Clutchless Upshifts?

[razorboy]

Hey Folks,

I was speaking with the father of another kid that races last week and he says that his son doesn't use his clutch after the initial start of the race.
He says that he tears down the front straight going from 1st to second to third and no clutch and all the while with the throttle pinned (Kawasaki KX65)
I was wondering how hard this is on the gears in the bike. I have known about clutchless shifting for quite awhile but have never heard of it being used in this type of aggressive manner.
Is this going to blow the tranny out of the bike?

:yikes:

Cheers
Bernie

 

[FruDaddy]

Ask him how often he changes the tranny fluid, and how often his son gets a new bike. I am thinking that bent shift forks and broken gear teeth are the mosts likely results of such abuse, but that is just my opinion. I would never encourage my son to ride this way, since I foot the bills.

 

[83MX80]

i rode my old bike (83MX80) clutchless all the time. i let off the throttle a bit before i shift tho, from wide open to about half throttle. if you let off the throttle it wont hurt nothing, but if you got the thing pinned and shifting at the time something is gonna break.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

Try something called power shifting. Keep the throttle on hard, but pull in the clutch just enough to relieve the drive train pressure and let the bike shift gears. It's fast and efficient, and easier on the bike.

 

[keioffice]

i do the power shifting thing, some times i dont have time to shift cause my foot moves faster than my hand? but then i learned to keep 2 fingers on my clutch. its just plain lazy not to use the clutch

 

[150rguy]

My first bike I didnt ever use the clutch, but then when I got a newer one I had to start getting used to using the clutch more.

 

[Big Worm]

hmmmm, I just got back from the Tony D MX school and on starts they told us to keep the throttle wide open and kick up on the gear without the clutch. He didn't mention how bad it would be for wear and tear just that those split seconds of pulling the clutch in could be the difference between being back in the pack and getting the hole shot.

Personally I always use the clutch.

 

[pyromainiac420]

powershifting and complete clutchless shifting is commonly used with alot of racers becuase it saves time. doing it in the trails by accident a couple times wont hurt your bike. I dont reccomend it for people who are privetteers or just ride at home. Its for people who dont pay to have they're bike tuned after every race.

 

[kdxer 81]

I allways use the clutch when i shift because i have to pay for the dammage that i do to the to bike

 

[OldTimer]

A lot of racers treat their bikes like rental cars.
They beat 'em like rented mules and sell whats left of them after one season.
That's why "never raced" appears in the ads of the ones that haven't been.
Of course not all racers try to kill their bikes and all trail riders take care of theirs.
Anyhow, clutchless and/or power shifting is okay for race style bikes (I wouldn't do it on my Harley), but shifting under load is about as safe as mixing sand in your tranny oil.