Newbie and neutral

[daniel]

Been on small bikes for a decade, got my big bike license last year, been riding a battered but beautiful 1993 NTV Revere ever since and loving every 'weeeee' inducing moment.

Am learning lots....caliper rebuild - tick!

I know it's "agricultural". I know it's not refined...but I love it.

However...I am getting a little fed up with the neutral issue that I understand (?) we suffer from?

The gear changes are fine. But actually selecting neutral is almost impossible going 'up' from first...and only slightly easier to find going 'down' from second.

Selecting neutral whilst rolling is easier still.

Generally though getting to neutral is lots of "first to second to first to second to neutral". Kind of having to use a very light tap to find the "middle" between 1st and 2nd.

Is this a quirk to be embraced...or a 'learning opportunity' to fix it?

Please do direct me to existing threads...I couldn't find one easily...

Thank you!!

I'm looking forward to being an active member on the site. Safe ridding, everyone.

[numpty]

Hi Daniel
I think this is one of those issues that some bikes suffer with and some don`t, and some people suffer with and others don`t . On ours, my missus hits a perfect neutral every time but I sometimes struggle with it to the point of wanting to chuck it in a hedge and put a match to it!
Make sure your gear linkage has no slack in the joints and that you have no clutch drag first of all as they can affect neutral selection. It could just be that it`s a quirk of your bike that you`ll have to live with unless you want to get brave with the spanners and strip and rebuild the gearbox!!!!

[daniel]

Jul 14, 2018 10:32:06 GMT 1 numpty said:

Hi Daniel
I think this is one of those issues that some bikes suffer with and some don`t, and some people suffer with and others don`t . On ours, my missus hits a perfect neutral every time but I sometimes struggle with it to the point of wanting to chuck it in a hedge and put a match to it!
Make sure your gear linkage has no slack in the joints and that you have no clutch drag first of all as they can affect neutral selection. It could just be that it`s a quirk of your bike that you`ll have to live with unless you want to get brave with the spanners and strip and rebuild the gearbox!!!!

Thanks numpty...I was thinking that that's likely the case... When people say 'clutch drag' is that established by putting it on the centre stand and selecting neutral...see if the wheel spins?

[numpty]

No mate , clutch drag means that the clutch isn`t fully disengaging when the lever is pulled all the way in. you can usually tell if the clutch is dragging when you select first at tickover, (make sure you`re not touching the brakes ), and the bike lurches forward slightly and the revs drop a little. If that happens, your clutch is dragging and needs adjusting, if not, you`ll just have to live with the bike being a bitch_ to get into neutral.

[Yellow Melos]

This is a common problem on lost of road bikes.. especially when they are getting older.. as long as the rest of the gears are o.k. you will get used to it.

Mine is problem when it gets hot ( fan cutting in hot ) fine when its cold. been riding the bike for a few months now so i am used to it.

[daniel]

Ok, thanks everyone.

All the gears seems ok

I think it is just one of the many things that makes my particular bike 'unique'!