How exactly does neutral work?

[MrAtom]

Now, that sounds like a really stupid question, but lemme explain a little. I was having a blast flying through some country roads, and I saw someone about to pull out of their driveway. To increase my chances of not being cheesegrated, I downshifted to 5th to get a little more acceleration in case I needed it, and to make my bike sound a little louder to potentially make them notice me more, and I flashed my hi-beam a little. I passed them, and tried upshifting back to 6th, I gave it a little throttle and the bike behaved like it was in neutral. I heard a "VROOM!" but no power. I stomped it back in fifth, got some speed, and went back to 6th no problem. But why'd this happen? I wanna know.

[MrAtom]

Hmmm... The related threads have answered my question. I guess I searched it with the wrong keywords

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=109677

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=73054

[SteveL]

The 250 gear box has a false neutral between 5th and 6th I found it many times when the bike was new. Never had is once I passed 3000 miles.

Steve

[dcj13]

False neutrals are fairly common for bikes. Several false neutrals are common on older BMWs: preloading the shift lever pretty much eliminates that (works on Kwaks, too).

[Ghostt]

You need the treat that gear shifter like a prom date, hit it hard and fast.

SIDENOTE: Your theory about making more noise isn't gonna work, remember the Doppler Effect, can't argue with psychics.

Personally when I see a cager about to do something stupid in front of me, I back off and give them a very wide berth, more distance=reaction time.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by MrAtom

How exactly does neutral work?

Now, that sounds like a really stupid question, but lemme explain a little......

There is only one actual neutral.
That is the unique relative position of all the gears and connectors or dogs (sliding yellow parts in the video) for which power is received into the input shaft, having no power going out the output shaft.

The specific relative position of all the gears and their combinations is determined by the selector mechanism, which for our Ninjas, has seven stages: 1-N-2-3-4-5-6

The called "false neutrals" are intermediate positions that the dogs adopt during any incomplete transition, keeping at least one non-engaged.

Those incomplete transitions may happen due to operator error, defective or worn shift mechanism and bad oil.

Several designs of the last century purposely had more than one Neutral.
Please see:
https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=128651

Link to original page on YouTube.

[NevadaWolf]

Since The question has been answered by those smarter than me, I'll make a small comment on this:

Originally Posted by MrAtom

I flashed my hi-beam a little.

In my view, careful doing this. Since often times flashing high beams is used to signal "go ahead" (waiting at intersections, pulling out from a driveway, backing out of a parking space), the other driver may mistake your meaning.

During the day, I usually wait till I'm about twice my reaction distance then flick the high beam and let it stay on. Not sure if it's "right", but no one has pulled out on me yet. Gives me time to react if needed and gives them a very sudden light change that may make them either see me or be so bright they wait until I'm gone to readjust their eyes and look around again.

Just my viewpoint. Carry on.

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by NevadaWolf

Since The question has been answered by those smarter than me, I'll make a small comment on this:



In my view, careful doing this. Since often times flashing high beams is used to signal "go ahead" (waiting at intersections, pulling out from a driveway, backing out of a parking space), the other driver may mistake your meaning.

During the day, I usually wait till I'm about twice my reaction distance then flick the high beam and let it stay on. Not sure if it's "right", but no one has pulled out on me yet. Gives me time to react if needed and gives them a very sudden light change that may make them either see me or be so bright they wait until I'm gone to readjust their eyes and look around again.

Just my viewpoint. Carry on.

Good call out on high beam usage, plus cagers are too busy texting, drinking Starbucks, etc..... Beware the soccer moms in the huge SUVs' and the little old lady whom can't see over the steering wheel.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by NevadaWolf

............. In my view, careful doing this. Since often times flashing high beams is used to signal "go ahead" (waiting at intersections, pulling out from a driveway, backing out of a parking space), the other driver may mistake your meaning.
...........

Waving a solid light is better, or a light modulator:

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=97999

Great catch, @NevadaWolf !!!

[Ghostt]

Food for thought,

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-...car/23971.html

[Racer x]

http://youtu.be/vnpC98eXno4

This is my most watched video. Might not help but fun to watch

[MrAtom]

Thank you, Nevadawolf on the beam usage. You may have saved my life in the future Fwiw, I also do a smidsy maneuver usually, but it was raining and there was a lot of oil spots so I decided not to.


And also, I usually take the downshifting to sound louder thing with a grain of salt. It's really more for some extra acceleration in case I need it.

RacerX, I've seen that video before! I didn't know it was you

[Hero Danny]

False Neutral, annoyed the piss out of me when I had my pregen. Try to adjust your shift lever so you can get more pull on it to prevent it.

[MrAtom]

Nah, shift lever's fine. It's just that I didn't kick it up far enough, I guess. I don't really have any problems with shifting most of the time.

[ally99]

One thought to consider, I've always felt safer shifting up rather than down after hitting a false neutral. If your revvs are too high and you downshift, you could spin out the rear.

[Linkin]

Easy way to avoid false neutrals: Keep your foot holding the shifter up until after you release the clutch. That way it can't drop into a false neutral or lower gear at all.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Linkin

Easy way to avoid false neutrals: Keep your foot holding the shifter up until after you release the clutch. That way it can't drop into a false neutral or lower gear at all.

I somewhat agree... in other ways I don't. It takes too much time and attention. Not sure what/if there is a solution though.

[alex.s]

you must always pray to the moto gods first. sacrifice a nice chicken (use teriyaki sauce) and plenty of holy wine after the ride. but even then sometimes you get a false neutral. i usually try to fix it with a blip to the throttle with my foot still holding pressure on the shifter. but like ally says if going down it slams it in