MSF starting with the clutch pulled in is a safety reason, plus the Buells we used would not start without the clutch pulled in. I have often wondered why Harley does not have this feature.

 

Actually, the police bikes do.

 

All my bikes always get parked in gear. BIG HINT for finding neutral, When you get on em pull the clutch in, slightly push the bike forward and now hold the front brake , neutral should be an easy find now with no presure on the tranny grears. Back when I had to kick em to start em, they went in neutral to start. But when I finally got a push button starter the clutch always gets pulled in to start em. BUT the first start of the day if she needs the choke, then she goes into neutral so she can sit and idel a half minete or so. Dut the clutch is still pulled in durring the cranking.
After they are warmed up and the rest of the day, start em the same way everytime, Gas on key on switch on clutch in start button. It gets ingrained in the brain.

 

Thanks Grover

 

Under normal circumstances, why would you ever stop or start any machine in gear.............. that's seems strange to me. Is finding neutral that puzzling??? I don't mean to come off like a wise *** but I'm standin clear of some of y'all when you stop and start yer engines, sounds dangerous.

 

I agree on this one.... I did not used to do this until one day - bumped the starter and the bike was in gear - scared the crap out of me, since then - green light / clutch in...

Also have the wife get on and off with the bike in neutral - last thing I need is for either her or me to slip and drop the clutch and have the bike in gear.... hard on the paint...lol

 

I Shut down in first if on a incline, nuetral on flat, hate it when in a hurry and hit starter and it does the lurch, new 07's have a clutch saftey switch on the lever, they needed this for a long time

 

I agree with JBA111. I always shut down in first gear. I've seen many people have problems with their bikes rolling off the side stand on a slight incline. Leaving the bike in gear prevents movement. When you get on the bike to start, pull in the clutch and rock the bike forward just a little while shifting to neutral, this will take pressure off the gear teeth and make nuetral a very easy shift. If you don't find it the first time, rock the bike again. With a little practice, it becomes routine!

 

The Police models have a starter interlock switch that is triggered by a tab on the clutch lever which is why the tabless civilian levers don't work on Police models. My RK had the interlock bypassed in the civilian conversion so I have the habit of starting the bike with both clutch and brake levers grabbed. I park/start in 1st gear for fear of the bike rolling on an incline while I'm away - 750lbs of HD can gain a bunch of momentum.

Since the starter has about a 2 HP motor, I don't see that the rolling mass of the clutch and tranny gears add much strain. (If your'e wondering: .746 kW = 1 HP)

Since I'm not familiar with the civilian models, do they have a nuetral interlock for the starter?

 

1st gear here to.