Noob question, Shifting without clutch

[RVertigo]

I have to say, I think it will screw things up if you don't do it right...........   Like forcing it up (as I've done a few times).

The first time I shifted without the clutch, I hit a bump (read: "Jump") and flipped to the next gear without knowing it.   



Anyway...  I'll stop blabbing on.

[anthonyd5189]

I just skimmed through this so if someone already said it sorry for saying it again.

I watced a show on AMA Racing.  The bikes those guys use are so high tech.  When they shift up, no clutch, the computer dissengages power to the transmission just for the split second it takes to shift.  So really they dont have to use a clutch since the computer is doing that work for them.

[natedawg120]

I have to say, I think it will screw things up if you don't do it right...........   Like forcing it up (as I've done a few times).

The first time I shifted without the clutch, I hit a bump (read: "Jump") and flipped to the next gear without knowing it.   



Anyway...  I'll stop blabbing on.

Blab away cause you are correct, sloppy shifts kill trannys whether or not you use the clutch.  Of course you knew that

[VSG]

The term for what you guys are doing (clutchless shifting) is called 'power shifting'.   The conventional wisdom is that it increases the wear and tear on the gears/tranny.   It can be a useful skill to have (especially if your clutch cable snaps mid-ride like my R6 did once), but for me the negatives far outweigh the positives, so I don't ever do it.

I always thought "power shifting" was pretty much keeping it WOT and shifting through the gears.  You'd have to use the clutch at least slightly since you can't really get it out of gear while the transmissionis loaded.  Clutchless shifting is rolling off the throttle and while the transmission doesn't have a load on it, you change gears.


Clutchless shifting does not add extra wear and tear to the gears or transmission.  It will if you're forcing things or doing it completely wrong - but the same can be said with regular shifting with the clutch. 

http://www.f6rider.com/VRCC/tech/trans101.htm  This link, which was posted already, has some good explinations.

[ducati_nolan]

Ah an old cotroversial post revived.....

I agree with your powershifting explanation, you hold the throttle open (hopefully you have a rev limiter) then jab the clutch, slam it into the next gear, and drop the clutch. You get an extra little boost of speed, but it's hard on EVERYTHING especially the transmission.

If you smoothly do clutchless upshifts it dosn't hurt anything, just roll off the gas and click it into the next gear. Downshifting is much harder to do smothly and there's really no reason to do it but if you do it just right it's probally okay.

Motorcycles don't have any synchros so basically if it's smooth and it dosn't make any grinding noises then you're okay. Cars have synchros and even if you don't hear any grinding noises, your synchros are probally getting worn out really quick unless you match revs perfectly.