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Air shifter

XXshawnXX

Active member
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Location
Vacaville
Moto(s)
'01 929/'86 XR 640, ape factory 04'
Name
Shawn
is an air shift the way to go in racing? i heard and seen of some people using air shifters to make it easier and all that jazz but im was never to sure on what they do ? is it a necessity in ama? afm>?


whats the 411 on air shifters??????
 
Been racing on and off since 2000 and I have yet to see a club race bike with a quickshifter. I say just learn to shift clutchless and you'll be alright. That's not to say no one uses them or that they have no value, but if you're just getting into racing, you've got a long way to go before you "need" one. Save your dough for schools and tires!
 
no im not gettin into racing (would like to) but i was just curious about them.

it seems like when i watch guys like stanton or earnest at trackdays going through the straight away theyre upshifts seem so quick , quicker and smoother than normal and was wondering if they use airshifts or not


i dont know im bored and threw out a question
 
what you're asking about is not an "air-shifter" per se (i think drag racers use those) but rather a quick-shifter, which is very common among the club scene.

most popular seems to be the dynojet quickshifter used in conjunction with the powercommander.

from personal experience, they are good to have, but not super-critical, so it really depends on what level you're at and the budget you have. certainly not on par in importance as things like suspension work or brake systems upgrades.

http://www.powercommander.com/325shift.htm
 
I have the Dyno Jet quickshifter on both of my race bikes and absolutely love 'em. I think they are pretty common on club race bikes. Not very expensive if you are already using a Power Commander. They aren't a necessity, but I suspect that once you try one you wouldn't want to give it up.

YMMV.
 
kirkmoon said:
I have the Dyno Jet quickshifter on both of my race bikes and absolutely love 'em. I think they are pretty common on club race bikes. Not very expensive if you are already using a Power Commander. They aren't a necessity, but I suspect that once you try one you wouldn't want to give it up.

YMMV.

even just on a track bike ?
 
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The math is interesting. Upshift with clutch, about a .5 second delay. Without, about .1.

With a quickshifter about .05....

In other words, you gain a lot with clutchless shifts and a bit with a quickshifter. The ease and ability to keep the throttel full on are the upside.
 
I would venture to say that almost ALL the clubracing fast guys use them and definitely all the pros. When you get to the point where you are riding good and looking for those extra 10ths, especially on those track with alot of shifting, then you probably need one.

I kind of like it, it takes away 1 thing you have to think about.
 
Hey Jay, how does the quickshifter work on carb'ed bikes like yours? Is there a popular company that sells them to 2-strokers?
 
Quickshifters are the shit!!!

I would have one on a street bike now, just cause it'll make it easy to shift through gears while doing a wheelie. ;)
 
It works.

2734898-dsc07307__medium_.jpg
 
XXshawnXX said:
even just on a track bike ?
Purely optional.

They DO make it a bit easier to ride. As was said above, one less thing to screw up. Just keep the throttle WFO and press your foot down. Hard to beat.

I wouldn't recommend getting one until you already know how to ride fast without one (i.e. you have mastered manual clutchless up and down shifting) since I think that is a skill that is valuable to have.

And certain race classes in the AFM don't allow use of quick shifters (the Production classes, for example). So you have to know how to ride fast without them. If you have one installed on your bike and want to race in a Production class, the AFM allows you to just unplug the quickshifter but leave it in place. That allows you to use it or not depending upon the class you are running without having to actually take it off the bike.
 
Eric in Davis said:
Hey Jay, how does the quickshifter work on carb'ed bikes like yours? Is there a popular company that sells them to 2-strokers?

It just cuts the ignition for a infinitesimally small amount of time… I have a KLS (http://www.kls.de/index-eng.htm), but Battle Factory also makes one.

Dynojet apparantly makes the bomb quickshifter for the bigger bikes....
 
So with a quick shifter you can keep the throttle wide open and just upshift the shifter?
 
03suprchikn said:
So with a quick shifter you can keep the throttle wide open and just upshift the shifter?

It unloads the motor for a split second and the bike just snicks right into the next gear. It's really nice.
 
Thanks for asking about this, and for the ppl that replied. I had the same question about how much difference it makes and what real racers thought of it. Cool. Didn't know it was illegal in production class (but that does make sense).
 
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