Clutchless gear changes

[khabel]

A guy I ride with only uses his clutch to take off and from then on he does clutchless gear changes, is this the norm or will this cause excessive wear on the clutch components?

[White trash]

I don't think I've made a clutched upchange in 3 years.

[scooterboynz]

i only use clutch between 1st and 2nd , and only when going slow , seems to make the change less jerky , apart form that its not needed except for stopping and starting and third gear wheelies :eek:

[bugjuice]

I hardly bother either way (up or down), unless I'm booting it hard. But that's road riding, not dirt riding, which might be different. Wouldn't have thought so tho. Done right, there's no evidence to prove it shags 'boxes

[White trash]

i only use clutch between 1st and 2nd , and only when going slow , seems to make the change less jerky , apart form that its not needed except for stopping and starting and third gear wheelies :eek:

Go one lower on the front sprocket mate, save your clutch in third gear and it'll wheelie like a fucken KX500.

[SPman]

Piece of piss - up and down - if you're careful.
Thats both YZF750 SP (nice gearbox) and GSXR1000. Gixxer needs a bit more care on the downchanges......not quite so frenetic as the SP 750......
Just start with care and go from there.....

[scooterboynz]

Go one lower on the front sprocket mate, save your clutch in third gear and it'll wheelie like a fucken KX500.
i dont often wheelie in third too fookin fast for me! it will come up on just the throttle in second quite happily

[N4CR]

I'm still on the fence with clutchless changes - used to do it heaps but then the oil started getting bad so I was scared I broke something. Can be exceptionally smooth sometimes and others (when fucked up) a little bump or so.

I suppose it saves the clutch, but what about those hundreds of poor little teeth!

ZXR250 has a very clunky 1st-2nd so I have hardly ever clutchlessed that ;)

[SPORK]

When doing clutchless ones, do you have to let off the throttle?

[scooterboynz]

I'm still on the fence with clutchless changes - used to do it heaps but then the oil started getting bad so I was scared I broke something. Can be exceptionally smooth sometimes and others (when fucked up) a little bump or so.

I suppose it saves the clutch, but what about those hundreds of poor little teeth!

ZXR250 has a very clunky 1st-2nd so I have hardly ever clutchlessed that ;)

i may get corrected on this one but from my understanding the gears are allways in constant mesh, its just dog teeth that slides along the selecter shaft that actually changes gears , i remember reading about it in a performance bikes mag ,,,,

[scooterboynz]

When doing clutchless ones, do you have to let off the throttle?
yep sure do , some racers who use the quick shifters which is a solenoid powered shifter (instead of your foot) it also kills the ignition to the spark plugs for a fraction of a second , this helps it go into gear easier

[White trash]

Quickshifters will let you change up while constantly on the juice and are the quickest way of changing gear provided they're set up right.

Airshifters (as used in drag racing) are quicker and you don't cut ignition OR throttle. Bit hard on the dogs though.

[T.W.R]

done it most of time whilst on road bikes, & off roaders. works better on cassette type gearboxes & the revs have to be up a bit, can't really get away with doing it if your going to be just cruising about though.

[Motu]

On a 2 stroke dirt bike you practicaly have to,and off road the rear wheel is spinning and slipping taking the load off any abrupt shifts.My DT230 is hard to ride on the road using the clutch,it's a jerky ride - so I just flick it through,sometimes I'll only lightly fan the lever,just enough for a bit of slippage.Down shifts on a 4 stroke can take a bit to master,but aren't really too difficult,on a 2 stroke it doesn't matter,there is no engine braking and you have to make a real stuff up like 2 or 3 gears at once to upset the rear wheel.Dunno about technique,I've been doing it so long I don't even think about it - I just flick the throttle and stab the lever....I seldom miss so must be doing it ok.

One word of warning - don't ever do a clutchless shift to impress the girls,if any are watching you'll stuff it up for sure,maybe wreck the gearbox and blow your motor...worst case is you'll crash.

[Danger]

Most of these guys are taling roadbikes. On a MX bike, yes you can do clutchless gear changes but I usually only do so when changing down when your on the brakes and you have buttoned off. Generally on a MX bike when you are accelerating the fastest way forward is to keep the throttle open and pull the clutch as you move up through the gears. Only do this when racing as you will wear the clutch more, but the clutch is a tool on a MX bike that you can utilse to ride faster. Other times I use the clutch as it smooths the power delivery and traction control and chasis control out of corners.

[tracyprier]

I hardly bother either way (up or down), unless I'm booting it hard. But that's road riding, not dirt riding, which might be different. Wouldn't have thought so tho. Done right, there's no evidence to prove it shags 'boxes

Lee Parks in his book, "Total Control" actually reccommends it.

[WRT]

Road riding and dirt riding are worlds apart. Sure, the controls are in the same place, but what you can get away with on dirt will get you in trouble on the road, and vice versa.

Assuming you are talking dirt here (no mention of Khabel owning a road bike so far), yes, you can do clutchless shifts, but dont ignore your clutch altogether. I've ridden plenty of trailbikes without clutches at all (I grew up on an island = no money + plenty of salt air = cables dont last long. You were lucky if you had even one working cable on any of the brakes or clutch), and you can do clutchless changes (and even standing starts) easier than you can on the road, with little or no detrimental effect on your bike. However, as was mentioned in an earlier post, the clutch on a mx bike is a powerful tool, and mastering it is one of the keys to riding smoothly, fast and safe.

[Cary]

I don't use the clutch ever, don't even have the lever on the bike.

I got a Z-start:eek:

[Wellyman]

I use clutch usually. but I sometimes just shift down without the clutch.
Z-Start! lazy ass!
WM