Hi, I recently got my first bike, a 1992 Honda VFR750. It is a great ride, and the first bike I have ever ridden. Today, while I was out riding, I was going to shift and started to move my hand to the clutch bar, I already had my food under the shifter bar, in anticipation of shifting. I hit a bump and the bike shifted into second gear. That is when I noticed I could shift without engaging the clutch. I just let off the gas a little and pressed up and the bike shifted. I also noticed that it would downshift as well, as long as I was going slowly enough and I didn’t try to go down so many gears. Now to my question. I don’t want to mess up the bike, and because this is my first bike I didn’t know if you could shift this way, like you do can do in a manual car. I know it’s not great to do it in a car, so I was wondering if you could do it on a bike, and if my generation of bike is equipped with this capability, as I don’t know if there is some sort of standard with clutch less shifting on bikes Someone please help?
Grats on the new ride, and welcome! Works no different than in does in a car, and carries the same "not so great" tag. Not really devastating, but it does create a little more stress on the geartrain when you do it. I wouldn't do it constantly, but once in a while isn't going to hurt anything. Just adjust the throttle to relieve pressure on the gears, and pop it up/down. Simple. Be careful you don't bark the rear tire when down shifting though.
True, downshifiting is more likely to fudge things up if done incorrectly. But it can still be done correctly (again, not really recommended or necessary, but possible). As a rule of thumb, if the engine rpm changes a whole bunch when you shift this way, it was a bad idea. When the bike is just coasting and you're very close to needing to be in a lower gear anyhow (e.g. coasting at 60mph in 6th gear) the bike will slip right into 5th with a little bit of throttle and virtually no engine braking. If you down shift with too much load or to early, the sudden force of engine braking puts a lot of strain on your gearbox's bearings, etc. Not going to break anything instantly, but repeated abuse makes things go pop. The same can be true of clutchless upshifting if proper technique is not used, although damage is harder to do in general.
I have been upshifting clutchless about 30 - 40% of the time since about a year after getting my bike new. So by that time it had about 20,000 miles. Now it is just under 100,000 miles and I still often upshift without the clutch. The correct method of doing so seems to be what you stumbled upon. 1. Toe under gear lever and preload slightly. 2. A quick flick (off throttle) and the bike should fall righ into the next gear up. It takes very little practice to become proficient with this. However, I would not do so down shifting. As far as I am concerned, that is just far too much strain on the whole drive train trying to match up your engine RPM with the speed at which your wheels are turning. Initially I began clutchless shifting due to tendonitis on the left elbow. Works like a charm. Does fuck all for arthritis of the hips though.
The Hondas 750A's had clutches. The boxes were two speed foot shifters. The brakes were not nearly as efficient as they should have been since this particular tranny even though along with the 750 Four was bulletproof, provided no compression braking. Get off the gas and you were basically in neutral and coasting. Probably collectable now. Moto-Guzzi had a similar bike in the mid 70's too and let us not forget the Boss Hoss. General Motors answer to Harley-Davidson on steroids. Another clutchless rig was the 1907 Curtiss and I think the current LSR holder for bikes.
I've (test) ridden clutch-less electrics, the Zero 9kw, and Zev 6kw(scooter from hell, in a good way) and they were both awesome. The Zero had a soft throttle to ease into the torque, but the Zev gives you all the torque when ever you want it, no stalling, no shifting, no problem talking to your buddy at a stop light :tongue: A bit of a segway, but Jay leno did a good down to earth review of the Misson R electric bike, he comments on the lack of clutch at 13:25, and ample torque at 12:25, and 14:30 [video=youtube;UyYAJgEblrA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyYAJgEblrA[/video]
In the off road world of dirt bikes the auto clutch has to be one of the most popular mods. I have heard a lot of the top motocross racers use a form of it as well so as not to ruin their race from a stall and then taking to long to kickstrt the high strung four stroke mx bikes. I have ridden with them before off road and in some ways they are great but I personnaly enjoy using the clutch. I look for rekluse and revloc to make versions for street bikes very soon. Just my opinion
Hopefully no one will invent bike without brakes...Wait, we've been there already.. I doubt the 4 stroke motocross bikes are finicky. High compression four stroke singles are just that way. Looking at the "problem" from a number crunching aspect ya got three wrong choices slammin down the kickstart lever to fire the bike. Some even have starters too. Interesting stuff on the auto clutches..
I accidentally shifted without the clutch recently. Couldn't believe how smooth it was! The transmission on my kawasaki 1500 cruiser was a clunky mess in comparison.