TO CLUTCH OR NOT TO CLUTCH - THAT IS THE QUESTION?

I recently had an enquiry from one of our four-wheeled members about my opinion on performing clutchless gear changes on motorcycles.  You may be one of the many motorists who do not realise that with the advances in modern motorcycle engineering, this is often possible - particularly when changing 'up' rather than 'down' the ratios.

It seems that a friend of my correspondent had been contending that it was actually safer NOT to use the clutch, because clutchless gear changes (CGCs) demand much more discipline and precision to ensure that the 'correct' engine speed has been attained to guarantee a smooth change.

I have to say that I think that is the one big problem with the theory.  Yes, it must be better to engage a gear at the correct speed without using the clutch, than to engage it at the 'wrong' speed with it - but why not engage the gear at the correct speed whichever the method is used?

Perhaps this is a generational thing (oh dear - here I go), but I suppose it does relate to the fact that I learned to ride bikes at a time when you just would not dream of trying clutchless changes.  Any attempt to do so would be guaranteed to produce a loud and expensive grinding of metal as the gearbox tried to self-destruct.   Even today you could get those sorts of sounds when attempting CGCs and getting it wrong.

I would personally prefer to devote my whole concentration to observation and developing my riding plan.  I would find it potentially distracting to have to think about getting my engine speed so precisely correct as to be certain of producing no sounds of protest or unnecessary wear and tear on the bike.  Perhaps I would feel differently if I had ever ridden a bike which changed gear better without the clutch than with it.  I still find that no matter how correctly you do CGCs - the result is only as good as using the clutch.

Of course another factor is always the specific bike you ride.  I ride a Honda ST1100 Pan European, and I think it is the best bike I have every owned.  It is the same model used by most Police motorcyclists.  Whilst I am one of the Pan's biggest fans I would have to say that the gearbox is its least refined feature.

I sent an enquiry to some of the officers on the Police Motorcycle Support Unit asking them whether they always used their clutches when changing gear, and produced some very suspicious reactions.  One said, "Why - has somebody broken one and the boss is trying to find out who did it?"  When I explained why I wanted to know, the consensus of opinion was that, yes, everyone knew how to do it and, yes they sometimes did practice the technique, but why would you bother in everyday riding?

At a recent meeting of RoADA I spoke to the owner of a touring BMW bike that does around 5,000 miles per clutch and then has to pay £500 to have it replaced.  Now if I had a bike like that, I might be more tempted to save the clutch than to save the gearbox!

On a final note I have to add that as a RoADA examiner I would never mark someone down for doing CGCs correctly - but it would certainly affect my assessment if they did them wrong.

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