CLUTCHLESS SHIFTING

[SANDFLEA85]

Im curious who shifts gears without using the clutch,i hear guys say they blip the throttle and just upshift...so what exactly does that mean.and are there any problems that one can have while doing this,wouldnt this grind the gears just like in a car.if someone does this on a regular basis please explain it to me...thanks

 

[thebbbusa]

It has been discussed many many many times.  Try searching for it.

In short:  If done correctly it's ok.  If not, you can bend forks and cause problems.

I do it all the time, but not every time.  Typically under hard accell the shifts are much smoother when I do it.

You can do it going up or down in gears.

I lost my clutch lever once, and I was 100 miles from home...made it home without it....luckily I never had to come to a complete stop.

According to your list you have an air shifter. It's the same thing you're just using your foot instead of an air cylinder. and reducing the load on the tranny with the blip.

 

[rockadaous]

no blip going up. blip coming down
roll off the gas and just upshift firmly.

 

[WWJD]

I clutchless shift a lot but am not mechanically inclined to be able to explain the physical functionality. When you find the right RPMs you can change gears, up or down without the clutch. I'll do it randomly in 2-6th gears. 1st is possilbe but silly - i'll drop into first sometimes rolling about 10mph down a hill and it works... still sort of stupid to bother with 1st.

Near as I can tell, a tranny has these "forks" that slide gears around... when the gears match up speed wise you can slide them together without the clutch plates adjjusting the connectign gears? That sounds right those that know? So, when you are upshifting fast and blip the throttle down enough to kick up to the next gear, it's smoother than using a clutch and faster usually also.

Does it hurt? Probably - your sliding gears together on a high power engine, at high speed, missing slightly 25% of the time.... I had to have a tranny rebuild at 25,000 but admit to "Having more fun" than worrying about tranny life. I'll take it to the track and spank it, kick the shifter hard when I miss shift and get mad, knowing I'll pay in the end.

Up clutchless up and down is fun - I enjoy wiggling the rear tire on down shifts for fun. Yeah, I have an idiot side. But clutchless IS faster and smoother when practiced and done right

 

[SANDFLEA85]

thanks for the replys

and yes i have an air shifter but NO its definately not the same,when you activate the shifter via button it actually shuts the entire engine down for a fraction of a second to not do any damage and is designed to be used at WOT only,I dont use it much.

was just curious as to guys not using the clutch because i know when i decide to open it up and get above 120 /130 its a little unnerving letting go to grab the clutch and pull it in

 

[pward76]

(DEVLDOG @ Jun. 25 2007,10:56) was just curious as to guys not using the clutch because i know when i decide to open it up and get above 120 /130 its a little unnerving letting go to grab the clutch and pull it in

What are you letting go of?

let your index and middle finger sit on the clutch handle all the time. Works for me.

 

[NearDeath]

roll-up to high RPM... Roll-off throttle quick and pop the foot lever without the clutch... It will instantly go into next gear. If you try it at low RPMs it doesn't want to come up very easily... I only bother when I am up switching through the gears...

 

[thebbbusa]

(DEVLDOG @ Jun. 25 2007,13:56) and yes i have an air shifter but NO its definately not the same,when you activate the shifter via button it actually shuts the entire engine down for a fraction of a second to not do any damage and is designed to be used at WOT only,I dont use it much.

The principle is the same.

The electronics 'kill' the engine's ignition which reduces the load on the gears. This is what allows the bike to shift. An air shifter can mess up a bike just as easliy as a bad shift can if it's not timed right.

vs.

When you rolloff the throttle it also unloads the tranny allowing you to shift.

Technically you can do this with any manual transmission, although I wouldn't recommend it. I tried it in my car in stop and go traffic. As long as you have the engine RPMs matched properly it goes right in.

You can do this speed shifting at any speed when you get the hang of it, unlike your airshifter.

Air shifters and electric shifters are good because they make shifts consistant at the extreme limits of acceleration. All you have to do is worry about pushing a button then. But for everyday around town you really can't use them much cause much after 1st you're way over the speed limit anyway.

 

[Chromed-n-Stretched]

its easy, put a little up pressure on the shifter, let off the throttle just a little and the shifter should throw the next gear almost by its self. just make sure up give some up pressure on the shifter. dont worry about it popping out of gear to early, as long as you are on the throttle it wont go anywhere, but as soon as you get off the gas a little (just crack it back a little, not much. when i do it u can hardly tell im off the throttle) it will get "sucked" right into the next gear. try it, its easy, good luck.

 

[Chromed-n-Stretched]

i do it at high and low speeds,  not all the time, but its easy no mater how fast you are going.  just remember to give some up pressure on that shifter, crack back on the throttle, and POP! goes alomost by itself.

 

[tbonebusa]

DevilDog,

From the mod list on your bike, I'm suprised you asked this question, as well as expressing concern over "letting go" to grab the clutch lever..

I'm not being a smart-ass, but is this your first bike?

Clutch-less shifting is the same as your air shifter, just a little slower to happen. Done correctly, you can usually bre smoother and quicker shifting without the clutch.

 

[cosmo]

(pward76 @ Jun. 25 2007,11:07)

(DEVLDOG @ Jun. 25 2007,10:56) was just curious as to guys not using the clutch because i know when i decide to open it up and get above 120 /130 its a little unnerving letting go to grab the clutch and pull it in

What are you letting go of?

let your index and middle finger sit on the clutch handle all the time.  Works for me.

One really nice feature of the CRG/Pazzo levers.... on-the-fly ADJUSTABILITY. When in "performance" mode I click back a notch or two on the lever and just fan the clutch with one finger

.

 

[gtrpimp76]

haha!!

I don't even blip anymore when I full throttle clutchless upshift. I now have DYNOJET QUICKSHIFTER!!!

Activation set at 4500 RPM with a kill time of 70ms!!!

 

[Samurai-Jim]

(rockadaous @ Jun. 25 2007,12:39) no blip going up.  blip coming down
roll off the gas and just upshift firmly.

Rolling off the gas IS blipping...

 

[Willie G]

DD - One of the first things I learned, many years ago, was how to drive a big rig (Class 8 truck) only using the clutch for takeoff - shifting without it the rest of the time. As far as I know, that is the way it's still done. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Busa works exactly the same way and just as effortlessly - so I do it all the time, it's no big deal!

The "trick" is to get a feel for the RPM level needed for the next gear, either up or down. Once you can do that, the bike almost falls into that gear.

The whole process is so easy....

(How easy is it?)


...even I can do it!

 

[SANDFLEA85]

(tbonebusa @ Jun. 25 2007,14:48) DevilDog,

From the mod list on your bike, I'm suprised you asked this question, as well as expressing concern over "letting go" to grab the clutch lever..

I'm not being a smart-ass, but is this your first bike?

Clutch-less shifting is the same as your air shifter, just a little slower to happen. Done correctly, you can usually bre smoother and quicker shifting without the clutch.

NO OFFENSE TAKEN it is my first bike,i bought it back around xmas and have put over 2000 mi on it since,i have gotten pretty comfortable with it in speeds over 130mph and have used the NOS periodically...the air shifter jams me up when i use it too often so i tend not to even use it,it has a gatlin bracket which is attached to the stattor cover and it pulls fwd instead of the usual up models you always see,i had to change it because i put a vortex adj rear race set on and it wouldnt work with the frame mount but anyway,i was trying to be humorous when i say i dont want to let go...i just dont want to fug anything up with the clutch but want to try clutchless shifting esp at high accelerations,thats the reason for the thread
thanks for all your input,ill give it a whirl later in the week

 

[Shibumi]

Key point for upshifts as mentioned is putting pressure on the shift lever, preloading it before you shift. Then roll off the throttle app. 1/8-1/4 inch and it automatically snicks into gear. With practice the roll-on back into throttle is imperceptible, feels like an automatic transmission!

I upshift clutchless all the time, low throttle to full throttle. I use the clutch to shift from first to second, second gear just is too often fugged up on these bikes for me to chance it. I also do not downshift without using clutch, I match RPMs to next lower gear and one-finger the clutch in about halfway- it might not even be necessary, but again a security blanket for my peace of mind.

 

[Wrath]

(rockadaous @ Jun. 25 2007,10:39) no blip going up.  blip coming down
roll off the gas and just upshift firmly.

+1
I do it all the time and it is smooth as silk. Of course I am used to doing it in a big rig also.

 

[dadofthree]

blip tidy blip blip , just hoing guys

 

[SxLxAxVxExN]

I tried it last night and it is a lot smoother... Plus its a big difference when speed shifting.