Problems with the clutch!!!

[TrystaEC]

two days ago i was getting ready to leave work. i turned the bike on . the keys were in, the kill switch was set to on, the choke was pulled all the way out and the bike was in neurtral. while i was getting ready for some reason my bike went into first gear all by itself and took off. does anyone know why that happened?

[bonehead]

Are you sure you did'nt hit the shifter by accident? (just a thought)

[TrystaEC]

no. i wasnt even on the bike yet

[Sarris]

It's called a false neutral. You had the shifter midway between first and neutral and the engine vibration popped it into gear. Sometimes motorcycles will show neutral light but be in first.

You might check the clutch adjustment, but other than that, there really is not much to fix other than a worn-out gear set or bad synchros (??).

I would tell you to not leave her running on the stand unless you have been in the saddle and have let her run for a few. Don't put it in neutral with you right foot standing off the bike. That's a sure way to get a false neutral.

Good luck and keep us informed.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Sarris

I would tell you to not leave her running on the stand unless you have been in the saddle and have let her run for a few.

And I have to ask, "Why was the choke on all the way??"

With mine, that would have made it race unbearably fast after about 20 seconds or so and would made me nervous even if nothing bad really happened.

If you really need the choke all the way operated to get it started, you probably have other issues that need to be addressed. Mine never required more than about half (except the first start in the spring) and even that for only about 20 seconds or so. After that, it did require a tad bit to keep the idle speed up for the first 5 minutes or 5 miles or so.

So, my advice: Don't choke it so much and don't let the idle speed race while it is warming up.

[TrystaEC]

k. thanks

[Water Warrior 2]

Did the bike shut down when the tranny went into gear ?? It should have done so with the side stand down. Hope there wasn't any damage, I am asumming the bike fell over if it lurched off the side stand.

[alanmcorcoran]

I'm a relative newb, but I'd be interested in hearing from the old timers on the wisdom of starting up the bike and getting off of it. I never do this. (BTW, the "run away bike" scenario described above has been posted here before.) I see other riders do this to "warm up the bike" but, my experience in CA is that bikes don't need much "warming up." I guess the main reason I don't do it, is it feels like leaving a car running with no one in it, which I am also uncomfortable doing. There are some other reasons that are less of a motivation, but they include:

1)The unnecessary noise factor. Bikes are loud, and, trust me, no one but the owner is "impressed" with the noise. I think it is especially annoying when people start a bike up and leave it running unattended.
2) The burn factor. If you mount the bike cold, there is less chance that you or you passenger will get burned. Also, less chance that a kid or curious adult will get too close to something VERY hot before you can warn them to stay back.
3) potential thievery or just vandalism. Obviously, if you are standing right there, it's not likely, but suppose, you got to pop back inside to get your gloves or helmet or something. If a neighbor kid knocks it over, or burns himself, or rides it into traffic, you could be partly liable.

I always pack my stuff, put on whatever gear I'm going to use, and am fully ready to go when I mount the bike. I don't even start my bike until I have rolled it backwards down the driveway in between my cars and out onto the street. On both the GZ and the Strat I rarely let it idle more than about 20-30 seconds before I take off. With the Strat, it's pretty much start and go. I let the GZ run a bit longer cause of the carb and choke and such.

I haven't seen much posted on this, other than I think Hough or someone recommended a warmup. Not sure if that applies to fuel injected, air cooled 1850+ V twins (they warm up damn fast.)

Thoughts?

[VTXorcist]

Do you need to let it run for a while to let the oil distribute throughout the engine before taking off? Honest question from a dumb unmechanically-inclined newb.

[mrlmd1]

No.
And hard to answer correctly.
How long is a while? There are short whiles and longer whiles.
But the answer is still no.