Originally Posted by Roadster4Us

You shouldn't hear any noises when engaging the clutch, so that is normal.

Like Kenchan stated, fully engaging or slightly engaging the clutch depends on how much you are reversing, how tight the area is etc...

For me to go into 1st, I have to be at a real crawl, almost stopped, otherwise 2nd is fine.

Your bucking issue is that you just did not have the rpm's high enough when you engaged the clutch.

All of this will come in time with practice. Nothing to worry about.