Hard to down shift

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Well yea you'd either have to hitting the brakes hard and have a slipper clutch or in the case of going from 6th to second, you would be super hard on the brakes if you don't have the slipper, as that would be going from 140 down to maybe 50 or 60 in a short span of time, you couldn't come in at 160 and downshift 4 times and let out the clutch without all manner of bad things happening to the trans, to the tires, to stability and to the rider probably. THought that was understood.

Even on the CB going from 6 th to second would require you to scrub off massive amounts of speed before you could safely use second.

Slipper clutches are only for people who don't shift well or, they are a safe haven for those who usually shift well but mess up.

In practice you never feel the thing operate (that is, it doesn't operate) because you are doing it right. It's only purpose is to keep you from either blowing up your engine from over-revving it, or skidding the rear tire.

I have two supersport bikes with slipper clutches, I don't think the thing has ever actually released more than a dozen times combined for both bikes, in about 18,000 miles of riding.

You can clearly notice when you've mismatched a shift and the slipper clutch releases, because the lever bounces in a very obvious way. So you fine-tune so next time you don't do that.

The last thing you really want is for the clutch to disengage in any way because you lose engine braking, which can mess up corner entry.

Essentially what I'm getting at is a slipper clutch does nothing at all for assisting with rapid, effective shifting and is really never in play unless the rider screws up, and then only to save his bacon or the bike's engine. It's like a rev-limiter in that way. Does nothing to help you go faster and is best never in operation.

When having to shift down through multiple gears while stopped, let the clutch engage ever so slightly between gears to get them moving a little, as previously mentioned. They don't have to rotate much, just a little to a point where the dogs align.

Yep. But does anyone remember that some bikes were capable of being shifted all the way down through the gears at a stop?

My 1983 VF750F could do this. There was something about the transmission design that kept things spinning and one could click through.

Then I got another bike, I think it was either a Nighthawk S or the '86 VFR700F, and the capability was gone. Had to roll the bike or let out the clutch a bit.

I think the best thing about this forum particularly is the little bits of knowledge that can be passed along. It's mostly entertainment but can be a good resource.