Hey guys, I got this bike this week, a 2005 Suzuki GS 500, for a good deal. This is my first time riding an entry-level sports bike, and I'm having a hard time engaging neutral while the bike is idling with the engine on. However, when I cut the engine, it becomes much easier to shift to neutral. Also, when the bike is rolling, it goes to neutral from second gear. But to engage neutral from first gear, the engine has to be off and the RPMs must drop to zero. Does this happen to all bikes 500cc and above?
I also had the pleasure of riding a Suzuki Marauder 250, and neutral can be engaged even when idling. One distinction I noticed between these bikes is that the GS500 has a minimum idle RPM of 1500 when the engine is on, while the Marauder has an idle RPM of 0. I feel the higher RPMs might be preventing the gear from shifting to neutral when idling.
I am tired of holding the clutch in first gear while waiting at the red light. But I am trying to get the hang of shifting from 2nd to neutral. I could shift to Neutral from 2 just before coming to a stop.
Some testing I did today,I put the bike on the center stand and let the rear wheel spin. There is no issue engaging neutral; I could switch from 1 to N and 2 to N with no problems. As for the wheel spin in neutral, the wheel spins due to rotational inertia. The moment I engage the clutch, the wheel spins aggressively, indicating engagement with the clutch and gearbox.
Bottom line: The bike has no trouble shifting to neutral when it is rolling; the only issue arises when it is idling.
Two possible workarounds:
1. Shift to neutral from 2nd gear just before stopping at lights.
2. Kill the engine, switch to neutral from 1st gear, and then restart the bike.
Note:
Do you think an oil change could help with this issue? I'm not sure when it was last done.
Have you done a three point clutch adjustment (check the wiki), difficulty engaging is normally due to dragging clutch.
You just need to get used to just taking the load off the clutch lightly.
Most bikes don't like going into neutral when stopped. Just very slightly ease the clutch out (not all the way), and move the gear lever into neutral as you do it.
Avoid 'riding the clutch' - holding it in while stationary in gear... That's the quick way to ruin your clutch. Get used to snicking it into neutral just as you come to a stop - not after you stop.
As a rule of thumb is always better to move the gear lever as you pull or let go clutch, doing the motion of the lever slightly before or after.
Preloading the lever also helps.
That way you are doing it with a little bit of momentum(before completely stopping)and pulling the clutch the least amount of time.
To start from still you pull cliych and a fraction later you put 1st(like halfway the clutch lever travel, preloading lever will let you learn where)
Hopefully your idle is just too high.
When you start the bike, after it has done the warm-up cycle and you can turn off the choke, the idle should be right around 1000rpm. After riding for 15-20 minutes the idle will rise to about 1200rpm. This is a feature of air-cooled engines.
Once fully warmed-up the you should be able to shift from neutral to first without feeling the bike lurch forward or clunk hard into gear. This is how I fine tune my hot idle speed.