Almost dumped my 1100rt starting in second by mistake

[OLSENSAN]

It is a matter of preference. I do keep a sharp eyeball on my rear view just in case but to shift into 1st and gittiup is a mater of under 1 second.

[happy wanderer]

It is a matter of preference. I do keep a sharp eyeball on my rear view just in case but to shift into 1st and gittiup is a mater of under 1 second.

+1 on that! I almost got nailed from behind at a light in the city once. Very close call that is emblazened on my memory since there was a cop across the street who decided to ticket me for running the red light!

I went to court and when I explained to the judge that my choices were to book it on outta there or get nailed from behind from a guy intent on running said light the judge said better the red than dead and tossed the whole matter out of court. I think the cop was also informed he should have been paying more attention to the circumstances...

Yeah, I tend to keep an eye out after that one.

As far as the comment that using 2nd gear when the bike won't go into first well that means you need to work on the timing of how you pull your clutch and shift into gear or the transmission needs looking at.

No way it should be hard to get a bike into gear with the motor spinning and a perfectly good clutch lever in your left hand.

[26667]

I have the feeling some of the replies are off point. Me and my 1100RT do that 2nd gear thing occassionally as well.... Long day on the road, unfamiliar town/village with waaaay too many stop lights waaaaay too close together. Just "drag" the clutch a bit, give it a bit more throttle, and go. You might also downshift asap. In either case you'll be fine.

Tho' I suppose your difficulty could also have something to do with throttle body synch or injectors or whatever mechanical "issue" might keep the machine from being as responsive as it ought. It's one of the things I love about this machine: I can, to a fair degree, accelerate in the "wrong" gear. That is, if i'm say hovering around 4k because traffic gradually slowed in front of me, I can still get up to a more responsive rpm and speed pretty quickly.

[Roger 04 RT]

I have the feeling some of the replies are off point. Me and my 1100RT do that 2nd gear thing occassionally as well.... Long day on the road, unfamiliar town/village with waaaay too many stop lights waaaaay too close together. Just "drag" the clutch a bit, give it a bit more throttle, and go. You might also downshift asap. In either case you'll be fine.

Tho' I suppose your difficulty could also have something to do with throttle body synch or injectors or whatever mechanical "issue" might keep the machine from being as responsive as it ought. It's one of the things I love about this machine: I can, to a fair degree, accelerate in the "wrong" gear. That is, if i'm say hovering around 4k because traffic gradually slowed in front of me, I can still get up to a more responsive rpm and speed pretty quickly.

Just curious, what rpm do you use when you want more responsiveness than at 4000?

[bikerfish1100]

responsive power? 5000? 6000? anything in that "upstairs" range works fine for me. bike says "yes SIR, let me get that for you RIGHT NOW!!"

[26667]

Just curious, what rpm do you use when you want more responsiveness than at 4000?

same as bikerfish! ... With my 2000 R1100RT, 5k and above, and it says, "Hey!!! Let's go immediately RIGHT NOW! and let's dazzle the troops while we're at it!"

4k - 4200 is a great smooth-as-glass cruising rpm, and an "easy relaxed" flavor of acceleration. 4500 is what I'd call "smooth purposeful" acceleration.

Tho' perhaps in my first reply I should have more accurately said, "hovering just below 4k."