Separate issues. The fans do turn freely and if they are coming on, they're working.
Stuck in first gear
- Thread starter Howard
- Start date
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
If the fan spins freely and the blades are intact, there's probably no damage. You can either warm the bike up to the point where the fans run or apply 12V to the fan connector to see if everything is good.
I doubt that very much. If the temperature gauge doesn't indicate anything unusual, the engine isn't getting any hotter than it should.
Yep. They're just fan blades on electric motors, just like you'd have on a household fan. There wouldn't be any point in having the blades locked down while the fan isn't running, and doing so would just add wind resistance to the bike.
--Mark
Well, the bike is back. My main man tells me he checked the plates and springs and could find nothing wrong at all. He put the bike back together and guess what. Beautifully smooth, accurate gear change. He didn't even charge me for the work as he had a slow day. Can't believe how chuffed I am. Riding the bike is an absolute pleasure and I'm feeling pretty smug having my faith in my mechanic proven right. Life is good again. Thanks for all the brill advice.
I have had the same issue only my cup seal was leaking in the master cylinder.
Clutch would be fine for a while then would loose nearly all it's biting point and wouldn't disengage gears .
€2 fix and twenty mins fiddling , but all now in order and selecting a lot smoother.
Better question would be, what if the green Idiot light was wrong, or vibration caused it to jump into gear while you thought it was securely in neutral? When stopped, both your feet should never be on the ground at the same time, your right foot should be on the brake, holding the bike back if someone rear ends you, or as you say, something happens and the bike lurches forward.
One foot down (left) forms a triangle (two tire contact patches and your foot) which is much better than two contact patches and balancing back and forth on loose or slippery footing.
.02
Back to your issues....pull the one 10 mm head bolt that holds the shift linkage back on, and get underneath the rubber boot on the right side (as seated on the bike) and lubricate the ball joint while working it good, and also lubricate the left side linkage near the shift lever, most folks miss doing this. I also agree with flushing and bleeding the clutch, and checking your bushing in the lever, as well as the rubber boot up there too.
Good luck.
For me it's in gear clutch in and feet on the ground or right foot on brake pedal. If it's a long light I might shift to Neutral and shake out my hand out then it's back in gear again.
Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
I never really bought this logic. I may be wrong but the way that I see it if you are rear-ended by a 3, 000 pound vehicle at any significant speed having your foot on the rear brake isn't going to hold you back anyway. If you are hit with such a light force that it would hold you back then a better option is to stop far enough back from the vehicle in front of you so that you have room to maneuver to the side of that vehicle or you have time to stop before you hit it. I never understood bikers who stop close to the bumper of the vehicle in front of them- if for no other reason why would you want to sit there breathing the exhaust of the vehicle in front of you for the duration of the light.
I watched my high school best friend die in front of me when his clutch cable on his kawasaki snapped and caused the bike to lurch forward just enough for an Oldsmobile to center punch him and kill him instantly. He had both feet on the ground, and the front hand brake didn't keep the bike from being pushed forward into the traffic lane.
I have also been rear ended (3) times while on motorcycles! A drunk chick rear ended my Goldwing while I was in the first position at a traffic light at the end of the freeway off ramp. Having my foot on the rear brake, and my hand on the front brake, crumpled the rear of the bike, but didn't push be far enough to reach the traffic lane. Second time, a young girl was on her cell phone, and ran into the rear of ST1100 and pushed me forward enough to just tap the bumper of the car in front of me ( I was almost a full bike length back from this car). Foot on brake saved me again. The last time (hopefully the last time) I was stopped in the third position at a red light, on my GL1500 Goldwing, when a Stolen Honda Acura, fleeing the police, smashed into me without any skid marks, brake lights, etc. They estimated the kids in the car were doing 50+ mph at the time of impact! This one completely crushed the Goldwing, knocked the engine out of the frame, sheared the exhaust off the motor, and tossed me over the car in front of me, and I landed on the truck of the car that was in front of him. I was taken by ambulance to hospital. Nothing would have helped me that time. Oh yeah, the three kids in the car, got away.
I have also been rear ended (3) times while on motorcycles! A drunk chick rear ended my Goldwing while I was in the first position at a traffic light at the end of the freeway off ramp. Having my foot on the rear brake, and my hand on the front brake, crumpled the rear of the bike, but didn't push be far enough to reach the traffic lane. Second time, a young girl was on her cell phone, and ran into the rear of ST1100 and pushed me forward enough to just tap the bumper of the car in front of me ( I was almost a full bike length back from this car). Foot on brake saved me again. The last time (hopefully the last time) I was stopped in the third position at a red light, on my GL1500 Goldwing, when a Stolen Honda Acura, fleeing the police, smashed into me without any skid marks, brake lights, etc. They estimated the kids in the car were doing 50+ mph at the time of impact! This one completely crushed the Goldwing, knocked the engine out of the frame, sheared the exhaust off the motor, and tossed me over the car in front of me, and I landed on the truck of the car that was in front of him. I was taken by ambulance to hospital. Nothing would have helped me that time. Oh yeah, the three kids in the car, got away.
Couldn't agree anymore with Igofar. It's not really about the fear of being hit, it's about being in proper control of your vehicle.
If you wait in traffic, usually in gear or at a junction waiting to pull out it means your right hand has one job to do, i.e. throttle. Your right foot effectively becomes the handbrake.
This system is taught to all UK motorcycle Police Officers and really becomes second nature allowing smooth, methodical pull aways and yes, if some plonker decides to give you a tap from the rear of you have time to react to said plonker you are in best position to react.
FWIW.
Upt'North.
If you wait in traffic, usually in gear or at a junction waiting to pull out it means your right hand has one job to do, i.e. throttle. Your right foot effectively becomes the handbrake.
This system is taught to all UK motorcycle Police Officers and really becomes second nature allowing smooth, methodical pull aways and yes, if some plonker decides to give you a tap from the rear of you have time to react to said plonker you are in best position to react.
FWIW.
Upt'North.
I've seen shoes on the ground at the POI were people were knocked out of them and not just having them dragged off their feet.Andrew Shadow said:
I think inertia is your enemy in a rear end T/C. Your bike is struck and propelled forward and likely in almost if not every case— out from under you.
A bump would be the exception assume the energy wasn't sufficient enough to break your grip on the bars.
So the range of impact is light enough to barely move you (in which case a foot on the brake should help) to enough force to push the bike across pavement regardless of some brake being applied. Another factor is your reaction to impact. Maybe if you see it coming you can a) evade it or b) ride it out to a safe zone that's not the back of the car in front of you.
My guess is that most people will never see it coming. Boom and they're caught unaware. That strikes me (npi) as having little to no time to do a damn thing but hit the ground with the bike assuming you're not pinned against the vehicle in front of you.
I think this falls into the 'had to lay it down' category in that we'd like to think we had some actual control in/of the situation when we actually didn't.
While I do keep my right foot on the brake the reason is a practical one— a habit of living near an incline where you have to keep the bike from rolling backwards until the light changes.
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MajorTom
QuickBlue
This is an interesting discussion that has me assessing how I control my bike when stopped at an intersection. I normally use my right hand for both brake and gas when stopped, with my index and middle fingers on the brake (the same as when I'm covering the brake during riding) and the other two, plus thumb, to control the throttle and two feet on the ground. I'll try the one foot on the rear brake technique and see if I can make the change. I've been riding 45 years so that won't come easy.
One thing already mentioned, which I'll second, is leaving sufficient space between yourself and the vehicle stopped ahead of your. I believe in leaving enough space so you can easily pull up beside them, or around them, if you see headlights rapidly looming in your rear view. Space, plus lane placement (left or right of centre) provides an escape route in that scenario.
One thing already mentioned, which I'll second, is leaving sufficient space between yourself and the vehicle stopped ahead of your. I believe in leaving enough space so you can easily pull up beside them, or around them, if you see headlights rapidly looming in your rear view. Space, plus lane placement (left or right of centre) provides an escape route in that scenario.