The lower shifter is your main gear box 5 speed 1 down, 4 up, the upper shifter is your auxillary shifter,(like a low/high range split axle on a big truck.) how you decide to shift gears is totally up to you, there is no right or wrong way, you could leave the aux. shifter down in low range riding at low speeds around town and shift to high range when you get out on open roads where your speed will be higher, or you can change on the fly whenever you decide for whatever torque range you are looking for. Hope this helps !!! Have fun !!!!