Its deffo worthy of the upgrade, you cannot replicate the quickshifter unless you can change gear 4x faster then a blink of the eye ! Also the option to downshift as well is brilliant, using it for up/down shifting becomes second nature after a while .
Id ride one to figure it out but I'm in northern USA and waiting for 2015 riding season to test ride. Upshift I understand but is downshift stable? i.e is it a smooth transition down...or do the electronics smooth all that out?
sounds like if its as good suggested would be worth the $500
The late 1990s Alfa Romeo (Fiat) Selespeed used all sorts of servos and electronic gadgets along with a normal clutch and synchromesh gearbox.
In sport mode, it even blipped the throttle on downshifts.
Many car makers now use these robotised gear shifters to improve fuel economy though I doubt they offer that throttle blip.
The big issue with bikes is no synchro and all those gadgets take up space and weight.
Bikes will clutch less downshift but it has to be a closed throttle with a slight blip to unload the gears allowing the next one down to drop in. I almost never have space to try it so end up stopping in a high gear with the box jamming itself.
Bike makers have done amazing work on fluid dynamics (gas flows) to boost power from small engines. Surely they could apply the same ideas to oil flows in a hydraulic system. Then we could have an infinitely variable transmission with minimal losses.
Just seen in MCN the new R1200R has an "auto blipper" presumably for downshifts so if that's on other models with slickshifters it probably is worth having.