Listen up noobs!! Best upshifting advice ever!

[bugbug]

First of all let me apologize to those experienced bikers who find this tip obvious or to those who might know of this tip. But.... I read about it in the excellent motorcycle guide 'Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques' by Lee Parks. The author calls it 'preloading'. The idea is to have your left boot applying upward pressure on the shift lever BEFORE pulling in the clutch (hence the pre in preloading) then a very subtle pull on the clutch should complete the action. Remember to simultaneously roll off the throttle, too.
Well I gave it a go and must say that my upshifting have become much smoother and I found that the only adjustment I needed to make was to remember to roll off the throttle sooner because I was caught off guard by how quick the upshifting took place. Its still a work in progress but certainly worthwhile.
Cheers!

[TOTO]

Very Useful. I'm getting a bike in a week so I'll remember that. you are the man.
Keep practising and be safe.

[RantyDave]

You don't actually need to use the clutch at all. Just preload, then upshift by temporarily rolling off the throttle. MONDO smooth and a piece of piss. Don't leave home without it.

Dave

[pritch]

I read about it in the excellent motorcycle guide 'Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques' by Lee Parks.

So how was the rest of the book?

I don't do clutchless upshifts round town but on the open road they are s.o.p.

Particularly recommended if you have a pillion as they are smoother.
Practice first though or you could make yourself unpopular

[MSTRS:Me]

Such a simple technique...you'd think it would be taught eh? It is but one part of smoothing out your riding, and smooth is what makes it all come together. Keep practising as you mentioned, and when you have it right, try leaving the clutch alone as RD said. When you are really proficient, you can try it for downshifting as well - although this is much harder to get right.
Think of it this way....using the clutch unloads pressure on the gear cogs and allows them to move across each other. A quick roll-off of the throttle when accelerating does the same thing. Obviously you need to reverse this when slowing (changing down) which is much harder to get right.

[boomer]

Gear shifting is over rated....! Buy a thou and never have to worry about pre loading or shifting gears AGAIN. Other than the suspension that is

[dino3310]

whats a clutch

[riffer]

Preloading has been discussed here before.

It's bullshit. If you need to preload, it's because your gearbox is rooted.

Consensus of opinion would appear to be that preloading places stress on your gearbox. End result will inevitably be bent shifter forks.

IMO newbies would be better advised to practice smooth shifting using the clutch and matching engine revs to gearbox.

[tri boy]

+1 With Riffer. Basic clutch shifts need to be learned properly before trying any quick shift changes. Unless of course you have a spare $1k to repair/replace g/box internals.

[Mental Trousers]

As riffer and tri boy (a motorcycle mechanic of many years btw) have said (as well as Shaun Harris and many others in previous threads about this subject), preloading can root your gear box. There's lots of moving bits in a gear box and preloading the lever just starts some of those moving bits rubbing together. Moving bits that rub wear out.

[RantyDave]

Consensus of opinion would appear to be that preloading places stress on your gearbox. End result will inevitably be bent shifter forks.

Oh, shit. Doesn't sound good. I may have to lose my new found habit. D'oh!

Dave

[skidMark]

whats a clutch

yeah exactly, i dunno these new fandangled contraptions with all these things we don't need.

back to the olden days i say sonny!

[Mental Trousers]

Preloading is bad. But learning to clutchless shift properly is least stressful (for the bike) way of changing gears on a bike.

[vifferman]

Don't use preloading if you have an Factory Pro Evo Star shift kit.
Coz you'll change gear immediately, if not soonerer.

[Hitcher]

Buy a Burgman.