Anyone here know of the effects of "down-shifting" hurting the tranny? Now I'm not talking about ridiculously hard down-shifting, just down shifting when coming up to a stop sign or red light and not causing high RPM's in doing so. Or down-shifting at 60 MPH (or just a little under) into 4th to pass around a vehicle.

IMHO downshifting when coming to a stop is important from a safety standpoint more than anything else. In the event that you need to get going fast(someone is coming way to fast behind you) then you need to be in a gear you can use ASAP.
From a mechanical point of view as long as it is done properly(at the correct RPM) it should not cause any undue wear on your bike.

I've never heard that it is a bad thing. Contrary, I believe it is the right thing to do. If you are approaching a stop, and are slowing down, downshifting will have you in the correct gear if you suddenly need to accelerate, whereas simply holding in the clutch may leave you in a predicament where you are not in the correct gear.

That said, obviously this is not the "ridiculously hard down shifting". Not sure what that would do.

Ditto here. I have always down-shifted clutch vehicles, cars or bikes, when slowing down to a stop.

It prepares you for having to take quick action

It saves some wear on your brake pads

And, in the case of a Road Star that suffers the occasional gear that won't engage, it keeps me from hanging up in 2nd or neutral at a stop.

I didn't know there was another way. I learned to drive on a Chevy pickup with "three on the tree" (Who's old enough to remember those??) Anyway, I was taught to downshift on that and have done so on every manual transmission vehilce I've driven since. It always keeps you in an optimal gear for your speed and saves on the brake wear.

BT

I dont ever downshift unless I have to. Clanking gears and using the engine to slow down is a safety thing imo and I only do it for that reason.. 95% of the time I just either hold the clutch in or click nuetral and slow down. I dont know how different these tranny's are from other vtwin but my uncles HD had some major issues from doing that, the dealership told him use the engine braking as little as possible.
Only a few times have I had to come to a hulting stop on the freeway and thats whejn Im down shifting dropping the clutch other then that with great brakes the bike has I use them only.

I downshift all of my vehicles, and I've never owned anything that didn't have a manual transmission. As long as you aren't trying to do it from 70mph, there really isn't any damage to the engine from downshifting and it saves on brakes, too.

On the * I usually downshift and brake if I'm coming to a light or a stop sign, until I get it down to first gear. At that point, by finessing the clutch, throttle, and dragging the rear brake a little, I can ride forward at 3-5 mph, and by timing it, I can often stop or go through a light before I have to come to an absolute stop and put a foot down.

In the case where I need to put a foot down, I'm almost at a complete stop, anyway.

I agree with Frank. The * is great for allowing you to progress very slowly in 1st while feathering the clutch. I hate putting my foot down if I can sneak through a light.

done right downshifting can be quite helpful. From having you in the right gear in case the conditions change to saving your brakes. However, done wrong you will eat a tranny instead of brake pads and that's the usual argument for not downshifting. I have always done it in cars, trucks and motorcycles and I typically get much better brake life than almost anyone else. Went 90k on the first set of pads in my Rodeo and the tranny is still fine at 200k. Again, you have to do it right and well to make it count.
Oh, I left of the most improtant thing....it sounds good!

Matching engine speed to road speed is the purpose for up and down shifting. Saftey first at stop lites not withstanding and also not lugging engine . Too low a gear for accelerating will ultimately hurt any power train.
I slow down before entering curves using brakes then sometimes I will down shift before entering matching engine speed to road speed, so exiting I can accelerate through the turn as I lean.
Aside from that, engine braking is another subject all together.
Using a transmission to slow down a vehicle especially a motorcycle is uncalled for. We have great braking systems on our roadies and they work well if properly maintained. We are not driving 18 wheelers moving down 6 % grades on some mountain road some where.
As for neutral coasting , I believe the owners manual has comments on that as well and is not advised . Again saftey first, in gear you move , if not you dont.