[md86]

Know what's funny ? I can blip down all the gears and break pretty quick and smoothly , but it's the downshifting ONE gear that seems to give me the most trouble .

[paperairplane]

Failure to blip combined with too high a velocity as newbie riders go back down into second and first is the primary cause of all transmission problems in Kats.

Gotta disagree on this one CP. Downshifting hard with no blip is going to give a noob a nice overrev and maybe some delicious wheel hop and chain lash. It definitely contributes to overall driveline wear, but as long as you feather the clutch this is not a destructive action to the transmission. Now, that said it will put some unnecessary heat into the clutch plates.

I think the #1 contributor to the 2nd gear problem in katana's is WOT 1-2 clutchless upshifts. How many posts were on the old KP that basically said "my brother/uncle/friend races and he said you don't need to clutch a bike"....

Noobs making a poor shift at 10.5krpms and dragging through neutral into second with no clutch, there goes 2nd gear.

[The CyberPoet]

Gotta disagree on this one CP...

I think the #1 contributor to the 2nd gear problem in katana's is WOT 1-2 clutchless upshifts. How many posts were on the old KP that basically said "my brother/uncle/friend races and he said you don't need to clutch a bike"....

Noobs making a poor shift at 10.5krpms and dragging through neutral into second with no clutch, there goes 2nd gear.

While I agree that what you're talking about can also damage the tranny quite readily, I suspect it's more like this (imagine Kid Joe, no classes, first bike, first week of riding):

(A) The Slam to neutral: 65mph, 5th or 6th gear, traffic light 600 yards out turns red. Clutch in, off the gas, 5-4-3-2-1-opps, back up to N, clutch out (speed still 55 - 60ish, now rolling in neutral towards the light).

OR

(B) The forced downshift at speed: 50 mph, 4th gear, traffic light goes red 120 feet away. Off the gas, brakes on hard, clutch in, 3rd, clutch out momentarily, clutch in, (engine almost at idle now because newbies often aren't smooth nor fast), 2nd, clutch out, mechanical backlash into the gear spline. Possibly repeat into 1st.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[WildKat]

blipping rocks !! i love to blip..plus it sounds cool

I was taught, to always always do it when downshifting..just dont forget while your learning..dont blip the throttle and forget to pull the clutch in...sounds dumb I know..but until it becomes 2nd nature, just be careful.

[penst8grad]

I have a litre twin. I don't have to shift except from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd.

[blacksheep]

The principal here is to match engine speed with wheel speed. The closer the two are the smoother the shift will be and the more stable your platform will be.

[Range]

I just run into the car in front

[escahoe]

blip awy . they tought that in MSF courses . the wkole thing about maching engin=ne speed with the road speed