How do I shift without the clutch on a motorcycle?

Question

There are no videos on YouTube about it and i have only seen racers do it but havent been shown how.
Im not as worried about downshift blips (although some advice would be appreciated), just that i dont want to worry about "burning" the clutch.

**Please only advice from riders with some to a lot of experience THANKS!
PS. My bike is a 09 Ninja if that helps

Answer 1

The clutch is a lot cheaper to replace than the gear box.I'd advise you to use the clutch.Racers have the luxury of doing that because they rebuild the bikes between races.Up shifts aren't as severe but you can still do major damage.Even the cost of replacing a set of shifter forks would buy you a couple of clutch packs.

Answer 2

You have to use the throttle to get the engine kind of matched up with the transmission to where there is not a lot of force on it, kind of in a neutral position. Then shift, if you are going down dropp your revs at the same time, if you go up then increase them by giving more throttle.

It is possible to mess up your tranny doing this by bending/breaking parts in it that will make it very difficult to use afterwards. It is a thing where finesse is required, i.e. good hand and foot coordination and a little skill. But it is way easier and nicer than using the clutch and it is practically the only method I ever use to shift gears. Don't listen to people who say it can't be done; they just aren't good enough riders to do it.

Answer 3

Okay, I'm a rider with lots of experience--dirt/street/lots of track-time; riding/teaching/maintaining/repairing; 35 years/100's of thousands of miles; currently own and maintain 6 bikes.

There is no reason, other than a broken clutch cable, to shift without the clutch when riding on the street. It is simply harder on the gears, shift forks, shift dogs, final drive (chain, usually) and rear cush drive. Contrary to what you may believe, it harms everything BUT the clutch. And the clutch is considered a "wear part", like brake pads. Using the clutch wears out the clutch (cheap and easy to replace), and protects all the parts listed above (many of which are expensive and difficult to replace). Properly cared for, and used correctly, a street rider should NEVER need to replace those expensive bits.

Racers do it (and I'm referring to racers on the track, not squids on the street) to shave fractions of a second off their times, but racers live with the fact that they have to constantly rebuild their motors and transmissions.

Answer 4

stop listening to people who know everything, you are not going to burn out your clutch, and you can severely damage the transmission just by snapping a few teeth off one gear, you have to completely pull the transmission apart to fix it. The clutch is there for a reason, and just for starters, you cannot downshift EVER, WITHOUT THE CLUTCH. It is best to really get to know your bike, after hundreds of hours, you know exactly how your bike acts, its best to use the clutch you can practice letting off the throttle pulling in the clutch and shift then back on the gas, you have to work at burning up a clutch by revving the engine and slipping it, you can also buy high performance clutches, that you are not going to have to worry about replacing for a long time, The key, is all about you knowing your bike, and dont do something that is not necessary, like not using the clutch, racers do it, sure, but they have sponsors too, and can afford to rebuild transmissions if the blow the tranny, can you?

Answer 5

Very carefully. upshifts can be done with careful foot pressure and throttle control- applie moderate pressure to shift lever and roll throttle forward to reduce power/RPM and the gears will shift at close match to next gear up rpm. Down shift means throttle off then quick on again. ** further comment- I don't do this as a habit, only in as noted broken clutch cable. a couple others did this also when needed to get close to town after clutch disabled. Downshifts done at almost idle coming to intersection, stopping engine was used a couple times, then down shift to first, electric start to continue to place where backup truck could be called. This was pre cell phone days. **

Answer 6

shifting without the clutch is easy on bikes because they have a constant mesh gearbox..



apply a little upwards pressure on the gear shift .. and blip the throttle off & back on..



instant gear change up..



going down the gears is harder because your trying to stop the bike but you need to accelerate to go down the gears..



to do this.. you apply a little downwards pressure on the gear shift..& blip the throttle on & back off



(this is opposite on the throttle to up shifting)



the problem is that your accelerating to make it shift down whilst braking to stop.. so most racers up-shift without the clutch but use the clutch to down shift.. it just works out quicker on the race track..... not really needed on the road.. but it is fun to do when you take off from the lights in a hurry

Answer 7

just smash it into gear... let off the gas a little bit and push hard on the shift lever..

Just so you know this is actually really bad for the bike and you should really not ever do this..

racers can get away with it because they are either sponsored or are willing to be tearing their engines apart all the time.....

Answer 8

This will probably sound a little rusty, but simply let go a bit of throttle and hit the shift up, it will let you do it.



BUT DONT SHIFT DOWN WITHOUT CLUTCH! shifting up doesnt hurt the bike that bad (still its not something you should get use to), but shifting it down without the clutch hurts the engine really bad, so thats my answers and advice!

Answer 9

Back off the throttle a tiny bit and then shift, the bike is more open to the shift when you cut it's power source down (gas).

Answer 10

AHHHH money for the service department at the local bike shop.Thanks buddy keep it up.