I finally figured out how to shift a BEC. All this time, I'd been nearly removing my foot from the pedal. I'd get a 'clunk' as the
gearbox crashed into the next gear. Sometimes, I'd try to work the clutch really quickly too, but I'd always get the crash...Tonight, I
decided to work on the shifting, and I got it. If I lift ever so slightly off the throttle and bang the shift lever into the next gear, there is no
gearbox drama whatsoever. At first, it kind of surprised me because it worked so smoothly. Anyway, I'm very happy.
However, when going down in gears, it still crashes. It seems like the effect is lessened if I try to match revs on the way down, but sometime this is
hard. When you guys go down the gears, do you get the crash as well or does it shift smoothly like I describe above? Is there a trick to this or is
this just my Blade box?
--Thanks, Chris
PS Having figured out the up shift, I now understand why everyone uses the paddle shifts!
[Edited on 5/5/06 by chrisf]
Just a thought, but have you ever ridden a bike?
I hardly ever use the clutch at all when changing up on a bike (when already moving!!), just a slight dip with the throttle whilst putting a bit of
pressure on the gearchange and it just 'snicks' into gear. The 'box likes a bit of clutch when changing down but a blip of the throttle
to match the engine speed in relation to the road speed makes a silky smooth change.
As I said, just a thought....
i'd agree with olley,
you will damage the box going down the gears and you'll always get a clunk coming down, it does it on bikes only its not as loud because your
chain takes the clunk quieter and your not sat in a fibreglass tub that makes it sound ten times louder, so no need to go 
every time it clunks 
Try this link:
CLICKY
It's for a car sequential box, but the principles are the same.
David
ChrisF, you have probably heard this all before but the cushioning effect that you have on a car is a rubber spider that normally fits between the
gearbox output and propshaft on a bike this cushion is built into the rear wheel.
When you convert to a bike engined car you typically remove the car's rubber spider and by not including the bike's rear wheel cushion you
have removed all of the cushioning effect from the bike too.
To try to include a cushioning effect on the car, we in the UK have a few manufacturer's who produce a Torque Resiliant Tube (TRT) which is
basically a 2.5" tube internal with a second 3" tube external bonded together with a rubber compound. This reduces the clanging/dinging
effect and helps to save that gearbox. Typical price over here for a one off is circa £150.
HTH
Steve
[Edited on 5-5-06 by Hellfire]
Kwikshifter
cuts the motor when you push the gearlever up a gear...
Foot flat on floor, bang it up a gear...
Simple as...
Otherwise its just a momentary lift and press as you change gear... enough to stop accelerating for as along as it takes to move the gearlever up the
gear..
Faster the better
I reversed the prop of the sierra, it works great!
i use on the diff the rubber gommet with 3 bolts.
and on the engine the adapter plate..
in de middle i use the bearing.
In this way i have a bit of crush drive built in.
The biggest cluck you will have is when engine oil is cold and by selecting first gear.
Regards,
Tks
Really quick upshifts -
Apply some pressure to the lever before you lift your right foot.
As soon as you lift off, it unloads the box and it will go into the next gear. Then put your foot straight back down.
Downshifts, use the clutch and rev match if you can (if not, learn!)
quote:
Originally posted by wildchild
Really quick upshifts -
Apply some pressure to the lever before you lift your right foot.
As soon as you lift off, it unloads the box and it will go into the next gear. Then put your foot straight back down.
Downshifts, use the clutch and rev match if you can (if not, learn!)
As for downshifting ... look up the toe and heel technique, or get a rally driver or a Drifter to teach you.
While on the subject of drifting ... any Locosters or other seven drivers here do drifting?
quote:
Originally posted by G.Man
That runs the risk of hitting a false neutral..
Hi Gentlemen:
Thanks for the suggestions. No, I've never ridden a bike. But you could probably tell this 
Hellfire: I was all set to import a TRT prop from the UK (I could not find anyone making these in the US), but I got into a time crunch so I could
have the car ready for the magazine article a few weekends ago. I hope to order a TRT rear section for my prop this winter.
I got the upshift motion down. Now. its the downshifts giving me trouble. When I heel-toe down, do I keep the clutch completely disengaged or do I
stab at the pedal like Hewland suggests?
Also, if I just want to down shift to pass a car or to hear the engine wind up, do I just stab the clutch and yank the shifter?
--Thanks, Chris
as hewland suggest:
do the same as with the upshift apply some pressure to the gear lever/paddle then quickly blip the clutch. as the clutch disengages drive the dogs
will unload and the next gear should click into place then the clutch is released to resume drive. in reality the gear will have changed long before
you get the clutch back up.
quote:
Originally posted by owelly
Just a thought, but have you ever ridden a bike?
I hardly ever use the clutch at all when changing up on a bike (when already moving!!), just a slight dip with the throttle whilst putting a bit of pressure on the gearchange and it just 'snicks' into gear. The 'box likes a bit of clutch when changing down but a blip of the throttle to match the engine speed in relation to the road speed makes a silky smooth change.
As I said, just a thought....
I pretty much have a similar technique to that detailed on the Hewland link, apart from across 1st-2nd where you need to be careful of neutral
obviously.
Going down the box try doing as they mention and leave the gear changes to the last minute when the revs are as low as possible, especially if braking
for a long distance into a hairpin for example, when needing to shift down several gears in sequence.
Just a quick stab of clutch is all you should ever need though, I cant think of a situation where its smoother to do a conventional tintop shift where
you fully disengage the clutch, make the change slowly then re-engage the clutch in 3 distinct actions.
but what if you go upp a hill and say
you do 7000rpm, you suddenly see you will need everything you have got..(for passing a truck or what ever)
and trows one gear lower in the game..
your rpm will then rise up to 10K, but is this possible?? you are making 7000rpm..
or should you just press everything you have got and hope it will pull upwards...
also changeing while brakeing is just a matter of doing it at low revs say 2000..
because else you are brakeing the engine forces to
Tks
In reality there isnt anywhere near a 3k rise in revs when going down one gear on a bike engine, if you were doing 7k "labouring" up a hill and changed down one gear, you'd hardly go over 8k in the gear below, and would probably need to go down maybe 3 gears in total to get that high a change in revs
ditto chris, the gears are VERY close. You would never get caught outside the power band.
does every one heel and toe, i just change down the gears(using the clutch) whilst im on the brakes then ease the gas on ready for the bend.
why is it called heel and toe when it should be called big toe and side of foot
[Edited on 10/5/06 by OX]
but i just wanted to point out a situation where you will need to change down while in high revs not??
Tks
i dont think theres space in a locost for heel and toe, plus with the absence of engine drag in a bec locost, theres not as much need to raise the
revs whilst going through the box. When i had a car engine, i just combined the engine braking with normal braking and let the clutch raise the revs
by itself.
if your in high revs you shouldnt need to knock it down,unless your 20 stone and have a passenger but even then 1 gear would be anough if its not
then id wait untill i reached the top of the hill and tell my self the lorry must of had nitrous
Anyway the first hill climb will tell me how i should do the driveing side of the vehicle..
Tks
Humm this is all very interesting.
So you don’t really use a clutch at all in a BEC?
When your going up a gear you just blip the throttle and jam it into gear or something like that . When going down you stab the clutch or you match
the revs to the next gear. You don’t really use the clutch much at all then apart from taking off from stationary
Wow it really is different from a tin top…
apart from not allways using the clutch going up the box its used the same as a tin top(just edited my other post to read that i use the clutch going
down the box).i dont want to get shouted at
ok so you can use the clutch when going both up and down its really just your choice how you use it.
But the main thing is that you can use it with out the clutch or with the clutch going up the gears.
But when going down the gears eather way you should use the clutch
and of course when taking off from stand still you must use the clutch (duhh so obvious)
And then off topic but as BEC have such close gears whats the top speed for a R1?
yep, thats about right.
please use the clutch to change down!
up is optional.
an actual R1 will probably do about 170 , in a car it obv depends what diff you've got.
the gears are close but it's generally through having a long first gear rather than a particularly short top gear.