In a motorcycle, why is the neutral position typically above the first gear and below the second?
In: 1946
Safety. Putting neutral between 1 and 2 makes it a loss less likely you put the engine into neutral unintentionally in a dangerous situation.
Motorcycles often use engine braking to slow down. If you down shift from 2nd to 1st, and release the clutch the resistance of the motor will slow you down. If neutral was at the bottom and you miscounted your down shifts you could accidentally end up in neutral. Releasing the clutch in neutral does not slow you down. expecting the engine to slow you down and it doesn’t could cause an accident.
Another reason is downshifting to get a lower gear for more power to accelerate out of trouble and finding yourself in neutral at the bottom because of miscounted gears could also cause an accident.
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