I've always shut down in neutral and in fact, read somewhere that this should always be done. Does anybody know why this is? What about parking it in gear? I'm not all that familiar with transmissions and the inner workings so hopefully some of you can shed some light on this from a mechanical perspective. Thanks!!

 

I'm sure someone with a better knowlege of manual trasmissions than myself will chime in, but I've always shut down and parked my bikes/cars in first gear.

The only thing I read was that it is not recommended to rev the motor while the transmission is in neutral.

Who knows, I've racked up about 175,000 miles on manual trannys in my life, and haven't damaged one yet.

 

I shut it down in Neutral all the time, unless I am parked on a sm hill or incline, because I hate forgetting to hold in the clutch and starting when i'm in gear and the bike jerks forward and all my friends lol at me.

 

I shut down in 1st gear and park bike in same. I was instructed this way in the MSF course and have always done it (remember the acronym FINEC). When I start it up, I find neutral and then start it.

 

Clutch in is basically neutral! Doesn't matter either way. I always start and shutdown with the green light on!

 

no difference shutting down in gear or not. Park withit in gear to prevent roll. What I have read and also causes some problems with tach and speedo is the proper shut down. SHould use kill switch to shut the engine off, then turn ignition off. Starting is reverse, kill swith in run, turn ignition on, start engine. I have read it is easier to start engine with bike in neutral verses holding clutch.

 

It is much easier for the engine to start in neutral vs. in gear with the clutch pulled in

 

Why is this? I guess I'm more in need of a mechanical explanation.

 

Actually it's based upon the number of moving parts. Less starter drag.

 

So does that mean that with the clutch in there is more starter drag than simply having the bike in neutral? MSF teaches to hold the clutch in while starting even though the bike is in neutral. These are all good answers but I think they're still missing something. I like to know how and why something works, not just that it does work. It always helped me in the long run when trouble-shooting problems and even help prevent future problems.