Ever had an embarassing moment where you accidently hit the starter before verifying your bike is in neutral? Yeah......me neither! Although I would say that if the MoCo had a system that only allowed the bike to start in neutral, it would be a good safety feature. I will confess, I know someone...lets just call him Tod, who did attempt to start my...er Tod's bike once (on my '03 Ultra) with the bike on the sidestand...thinking it was in neutral. WRONG! Boy was I surprised when the bike lurched forward. Thanks God it didn't fall off the Jiffy Stand. I never.....I mean Tod never made the same mistake again.

 

Did it once, and it got my attention in a hurry! I've been told the '09s won't start in gear without the clutch pulled. I haven't tested the theory, and don't plan to do so intentionally.

 

That's funny, I knew a guy, let's call him Tim, Tim was sitting there all smug and went to start the bike and show off the sound from the new pipes. As soon as I....er...Tim hit the button the bike lurched and he was very glad he was on the bike to hold it up so it didn't fall.

 

Just about all the other manufacturers have safety switches. My ZRX needs neutral or clutch pulled in to start, neutral switch and lever switch. There's also a sidestand switch. Let the clutch out just a hair with the sidestand down and she dies. Ever ride off with the sidestand down? (I plead the 5th. ) The downside is these switches can cause intermittent problems, cutting out, stalling at speed, wont start yada yada. Never had any problems with all the bikes I've owned over the years but it does happen. On bikes that vibrate like these maybe its a good thing they dont have 'em.

Besides, lack of idiot proofing only preverves the gene pool....


EDIT: I watched a guy hop on a sportbike once and BLAST OFF without removing his front disc lock. Cost him a couple grand and a huge chunk of pride.

 

The '07's had the interlock switch installed.

Unfortunately, I have an '06. With 106 miles on it, just arriving home from purchasing it, I had parked it in gear on the jiffy stand, and was checking the lights. Reaching up to click on the right turn signal, I hit the start button. It did a 180 on the jiffy stand before killing. I found out the value of the locking jiffy stand.

 

I almost always place the bike in neutral before starting it, I said almost. I did have a moment on my Deluxe at some distant gas station on some trip or another where I hit the starter without realizing I was in gear. Can you believe that the bike lurched forward and I was able to take off just like I planned it all along. LMAO

 

Get in the habit of pulling in the clutch before starting. Still with me from my metric days. Although when I first got my bike I did the same and nearly chit myself.

 

OK, had to try and it's true, it will not start without the clutch pulled in while in gear. Glad to know that so I can quit worrying about doing it, more than likely in a crowded area i'm sure.

 

Same here. old habits die hard and sometimes that is a good thing.

 

Wrong or right, unless I'm parked on a steep grade I always put the bike in neutral before turning it off. Also I use the ignition, not the kill switch ... does this mean I'm young or old?