this has been a pretty big problem for me for a while. as some of you know I am not very clear with my writing so please ask any questions and bare with my engineer writing skills

when riding your bike at like 50 mph clutch in if you shift all the way down to 1st from 6th do you hear hear loud clunking? I mean I always hear some type of clunk when I shift normally but when I am moving fast and shifting all the way down it sounds even louder/worse than normal. Also If I am moving over 30mph and I have the clutch held in and I shift up from 1st to 2nd while not releasing the clutch at all I hear this very loud/bad sounding clunk and it through the bike I feel this very wierd knocking/banging and it just makes no sense to me!!
HELP!!

 

You shouldn't be doing this. You're putting undue stress on the transmission shift dogs. I'm not clear as to why you'd be shifting down to 1st gear at 50 mph. If it's because you're going to slow down to stop at a light, then you should be shifting down 1 gear at a time as you approach the light. This way you're in a gear that is appropriate for the speed you're going just in case you need to take evasive action. Letting out on the clutch in 1st gear at 50 mph is either going to throw you over the handle bars, or if you rev it up, you could be doing a wheelie before you know it.

There is most likely nothing wrong with your bike. You're just hearing the bike complain to you about what you're doing to it.

 

the reason I do it is because if I see it turn red in front of me I will just shift all the way down and then to neutral and just coast to from there, but if for some reason its late night and it changes back to green fast I just shift back up to the appropriate gear, and when I shift up from neutral to second its the loudest banging /ratcheting/clanking feeling/sound ever.



on another note, is holding in the clutch for too long bad for the tranny as it is for cars?

 

It will cause your clutch to wear but I don't think it's as bad as on a car b/c it's a wet clutch in the bike. The clutches also aren't too bad to replace from what I've read. The shifting clunks are normal, I can always tell when approaching a stop that I've shifted to first b/c it has a distinctive clunk/sound when you hit it. Shifting to 2nd has also been hit and miss on my bike, but as I've ridden more it's gotten better and seems to clunk less going into second. Don't bother shifting into neutral unless you will be sitting a long time, just shift to 1st and keep the clutch pulled in. That way if something happens and you need to move quick you will be ready.