Buying a used Busa - "2nd gear" problem

[mattymatt716]

My two cents.... "shift it like you mean it" made a world of difference for me. Coming from riding a cruiser-style to my bike, I felt like a real rookie (probably still am, though I don't want to admit it) when I had a hard time shifting from 1st to 2nd. I also adjusted the clutch lever, and that helped. Now I can shift harder and quicker. She sounds like she likes it better, and second gear is now friendlier. I seriously had to practice, and it felt like I was shifting like I was racing instead of enjoying the ride. But, well, she's a busa, and she wants to be shifted like a busa. After I learned to shift correctly, I had far fewer problems (and my gear indicator is now a lot more accurate).

Because I couldn't shift it like I meant it, I thought that something was wrong with my 2nd gear, so I started searching every forum I could find on it. Turns out, I just needed to man-up.

I tried clutchless shifting... and it made me very nervous that I was going to ruin the gearbox. I figure the clutch is there for a reason, and I don't have the cash flow for a new gearbox, so I'll just use the clutch. Though, clutchless shifting sounds better!

 

[1UP]

I think I'll have to give this a try really soon, once I own a busa!

 

[dadofthree]

Pops out of second gear under heavy acceleration. Not to be confused with lazy shifting into neutral.

 

[IG.]

Preload the shifter so you are sure you you are going to catch the lower gear.
At the same time snap the throttle closed and shift into a lower gear.
Then with no delay quickly open the throttle to a position greater than it was when you started the shift.

Pretty much the same as an upshift except with an upshift the throttle is opened slightly less than when the shift was started.

You think it's bad for the transmission, but is that not applying the same thought process as all the people who think clutchless upshifting damages the transmission? Do you have any actual evidence of many motorcycle transmission being damaged by clutchless downshifting?

I know, from your posts, your are more convinced by practical experience and not the "appeal to authority" argument. Give it a go for yourself, make up your own mind.

cheers
ken

LOL, no, I am convinced by trying to make sense out of things without prejudice and regardless of someone's authority... You didn't say whether in this scenario you are ON the gas or OFF the gas. Here is my problem with this approach... If you are ON the gas and decide to downshift clutchless, what you are describing makes a lot of sense, and I think I've done it like that a few times. However, most of the time I need to downshift I am completely OFF the gas (the throttle is closed), and in such scenario there seems to be no other choice but to downshift with a blip and pulling (or at least slipping) the clutch.

Also, there is usually a lot more time to downshift (e.g. during braking) than to upshift (e.g. during acceleration).

So, in a rare case when you are let's say chugging along, and let's say a fancy car pulls up and wants to race you, and you decide to downshift, then yes clutchless would seem to work fine. But 90% of the time, we want to downshift because we are slowing down with the throttle closed, and in such a case, a traditionally executed downshift would seem to be the only choice.