[82gl1100iWingman]

I, too, only use the clutch to start and stop. I can upshift faster and smoother without the clutch. Down shifting, depending on the speed can be smoother, but does tend to lurch a little on down shift. Goldwing transmissions have what is called spur cut gears. They look like what most people think gears should look like. On most automobile standard transmissions, they tend to have what is called helicut gears. The gears spiral around the shaft. Helicut gears are much harder to shift without the clutch but they too can be shifted clutchless. The difference between the cuts is helicut gears tend to have a smoother engagement of the gear teeth, and more teeth carry load at a given time so they tend to be more efficient for a given size and they also tend to be quieter than spur cut gears.