I tend to use the clutch alot and dip it slightly, let it go, bring it back in to avoid the jerkiness of just using the throttle in 1st gear to make my ride smooth when riding slow. Is this good practice? will it wear my clutch out faster?

I tend to use the clutch alot and dip it slightly, let it go, bring it back in to avoid the jerkiness of just using the throttle in 1st gear to make my ride smooth when riding slow. Is this good practice? will it wear my clutch out faster?

Not really good practice... Only time you should really ever slip the clutch is drag launches and u-turns. It will chew the clutch down much faster, and they don't last that long to begin with (and not really a fun job to replace).

As far as "avoiding the jerkiness" I'm surprised your having any at all on an SRAD, my old SRAD was smooth as butter, FAR smoother then the FI bike. I would say first off to make sure the carbs are in good shape, syncronized, etc. With that much age on your bike, if they've never been synced they could be off a fair amount.

Second, it may just be "inexperienced wrist syndrome" :biggrin It takes a lot of practice to get really smooth with the throttle. Whenever I'm helping a new rider one of the things I like to have them do is 1st gear speed changes. In other words, go very slow in first gear and just make changes to your speed, i.e. if your going 20mph change to 35mph, then 25, then 30, then 20, etc... But make the changes as quickly and SMOOTHLY as possible. At first you may even just have to practice 20mph to 30mph then back to 20mph, etc.. At first you'll probably have that bike lurching and jerking and everything else... As you smooth things out with the throttle it'll get to the point where it's just as smooth as can be. Once you have that fine grain control over your throttle you'll not need to worry about being around traffic, etc... Not to mention, you'll feel much more confident in your turns.

hey, cheers for that, i get no jerkiness above like 15mph, i'm talking literally crawling speed lol between 0-15 mph..but still gnna go parkin lot in a bit..practice my shiiit lol

If I'm going, say, 5 mph in stop and go traffic, I use the rear brake in conjunction with slipping the clutch. I slip the clutch just enough that I can chop the throttle and not have it jerk. All I use it for is getting the slightest bit of power to the wheel, so that the bike stays upright and stable.