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Does anyone downshift without the clutch?

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:55 am
by Smousley1995
If anyone has seen "twist of the wrist 2" DVD there's a small part on there where Keith code says about blipping the throttle on downshifts to match the revs for smoother downshifts on corner entry (a pretty common technique) but then he says that with a well timed and precise blip you don't need to use the clutch and there's a video of a guy (on a Kawasaki I think) blipping down without the clutch.

I've been blipping pretty much since I started riding so I've got the hang of it and yesterday I thought I'd give it a go without the clutch. It works extremely well and shifts down very smoothly with no clunking or grinding at all! It was quite baffling, I rode on twisty gear intensive roads and didn't touch the clutch at all for a couple of mile :smt104

Just to clarify I'm not talking about stamping it down.... I'm talking about a precise timed blip as you just tap the shifter down and it disengages and engages the next gear with no fuss and is smoother than a baby's bottom! I'm familiar with how a gear box works and I'm 99% sure this is actually putting less strain on the gearbox as I can basically feel the dogs engaging and there's less jerking than when you use the clutch.its like magic :pmsl

Has anyone else tried this or does it on a regular basis?
Or does anyone have a reason I'm unaware of why this is damaging my gearbox?

Re: Does anyone downshift without the clutch?

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:59 am
by CaNsA
I always use the clutch when downshifting, dont bother with it from 2nd upwards though.

Re: Does anyone downshift without the clutch?

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:13 am
by RedexRobB
I found you could do that by accident years ago. I could never get it right though so stuck with a blip and downshift. Siukds much better when watching someone else does it too.