What is Quick Shifter in Bikes: Working, Benefits and Drawbacks

The quick shifter in motorcycles has been one of the most popular motorcycle upgrades among track racing riders. This add-on enhances the rider's motorcycle experience by making the rides faster and easing the gear-changing process. Here is a look at its types, purpose, benefits and other details. 

A quick shifter is a motorcycle device that lets you change gears without using a clutch or throttle. This device also goes by names such as "throttle-less shifting" or "no-lift shift". They are ideal for both automatic as well as manual transmission systems.

Most riders prefer modifying their bikes with a quick shifter as this device makes riding experiences smoother and safer. Also, without a bike quick shifter, you have to make two individual movements simultaneously, whereas this device turns it into a quick and neat action. 

Additionally, the quick shifter also enhances the bike's speed while ensuring its overall safety and performance.

Motorcycles use a mesh transmission continuously. This signifies that all gear transmissions are in constant rotation. This rotation consists of an internal shift forks and gear selector drums mechanism. This allows the rider to choose between ratios. 

Some bikes will shift without using the clutch. However, most require using the throttle for a gear change to happen. This is because the selected gears feel heavy pressure from the engine under either acceleration or deceleration.   

The clutch removes the connection between the transmission and the crankshaft rotation, allowing gear change to happen more swiftly and quickly.  

On the other hand, quick shifters remove the spark from the engine. A sensor placed on the shift linkage identifies a movement. It then transfers the signal to the engine's ignition to shut down the coils for less than a fraction of a second. 

Meanwhile, the quick shifter removes force from loaded transmission shafts and lets the next pair of clogs get selected. 

Hence, a quick shifter only needs one individual action: nudging the shift lever to facilitate smoother acceleration. Thus, it is easier for a rider to focus on the road instead of manually shifting gears. 

As you can deduce from the procedure mentioned above, a quick shifter has multiple benefits. Check out some of them below: 

• Reduce lap times 

• Reduce transmission or gearbox wear 

• Smoother and faster gear change 

• Allows to focus on riding rather than manually shifting gears 

• Less upset to the chassis when shifting mid-gear

Like any other device, there are strengths and weaknesses of a quick shifter. Here are the drawbacks of this cool upgrade to your motorcycle: 

• It can be costly to add this feature 

• Removes some of the manual operations that you may enjoy 

• There are chances of fault as these are electronic devices 

• Can feel spongy or numb

There have been studies and research to show that bikes with quick shifters are safer than the ones without. This is because quick shifters eliminate the need to manually change gears or adjust the throttle or clutch before changing the gear. 

Hence, a quick shifter makes changing gears much smoother and easier as it involves fewer steps. Thus, a rider can focus more on riding and have a better and safer riding experience. 

Typically, there are two different types of quick shifters:

• Push-quick shifters and 

• Pull-quick shifters. 

The choice among these two depends upon your bike, whether its shift lever needs to be pulled up or pushed down while changing gears. It also depends on the model of your motorcycle. 

The performance of a bike entirely depends upon how you change the shift gears. If you can change the gear smoothly, the gearbox will function well for a long time. However, it has been found that quick shifting can affect the gearbox of your motorcycle to some extent. 

Technically, a quick shifter shouldn't affect the gearbox in any way, as it cuts off the fuel during the shift period. It makes changing shifts faster and easier during transmission. 

It shouldn't create any damage during that fraction of a second shift change. This is why some riders claim that quick shifters cause less damage to the gearbox than manual changes. 

The quick shifter has become part of integral modifications in racing bikes and street riders alike. However, you should be careful while choosing the best quick shifter for your bike and not get overwhelmed with the variety of choices available.