I realize that first can be used if I'm stopped on a incline to get going again but to me it's really not needed on flat roads. I even skip gears .... say like 3 to 5 sometimes. Forth is there but isn't really needed. I had a older fellow biker tell me of these methods and was skeptic until I started trying it. But just wondering if I was the only one. The way I engage the clutch is in a safe manner instead of burning it up.
 
As far as popping out of first gear my bike will do it every time if pull the clutch in and wait to long before dropping it in first. If I pull the clutch in and put in gear right away it engages properly and never pops out but if I pull the clutch in wait for the gears to stop moving before I put it in gear then it will be very quiet (no clunk) as it goes in to gear but it won't be fully engaged and we'll pop out before I get across the intersection. Motorcycle transmissions need to be rotating when shifting for the gears to engage fully. Evidence of this it's try shifting through all the gears with the engine of and bike not rolling to really be able to see this.
 
Just to be safe I would hook up to the ECU to see if it is recognizing all the other gears plus Neutral so I could at least tell if it can send the right timing signals for the gears. I suppose I could live without a Neutral map ignition but not a loss of the others. Other then that clutch adjust and proper oil. Good oil is cheaper than good engine parts!!!!!

Oh and while I was in the ECU I would wake the beast up that is hidden inside her !!!!!
 
As far as popping out of first gear my bike will do it every time if pull the clutch in and wait to long before dropping it in first. If I pull the clutch in and put in gear right away it engages properly and never pops out but if I pull the clutch in wait for the gears to stop moving before I put it in gear then it will be very quiet (no clunk) as it goes in to gear but it won't be fully engaged and we'll pop out before I get across the intersection. Motorcycle transmissions need to be rotating when shifting for the gears to engage fully. Evidence of this it's try shifting through all the gears with the engine of and bike not rolling to really be able to see this.

You've got this right @Ridefree, I figured that out shortly after I got my bike. You have to pop it into 1st right after you pull the clutch in or it won't engage fully every time. I also had a problem with the neutral light and getting my bike to read neutral. I finally got my dealer to replace the gear position sensor (after calling Triumph) and that solved my problem with my bike not showing neutral. I have also have read that loosening the gear position sensors slightly can help with the problem. My problem was not finding neutral from second but rather the sensor not showing neutral when it was in neutral. If the gear position sensor didn't tell the ECU it was in neutral by way of the sensor, it would kill the engine when I put the kickstand down to try and get off the bike with the engine running. This would happen even though the bike was in fact in neutral.
 
I would be a dead man twice over. One foot down and in first with clutch pulled at all stop lights and signs. Twice in the last five years had to jump real quick to avoid being rear ended by morons.
 
A lot of times I start off in second from a stop sign or red light because starting off in first it doesn't take long at all I have to shift to second. The R3 engine has so much torque that it doesn't struggle starting off in second.

However is there a downside to this? Bad on the clutch, other parts etc...?
YES going down to 1st gear and then to neutral and or you can pull away using 2nd gear as the Rocket has no problem with all the TRQ it produces and it wont harm anything and there is the gear position indicator on the engine so if you loosen it and move it to adjust it so the neutral light comes on .
 
I did start by adjusting the clutch cable. What concerns me is that I do find the neutral from second, but the green light indicating neutral will not go on, And if I shift into first from this position, the first will pop out as soon as I start moving.
When you drop from second to Neutral if the light isnt on slightly let your clutch out, it'll come on , mine does it all the time.
 
Downshifting the rocket at times is a little tricky. Truimph did design the bike with a first gear for a reason. I am kind of a simple guy to me it seems that if you are going to take off from a light or stop sign it would make sense to take off in first. I believe that is what triumph had in mind when they geared the bike.
 
Hi, I don’t know how old your post is but I just bought a Rocket. I can tell you my Harley, an 08, had trouble finding neutral. I’d go from second to first then first to second, I often thought my bike didn’t have a neutral. After 20,000 miles I had to replace the bearing between the clutches and transmission. After that finding neutral was like butter. I get my rocket in a couple of weeks.
 
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