How many use the clutch

[Caterpillarmech]

I use mine just to start. Never had a problem. And on big trucks, our petes never get a clutch excepte when you start. Try hitting the clutch and see what happens!!! We have trucks with 5000,000+ and no transmission problems. It is amazing what happens with people that know how to shift!!!

 

[Blaner]

did any of you guys consider the reason as to why a manual quad has a clutch?? its there for a reason, these things are not semi autos...im sure yamaha didnt spend hundreds of thousands japanese moneys to invent and produce a semi auto just so people didnt have to worry about pulling in a little lever when you stop and pull off.

there is more to it, the clutch is there to be used to make the bike operate like it should. just because it works OK without using it doesnt mean it is OK. my previous owner never used clutch and i have a couple of worn and pitted teeth.

 

[darederek]

People before you said that they tore down and their shift forks weren't even worn. They probably did develop it so people didn't have to use it to take off and stop. That is the hardest part. Anyone can pop the lever in while shifting there is no modulation or control needed. Either way I almost always use mine but a lot of people don't and I'm sure they dont hurt much as long as you let off the gas and don't stomp it in when there is a load on the tranny

 

[CARNZ]

when i took my blaster engine apart before i sold it there was no visible wear on the gears or shift forks and the trans fluid was clean.

as long as you're not slamming it into gear under full load it's not going to destroy it. blipping the throttle unloads the trans enough for you to change gears without destroying the dogs on the gears.

almost everyone i ride with doesn't use the clutch and nobody has had tranny problems yet, some have had the same quad since brand new(oldest in our group would be a 2001 banshee).

do it smart and you'll be okay.

 

[Blaner]

yeah i know do it too from time to time but prefer to use the clutch...takes more skill in the technical sections-makes it more challenging

 

[sicivicdude]

I use mine just to start. Never had a problem. And on big trucks, our petes never get a clutch excepte when you start. Try hitting the clutch and see what happens!!! It will work great when you double clutch just the transmissions as they were designed to.We have trucks with 5000,000+ Missing a comma or one two many zeroes? 5,000,000 miles would be impressive with no mechanical troubles but something tells me that's not the case...and no transmission problems. It is amazing what happens with people that know how to shift!!!I'm assuming that you have an eaton transmission (excuse me if I'm incorrect but it is by far the most popular and even then, if it another brand it practically a carbon copy). The eaton representative said it has nothing to do with how smooth the transmission is shifted or how precise the timing is, not using the clutch to disengage the gears "scrubs" the backside of the dogs putting metal shavings in the transmission lube. Throttle blipping doesn't even help the pull out of gear. It still has to scrub the dogs..

Before we get into a flame war about "I've done it forever with no trouble" and "that's not the way you're supposed to do it". What if someone had a crystal ball which could look three years into the future and tell you that you're transmission (or any other engine part for that matter) is going to fly apart. Would you do everything you could to take it easy on it to try to prolong it's usable life? Or would you beat on it harder to go ahead and bring about it's demise earlier, since it's destined to fail anyway? I know that banging gears is not good for an engagement dog transmission and eventually will result in failure.

There is only one proper way to shift and that's declutching the load from one end of the transmission. Since you cannot declutch the final drive end, you only have one choice... Why do you think the manufacturers of semi-auto 4wheelers (the kind with an automatic clutch but you still have to shift gears) went through the cost and time to design a secondary clutch into the clutch side cover (VERY similar to the clutch on the blaster except that it is actuated by the shift lever instead of a handle) unless it's necessary to keep the transmission together.

5 times out of 6 games of russian roulette will not reuslt in a bullet in the brain but eventually that's gonna catch up with you. Saying "I've done it forever and haven't hurt anything yet" is the same logic... wanna put a bullet in your transmission?

I don't so I clutch on virtually every shift. The only time I would RECOMMEND not clutching is when the possible damage from shifting without the clutch is more than the possible damage from shifting with the clutch. A fine example said earlier is when you are going up a VERY steep hill (sand dune or otherwise) and the revs begin to drop. You need to get more rpm NOW not wait until you've lost the momentum and then downshift only to rock the front tires up and over. Rolling backwards down a hill is far more dangerous than slamming a gear. I hear it's a lot more detrimental to your health as well. I would slam a gear in a heartbeat rather than take a tumble...

 

[99LRDblaster]

when i took my blaster engine apart before i sold it there was no visible wear on the gears or shift forks and the trans fluid was clean.

as long as you're not slamming it into gear under full load it's not going to destroy it. blipping the throttle unloads the trans enough for you to change gears without destroying the dogs on the gears.

almost everyone i ride with doesn't use the clutch and nobody has had tranny problems yet, some have had the same quad since brand new(oldest in our group would be a 2001 banshee).

do it smart and you'll be okay.

So in other words, you just cruise around on your quads and never actually go fast since you never go into the next gear under full load.

I think I'll stick to using the little lever thingy that Yamaha designed on the left side of the handlebars. Takes no thought to use. You just pull it in and shift and let go.

 

[99LRDblaster]

Before we get into a flame war about "I've done it forever with no trouble" and "that's not the way you're supposed to do it". What if someone had a crystal ball which could look three years into the future and tell you that you're transmission (or any other engine part for that matter) is going to fly apart. Would you do everything you could to take it easy on it to try to prolong it's usable life? Or would you beat on it harder to go ahead and bring about it's demise earlier, since it's destined to fail anyway? I know that banging gears is not good for an engagement dog transmission and eventually will result in failure.

There is only one proper way to shift and that's declutching the load from one end of the transmission. Since you cannot declutch the final drive end, you only have one choice... Why do you think the manufacturers of semi-auto 4wheelers (the kind with an automatic clutch but you still have to shift gears) went through the cost and time to design a secondary clutch into the clutch side cover (VERY similar to the clutch on the blaster except that it is actuated by the shift lever instead of a handle) unless it's necessary to keep the transmission together.

5 times out of 6 games of russian roulette will not reuslt in a bullet in the brain but eventually that's gonna catch up with you. Saying "I've done it forever and haven't hurt anything yet" is the same logic... wanna put a bullet in your transmission?

I don't so I clutch on virtually every shift. The only time I would RECOMMEND not clutching is when the possible damage from shifting without the clutch is more than the possible damage from shifting with the clutch. A fine example said earlier is when you are going up a VERY steep hill (sand dune or otherwise) and the revs begin to drop. You need to get more rpm NOW not wait until you've lost the momentum and then downshift only to rock the front tires up and over. Rolling backwards down a hill is far more dangerous than slamming a gear. I hear it's a lot more detrimental to your health as well. I would slam a gear in a heartbeat rather than take a tumble...

Basically the same argument you get into with smokers that say "Well my Grandma lived until she was 84 and she always smoked so it's not bad". 8-|

Just like running your engine lean, but it's "running great".......until you drop a deuce on the piston.

Just like not using your clutch, and "never having a problem".......until you pull the side of your......formerly.......clutch cover off and see what resembles a beaten 50 year old prostitute.

There's a word for it people---------------->DENIAL

 

[CARNZ]

So in other words, you just cruise around on your quads and never actually go fast since you never go into the next gear under full load.

I think I'll stick to using the little lever thingy that Yamaha designed on the left side of the handlebars. Takes no thought to use. You just pull it in and shift and let go.

I dog the sh*t out of my quads. I let off the gas when I shift so that's not under full load.
if it breaks then oh well ill fix it. I've never had a failure yet so yeah..

 

[99LRDblaster]

I dog the sh*t out of my quads. I let off the gas when I shift so that's not under full load.
if it breaks then oh well ill fix it. I've never had a failure yet so yeah..

You should run your engine leaner. It will go faster. If it breaks, it's alright....you can just fix it.

 

[sicivicdude]

If you take the time to let off the throttle enough to unload the transmission, why not just let off the throttle LESS and pull in the clutch? It would probably save you time instead of letting the engine wind down.

I understand you've never had a problem before and will probably continue to not use the clutch no matter the eventual cost, but I'm not doing it on a regular basis... it's just not worth it because if a transmission fails, it will be catastrophic. There won't be anything left to fix, gears will crunch and get against cases and ruin the whole engine.

 

[CARNZ]

You should run your engine leaner. It will go faster. If it breaks, it's alright....you can just fix it.

I'll get right on that, chief.

 

[99LRDblaster]

If you take the time to let off the throttle enough to unload the transmission, why not just let off the throttle LESS and pull in the clutch? It would probably save you time instead of letting the engine wind down.

Why? Because that just makes too much sense.

Most people that don't use the clutch are just kids or noobs that don't know how to use a manual/clutch so they just go without as opposed to learning how to do it. I found this out the hard way when I got mine from my brother in law. He had it for 1 year and after 1 ride, the tranny was SMASHED. I took it apart and he had tore the ever living sh*t out of it and came to find out, he never used the clutch. 8-|

 

[CARNZ]

If you take the time to let off the throttle enough to unload the transmission, why not just let off the throttle LESS and pull in the clutch? It would probably save you time instead of letting the engine wind down.

I understand you've never had a problem before and will probably continue to not use the clutch no matter the eventual cost, but I'm not doing it on a regular basis... it's just not worth it because if a transmission fails, it will be catastrophic. There won't be anything left to fix, gears will crunch and get against cases and ruin the whole engine.

I get what you're saying, to be honest I just never use it except for takeoffs and very slow speed trail riding and shifts.
I know the school of thought that it can fail, but I also know how dog transmissions are designed and I feel it is not much of a hazard the way I ride it. If I kept it WOT and just stomped the shifter yeah its going to break and quickly.

 

[sicivicdude]

I get what you're saying, to be honest I just never use it except for takeoffs and very slow speed trail riding and shifts.
I know the school of thought that it can fail, but I also know how dog transmissions are designed and I feel it is not much of a hazard the way I ride it. If I kept it WOT and just stomped the shifter yeah its going to break and quickly.

You (and everyone else who doesn't use the clutch most of the time) are probably alright as long as you don't slam it at WOT every day. I just feel like the old road of "better safe than sorry" applies to this situation.

I'm not trying to disuade you from riding your way and I'm not arrogant enough to think anything I babble on about is going to change anything you do (*cough 99LRD cough* BWAHAHAH!!) but for those who don't know better than to never use the clutch and slam on the shifter, it's a warning that the clutch is easier to use than transmissions are to replace...

 

[CARNZ]

You (and everyone else who doesn't use the clutch most of the time) are probably alright as long as you don't slam it at WOT every day. I just feel like the old road of "better safe than sorry" applies to this situation.

I'm not trying to disuade you from riding your way and I'm not arrogant enough to think anything I babble on about is going to change anything you do (*cough 99LRD cough* BWAHAHAH!!) but for those who don't know better than to never use the clutch and slam on the shifter, it's a warning that the clutch is easier to use than transmissions are to replace...

Yeah, for the uneducated people it definately makes sense to press them into using the clutch because they are the type to just slam it at full throttle.

I know the potential risks to not clutching, its just my riding preference to not use it.

 

[99LRDblaster]

Yeah, for the uneducated people it definately makes sense to press them into using the clutch because they are the type to just slam it at full throttle.

I know the potential risks to not clutching, its just my riding preference to not use it.

Like I said before........you are just riding slower since you can't slam it into gear at WOT throttle while I can..........simply because I'm using the clutch and it requires no thought. On top of that, for the good trail/MX riders out there you gain enough skill to modulate the clutch through turns to control the power delivery.

 

[CARNZ]

I wouldn't wot shift it even if I could.
and I have no problem in the trails as far as power goes, my 500 handles it quite nicely.

 

[99LRDblaster]

I wouldn't wot shift it even if I could.
and I have no problem in the trails as far as power goes, my 500 handles it quite nicely.

My mistake. I interpreted your post wrong. I thought you were saying you don't rev out to WOT and then shift.

And no.....I don't "shift" with the throttle open.....I let off DURING the shift. I:I

 

[05YamahaBlaster]

I use the clutch most of the time, but always when gearing down