this may be a dump question, but am i doing any damage to the bike if i switch gears at higher rpm's (still before the red line) but at the point when it sounds like a chainsaw clear cutting a forest. As well, as once you shoot it up to a high rpm, letting it fall back......sometimes i get the erge and gun it, then let it go down to merge  back with traffic.

on a side note, my bike (04 gsE) i was downshifting today, bliped the throttle and it seemd like it might of backfired a little. it was pretty minor, but almost like the bike caughed....any ideas?

thanks.

as long as you engage the clutch properly there is no problem.  as for the back fire it could be because your mike may be running rich.