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By John G
#84907
I have found that I can change up relatively easily, but changing down from 4th to 3rd, and then to 2nd was a bit of an ordeal most of the time. I recently tried a new approach ; rather than pull the clutch all the way in, I barely freed it off with a quick pull of the clutch lever, as close to clutchless as I dared. I found that the downchange seemed more positive, and I could feel the engine speeding up as I went down the gears, rather than the uncertain feeling I usually get. I haven't actually tried clutchless yet, anybody else any experience of this ??
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By stinkwheel
#84909
What you're doing is effectively rev-matching. It's a useful technique for smooth downshifting, effectively blipping the throttle or holding the revs up a bit with the clutch in as you downshift, a bit like double de-clutching on a car.

If the gears at both ends of the gearbox are doing a similar speed, they are more likely to mesh cleanly. Gives a smooth shift. particularly useful if you have a pillion on board.

You may find pre-loading the gear lever with a little upwards pressure before you even touch the clutch makes things even smoother, it'll start to shift when it's ready to as you dip the clutch and you just need to follow it through with your foot to take it the rest of the way.

Entirely clutchless downshifting an Albion 4-speed, while possible, may be asking a little much of it to do regularly. The shifting mechanism is very clunky and quite poorly finished. I think there's a high chance of both hitting false neutrals and of chipping dogs on the gears (which they are a bit prone to anyway).
By vince
#84918
Hi, I think your'll find that the mainshaft nut at the right has come loose. As the clutch is pulled in the shaft moves over and puts things out of alignment. With a clutchless change your not having that load applied. Vince
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By John G
#84942
Thanks for those interesting observations, guys. :) I read a letter in the latest edition of CBG , a chap called Maurice Arden wrote about a gearbox mod to the Albion box. Frustrated with the poor gearchange, he stripped the box, and added a blob of weld to the two selector plates. With a lot of filing, and 12 goes at it, he eventually got a really smooth and precise change. He reckons Albion could have done this, but he thought maybe retooling costs put them off. It seems to involve a lot of trial and error, but he thought it essentially a simple mod.
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By Wheaters
#84953
The gear change is the one thing I don't like about my 350. The worst dirty trick it plays happens when approaching a fast corner in top. I go to change down into 3rd and it won't engage. I then drift round in a false neutral, in an unstable manner. Same fault fetched Guy Martin off his Honda race bike in the IOM! It's one reason why I'm looking out for a 5 speed box at a reasonable price.
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By John G
#84966
I have had the same experience of a false neutral, and it can be quite dangerous, eg. if you were turning right with traffic coming towards you :shock: . I find the change from 4th to 3rd ok, as long as you slow down, and let the engine speed slow down too. I had a spin on a 65 recently, and the 5 speed box was delightful. I am learning to live with the 4 speed, though :roll:

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