Rubbermount_EVO Do you park in nuetral?

[Jimmy_Hoffa]

The manuel says not to shift when the engine isn't running, says it can hurt the tranny. I try to shift to nuetral before shutting down. On accasion I have parked in gear and started it in gear also.
The other day I parked faceing down my driveway and didn't trust the kickstand, so I put it in gear while it wasn't running. Then found nuetral before starting it. I'm gentle with it, I roll it around a little, so I'm not forcing it into gear or anything.
Is that bad for it?

[grizz420]

I park mine in gear and shift to nuetral before starting to back it out of the garage.Been doing that since new and no probs in 30K miles.
Only time I park in nuetral ,is if I leave it running.

[beuz]

Always on neutral.

[Gcram399]

99.9% of the time I put mine in nuetral before I shut it off. That way, when I want to go for a ride, I can start the bike before I get on and leave it warm up while I'm putting on my gear. It's just easier that way for me.

And just for the record, I always look for the nuetral light before I hit the starter button.

[motorend]

Almost Always in neutral. Though sometimes if forced to park on a slight grade I will leave it in first to prevent any rolling.

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by Jimmy_Hoffa

The manuel says not to shift when the engine isn't running, says it can hurt the tranny. I try to shift to nuetral before shutting down. On accasion I have parked in gear and started it in gear also.
The other day I parked faceing down my driveway and didn't trust the kickstand, so I put it in gear while it wasn't running. Then found nuetral before starting it. I'm gentle with it, I roll it around a little, so I'm not forcing it into gear or anything.
Is that bad for it?

That's the first time I've heard that! But I don't have a manual and it wouldn't surprise me at all that HD would note that. Kinda funny they would say that, yet shifting, occasional misshifts, banging through gears etc, behind 50 or more ft/lbs of torque is not a problem? Personally I try to put in neutral before I shut down, mostly because I occasionally forget to check for the green N when I fire it up, and since it doesn't have a neutral safety switch... I end up looking like the idiot I am

[~Grind~]

Depends on the grade for me. I thought it was pretty darn funny the first time I saw someone try to start their bike in gear. I also remember the first time I tried it. The crowd loved it.


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[Bob F]

99.9% of the time I put mine in neutral before I shut it off.

Unless I'm on a grade.

Also, I ALWAYS shut my scoots off with the kill switch so in an emergency I'll shut it off that way without having to think about it.

[rabidchimp]

I always park the bike in neutral. My idiot light always blew out when I replaced it, so its been "out" since 06 or so. I just always start the thing with the clutch lever pulled in, just in case. I always kick it into neutral coming to a stop too, and only put it in gear when I'm ready to roll.
-Aaron

[threat357]

I don't know why HD would say that, but I don't see what the problem would be, as long as you're holding in the clutch when doing so. I mean, odds are you're just having to drop from 1st to N.
I think the reason they tell you to park in neutral is to help minimize incidents of people starting their bikes in gear and hurting themselves or the bikes by dropping 'em. Saying it will hurt your transmission just gives people incentive to make the effort to find neutral, even if it's not really true.
I park my bike In gear about half the time, and have been doing so for the whole 13 years I've been riding with no problems.

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