Shifting a motorcycle made for racing is very similar to
shifting a street motorcycle. The only difference is some racing
motorcycles may have a slipper clutch and/ or a quicker
shifter.
The common way to upshift on a track motorcycle is clutchless.
To do this, when you are at the rpm range you want to shift up, you
preload the shifter lever with a bit of pressure from your foot and
then decrease the gas a little. It should bump into the next gear
and then you proceed to pin the gas again.
On down shifting, there are two techniques, and it really
depends if you have a slipper clutch or not.
To down shift without a slipper clutch:
Pull in clutch, give momentary spurt of throttle to match
theoretical rpms of next lower gear, and release the clutch
quickly. Consequence of not burping throttle to next rpm is back
wheel chatter while engine is forced to match rpms itself. Back
wheel may even lock causing a skid. Another easier technique,
commonly used by street riders, but not on the track due to it
being much slower, is to let the clutch out slowly after
shifting.
To down shift with a slipper clutch:
Pull in shift level, down shift, release shift lever. If rpms
are out of whack, slipper clutch will let clutch slip until they
are matched..
