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So I posted about a clutch issue but I think it has to do with the engineering of the bike's transmission. Here is what I experience: I am in 6th gear at 60 mph and pull in the clutch, I can down shift to 3rd (clutch still in) and up shift back to 4th and then let the clutch out and I will engage 4th no problem. BUT if I am in 6th at 60 mph, pull in the clutch and down shift to NEUTRAL then I can only down shift to 1st, and that has to be at a slow speed otherwise the gears will clash. Seems to me the transmission has been engineered this way in that when you get into neutral it expects that you are: 1) going slow; and 2) will shift into 1st.

What is everyones take on this?

If you're in 6th gear at 60 mph why would you ever want to shift into neutral?

I downshift as needed to handle conditions----to shift to first while running at highway speeds is absurd and inviting disaster.

If you let go the clutch at that speed the first thing that happens is your rear wheel
locks up your weight goes forward the bike fishtails, then throws you off, highsided...
meaning your upside down four feet in the air departed from your bike and your head
& back hit the ground simultaneously on the bitumen at 40 miles per hour.

Guys! I don't think Mr. Clean posted a request for advice on how to use the clutch and the inherent dangers of misuse. I sense that Mr. Clean is well aware of all that. What he HAS posted is an observation about the clutch and how its engineered. I personally have never tried that experiement, but I can understand the curiosity that came to bear on it.

Mr. Clean, I don't recall your issue with the clutch, but you may very well have found the reason for it. It always baffles me how robust a motorcycle clutch is. I mean I see guys popping the clutch doing wheelies and all sorts of adventurous things with such a small piece of metal spinning wildly inside the engine.

What is the cliche?....Curiosity is the mother of invention...or it killed the cat... or something like that. Ride on Mr. Clean!

R1150Rclean wrote: If I am in 6th at 60 mph, pull in the clutch and down shift to NEUTRAL then I can only down shift to 1st, and that has to be at a slow speed otherwise the gears will clash. Seems to me the transmission has been engineered this way in that when you get into neutral it expects that you are: 1) going slow; and 2) will shift into 1st.

This is really scary. With the clutch in and downshifting at 60 MPH, the clutch disc gets spun faster and faster until it could explode at higher road speeds. Not only that, it damages the transmission gear's engagement dogs. If you try this at 80 MPH and go into 1st gear, the clutch and input shaft will be spun to just over 12,000 rpm. POW!

The transmission wasn't "engineered this way" - - - - EVERY motorcycle transmission works this way. The road speed you are at when you downshift to any gear spins the input shaft and clutch disc to the speed the engine would be turning at that speed in that gear.

If you are the "hold the clutch in and downshift many gears at once" type rider, you had better wait until the speeds are slow, or your transmission's lifespan will be shortened. The slower the better.

.

Okay, I think some of you got on the wrong track on this on .

So let me explain again: I am in 6th gear doing 60 mph, I see a light 1/2 mile ahead turn red, so I down shift to neutral to coast to the red light. But sometimes the light turns green before I get to it and come to a complete stop, so while in neutral and doing 40 mph I try to up shift to 3rd BECAUSE IT WOULD BE ABSURD TO DOWN SHIFT INTO 1ST AT THAT SPEED

The problem is the transmission will not let me up shift from neutral to 3rd while doing 40 mph and I think it was engineered that way, but I wanted to see if anyone else had observed the same thing.
Thanks!

If you are not defintely going to be coming to a complete stop (like a stop light that could change)...do not shift to a lower gear than you will want to accelerate with (if the light were to change). Do not do it the way you have been doing...like Rob said...all motorcycles work this way.

If you are definitely going to be coming to a complete stop (like a stop sign)...then you can do it the way you are doing. Although there is (some) risk that you might accidently let out the clutch... and launch yourself. This is just bad form.

I coast sometimes too...but I pull in the clutch and COAST IN 6TH GEAR! As my speed gets down to around 30 MPH and I am now on the brakes and picked out my spot for putting my feet down, I start clicking down the gears counting backwards in my head (5...4...3...2...NETRUAL...). Then just before the feet touch-down...I click into 1st.

"The problem is the transmission will not let me up shift from neutral to 3rd while doing 40 mph and I think it was engineered that way, but I wanted to see if anyone else had observed the same thing."


It's not clear that you mean the neutral between 1st and 2nd -or- a neutral you "found" between 3rd and 4th or 4th and 5th. What do you mean by "It will not let me"?

.

22

Beemeridian,
I am so used to rolling out of gear in my car that I applied it my bike by shifting into neutral and it worked as long as I came to a stop before shifting into 1st. But if I down shift from 6th to 3rd and do not let the clutch out I can up shift to 4th/5th/6th "while still holding in the clutch" without a problem, and of course I can let the clutch out and engage those gears without a problem too, all while moving. So there is something about putting the transmission into neutral that changes the way the transmission works, so that it only allows down shifting to 1st when the bike is stopped, it is probably a safety feature.

It is most likely a safety feature. Do not shift into neulral untill you are in 1st or second gear speeds, you are inviting all kind of unsafe, craziness by doing so. What happens if you do find neutral going 60, and have an immediate need to speed up? You going to take the time to shift up to 5th? Just pull in the clutch, that is what it is there for.

Really shouldn't shift in to neutral until you are stopped. And even then, it is better to keep the bike in first with the clutch in just in case you have to move out of the way of an ambulance or some moron who doesn't see the stoplight. Always check your mirrors until someone is safely already stopped behind you.