Changing gears - technique?

[Keith]

Now that I have the EW running smoothly with the correct chains, I'm venturing further from home with it and at the same time developing a riding technique to suit its mechanical nature. But for me changing gears is still a bit of a slow and clumsy process. Changing down is okay as you are normally slowing down anyway and can match revs to speed, and if the change is slow it doesn't matter much. But changing up is more problematical as I find that by the time I've got power back on I've lost a lot of speed. Perhaps I'm nursing the engine too much for fear of over-revving and not getting enough speed before changing up? I think I read somewhere (this site?) that some riders don't use the clutch at all. That would certainly make for a quicker change but would the gearbox be happy with that technique? How do you change gear?

Cheers,
Keith

[Ian]

Keith - there will probably be many opinions on this - but I wouldn't be changing on that setup without the clutch. Earlier bikes with the two speed box don't have a clutch but they do have a nice neutral between the gears ! The key to smooth changes is matching the revs - so throttle off on the upchanges - the speed you can change gears depends on how quickly the engine revs drop not on whether you use the clutch or not. If you are in a tight uphill situation it may be better to hang on to the lower gear longer and put up with slower speeds till you get used to it.