Which is best? Is it better to down shift when coming to a stop. Or is it better to just pull in the clutch and just use the brakes?

 

I do both, but I usually skip every other gear if I'm in 5th or 6th while approaching a stop.

 

Combo of both I never let the engine take all the stress, but I help my brakes out by downshifting. I think there is an art to it, but sadly I am not sure how to describe how it works. sounds cheezy I know, but somtimes more downshift, somtimes more front brake, sometimes more rear brake, somtimes all three equaly. take into consideration terrain multiply by five to the tenth exponent and your answer is..... more time to get to know YOUR bike.
I'm sure this didn't help and the next question will probably be. What about the wear on the clutch, my answer to that is 21,456 miles on my bike and I rode a new bike 2 days ago and the clutch felt the same, as a matter of fact mine rode better probably because it was set up to my spesifics, but I really think mine felt better.(mine is 03 and the new one was 06).

 

its a combination of both.

 

By pulling the clutch in and not using the engine to brake the bike you loose alot of control as the bike is effectively free wheeling - I stongly recomend you use a combination of both for effective stopping

 

Brake pads are much cheaper than clutch pads and engine internals. I'm not saying pull in the clutch and coast. But unless you're racing there's not a real need to have the engine over rev at each down shift. The general idea is to always be in a good gear for your speed in case you have to drop the hammer in a hurry (read: cager chick with a cell phone).

 

I always use both ways

 

+1

 

combination of both for me.

 

I down shift always and use the front mostly(90%) over the rear unless I need the extra brake force to stop. Downshifting is just as important as braking!!!