| Author | Message | ||
     Father_of_an_era |
Does shifting without using the clutch cause any issues with the tranny? Its sooooooo easy to do and I am hoping it doesn't cause any future problems. Thanks for the input. | ||
| Dktechguy112 |
upshifting or downshifting? I haven't done it on the 1125, but I upshift my quads all the time without the clutch, as long as you let off the gas before you upshift you are good to go. But i always use the clutch on downshifts. | ||
| Chameleon |
I do it often. Up and down. Hasn't caused me any problems. Took this odometer shot yesterday morning while warming up bike before heading to work. I got a few miles under my belt.  (Message edited by chameleon on June 12, 2010) | ||
| Avalaugh |
chamelon, thats good to see, think we all worry about long term reliability. | ||
| Chameleon |
Yes, we do. The bike makes more noise and vibration than it used to, but I'm hoping it's just that the motor has "relaxed" and that it needs new motor mounts. Wish I was going to Homecoming. Would be really great to have Erik sign my bike. Maybe next year. | ||
| Jules |
I was never a fan of clutchless downshifts (upshifts are fine IMHO) but yesterday I was doing clutchless downs and it was significantly smoother than I would have expected... I assume it has to do with the "slipper" action, I was pleasantly surprised | ||
| 2thepoint |
Why does everybody have such a hard time using the clutch? Why not use it? The lever can be pulled in with one finger. If you use the clutch then you dont have to worry if your damaging the bike or not. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Shifting without a clutch is fine as long as you do it perfectly every time...a missed or partial shift can and will damage the shift forks...once damaged, the problem will slowly cascade until the gear dogs begin to become rounded on the ends.. I haven't seen an 1125 transmission first hand, but it looks in pictures like it comes from the factory with some back-cut on the dogs....if so....it will be very friendly to clutchless shifting because the back-cut will help the dogs pull together. I have heard suggestions of "preloading" the shifter...If the shift drum is being partially rotated the shift forks that operates the gear you are in will be side loaded, resulting in increased wear. Skilled riders will not have a problem ...the difficulty is timing the mechanical action of shifting with unloading the transmission...get it right and it is sweet...get it wrong and it gets expensive. For those who have tried a clutchless upshift where it didn't shift when you kicked the shift lever....you damaged a shift fork....it may work for thousands of more miles....but it is damaged... True clutchless shifting is best dome by an electric or air shifter where the engine is momentarily killed (40-60ms)there are products on the market that work wonderfully. There are several guys on the board that dragrace and use auto shift...I think Pingel would be one of the first places to look or MRE....an electric system would be best for the street....there isn't much spare room to hide an air compressor. | ||
| Bobbuell1961 |
Fast1075, couldn't have said it better myself, +1 | ||
| Drawkward |
Ya, good post Fast. I've been looking for a good quick shifter that won't destroy my bank account. So if anyone has a link it'd be awesome if you shared it. | ||
| Jules |
Hmmm.. I can see the point some of you are making but in my experience (almost 30 years of all year round riding and 15k miles a year) I've always done clutchless upshifts and some of the bikes I have owned for several years and 50,000 miles and I've never lost a transmission yet. I realise there are some significantly more experienced and more knowledgable people on here but personally I'm happy with clutchless upshifts. | ||
| Father_of_an_era |
Thanks for all the insight everyone. Its not that I am too lazy to use the clutch, its just that it is very easy to down shift with out the clutch on this bike. I have just over 7000 miles on the bike now and as of yet no issues but I think I will get used to using the clutch for the up shifting and I might start using it to down shift. Thanks again for all of the info. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Before the Buells I rode Hondas and Kawasakis...When I motocrossed and dirt rode a lot,(was THAT a long time ago) I never used the clutch to shift...It just seems when you have high power and sticky tires, there is a lot less room for error. When I slung wrenches professionally, I lobbied for all the bottom end work...I had a bushel basket full of broken gears and bent shift forks from 750 Hondas and 900/1000 Kawis...bent fork pins, rails, even twisted shafts and worn out shift drums..it was fun and profitable for me. | ||
| Ratsmc |
Clutchless shifting is a great idea - if you are 100% certain that you got the timing right every time. You might also get lucky. Until the day you don't. Unfortunately, you usually won't know which shift you did wrong because the problem gets worse over time. I'll use the clutch. | ||
| R2s |
Due to the Vacuum actuated slipper clutch when you let off the throttle it actually opens the clutch slightly making the 1125R one of the best clutchless upshifting bikes you will ever find(for a large displacement bike). Its not going to hurt your motorcycle. Downshifts are not recommended unless your ridding at a moderate pace and get the RPM's close. (Message edited by r2s on June 13, 2010) | ||
| 1_mike |
2thepoint - Using the clutch makes the operation somewhat redundant. The only thing required to shift is no load on the gear teeth/dogs. To that end, "normal" (!) shifting does this twice. 1. pull in the lever 2. roll off the throttle. One doesn't really "need" to do both if done with good timing. I've got many, many miles on sport bikes (four brands), all shifted both up and (most times down) with zero problems. If you're carefull....you can even go into first gear down shifting. As for as my CR....the trans. design has enhanced the ease of both up and down shifting without problems of any kind. One bike that shifts fine without the clutch...but the engine doesn't like it...is the XB models. That heavy ol flywheel makes smooth, clutchless shifting in the lower gears a pain. But the higher two gears work like any other. The crank doesn't come down in rpm fast enough for smooth shifting without the clutch. So on my XB12S, I have to remember to use the clutch....which doesn't always happen..! Mike | ||
| Firebolt32 |
I'm with Fast... I won't do it on a street bike. Dirt bikes and quad I've never really worried about it. I actually had to make a conscience effort to use the clutch when I started riding on the street. In a cage it's easy shifting with out the clutch. Listen to the RPMs, hold the stick to the gear you want and it slides right in. | ||
| Jules |
Just my opinion but it's worse doing it in a car... that'll kill the syncromesh a lot easier than it will the gears on a bike.. I guess this is another of the "opinion is divided" threads  - i guess we just stick with what we're happiest doing LOL | ||
| 1_mike |
Depends on the type of trans. I up-shifted my ol Muncie 4 spd. all the time. Only down shifted (without the clutch) when I could concentrate on what I was doing. So a blanket statement like that....isn't a good thing to say..! Mike | ||
| 68eb429 |
hmm, been driving trucks for a while and even though there is a clutch i seldom use it, up or down shifting. reason it saves clutch for when u need it most. my R, i use it for starts from a dead stop, and really rolling threw the gears, however very slight. just a slight two finger quick blip, down shifting i use two methods two different scenarios. First a casual ride slowing for light, stop sign or slow car, slight blip of throttle and ease of clutch and let the torque slow me down. second ..shall we say a more spirited ride. i find that the bike is not as un balanced meaning ..clutching in shift down an releasing the bike will undoubtedly lock the rear wheel. Your not letting the slipper clutch do its job. Roll of throttle , tap to lower gear and the bike stays settled, no and i mean no wheel hop at all, the slipper clutch is doing its job and taking up on torque of motor, and traction of wheel to pavement..just my two cents |
