Clutchless downshifting | GTAMotorcycle.com

Clutchless downshifting

YellowDuck

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I have to admit I have never mastered this, and gave up trying out of concern for my gearbox.

How many of you do most of your downshifts clutchless on the track?
 
I use my clutch every time, at the ****ed up speeds we ride why would I even try to do this, makes no sense but maybe I just suck
 
Btw in case you completely lift your foot off the peg to downshift, try leaving the heel on the peg and downshift by rotating your ankle (just like up shifts). That gives you more feeling for the shift until you perfect your timing.
 
I do it all the time....not racing, but street riding, very often. I can do it well at 4000 rpm, slowing down to a stop sign or to a lower speed limit at the edge of a town, but not so well at 14,000 rpm, on the brakes, with the back wheel hovering the track,LOL

I never really mentioned to anyone that I did it, but on a Pennsylvania trip a couple yrs ago, a rider in our group must have been watching me, because when we stopped to eat and gas up, he asked me if I was shifting both up and down without the clutch.
 
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Street riding? all the time, I am cruising anyways or commuting. I thought the question was track riding.
 
Okay, that makes me feel better. Discussion over at the CSS forum had me thinking I was missing out on something, but I couldn't figure what. I clutch all my downshifts but with the slipper clutch I can pretty much bang them down wherever I like - I don't feel like I am really losing any time using the clutch, seeing as I can get my shifting done early in the braking zone regardless. And I am too much of a spaz to rev match and brake hard simultaneously anyway.
 
I once had a clutch cable snap pretty far from home. Rode home with no clutch at all. Downshifts can be done, just takes a lil more practice. My practice was kinda forced on me.
 
I always use clutch/rev matching (no slipper clutch here). What damage could be caused by not using clutch when downshifting?
 
I always use the clutch to downshift at the track. The thought of a false neutral at the wrong time makes me want to make sure the lower gear engages. On the street not so much.
 
If the track requires my left had to be up, to signal pit in, then yes occasionally. Under normal lapping conditions hardly ever.

But, as per Kellen, plenty of times in the dirt.
 
I would also think that it would upset the suspension?
 
I clutch rev match my downshifts all the time (and I have a slipper clutch).
 
I use my clutch on every shift. Up and down. 2 fingers and only enough to disengage. I don't know if you where watching from the wall last time we were both at tmp. But it is just as fast to upshift using the clutch as it is to not. And I have never had to do tranny work. I don't have a quick shifter.
 
I use my clutch on every shift. Up and down. 2 fingers and only enough to disengage. I don't know if you where watching from the wall last time we were both at tmp. But it is just as fast to upshift using the clutch as it is to not. And I have never had to do tranny work. I don't have a quick shifter.

I'm going to have to disagree with you... no way in hell is it just as fast to upshift using the clutch vs. not using it.
 
I'm going to have to disagree with you... no way in hell is it just as fast to upshift using the clutch vs. not using it.

without a Q/S I would say your wrong.
 
I use my clutch on every shift. Up and down. 2 fingers and only enough to disengage. I don't know if you where watching from the wall last time we were both at tmp. But it is just as fast to upshift using the clutch as it is to not. And I have never had to do tranny work. I don't have a quick shifter.

Could still be shifting pretty fast when pulling the clutch lever. Sometimes the sequence of events is misinterpreted by a rider shifting quickly. You may be unloading transmission with the throttle, while the pull on the clutch isn't really having any effect.

People really need to look at a transmission and understand how it functions before you can really make informed arguments on best shifting practices. I keep a scrap tranny as a demo model, to show people how a transmission selects gear position. It's not rocket science, but it is hidden out of view, and often misunderstood.
 

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