal getting into the car, but the whole using your foot on the clutch and having non-sequential gearing made it difficult to start for me. Plus I was use to the slipping of the clutch on the bike, compared to the timing/matching on the car. . Now, I prefer manual cars over auto any day of the week, traffic or not.

 

I felt like my prior experience with a manual transmission really helped being comfortable on the bike. It wasn't a mystery to me what was going on and I already knew what would happen if I did certain things. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to learn without, but I don't see how it could hurt.
Unless you weren't very good at driving a manual on a car... then that probably wouldn't be helpful.

 

A girl in my MSF class had no manual experience. She was able to pick the shifting pretty well, considering.

 

I learned as a kid on a dirtbike, so I had experience with bikes long before cars.

 

yes I learned how to drive a stick first, and yes I think it helps when driving/riding anything with a clutch and gears(forklift, car, truck, old dump truck for brother tree business, motorcycle, 4 wheeler).

and as mentioned by others, I also believe that learning to ride off-road(dirt) motorcylcles makes for a better on road rider. I'm sure many will disagree.

 

I found it easier because I understood the concept of the friction point and matching revs and such before ever throwing a leg over a bike.

 

Yea, I def. think that helped me as well.. I knew when and how to blipp the throttle in order to match the revs... I can imagine that not knowing this would cause a rider to freak out more when the bike becomes jerky... especially if it's entering into a curve... but it's nothing major that little practice couldn't fix.

 

I was riding motorcycles LONG before I was driving. My first cage was a stick.

 

I'm 56 years old. Every car I've owned, and almost every car I've driven since becoming an adult, has had a manuaal transmission. When I went to pick up my SV, after not having ridden for ~30 years, I at first found it difficult to coordinate the throttle/clutch interaction on the night I picked it up, 25 miles away from my house. In fact, I'm sure the guy who sold me the bike was horrifyingly certain that my Estate would be filing an action against him within a week. Operating a motorcycle is, to a very great degree, about muscle memory and coordination. It is not about thinking. Just because you understand how the clutch should work, doesn't mean you can efficiently and predictably work the clutch. And we do things to our wet clutches that would leave most automotive clutches smoking and stinking.

 

I learned how to use a motorcycle clutch before a car.

 

I find that its easier for noobs who have driven a manual because they already grasp the concept of how its going to work.

 

I learned in this order and I feel was quite useful: Manual Transmission Car -> Dirt Bike ~ 3 years -> Street Bike.

The dirt bike transition helped as I got used to the controls of a motorcycle in a safer environment than the street.

 

Disagree.

I dont think it really matters either way and here is why.

Got a good friend, been riding almost 10 years now, has never drove a stick. Recently got a stick car just to learn it and now is having THE WORST time with it even though they are an exceptional & very smooth rider.

Ive also known guys & girls who knew how to drive stick but just couldnt get it on a bike and still dont & some even gave up riding because of it.


I think it just depends on the person. Some people might be at an advantage, others may not.

 

You can't argue it this way.

You have to argue that, for that specific person's individual ability, are they at a disadvantage or not if they have never driven a stick shift car before?

I'd say there's a slight disadvantage because already having experience with the friction zone and rev matching is a big help. Not enough of a disadvantage to really be a huge deal, however.

That said, I rode a bike before ever driving a car, myself. But it was easier for me to understand it and build muscle memory when I started driving a stick shift car because I already knew the theory and feel.

 

yes. knowing clutch/throttle balance compared to clutch/ gas pedal balance and finding where the clutch slips/catches is helpful.

 

When I was a kid, I had a Suzuki SP125. I was never able to learn to ride it, so I sold it to my cousin.

When I learned to drive, I did so on a manual.

One day, I was at my cousins who still had the bike SP after several years. I wanted to give it a shot again. I was riding all over the place after a few minutes. So based on my experience, driving a standard shift car helped me learn to ride a bike since I knew the basicis of clutching and shifting.

 

Yeah. When I learned to ride on a 1980 Yamaha XT250, I had been driving stick for ~ 5 years.

I don't remember a thing about having a hard time learning to shift on the bike, which I attribute to my friend saying "it's just like your truck!"

 

I think it's almost by definition, as there's one less step to take. When I first got on a bike, I only spent a minute to figure out where the clutch engages, and then I knew what to do (clutch-wise ).