Hi all! I'm new to this forum, and already enjoy reading it a lot! :)
I bought a used 2002 GS 500 a couple of days ago, with 9800 miles on it, and so far it's been a blast to ride her. This is my first bike ever, so I'm being super careful, and riding around the neighborhood and such. It was awesome to see other riders wave at me and wave back at them, and people at stop lights even smiled at me. he he. Well, except for some SUV drivers, but still...
Riding today I noticed that after 45 minutes of riding or so, with the engine already warmed up, sometimes I have trouble shifting to first gear from neutral when stopping, for instance, at a stoplight.
Although I almost freaked out, I managed to stay cool, and this is what I did: I shut down the engine, held the clutch in and the shifter down while I rolled the bike forward a bit until I heard the click, and then fired up the engine and took off without trouble.
Any ideas as to what might be causing this? :dunno:
Actually this is pretty normal behavior for bikes - it has been true on all 8 bikes I have owned - Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki - it happens to them all. The easiest solution is to let the clutch out a bit, pull it back in and then try to shift again- generally goes right in. Another solution is to move the bike forward or back a few inches and try to shift down then.
If you are stopping for stop signs or lights do not stop in neutral - you want to be in gear and watching your mirrors so you can move when some idiot is about to run you down. In the past 41 years of driving cars I have been hit from behind while stopped at red lights or stop signs a total of six times -- fortunately it has never happened on a bike - mainly because I keep it in gear, position myself in the left third of my lane (so they have a place to go instead of hitting me) and because I have squirted ahead alongside the car ahead of me several times - one of those times the car I was trying to get away from hit the car that had been ahead of me - would have been a spot on the road if my bike had been in neutral.
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19238
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19062
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13296
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9020
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8206
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8015
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting.php
Don't put the bike in neutral at a stop light. Don't worry, your hand will get stronger.
Welcome, In the Ideal world you should never go into neutral until the end of the ride. Sometimes though you might want to relax your hands and go into neutral, that phenomenon you are experiencing is no big deal, you'll soon suss it out. Jiggle the clutch to point of contact and try again, soon it will become second nature.
Thanks for your responses guys! Now I know what to do next time, and you make a good point that I should not be in neutral at all. Being a new rider, my left hand does get tired after a while, but I guess it will indeed get stronger as I get more hours under my belt. :)