yzmxer608 wrote:As far as real life goes, do you guys think you're saving time by not pulling the clutch in? I was watching myself on Go Pro and it takes literally a split second.
I just always thought it wouldn't shift smoothly if you didn't pull the clutch in.
Idk bout most people but i always at least flick the clutch 1/4 way in at least when i shift, you dont have to fucking pull it all the way to engage it.
Also, The only time i dont use clutch is when i need to shift up midway through whoops when you need grip.
Might depend on what kind of track you ride on as well I think?
I mean if you ride a hardpack track you can let off the gas and shift up without clutch, but if you ride a sandtrack and do this, by the time you've shifted up you will have lost enough speed to be forced to downshift again...
personally I guess I always do what you would consider 'powershift', probably because of what I said before, if you let off while shifting up you lose too much momentum, especially on a 125 since the bottom torque is... non excistent..
"I didn't jump the gate...it musta' flipped back up, after I went over it!?!"
jlv wrote:Is it possible that you're just shifting a little sooner in real life?
I'm not sure what you mean by that. The way I've always shifted was by pulling the clutch, like AWood said, 1/4-1/2 of the way for a split second on upshift. Downshifting I rarely use the clutch because the gearbox sees much less stress. The advantage to using the clutch is that for that split second your rpms increase and when you release the clutch it's sort of a boost if you will. The advantage to not using the clutch would be that tenth of a second you save, I guess. It's hard for me to believe that not using the clutch has no negative effect on the gearbox. In a virtual world though, I suppose we would all just not use the clutch anyways.
I always thought that using the clutch for downshifting was very important whereas upshifting you could just shut off for a split second. I just googled it quickly and found a post by David Vuillemin on the vital forums and he said he used the clutch only for downshifts. I end up stalling quite a bit when I come into corners hot anyway so being on the clutch for the downshift is a good thing for me.
Then again, David Vuillemin doesn't have to pay for his own gearboxes...
As ddmx said, I can't imagine that not using a clutch when upshifting while being on the gas has no negative effect on the gearbox.
"I didn't jump the gate...it musta' flipped back up, after I went over it!?!"
My point was that he uses the clutch for downshifting, not that he doesnt use the clutch for upshifting.
I remember years ago reading an article about the MXDN at Lakewood and Andrew Short crashed and lost his clutch near the start of one of the races and so had to shift without it and by the end of the race the gearbox was jumping out of gear randomly.
Fair enough, I don't know about that, personally I don't use the clutch for downshifting, I don't really see the harm in it, also it doesn't sound like parts are having a bad time of it, unlike when you would upshift without clutch..
But I guess we kinda went offtopic here haha, sorry about that.
"I didn't jump the gate...it musta' flipped back up, after I went over it!?!"
I've seen too many bikes with ruined gearboxes from powershifting. It's not just the absence of clutch, but when you don't let off at all. I personally always just shifted either in the air or let off the gas a little bit. On the start is the only time I would use the clutch, and I would just flick the clutch back and shift up. Aren't you guys that powershift worried about hitting a false neutral on a jump or something? One of my good friends messed his leg up bad (though not as badly as mine ) powershifting on a triple face.
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My clutch is fully engaged I think when I pull it about half in, like not having to pull it in all the way to grab, partially cause my clutch takes alot of power to pull in for some reason, I think it's the springs that go intoo the clutch basket..
And when I get armpump its virtually impossible to pull in, gotta use all 4 fingers (lmao)..
As for hitting the false neutral I've done that a few times, but comin out of corners so it's no biggy, also I don't shift in the air at all, mainly because I don't rly jump high, I'm not a fast rider by any means so.
"I didn't jump the gate...it musta' flipped back up, after I went over it!?!"
Do you ride a Honda, they have notoriously heavy clutch's? The clutch on my CR250 was like that so I ended up buying a hydrualic clutch, first ride with it this weekend.
Nah, big bore yz125, the springs in my clutch are heavier I think though, really have to look intoo it cause it makes things alot harder, especially cause my arms cramp up pretty quickly, makes it impossible to continue pretty much.
"I didn't jump the gate...it musta' flipped back up, after I went over it!?!"
What would really help realism, is if it wouldn't shift if there was a certain amount of chain tension. That way you could choose shifting in the air, letting off, clutching, or missing your shift
Also, you should have to hold the shift button for a length of time, say 50ms, shifting between 1st and 2nd, otherwise you hit neutral... I think it would be prohibitively frustrating, but really that's what you deal with IRL
) powershifting on a triple face.
