ninjette.org - View Single Post - Upshifting

Alex · July 19th, 2011, 11:53 AM

Put the wear/damage issue of to the side for the moment. The reason that people don't recommend clutchless downshifting it that it's somewhat pointless. When you're downshifting, you are making the engine go faster for a given road speed. If you do it instantaneously without clutching in and out, the moments it takes to get the engine up to speed cause the rear wheel to lose traction, even if for a moment.

So if you're planning to downshift without the clutch because of braking hard and want it to happen quickly, that's a terrible time to intentionally cause the rear to break traction. Watch how smooth people are when coming into corners on track with the clutch hand, very slowly letting it out to allow the rear wheel to exactly match the engine speed without ever breaking traction.

But if you're going slowly enough and just experimenting in a straight line while not at the traction limits, sure, it can be done, but with zero performance benefit, and a greater risk of futzing up your shift forks as it's harder on the drivetrain to have the engine accelerated by the rear wheel than it is for it to decelerate naturally on upshifts.

July 19th, 2011, 11:53 AM	#77
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	Put the wear/damage issue of to the side for the moment. The reason that people don't recommend clutchless downshifting it that it's somewhat pointless. When you're downshifting, you are making the engine go faster for a given road speed. If you do it instantaneously without clutching in and out, the moments it takes to get the engine up to speed cause the rear wheel to lose traction, even if for a moment. So if you're planning to downshift without the clutch because of braking hard and want it to happen quickly, that's a terrible time to intentionally cause the rear to break traction. Watch how smooth people are when coming into corners on track with the clutch hand, very slowly letting it out to allow the rear wheel to exactly match the engine speed without ever breaking traction. But if you're going slowly enough and just experimenting in a straight line while not at the traction limits, sure, it can be done, but with zero performance benefit, and a greater risk of futzing up your shift forks as it's harder on the drivetrain to have the engine accelerated by the rear wheel than it is for it to decelerate naturally on upshifts. __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)