eli5: What’s the purpose to the 1 up 5 down shift pattern on motorcycle?

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I’m curious to why motorcycles essentially gear upwards from neutral to 1st. Then gear in the shifter down from 1st into 2nd, then 3rd and so on.

How do motorcyclists get back into neutral too? When gearing down from 2nd does it hit neutral before 1st?(and the gearbox just ignores neutral when upshifting?)

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5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because you want the full upward setting to be a gear, instead of having it be neutral and then have to shift down for 1st.

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