Preload shifter?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 13,094
Likes: 13,025
From: Texas, USA
OP, did you come across this in a recent thread? I recall a post in a recent thread mentioning "preloading the shifter".
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...ad+the+shifter - 220,000 results in 0.33 seconds. Interesting that not one link on the 1st page refers to a Harley forum. All metric.
Post 2 in http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/duc...g-shifter.html states:
"My understanding (and practice) is that this is a technique used to facilitate clutchless upshifts. The idea is that you just lift up a bit on the shifter (thus "preload") in preparation for an upshift.
When it comes time to shift, just unload the engine momentarily by reducing the throttle just a bit while simultaneously nudging the lever up into the next gear. Then get right back on the throttle. This all happens in a tenth of a second, but it's not really hard, and when you get it just right, the transmission has felt virtually no shock and the shift is seamless. It's supposed to be better, in terms of wear and tear, than shifting w/ the clutch. "
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...ad+the+shifter - 220,000 results in 0.33 seconds. Interesting that not one link on the 1st page refers to a Harley forum. All metric.
Post 2 in http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/duc...g-shifter.html states:
"My understanding (and practice) is that this is a technique used to facilitate clutchless upshifts. The idea is that you just lift up a bit on the shifter (thus "preload") in preparation for an upshift.
When it comes time to shift, just unload the engine momentarily by reducing the throttle just a bit while simultaneously nudging the lever up into the next gear. Then get right back on the throttle. This all happens in a tenth of a second, but it's not really hard, and when you get it just right, the transmission has felt virtually no shock and the shift is seamless. It's supposed to be better, in terms of wear and tear, than shifting w/ the clutch. "
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From: Galt's Gulch - MI
Um... NO. When executed correctly you don't need to use the clutch to upshift, on my track R1 and R6 I didn't even use the clutch to downshift, the clutch was never touched from the time I rolled off in 1st until I came to a full stop in 1st gear; it's all about learning the proper techniques and understanding how a motorcycle actually works. On my HD's I do use the clutch to up/downshift, but barely, I just break the lever with 2 fingers, but I'm preloading on both upshifts and rev-matched downshifts.
Pre-loading doesn't take much pressure at all, just enough to take up any slop and it certainly doesn't mean you're putting such a load on it that you'll damage anything
Give it a try, you'll be surprised how smooth it is...
This is from Lee Park's Total Control: " Press your foot up with just slightly less force than that needed to engage the next gear. Next, quickly roll off the throttle approximately 25 percent of its twisting range. When this happens, the torque force on the transmission will temporarily unload, and the preloaded shift lever will now snick into the next gear. For regular shifts at less than full throttle, a simultaneous, light stab of the clutch will help ease this process. For full-throttle 'speed shifting,' no clutch is necessary. In fact, it's actually harder on the transmission to use the clutch in this type of situation than to just let the loading forces do the job."
Pre-loading doesn't take much pressure at all, just enough to take up any slop and it certainly doesn't mean you're putting such a load on it that you'll damage anything
Give it a try, you'll be surprised how smooth it is...This is from Lee Park's Total Control: " Press your foot up with just slightly less force than that needed to engage the next gear. Next, quickly roll off the throttle approximately 25 percent of its twisting range. When this happens, the torque force on the transmission will temporarily unload, and the preloaded shift lever will now snick into the next gear. For regular shifts at less than full throttle, a simultaneous, light stab of the clutch will help ease this process. For full-throttle 'speed shifting,' no clutch is necessary. In fact, it's actually harder on the transmission to use the clutch in this type of situation than to just let the loading forces do the job."
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Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 625
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From: Reading, PA
Yeah, I picked it up the technique on a metric forum when I had a Wing, but it seems to work well on a street glide too. Just a little firm upward force on the peg and then pull the clutch, maybe not all the way in, and it slips into gear. The Wing really needed it, Harley not so much.
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