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1st gear or neutral at stops?

I say use context... all the above posts with keeping it in 1st at a stop light assume you're number 1 at the light, or maybe dead last, and nobody behind you.. in both cases, I too am always in 1st... but if I'm the 5th vehicle in a row of 10+ and I've got cars on my left and right, there is NO WHERE to bolt to... I'm essentially stuck.. so I put it in N and rest my arm..

As for parking.. if it's flat/level, then Neutral for me, this way I can start my bike and warm it up a bit before I hop on... if there is ANY incline/angle then it's in 1st.

context.
 
GS center stand

I put my R1100RS on the center stand while in first gear without pulling in the clutch. The wheel comes off the ground without any resistance. Maybe the GS geometry/suspension is different, but you might want to give it a try. It's also nice coming off the center stand in gear because the bike does not roll forward.

Put much load on a GS and it gets hard to put on center stand. Unloaded its a breeze. Higher off the ground and different center of mass with the bags loaded. Mine is nicknamed Sam Gamgee due to enormous cargo capacity.
 
1st always and like Newstar, leave that space. Not just an escape route because of something rolling on 'big time' behind you but because of some unsavory type's intent on blocking you and proceeding with criminal intent. With that thought, I try and position myself to one open side (as opposed to being boxed in) whenever possible. Being curbside can have some issues as well but that's a whole other discussion. Never neutral in unfamiliar stop/go high traffic situations. 1st also when parking. - Bob

Just got done with two month road construction on my commute. One lane with pilot car and no way of knowing if my gravel back routes would help any given day. Being first in line on rural highway with LOTS of cars coming from behind is not a happy place. I always stayed near the shoulder waiting for the pilot car. Yuck!
 
Stop lights, stop signs, etc. Always in gear, monitoring mirrors and ready to bolt :boltI left work one evening and was sitting behind a car at the light on a four lane road with wide median strip. I was watching a pickup approaching from the rear, FAST. I knew it was gonna get ugly:eek I gassed it and pulled well into the median strip and up past three cars about the same time he locked his brakes. Missed me and plowed the car that was in front of me. I watch the rear and leave an escape route best as I can. I park in neutral on the centerstand unless I am in my garage.

Amen to that! Glad you were watching! I watch for just that reason as well.
 
The clutch lever is so light to pull in that I don't even notice that I am doing it.
Ken Denton
I must be a wimp. My 1100rt clutch lever is very stiff. It's lubed and all, cable is not frayed, but it is harder to move than I'd prefer.
 
First gear with clutch in at the stop lights. Ready to go when traffic starts moving. Or get out of someones way if they are not paying attention. i figure if the cops do it, there must be a reason. Maybe safety or maybe to get a jump on the bad guys.
 
Your R1200R does not need to be warmed up a bit. Start it and ride away.

yeah, I don't agree with that at all... I've heard all that "new engines don't need to be warmed up" stuff from others in the past... I ALWAYS warm up my cars/truck/bike for a little bit (I don't wait for it to reach operating temp or anything like that).. The laws of Physics have not been suspended just because manufacturing technology has improved.. if anything, todays engines with tighter tolerances need warm ups even more so..

The whole warm up isn't important thing has been pushed by certain "green" elements of society and many manufacturers sign on because they know that the problems that will arise from riding an engine hard while cold will not likely manifest themselves until well after the warranty expires.

I operate multi million dollar state of the art turbine engines for a living and we have time limitations on when we can apply take off power/thrust due to heat/thermal expansion as well as oil circulation requirements... both of which apply to a 1170cc boxer.. thermodynamics 101.
 
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95% of the time I use Neutral when stopped. I always use my right foot to steady myself with my left foot on top of the gear shifter. I always watch cars approaching me from the rear. Twice over the past 40 years I have had to pull into the median before the car smashed into the car in front of me. Always had more then enough time to get it into gear and move into the median. I still have a Cyberlite. If they are looking forward, then they see the brake light. Can't miss it. Cyberlites were excessively bright, which is why their not in business.

Have tried 1st gear at the light, but a couple times I have been startled and dumped the clutch by accident. I worry more about this then car approaching from the rear. With the Cyberlite, I have very few problems. For me, neutral appears to be a better for me.

Almost all the time I use the center stand, so it's in neutral when parked. But, if on the side stand then it's in 1st.
 
yeah, I don't agree with that at all... I've heard all that "new engines don't need to be warmed up" stuff from others in the past... I ALWAYS warm up my cars/truck/bike for a little bit (I don't wait for it to reach operating temp or anything like that).. The laws of Physics have not been suspended just because manufacturing technology has improved.. if anything, todays engines with tighter tolerances need warm ups even more so..

The whole warm up isn't important thing has been pushed by certain "green" elements of society and many manufacturers sign on because they know that the problems that will arise from riding an engine hard while cold will not likely manifest themselves until well after the warranty expires.

I operate multi million dollar state of the art turbine engines for a living and we have time limitations on when we can apply take off power/thrust due to heat/thermal expansion as well as oil circulation requirements... both of which apply to a 1170cc boxer.. thermal dynamics 101.

OK, got it. Your 1170cc boxer works like a jet engine and manufacturers are OK with no warm up because it won't affect their warranty claims. Just curious, is "thermal dynamics" the same as thermodynamics? :stick

Seriously though, several oilhead owners have started their bikes, let them warm up on fast idle, and run back inside for something. Then one thing or another delayed them or they completely forgot they left the bike running. Twenty minutes later they walk out to find bad things have happened to their bikes. Once a guy even burned down his garage that way. So not knowing your background and knowledge of oilheads, it seemed prudent to pass along this bit of wisdom collected here on the forum. There are plenty of folks here who have ridden with minimal warm up, racking up well over 100K miles on their bikes.

Ride safely and enjoy that beautiful R. Love the stripe.
 
OK, got it. Your 1170cc boxer works like a jet engine and manufacturers are OK with no warm up because it won't affect their warranty claims. Just curious, is "thermal dynamics" the same as thermodynamics? :stick

Seriously though, several oilhead owners have started their bikes, let them warm up on fast idle, and run back inside for something. Then one thing or another delayed them or they completely forgot they left the bike running. Twenty minutes later they walk out to find bad things have happened to their bikes. Once a guy even burned down his garage that way. So not knowing your background and knowledge of oilheads, it seemed prudent to pass along this bit of wisdom collected here on the forum. There are plenty of folks here who have ridden with minimal warm up, racking up well over 100K miles on their bikes.

Ride safely and enjoy that beautiful R. Love the stripe.

you got me on the typo.. I think faster than I can type... but there is no difference between a jet engine and a car engine in how the metals react to heat. The only one I can think of is 100,000 miles on a motorcycle engine in term of hours is a fraction of the expected life you get from a jet engine... Conservative approach is to warm it up, even just a little.. a cold engine, with cold oil isn't ready for high power settings, much less full power. Especially one designed to be air cooled. Recip engine airplanes are even more susceptible to damage when run at high power and cold... many of those engines on smaller airplanes are 4 and 6 cylinder boxers, not much different in how they work than our 1170cc engine...

btw, the openers manual expressly states not to let it reach very high temps due to potential of fire... so common sense would say not to let it idle for 30 min in a warm garage.. The manuals exclusion of the short (30 sec to 1 min) idle before riding is largely due to the fact that it's against the law to idle vehicles in Germany (due to my above mentioned green political pressure).
 
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At red lights I clamp on the front brake, redline it in 1st with the clutch out and rear tire spinning. The flying gravel and smoke discourages anyone from rear ending me, and it keeps the tire warm for a fast gettaway just in case.







Seriously, a whole thread on keeping it in 1st or neutral? :stick
 
At red lights I clamp on the front brake, redline it in 1st with the clutch out and rear tire spinning. The flying gravel and smoke discourages anyone from rear ending me, and it keeps the tire warm for a fast gettaway just in case.


Seriously, a whole thread on keeping it in 1st or neutral? :stick

I like your safety precaution at the light. Strap some sparklers on, and you might have something there.
AND
Heck yeah! This thread is good! You're here right?
:brow
 
On a jet or airplane engine, I can understand proper engine warmup. Don't want any "hiccup" on take off.

On our BMWs, NO warmup needed, only sufficient oil pressure to turn off the oil warning light. If you are starting the bike and riding within a minute, then I'd say you're ok, though I have never done that in 165,000 trouble free miles on my 94 RS. I don't even start the bike until I am sitting on it, gear on, ready to go. I fire it up, high idle for maybe 30 seconds if that much, clutch in, 1st gear and go.
 
On a jet or airplane engine, I can understand proper engine warmup. Don't want any "hiccup" on take off.

On our BMWs, NO warmup needed, only sufficient oil pressure to turn off the oil warning light. If you are starting the bike and riding within a minute, then I'd say you're ok, though I have never done that in 165,000 trouble free miles on my 94 RS. I don't even start the bike until I am sitting on it, gear on, ready to go. I fire it up, high idle for maybe 30 seconds if that much, clutch in, 1st gear and go.


good then, we're in the same camp, and we agree..... I expressly stated NOT REACHING NORMAL OPERATING TEMP... 30 sec to 1 min idle is all you need to warm up this engine... Just as 2 minutes is all you need to warm up a jet engine, even though normal operating temps can get MUCH higher at higher power settings..

The "Ride and Go" crowd is the guys that literarily don't' idle for any period of time, but get up and go hitting 4500-5500 rpm within 5 seconds of starting a cold engine..


now if you've just ridden the bike and it's been parked for maybe 30 min, it might be plenty warm enough to get on and go... but not after it's been sitting in the garage all night at 30 degrees F and the oil is all drained into the sump...

I wanted to add one more important thing regarding the oil sump... if you take a cold bike with oil filled to the top of the window, and run the engine ... time how long it takes for that oil level to drop down to the bottom 1/4 (the normal level when it's running.. have someone hold the bike upright... see how long it takes for that oil to migrate thru the entire engine.
 
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Seriously, a whole thread on keeping it in 1st or neutral? :stick

I've seen much longer discussions about absolutely useless stuff on here... this is a major safety issue and there are a lot of good opinions to be heard about it.
 
I've seen much longer discussions about absolutely useless stuff on here... this is a major safety issue and there are a lot of good opinions to be heard about it.

A "major safety issue" yet the thread remains buried in "Oilheads."

IMHO ranks right there with "always stop your motor with the kill switch."
 
It's a pretty basic topic, but it does give me a chance to tell this story: A few weeks ago, I was sitting at a stoplight, in traffic, next to a police car. I heard the sickening squeal of tires behind me and caught a glimpse of something rushing up behind me in my mirrors. I popped the clutch and lurched forward about six feet, but there was nowhere to go. Stupid! I didn't leave an escape route. I braced for impact. There was a final shriek of rubber on pavement and... nothing. I turned around to see the front bumper of a black BMW 7 series (ironic, I know) ALMOST kissing my back wheel. The driver was clutching the steering wheel with that wide eyed deer-in-the-headlights look. (Never mind what my eyes looked like, I was wearing sunglasses.) As I glared at her, she fumbled on the seat next to her, picked up her cell phone and RESUMED HER CALL! Son-of-a...! I threw down my sidestand, killing the engine (without using the kill switch, sue me) and started to get off the bike when the cop next to me activated his lights. He waived me on with an "I got this" look, although I'm sure it was more to protect the other driver or keep me from doing something stupid. As I pulled away, I saw him motioning the car to the shoulder. There is SOME justice in the world.
 
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