Clutchless Upshift on a Motorcycle

Clutchless upshifting on a motorcycle allows you to shift up through the gears without pulling in the clutch lever. It's a great skill to use on the racetrack as it helps you change gears more quickly and accelerate faster. On the road, it has less benefit. If you do learn the technique, though, it means you can get home if your clutch lever breaks. To switch between gears, the drive train must be unloaded, allowing the gears to decouple and re-couple. One way to do this is to pull the clutch lever, but clutchless upshifting is accomplished by quickly rolling off the throttle, then back on.

Steps

  1. Put upward pressure on the gear selector with your foot.  Don't push too hard, just enough so that you feel the resistance from the lever.
  2. Blip, or roll off then back on the throttle. You don’t need to completely roll off the throttle, but enough to see the engine rotation speed dip for a fraction of a second and then roll back on the throttle. Doing this unloads the drive train.
    • After rolling off the throttle, the upwards pressure you had on the gear selector will then push it up, changing up into the next gear.
  3. Take pressure off the gear selector until you're ready to change gears again.



Tips

  • Only put pressure on the gear selector when you're about to change gears. Otherwise, you're putting unneeded stress on the lever and gearbox.
  • It's best to use clutchless upshifting when the engine speed is climbing. Most bikes will also be smoother when you do it approaching redline.
  • On some bikes, you'll still need to use the clutch lever when changing from 1st gear to 2nd gear. On other bikes, it's fine to clutchless upshift between those gears.

Warnings

  • Clutchless downshifts aren’t recommended, as they are much harder to get right and the consequences of not doing it properly are worse. Not only is it easier to damage the gearbox, you can, potentially, overload the rear wheel, causing it to spin and lose traction.

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