Why are motorcycle transmissions designed with first gear down and the rest up so that you pass neutral going from first to second and when downshifting from second to first?

Question

Is there something inherently beneficial in this design or is it more of a holdover from old designs?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

On all of my quads, which are older, Neutral is all the way down and then 5 gears up. I still get confused when I switch between them and a bike. Newer quads seem to all have auto transmissions or a button type shifter on the handlebars.