My friend just bought a 2007 F/I 1200 sportster . It only starts in neutrual???? Is that a new safety feature or does he have a problem? Thanks, JC

 

Safety feature as of 07. There is also an interlock switch on the clutch lever.

 

i have on 08 and as long as i hold in the clutch it starts when in gear.

 

It still should start in gear, as long as the clutch is pulled in.

 

Cool. New safety feature only took them over 100 years to accomplish. Sportbikes have been like this since forever. I've started mine in gear a couple times. Can't believe I never dropped it. SHAME ON HARLEY. SHAME!

 

"Shame on Harley"? Really? Because they expect their riders to have what ought to be considered the bare minimum of mechanical aptitude?

In my 15 years of riding (I know, that's not very long, but then again I'm not very old) I've never owned a bike with this interlock and I've also managed never to start a bike in gear. It's not exactly rocket science; either look for the green "Neutral" indicator before starting or pull in the clutch. If a person can't be bothered to perform such a basic check that's his own fault, not the company's fault for failing to baby him by providing an electronic nanny.

The cars I've owned also lack clutch/start interlocks and you know what? I've never started one of them in gear either.

 

I have an '07 XL883C...as long as the clutch is pulled in, it starts in any gear...

 

Not trying to start an argument. I knew someone would defend Harley and act like I'm stupid for starting my bike in gear a couple times. Just stating that it's an unsafe feature, that's all.

 

I have to agree with Zenmervolt on this one. This kind of reminds me of something I read a few years ago, about a woman that set her Winnebago on cruise control while she went to the back and made herself coffee. When the Winnebago wrecked, and she spilled piping hot coffee all over herself, causing I think 2nd degree burns, she sued Winnebago for it.

At some point, manufacturers have to realize that not everyone is going to read the manual, or have enough common sense to make their product 100% user friendly for everyone. There's always going to be that one idiot who somehow manages to screw something up.

By no means am I calling anyone an idiot, I'm simply saying that it should be common sense to check when starting your bike or car weither or not it's in gear, and if it is, use the clutch.

 

It's not in any way "unsafe"; that's absurd. "Unsafe" is something that's an active risk; simply allowing someone to make a mistake isn't "unsafe". By your logic, a manual kickstand is "unsafe" because someone might forget to put it down (or up). And before you say, "well that's not realistic" let me point out that I've seen it happen more than once.

Somehow people managed to be perfectly safe without these interlocks for almost a century of automobiles and motorcycles. These interlocks weren't common, even on Japanese machines, until the early/mid '90s; before that people simply paid attention to what they were doing and didn't try to blame their mistakes on the company that made the bike.