[alanmcorcoran]

Chris, not sure if this helps but to echo some of the other Alan...

Rarely ever put/leave mine in neutral. Only when I need to leave it running unattended (which is probably not recommended anyway.) Not sure if this is best practice or not, just how my habits evolved. I do think it's best to have the bike in gear when parked, especially on up or down hill. Bike can roll and the kickstand can fold up if it's steep and then down she'll go.

I generally kick down to first when pulling up to lights/stops and hold in the clutch until it's time to go. Again, don't know if this is good practice or not. I do feel like I can get going faster if someone is coming up to hit me from the rear. Sometimes it's hard to pop it into first at slow speeds, but this is typically cured by letting the clutch out a bit before you try.

I generally do not push the starter without the clutch and brake pulled in. I don't trust the "neutral light." Sometimes it's lit when you aren't in neutral and vice versa. As you can imagine, if you think you're in but you aren't, it can cause problems.