Quote Originally Posted by Marshy View Post
Nope, not necessary at all (or recommended), but I once did the whole 4 hour with no clutch lever - so clutchless up and down shifts all day! Veeeeery interesting day....

As Jamie said, it's a useful skill to have in your bag of tricks, and also contributes significantly to your overall mechanical knowledge. If you know how something works, you know better how to ride so as not to hurt/break it.
Yea I got taught how to shift down without clutch at a Bernie Hatton course at the farm. You basically put pressure on the gear lever first them give a healthy rev whilst simultaneously pushing down (in street pattern) for the gear down. When you get it right it's cool & sounds cool but you don't always get it right. And if you were to get it wrong hard on the breaks coming into a corner I reckon it would cause you to run on at the very least.

So I totally agree it's a good skill to learn just in case you ever need it but I'd use for emergencies only. I can't help but think MotoGP bikes have slipper clutches for a reason and I've seen they always use the clutch for every downshift even when it's multiple downshifts from 5th to 2nd or whatever. You can see with onboard footage they pull the clutch in rapid fire for each downshift. I really don't know why Bernie Hatton teaches this, CSS sure don't and nobody fast I've ever asked about it has agreed with it. Maybe it's a road riding tip or something...


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