Does Using First Gear to Climb Hills Damage a Motorcycle?

[VanMiranda]

First gear only tends to increase the engine speed, accompanied by a roaring sound, but high RPM does not equate to damaging the engine. In first gear, the engine bears a lower torque load, making it easier to reach higher RPM. What truly damages the engine is aggressively increasing RPM in higher gears, where the RPM appears low but the torque load is exceptionally high—that's what harms the engine. Below is relevant information: Transmission: Essentially, the transmission acts like a lever, reducing speed and increasing torque (in lower gears) or increasing speed and reducing torque (in higher gears). Therefore, the lower the gear, the better the speed reduction effect on the engine, simply put, it maximizes the torque multiplication, making hill climbing much easier. Conversely, the higher the gear, the weaker the speed reduction effect, making it a deceleration process where the engine bears a greater torque load, resulting in difficulty increasing RPM—this state is more suitable for high-speed cruising. Carbon Buildup Phenomenon: While driving, if the engine produces a "muffled" sound, the vehicle feels unusually sluggish, and pressing the accelerator does not increase speed or RPM, the driver must downshift to climb the hill. Otherwise, the engine will inject excessive fuel with low combustion efficiency, leading to increased fuel consumption and carbon buildup inside the engine.