[corrcullen]

I notice that I am finding false neutrals on my 2005 RT with only 5000 miles on it if I am riding along in top gear, and then I come stop by using clutch and brake only and not going down through the gears.
I find that after I stop with the bike in top gear, when I try to change down to neutral, I keep finding a false neutral in between all the gears on the way down.
I have to slightly release the clutch lever and move gear lever to find another gear, in between each gear.
Is this normal?

 

[mtrevelino]

I do it the old fashioned way, I downshift to 1st, then come back up to neutral. I have never had a problem doing it this way. For some reason going from 2nd to neutral take a little more practice/care.

 

[New2rt]

I notice that I am finding false neutrals on my 2005 RT with only 5000 miles on it if I am riding along in top gear, and then I come stop by using clutch and brake only and not going down through the gears.
I find that after I stop with the bike in top gear, when I try to change down to neutral, I keep finding a false neutral in between all the gears on the way down.
I have to slightly release the clutch lever and move gear lever to find another gear, in between each gear.
Is this normal?

Normal for the way you're riding it, try downshifting as your speed decreases. Or at least look for 1st when you're still moving before coming to a complete stop.

 

[corrcullen]

Normal for the way you're riding it, try downshifting as your speed decreases. Or at least look for 1st when you're still moving before coming to a complete stop.

Yeah I normally downshift as speed decreases and I am normally able to go from 2nd to neutral easily enough, but just on that occasion when I didnt do it the 'normal' way, I was finding false neutrals, so was wondering if this was normal.

 

[1964Hall]

Sounds normal to me.
I practise some high speed stops a couple of times a year, and if I come to a stop still in third or fourth it's a bit of work to go back down to first. Yes the clutch has to be released a little to help the gear progress.

Ride and enjoy
\v/

 

[beech]

For the procedure you described it is normal. The gear dogs are just butting up against each other rather than slipping into each others fingers. You need to release the clutch a tiny bit to get the shafts moving different from each other and then the dogs line up male to female and slip into engagement. This is the same thing sometimes trying to find first gear from neutral, but rare. If I see that the situation is going to require a full stop such as an off ramp on a freeway (motorway), I too just grab the clutch and use the brakes, shifting down the gears the last part say under 30 mph. If in town in second or third gear and a stop is coming, it is clutch in brakes on and at the last second down into 1st., back to neutral for the light duration or stay in 1st if there is danger of a rear end situation. Lots of combinations As you probably have found out, don't go for first gear unless you are going fairly slow. Mother Nature does not like a 30 mph first gear down shift. RT's have a lot of drive line lash, it is easy to come up with a combination of actions that will make this invisible in town. Buena Suerte.

 

[Alaskan]

I agree that you should be downshifting 1 gear at a time as your speed decreases. Then dropping from 2nd in neutral is pretty easy, if you down drop all the way into 1st while still rolling.

Also, when I did my ABATE training, they taught us to downshift quickly to first when we practiced our quick stops from higher speeds to dead stops. This is a good habit, as it will get you into a lower gear to take back off quickly. They taught us that a quick stop is usually followed by a quick take-off (like the car behind you not stopping fast enough or not at all). So being in the correct gear is critical. The same goes for when you are slowing down. If a situation arises and you need to throttle out, you want to be in a gear that will allows you move your bike quickly, and not result in a bogged down engine.

Matching the engine speed to the road speed is very important at all times!

Alaskan