So I am pretty new, I got my permit and am registered for MSF in a few weeks, after that I plan on getting a 250. I recently read somethere where someone was at a stop light and though they were in neutral but were in 1st and they revved and their bike flew out from under them. I am just curious, do bikes generally, or just the 250 for that matter, have some kind of indication telling you what gear you are in? or is it pretty much up to you to keep track of your shifting?

 

In the dash there is a green light to tell you you are in neutral. Another way to tell is if you push the shifter all the way down you are in first and one click up is neutral. Above that you basically have to remember but after some time it becomes second nature. I know there are some gear indicators which show you what gear your in but im not sure if they make it for the 250.

 

Yeah I figured you would probably just have a feel for it while riding, was just curious if there was any kind of indicator.

 

Sort of sounds like a story someone made up. It's possible somebody on a 250 or any other bike for that matter was revving their engine in neutral with the clutch out, and accidentally pushed down the shift lever in first, causing the bike to shoot out from under them. (You would have to be really stupid to do this, btw.)

Once you start riding, you're gonna realize you don't have to know what gear you are in. Since bikes have a sequential transmission, you have to go from one gear to the next. i.e.; 123456-654321. You can't skip a couple of gears like on a car.

 

I think the more common mistake youll make is being in a higher gear than 1st at a light then letting out the clutch and going bwaaaapppft and killing the bike after not even traveling a foot. This is most impressive when thinking your real cool while someone else is watching.

You should always sit at a light in first gear anyway so you can get out of the way of a stupid cage driver that is heading for you, usually heading for your backside. Its hard on the hand at first but youll strengthen it enough to not even notice it.

You need to make sure you pop it into first while moving to a stop, some bikes wont let you pop it into first when you arent moving you will find the 250 does this often, I have gotten into the habit of rolling back with pressure on the footlever till it drops into 1st, the other way is to let the clutch lever out slightly which will also let you pop it into first.

So with this in mind Markmenteil is probably right that someone made it up, I also remember reading the story somewhere recently cant remember where though.

It does get second nature the best advice I have is spend at least a week practicing in a parking lot before hitting the roads. I practiced starting into a turn and worked on my weak turn side for me its a right turn. I had ridden for several years but hadnt been on a bike for about 18yrs. There was something else I had a mental block about but cant remember what it was. The MSF pretty much beat most of my issues out of me

 

I can relate, did the same thing in a parking lot at the office, showing off for the girls... man, did that hurt having the bike come down on my leg. Road rash and borken pride, though I fess up to the fact I stepped down on the shifter.
Nils, just have to get use to it, thats all.

 

it's pretty easy to tell after a while of riding, i don't have an instrument cluster and never have a problem finding nuetral, the bike will stall before you have time to let out the clutch and rev the bike, so it's unlikely that happened I would assume