Clutchless upshifting?

[nodrog:Me]

Oh, ok. Maybe I'll just sell my workshop and take up floral arranging instead.

sweet, can you sort me out a nice button hole arrangement for the endurance race?

[Richi]

so for those who say its not so bad... if you are under full accelleration and button off the accelerator and kick the gear then open it up again this is better than preloading it? Doesnt seem much slower than preload but it does kick a wee bit..

[Richi]

or you could get a moped and not worry about changing gears

[Boob Johnson]

The Katana would look lovely surrounded by pansies....

Who said it isn't already?

[Winston001]

If it's so simple, why do motorcycle still have clutches.......:?

[Maki]

If it's so simple, why do motorcycle still have clutches.......:?

Because some more "traditional" riders still insist on a wank lever....

[racerhead]

If it's so simple, why do motorcycle still have clutches.......:?

And the clutch is also needed to get moving from a standstill.

I only use the clutch when Im riding around town at low rpm's and out on the road very rarely use it on the way up the box but I always use it for downchanges no matter what pace Im riding at

[scumdog]

Even in my alleged stone-age type bike I frequently upshift without using the clutch, ease off the throttle, click up and it's a seamless change of gears.

[1 Free Man]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Seems like there are opinions on both sides, and for my part, I think I'll use the clutch most of the time. It can't hurt to use it anyway.

I have read all the posts up to this point and being one who is a bit challenged when it comes to the finer point of bike riding it occures to me that the bike manufacturers (read here ANY BRAND) wouldn't put clutch levers on the bike if they weren't supposed to be used. YES, NO, MAYBE. or am I just thinking to laterally here??.

[toebug]

so for those who say its not so bad... if you are under full accelleration and button off the accelerator and kick the gear then open it up again this is better than preloading it? Doesnt seem much slower than preload but it does kick a wee bit..

I agree with not pre-loading and if you get your throttle action right it wont kick either

If it's so simple, why do motorcycle still have clutches.......:?

Because you need to stop and start!!! On my dirt bike I up and down shift without the clutch, and I only use it to stop,start, and slip to build rpm. I up shift up on my fireblade without clutch but you must use it to down shift to stop the rear wheel locking. In 20 years I've never had an issue with clutchless upshifting.

[R1madness]

Ahh clutchless shifting. Do it as much as you can. Your local workshop will be glad for the work in about a year. Had 3 gearboxes to rebuild this year. All of them had read on the net about the benifits of clutchless shifting. All of them suffer the same result. Rounded off dogs and slots, worn out/bent shift forks. Great, about $650 for parts and depending on the bike (old FZRs you need to totaly strip the motor to do the gearbox) the labour can be heaps more than you realise....
so please ring me for an estimate when it craps out.........

[Buckets4Me]

on my bucket the clutch is only used for starts and to sling it out of corners
but if you flat shift it has a tendincy to lift the frount wheel up way up

I wouldn't like to shift down on a big 4stroke without using the clutch
specialy if slowing down in a HURRY and I usualy use the clutch when not fanging the bike

and as for selling the workshop because of this thread you should be happy with it specialy in these tough times


I have seen clutch baskets explode on hard gearchanges 1to2 on a 400 2stroke
( thats what you get with a 35+ year old bike that you play with )

[MotoKuzzi]

Makes you wonder how many riders who never had a problem with clutchless shifts ever owned a bike long enough to see the end result

[samgab]

I wouldn't like to shift down on a big 4stroke without using the clutch specialy if slowing down in a HURRY and I usualy use the clutch when not fanging the bike

Yeah, that's why the new big sport bikes use a slipper clutch. Which I think are a great idea, btw, although I haven't ridden a big bike.

I have read all the posts up to this point and being one who is a bit challenged when it comes to the finer point of bike riding it occures to me that the bike manufacturers (read here ANY BRAND) wouldn't put clutch levers on the bike if they weren't supposed to be used. YES, NO, MAYBE. or am I just thinking to laterally here??.

I am not saying that your conclusion is wrong, but the logic you used to arrive at it is flawed. My question wasn't pertaining to not using the clutch lever at ALL; but just about upshifting. When starting off, stopping, idling at lights, and downshifting, the clutch is very handy, and maybe the manufacturers put it there for that purpose?
But no, I'm being pedantic: I agree that it makes sense to use the clutch most of the time for every gear; just wanted to point out the specious reasoning...

[thereaper]

Have fixed 2 zxr250s that had bent selector forks from clutchless up shifting and one was showing signs of wear on the dogs and slop in the bearings at only 6000ks. That said the zxr gearbox is a bit clunky anyway and not overly suited to this sort of treatment.