Quote:
Originally posted by klaucke
Ralph- If you don't rev-match, will the gear grind, or just refuse to engage? I own numerous motorcycles with dog-engagement, and have never noticed any ill effects other than clunky, sometimes noisy shifting. I downshift sans clutch often, however there is little engine breaking on the two strokes. I would just imagine you have to be deliberate and quick with the shifts, as not to grind the dogs?
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Yes, I am no expert at it either, I can grind them with the best of 'em! Being 100% proficient trying to match the speeds of the input and output shafts isn't something that you generally learn in an hour or two (at least for me). Like most things, you need practice.
There were times when I "missed" the window when trying to match revs on the downshift and it just wasn't going to engage in that particular gear. I simply waited until the next downshift to try again in the next lower gear or worse, and most embarrassing, simply left it in neutral and waited 'till I slowed to a near stop and pushed in the clutch to engage 1st again.
The thrill of being one of the very few fortunate to drive a touring car sequential gearbox on a street car quickly wears off. That transaxle was over $20,000 and was worth as much as the rest of the GTI. We took it out and sold it to VW Mexico for one of their Beetle Cup Cars.
Shifting a motorcyle (as far as upshift/downshift) sure is easier for me...
Ralph