AE Pilots - Shifting technique - blip the throttle or not?

[manowell]

That pretty much says it all. Do you blip the throttle while upshifting, or just hold steady and let the elctronic chip do it's thing? I enjoy riding mine either way, was wondering what other real-life riders do.

 

[Warchild]

Just curious... does the AE Owner's Manual not cover this aspect of AE operation?

I haven't seen a AE Owner's Manual yet, but it would *seem* that this issue should be addressed.... :huh:

 

[Ari Rankum]

That pretty much says it all. Do you blip the throttle while upshifting, or just hold steady and let the elctronic chip do it's thing? I enjoy riding mine either way, was wondering what other real-life riders do.

I take it you mean downshift? I don't think I've ever blipped a throttle on an upshift - unless I was trying to double-clutch a dump truck, or somepin.

The Yammie rep at WFO said the best thing to do on upshift is just hold a steady throttle and shift. I don't know if that's what the manual says. It seemed to work well for me on the demo rides.

 

[Ignacio]

The 30 miles I rode one I found myself quickly unlearning my wicked clutch ways and did not blip.

Think about if the AE concept arrived in history before a manual shift bike did...the chicken before the egg Wouldn't we be saying, "Blip? Whatever for? The bike handles all this."

 

[caryb]

As a newbie here, I did the research in the manual on paes 5-2 and 5-3. The manual specifically states the following

"Always return the throttle to the closed position while changing gears to avoid damaging the engine, transmission, and drive train, which are not designed to withstand the shock of forced shifting"

The bolding is the manuals not mine. I have tried this approach a little and quite honestly, I would rather have a clutch if this is required to avoid damaging the bike. What does work is just shifting when required and letting the computer figure out the clutching. In fact, that works unbelievably well. Also, I do not percieve any clutch slipage or other feedback that would sugggest any problems with this approach. Of course I am not shifting in the higher power bands of the bike.

Has Yamaha gone on record anywhere else beside the owners manual to address this question?

CaryB

 

[skyway]

As a newbie here, I did the research in the manual on paes 5-2 and 5-3. The manual specifically states the following
"Always return the throttle to the closed position while changing gears to avoid damaging the engine, transmission, and drive train, which are not designed to withstand the shock of forced shifting"

The bolding is the manuals not mine.

Has Yamaha gone on record anywhere else beside the owners manual to address this question?

CaryB

If this is what Yamaha is suggesting, then somebody had better let the demo crew know about it.

 

[Ignacio]

As a newbie here, I did the research in the manual on paes 5-2 and 5-3. The manual specifically states the following
"Always return the throttle to the closed position while changing gears to avoid damaging the engine, transmission, and drive train, which are not designed to withstand the shock of forced shifting"

The bolding is the manuals not mine. I have tried this approach a little and quite honestly, I would rather have a clutch if this is required to avoid damaging the bike. What does work is just shifting when required and letting the computer figure out the clutching. In fact, that works unbelievably well. Also, I do not percieve any clutch slipage or other feedback that would sugggest any problems with this approach. Of course I am not shifting in the higher power bands of the bike.

Has Yamaha gone on record anywhere else beside the owners manual to address this question?

CaryB

I wonder in what context that is. Are you sure it's in the normal riding and not something about engaging the system after first starting the bike? That just dosn't make sense by itself.

 

[proffsionl]

Okay, so I picked up my new '06 AE last week. No one really knew what the real line is on throttle manipulation while shifting. The manual states to close the throttle (as stated in a previous post). However, interestingly enough, on the "official" Yamaha website at https://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/yccs.aspx it states the following:

Upshifting: To upshift, click up on the foot shifter, or if you choose to activate the hand shifter, pull the handlebar mounted upshift switch with your index finger. You can shift at any RPM you choose provided it will not cause the engine to lug severely. The computer calculates the optimum clutch engagement time and the electronic shift actuator changes gears in a fraction of a second. The amount of clutch slippage will be determined by how aggressive you are on the throttle. The harder your acceleration, the more the clutch slips.

So, who do you believe? The manual or the website? Personally, I don't really see any harm in matching revs between shifts. I have found the smoothest shifts are when I just back of the throttle a tad while shifting. The shifts become almost imperceptible (except for the loud "clunk"...what's with that?).

I'm loving this bike!!!

 

[turbodave_98]

That pretty much says it all. Do you blip the throttle while upshifting, or just hold steady and let the elctronic chip do it's thing? I enjoy riding mine either way, was wondering what other real-life riders do.

I have 7k miles on my AE and I flick the finger paddle and do not close the throttle. I do the same technique for up or down shifts. Works great for me. If you have just received your AE check with your dealer as there is an upgrade not a RECALL for brackets to the shifting rod on certain serial numbers of the AE models.

 

[Cdogman]

Okay, so I picked up my new '06 AE last week. No one really knew what the real line is on throttle manipulation while shifting. The manual states to close the throttle (as stated in a previous post). However, interestingly enough, on the "official" Yamaha website at https://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/yccs.aspx it states the following:
Upshifting: To upshift, click up on the foot shifter, or if you choose to activate the hand shifter, pull the handlebar mounted upshift switch with your index finger. You can shift at any RPM you choose provided it will not cause the engine to lug severely. The computer calculates the optimum clutch engagement time and the electronic shift actuator changes gears in a fraction of a second. The amount of clutch slippage will be determined by how aggressive you are on the throttle. The harder your acceleration, the more the clutch slips.

So, who do you believe? The manual or the website? Personally, I don't really see any harm in matching revs between shifts. I have found the smoothest shifts are when I just back of the throttle a tad while shifting. The shifts become almost imperceptible (except for the loud "clunk"...what's with that?).

I'm loving this bike!!!

+1 Spike down a small tad while shifting. Mine does not slip when I do this. I have no "clunk" though cept Neutral to 1st while stopped.

I LOVE my bike

 

[caryb]

I'm am going to continue using the approach suggested by the website and not the manual. Thanks for providing that link as I had not come across that previously.

Like the rest of you, I'm loving this bike.

CaryB

 

[manowell]

All italics are mine ----

As a newbie here, I did the research in the manual on paes 5-2 and 5-3. The manual specifically states the following
"Always return the throttle to the closed position while changing gears to avoid damaging the engine, transmission, and drive train, which are not designed to withstand the shock of forced shifting"

Interesting. I read the "A" manual online before I bought the bike, I never read the "AE" paper manual that I got to compare. (Yeah, my bad!) In the same pages, same context, the "A" model manual says:

"Always use the clutch while changing gears to avoid damaging the engine, transmission, and drive train, which are not designed to withstand the shock of forced shifting."

It's almost as if the people assigned to re-issue the manual for the AE read it, found the "Always use the clutch..." part, realized that it didn't make sense, but didn't want to delete the paragraph. "Always return the throttle to the closed position...." was the replacement. Just a guess, of course, I don't work for Yamaha and don't know anyone that does.

FWIW, I've ridden it using both techniques, both seem to work pretty well for me. I'm gald that it wasn't a FAQ question. :yahoo:

If this is what Yamaha is suggesting, then somebody had better let the demo crew know about it.

No doubt. Several of the magazine articles that I read before purchasing mentioned no need to move the throttle at all while shifting, I would assume that the demo rep would have told them that.

Got the sliders, by the way. Sweet!

 

[Midnite Rider]

I have shifted my AE in all sorts of different manner and all it does is perform flawlessly. I love this AE machine.

 

[Fastmax]

Except for the shift drum, The AE is identical inside to a standard FJ. So anything that you wouldnt do to a standard transmission, dont do to an AE. The entire point of a clutch, and/or backing off the throttle is to unload the gears so that they can mesh properly while you change them. So if your AE is clicking smoothly between the gears as you shift it, you probably arent hurting it any. If it is clunking, bucking, protesting, or carrying on in some other manner, then you need to work on your shifting technique.

Roy

 

[bmac]

Except for the shift drum, The AE is identical inside to a standard FJ. So anything that you wouldnt do to a standard transmission, dont do to an AE. The entire point of a clutch, and/or backing off the throttle is to unload the gears so that they can mesh properly while you change them. So if your AE is clicking smoothly between the gears as you shift it, you probably arent hurting it any. If it is clunking, bucking, protesting, or carrying on in some other manner, then you need to work on your shifting technique.Roy

When I test rode one it sure felt like the ignition was killed for 2 or 3 nano seconds at each shift. The engagement was very smooth with steady state throttle though it was definitely slower than I can acheive while using my clutch on my A.

 

[bikerkash]

I have over 10k on the bike and have tried every way I can think of to be smooth when up shifting and have came to the conclusion that bliping the throttle is the way to be as smooth as you can be. Also I've learned short shifting to 2nd & 3rd gear will also help you be smoother. I've also found that I cannot out down shift this system. If you just close the throttle and push the button it is very smooth, now if Yamaha can get the upshifts to be so smooth and easy they will have really developed something very special. This system is not what Yamaha wants it's customers to believe. You can be very smooth IF you work the system, as you would with a manual clutch, or it can be very jerky just as you can be the a manual clutch. I believe it's a good system that needs to be improved upon as I'm sure Yamaha will. Overall I've gotten use to the system and enjoy this bike very much. RIDE SAFE

 

[Hoog]

I have over 10k on the bike and have tried every way I can think of to be smooth when up shifting and have came to the conclusion that bliping the throttle is the way to be as smooth as you can be.

More throttle (blip) = more slipage and a smoother shift? Maybe?

 

[Fastmax]

I think by blipping he means backing it off just a tad. At least that is what seems to make for the smoothest upshifts on mine. Maybe not?

Roy

 

[joelmoto]

That pretty much says it all. Do you blip the throttle while upshifting, or just hold steady and let the elctronic chip do it's thing? I enjoy riding mine either way, was wondering what other real-life riders do.

I will be interesting to see how many miles you'll get from an AE clutch as compared to a standard shift clutch???