Clutchless shifting.

[carlosthejack...]

I've just been in the bath trying (in vain) to shift this godawful virus, and I was reading the GSR750 review in Superbike magazine from a couple of months ago. One part of the review mentioned having to ride the bike "clutchless" and how the gearbox was so good, the reviewer changed both up and down for quite a long journey with no problems without the clutch being used.

Now I was always told that while it's acceptable to shift up on a bike without engaging the clutch (which I do do occasionally, but it takes some effort on the Hornet), downshifting is a big no-no as it will destroy your gearbox. Either way, I don't think it's something I'd like to try in case I break something.

Any thoughts? Is this just a "lovely Suzuki gearbox" thing or should I be taking this info with a pinch of sodium?
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[Mikey3]

My SV shifts up quite nicely without the clutch but I've never tried the downshifting.
In an emergency, say if the cable snapped or something then you could do it with the normal throttle blip before downchanging but I wouldn't do it for any other reason than having no way of using the clutch - my dad had to do it once, but he told me its not really recommended unless in an emergency.

Mike
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[lihp]

R6 drops dowb gears nicely below 4k, above that never tried tbh.

Though, it depends on how good you are, shouldn't cause any damage if you can do it right

[EXC-Rider]

I used to down shift cluchless my CRF when I was racing at the mx track, gets the revs up quicker, never really had any problem with it tbh
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[Poseidon]

Like others have posted, clutchless up change is no problem on the triumph. Once I'm out of town and out of the 30mph zones, I never reach for the clutch when changing up. For fear of causing untold damage to the cogs, i've never tried a down shift though.
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[james1988]

I can do it up and down quite smoothly on the firestorm. I've stopped clutchless down shifting though, it was more of an experiment to see if I could do it smoothly than a way of life.

James

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

You CAN do it going down as well, but it's a bit more tricky to master and I find using the clutch gives you more control.

If it's so great, why do racers (autoblippers on say the WSBK spec RSV4 excepted) still use the clutch?
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[Mikey3]

[AlexW]

I did it a few times on my 125, then dropped it and broke the clutch lever, Rode it for a good few days downshifting without the clutch.

Sometimes it didnt work very well, Got me around though.

I try to not do it too offen as its not that smooth, having to give it a little throttle to get it down. I do clutchless shifts on most upshifts.

[lihp]

[pinkyfloyd]

I seem to repeat this every time this type of thread pops up. It is fine to upshift from second up to 6th without a clutch. Not so good coming down the gears.

But.

My bike was fitted with a clutch to make gear changes easier therefore I never change gear without it.
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[Koltu]

Having just passed and obviously this isn't covered in DAS, going up gears is it just a case of keeping throttle on??
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[janner_10]

I can see the point on the track ifs it like your job and stuff but why bother on the road?
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[lihp]

[daesimps]

Just by coincidence I'd been reading a thread about this said same thing on the California Superbike School forum.

Turns out their mechanic, who looks after the entire fleet of bikes, is an advocate of clutchless up and down and after inspecting the gearbox there's absolutely no damage whatsoever. The guys on the forum were of the opinion that the school teaches it, and the mechanic's hardly going to recommend it if it means he has a load of repairs across the entire fleet, so why not give it a go.

I always do clutchless upshifts above 2nd, so thought what the hell and gave it a go down as well - it's very smooth and surprisingly easy.

I personally find it much easier than getting the blip on downshift right. That's not to say I can't do the blip as I shift down, but it's definitely a lot easier and smoother doing it the clutchless way.

Just my 2p worth. At the end of the day it's each to their own and everyone does what they are most comfortable with.


Dae.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[garth]

I generally use the clutch, unless I'm going properly flat out on the road, which is rare.
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[Hairy Ben]

[Alpha-9]

Can do it with my YBR, don't think it's healthy though, prefer the clutch control
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[The Shaggy D.A.]

My life isn't so short that I have to claw back every 1/100th of a second I can get my hands on.
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[carlosthejack...]

[hmmmnz]

clutchless shifting is just a waste of fucken time!!
if you were really good you might save 1/50th of a second,
woop woop, are any of you in that much of a hurry that you need 1/50th of a second??
the potential to fuck stuff up far exceeds the benefits,

its not big, clever, cool, or useful
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[blurredman]

[hmmmnz]

are you really going to be riding like a twat if you happen to break your clutch cable??

i can change gear in just about any vehicle with out a clutch, (car, bike truck) but it doesnt really serve any purpose, except just like what ive just done and be able to say you can, man im choice, i know you all want to be like me now, im so skilled and awesome and shit,

woohoo


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