The quick shifter on a motorcycle is an electronic enhancement that is commonly found or added in track racing or high-performance street-sport motorcycles. The device actually allows clutch-less shifting of the gear in a motorcycle that is faster nothing else more than that.

It minimizes the gear shifting efforts of a motorcycle while rolling at a pace and thus it minimizes the shifting time and smoothens the rolling on the track. Whatsoever, this feature also is getting popular and getting quite common in modern street bikes, so here we have the briefing on what is quick shifter on a motorcycle.

What Is Quick Shifter On A Motorcycle?

A quick shifter is a very small electronic device that is added in the motorcycle gear shifting rod after the gear lever which is very commonly featured in track racing machines. The device also has an electronic micro-controller part that connects with the motorcycle ignition system or can be a part of motorcycle ECU.

The quick shifter setup is simply mechanically added in the gear shifting mechanism that omits the clutch and throttle operations while shifting the motorcycle gear in time of rolling at a pace. Thus it allows the throttle control free and clutch-less gear shifting on a manual transmission motorcycle.

The basic type of quick shifter generally deals only with the up-shift of the motorcycle gears, but the bi-directional type quick shifter can deal with both the up-shift and down-shifts. Hence at this time, the modern quick shifters are usually the bi-directional quick shifters which are enhanced with the Auto-Blipper feature that deals the downshifting.

How Does A Quick Shifter work On A Motorcycle?

Motorcycle quick shifters have two separate parts integrated into the same setup. In dimension, the device, quick shifter is very small like chocolate candy and that attached to the gear shifting rod that contains an electronic sensor. The sensor device picks a pulse while a rider intends to shift the gear putting the toe on and force the lever.

That pulse is electronically forwarded to the motorcycle ECU or in an individual electronic circuit attached with the quick shifter. Then the electronic module cuts off the motorcycle ignition, therefore, stops supplying the electricity to the spark plug for some milliseconds.

Thus it stops the combustion, releases the load from the drivetrain, and allows the transmission to slip onto the new gear without disengaging the clutch. At the same time, cutting off the ignition for a moment, the throttle also makes no impact on the combustion and the motorcycle engine rolls effortlessly onto a new gear.

In the meantime, the quick shifter perhaps interferes with the throttle operation a little which is ignorable but it completely bypasses the clutch mechanism and allows shifting the gear in quick and roll smoothly. Hence, the gear shifting is effortless, faster, smoother, and lets the rider carry on the linear speed.

So you can see a rider doesn’t need to decrease the throttle, pull the clutch, shift the gear, and then release the clutch, pull the throttle again in case of gear shifts while a quick shifter featured on a motorcycle.

Bi-Directional Quick Shifter On A Motorcycle

In the basic form of the quick shifter, that works only for up-shifting the motorcycle gears which is the core requirement of the racing or track bikes. It helps to carry on the momentum omitting the up-shifting efforts likewise while in corners or overtaking a competitor in the crucial racing moments.

But in this modern time, the sportbikes out of the racing tracks also featuring the quick-shifter to allow a rider to get advanced riding experience, and also it developed a fun factor in riding flawlessly with the quick shifters. That’s why bi-directional type quick shifter also took the place on the street bikes which also developed as a race track requirement.

Bi-directional type quick shifters are featured the Auto-Blipper feature integrated which manages the down-shift of the motorcycle gear. The Auto-Blipper feature just blips the throttle which works as the manual rev-matching of the throttle and allows the transmission to slip into the lower gear in the transition time.

Thus a bi-directional quick-shifter in a downshift cuts off the ignition, matches the throttle, and allows the shift to a lower gear without sudden locking the rear wheel. And in some extreme downshifts the slipper clutch also tackles the rest of the hazards like sudden wheel locking which is very common in modern motorcycles. That’s it.

Benefits and Demerits Of Quick Shifter On A Motorcycle

Literally, the quick shifter has some awesome benefits in track racing or street-sport motorcycles. It’s also a popular addition in modern performance motorcycles which are characterized by sports features. Simultaneously, adding quick shifters also has some flaws in the smaller bikes. So here are the benefits and demerits of a quick shifter on a motorcycle.

Benefits of Quick Shifter On A Motorcycle

• Quick shifter allows a faster and smoother gear change.
• It nicely omits gear-changing efforts and reduces the time.
• It gives lesser gear changing impact like shaking, wobbling on the high-speed rolling bikes.
• It allows gaining smoother acceleration, speeding up, confident tackle of overtaking, and power up the corners.
• A rider can concentrate more on riding especially in extreme track racing situations.

Demerits of Quick Shifter On A Motorcycle

• Quick shifter is an awesome sporty enhancement in track racing or street-sport motorcycles. But it’s not a convenient addition for the small capacity commuter motorcycles.
• Quick shifter is not a fruitful enhancement in the small motorcycles which frequently run at lower speeds in a lower gear and often need to shift gear at a lower speed.
• In low-performance motorcycles, the quick shifter may feel infirm in operation and notchy in low RPM situations. Hence rather than a high-performance machine, it’s not a good attachment for average performance motorcycles.