Neutral Corner

Of all the issues I had with my R3T, this is one I NEVER had. *smiles proudly*

That said, the head scratcher for me is for a bike that is supposed to be the company's "Flagship" bike, the Rocket *seems* to have the most issues. Of course, there's no way for any of us to confirm that, but it sure appears that way from reading the different innerweb sites, and it was certainly true for me. Don't get me wrong, you'll think you bought the worst POS on the road, regardless of make and model, if you hang out in the tech area of ANY website, but the Rocket seems to have NUMEROUS issues that have been well documented on at least 3 different sites.

And for Flipper, my lifter shaft snapped in half and the freeplay was adjusted perfect (per spec) so you can't just assume it's user error. The lifter shaft in the early R3Ts was ill-designed for the task. There's a thread in here somewhere that I *think* was posted by PowerTripp that clearly illustrates (complete with pictures) the difference between the old lifter shafts and the updated piece (much beefier). But yes, you're correct that too much slop or having it too tight is only going to lead to problems. But, my point is this just another area where Triumph screwed the pooch on the early models, which again, is a real head scratcher since the Rocket is supposedly the "Flagship" bike.

Maybe, since it's the "F" bike, it got the "F" design team.

I'll freely admit that I (try to) throw her into neutral when I'm stopped. I was a professional fighter for a number of years and broke all of my fingers many, many times, leaving me with pretty nasty arthritis, not to mention 11 pieces of titanium in my hands.
My last bike (Kaw Vulcan) had their Positive Neutral Finder, which is fantastic. If the bike is stopped it locks out 2nd gear so it just bounces into neutral. I can't believe that all manufacturers don't have it.

CanberraR3 said:

I agree, it's easy to find, especially if the bike's still moving when you change down before stopping - which is actually what the owners' manual says to do. If I do stop in higher gears it's a simple matter of working the clutch in and out slightly (ie partial engagement) which makes it easier to click through each gear to find 1st or neutral. If you think you're going to want neutral, better to pull up already having changed to 1st.

Also, after starting, I let the clutch out for a couple of seconds in neutral before engaging 1st. Will give that positive engement "clunk" every time and never 'pop' out on acceleration.

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Nice one, I'm gonna try that out, I'm with Jamie here, jumping into neutral just when starting off & usually leaning it into a nice sharp exit from a parking spot, still got the habit of clunking into 1st now.

+1 on proper clutch free play adjustment. Difficulty finding neutral has always been my cue to adjust the fee play. Try it...it's free.

John where are you finding these old posts you coming to MV this May?

scot in exile said:

John where are you finding these old posts you coming to MV this May?

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I'm just perusing the site...not paying attention to the dates.

I'm going to miss out on MV this year...became unemployed back in October and am living off Unemployment, savings, and wife's earnings. The only way I could make it is if she takes a second job. I'll talk to her about it...I'll let you know what she says.

gR3yWolf said:

I'm just perusing the site...not paying attention to the dates.

I'm going to miss out on MV this year...became unemployed back in October and am living off Unemployment, savings, and wife's earnings. The only way I could make it is if she takes a second job. I'll talk to her about it...I'll let you know what she says.

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Let me know what argument you used if she goes for the second job to support you're playing on the bike. My wife isn't even working a first job.

tfrazier said:

Here's my big issue. I ride to work, and work has a gated entrance to the parking garage that requires me to slide my ID through a card reader for access. Being in the States, the reader is on my left.

My choices are:

A. Put the bike in neutral, let go of the clutch, and swipe my card
B. Reach over with my right hand and grap the clutch handle, freeing up my left hand to do the card swiping
C. Kill the bike, swipe the card, hope to get her restarted and moving before the gate arm closes again

If it happens to be one of the 9 out of ten times that neutral just doesn't want to engage, it can be very frustrating for both me and the ever increasing line of cars waiting behind me.

This is the only time I really have to depend on the ability to put her in neutral, but it is a daily occurrence. I'm actually considering designing and building some type of quick engage/release clamp for the clutch lever if nothing else can be done.

This is the only frustration I have so far with my R3. Of course, I've only owned her for a month so far.

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Some ag bikes have a clutch lock, it's a lever on the clutch lever that holds the clutch lever in, farmers like it a lot.