Had I seen this earlier I would of responded earlier.
I assume you are talking a typical Harley 4 speed, or?
Yes you can shift under load. Yes they will take higher rpms. No big deal to run them dry, the trans is seperate from the primary as far as oiling, unless you are talking sportster trans and thats a different animal all together.
Baker is the cats ass. Stock is good. Ultima, Rev Tech, etc. have mixed reviews. I ran a rev tech 4 speed for about 35k miles on the street with no issues.