Dumping the clutch HARD

[sxgt]

how bad is it for my tranny to be dumping the clutch at WOT? I will rev up to about 10 - left the clutch engage and it slaps in at 12. all the way up to about 55mph so fastest acceleration. Now i do this maybe once a day not all day long. Just wondering if a really NEED to let off that gas some while the clutch is held in.



ALSO sometimes when i down shift to hard for slowing down the back wheel locks ups for just a second, I would expect that on a dirt bike but not a street bike, any suggestion?


-Noob

[Connman]

1.your clutch will last about a month.
2.Though, if you can rev to 10k and dump the clutch, and not end up on your back, I'd say there is something wrong with your bike.
3.if your rear is hopping when you downshift, you are downshifting way too soon.

[B.O.A.T.]

That's about all I can do right now... I'm speechless.

I'm not one to preach about gear but, I hope that you are wearing full leathers, FF helmet, motocross boots and chest protector, football shoulder pads and are covered with bubble wrap when you attempt this.

[cjp91068]

Not sure about your first question, but the second one - your using engine braking to slow down the bike. Not very good for the engine, and dangerous if your on wet pavement or going around a corner when you do it. Lower your rpms before downshifting. Your engine and transmission will thank you for it.

[87handmedown]

Are you sure you know what you're doing on a bike?

I'm not sure what you're saying in the first paragraph.

I will rev up to about 10 - left the clutch engage and it slaps in at 12. all the way up to about 55mph so fastest acceleration.

^That makes no sense. Are you trying to do a burnout or are you just reving the engine up and slipping the clutch until it completely engauges?

ALSO sometimes when i down shift to hard for slowing down the back wheel locks ups for just a second, I would expect that on a dirt bike but not a street bike, any suggestion?

Um... yeah. You can do the same thing in just about any vehicle with a manual transmission. The engine can't speed up and engine brake fast enough to match the ground speed so your rear wheel is spinning slower than the ground moving underneath it.

[87handmedown]

Originally Posted by B.O.A.T.

That's about all I can do right now... I'm speechless.

Yeah, I stared at my computer screen for a while with this one too.

[bennice]

Yeah, you're gonna kill your clutch by doing #1.

As far as #2 is concerned, that is one of the things about 250's that I've said here a hundred times. You've got to learn how to match engine speed or else you'll find yourself in some hairy situations. On bigger bikes you can get away with it sometimes (all the current SS's from Kawi have a slipper clutch and matching speed on anything else is easier since you don't have to rev as high), but on a 250 that's a skill that most newbs do not have.

Be careful, dude. Practicing matching revs will make that bike much more rewarding and fun to ride.

[Nightwisher]

I agree with the other responses to this post, if you abuse your poor clutch like that redlining and dumping the clutch, it won't last very long.

As for your back tire locking up, you definatly need to slow down more before downshifting, and let out the clutch SLOWLY to avoid it locking up like that.

[eidian]

Originally Posted by Connman

1.your clutch will last about a month.
2.Though, if you can rev to 10k and dump the clutch, and not end up on your back, I'd say there is something wrong with your bike.
3.if your rear is hopping when you downshift, you are downshifting way too soon.

1) A month! Wow, you're generous!
2) It's a 250R so I don't he'd be able to lift the front end and I don't think that the buck from the engine would be enough to knock him off either...as long as he's squeezing the tank with his legs.
3) Yup, terrible downshifting...

...Connman, it probably wouldn't be a good suggestion to tell him to get a bike with a slipper-clutch like a ZX-6R, would it?

[adcoleman]

Yeah...no offense but I have to wonder if you really no what you are doing. I have only been riding for a couple weeks but I learned in my first couple parking lot sessions not to downshift when the engine is revved way up. Let it slow down and ease out on the clutch when you downshift. As far as dumping the clutch at WOT, that is just idiotic.

[Ishmael]

Surely it must mean that you are slipping your clutch at high revs so that the clutch engaging is the thing that is providing acceleration rather than the engine progressing up through the rev range.
As Conman said , if you fully engaged you clutch @ 10grand you'd be on your back or your back wheel would be smoking.
As Newton said " every action " etc.
Doing this will wear your clutch out at an exponential rate or it will simply die in protest.
Bikes are designed to accelerate by way of an increase in engine speed.

[bountyhunter]

Originally Posted by Connman

1.your clutch will last about a month.

Ahhhhhhhh...... an optimist.

[sxgt]

ok let me give you more detail.


When wanting to go ride it hard I will pull out normal , feather the clutch until its hooked good and iam going about 5mph

THEN while I am in 1st acceleration and moving up to 30mph i rev to 10K and shift into 2nd without letting off the gas. and then 3rd and 4th. I guess this is called power shifting in a car?

[87handmedown]

Originally Posted by sxgt

THEN while I am in 1st acceleration and moving up to 30mph i rev to 10K and shift into 2nd without letting off the gas. and then 3rd and 4th. I guess this is called power shifting in a car?

That paints a different picture. In that case, it depends on how fast you can shift. You're saying that it goes on up to 12 grand before it catches, that means that you're not shifting fast enough. You need to let off of the throttle a little bit as you shouldn't redline while power shifting.

[RichLockyer]

RPM matching... and you should do it on both the upshift and the downshift.

During upshifting, ease off the throttle a hair, shift, and release the clutch, then back on the throttle.

Downshifting, pull the clutch in, shift, and as you release the clutch, "blip" the throttle to raise RPM to match.

Locking up the rear tire is VERY bad.

[Falx250r]

If you want to 'quickshift; There is a real way to do it, its easy and wont hurt your bike. (upshifts only!)

Preload your shifter with your foot, (meaning press up without clutch) then, blip the throttle. (let off and get back on instantly) The millisecond you let off the throttle with your shifter preloaded, you will upshift. Simple and easy~

You dont want to get into a habit doing what your doing, becuase if/when you upgrade to a bigger bike, you may get thrown for a loop coming out of a corner, or end up on one wheel unexpectedly, niether of which can have a good outcome~

[ervins]

You do this on a bigger bike and it is bye bye to it.

[soc_monki]

Originally Posted by Falx250r

If you want to 'quickshift; There is a real way to do it, its easy and wont hurt your bike. (upshifts only!)

Preload your shifter with your foot, (meaning press up without clutch) then, blip the throttle. (let off and get back on instantly) The millisecond you let off the throttle with your shifter preloaded, you will upshift. Simple and easy~

You dont want to get into a habit doing what your doing, becuase if/when you upgrade to a bigger bike, you may get thrown for a loop coming out of a corner, or end up on one wheel unexpectedly, niether of which can have a good outcome~

DO NOT preload your shifter. if you want to shift clutchless then when you decide to shift start moving your foot under the shifter and when in position pull up while letting off the throttle a tad. preloading is NOT NECESSARY and will wear out your shift forks and dogs VERY fast. i know drag racers do this and possibly road racers when on a long straight but a normal, every day rider should NOT do this unless you have the money to replace transmission components on a regular basis.

preloading is bad, mmmkay? some people say otherwise but ive seen the aftermath pictures and they are not pretty.

as for downshifting...rev matching. learn it, love it, use it. i do it all the time, bike and car. less wear on the clutch, smoother downshifts. it seems difficult at first but once you learn the technique and it becomes 2nd nature you dont have to think about it anymore. and it may save you later on.

either that or let your clutch out slowly...which will wear the clutch out quicker but will prevent you from locking up your back tire.

[MaxB]

Originally Posted by ervins

You do this on a bigger bike and it is bye bye to it.

It'll be bye bye to him too if he revs it to 10k then dumps it at a low speed since he said he does it to up to 55 mph.

Also downshifting too early is worse on the engine than the tranny. The rear wheel shakes like that because the engine is trying to slow the rear wheel down fast enuff to catch up with what your doing. Not good.

[sxgt]

so on a zx10 or GSXR1000 you redline up to 2nd and you just flip it? or it will raise up? are you teling me you cant red line shift in 2nd and 3rd on those bikes?