Clutch always for me. Mine is a bear to hold too but I'm ready to bolt when the 16 yr old txt er comes. As for the clunk pull the clutch in and burp the throttle once or twice before putting it in gear. Worked on my bike when it was stock. Falls right in now with the Hayden as long as I wait for a second after pulling clutch

 

Clutch, ready to escape

 

Really, you need advice on this one? Do whichever you prefer.

 

Clutch always. Ready for a quick escape if needed.

 

1st gear, clutch in. I see too many bikes pull up too close to the vehicle in front of them, which will negate any escape route. I try to leave about 20' and angle the bike about 10 degrees left or right as I come to a stop. Keep an eye on your mirror. Getting rear ended is about your biggest threat when stopped in traffic.

 

If I think I'm going to have to wait a while I put it in neutral and get both feet on the ground, especially if there is a car that has stopped behind me. My bike is too heavy to sit there holding it up with my left leg. I use my front brake if I'm on an incline.

By the time I figure out a car behind me isn't going to stop I'd probably be smacked anyway. I stop to the extreme left or right behind the car ahead of me with a couple of bike lenghts between us just in case.

I know that's not the way the safety courses teach it but that's what I do.

 

That's what they taught in class! And it's what I do.

 

Yup! If you can't keep a touring bike stable doing it this way, perhaps consider getting a lighter bike, hydraulic clutch, etc.

Carl

 

I don't know about this being taught in my MSF class and if it was I wasn’t paying attention or it was too long ago and I just forgot, I guess, but if you say it is I certainly don't dispute that. However all this talk about being in a position of "escape" just doesn't make sense to me. I'm just sayin' that to me, to be sitting at a stop light, so fixated on my mirrors in anticipation of some jackwad coming at me from the rear, so that I can pop the clutch just a second or two before impact and launch myself into an intersection where there may be several other vehicles passing thru said intersection, perpendicular to my direction at speeds likely well beyond the speed said jackwad is travelling and those other vehicles "t-boning" me as I illegally enter said intersection and likely doing far more damage to me than the jackwad who might rear-end me, just sayin', to me doesn't make sense.

Furthermore, the day that I have to keep my eyes on my mirrors while idling, apprehensive that some jackwad may come barreling up my rear, that's probably the day I hang up my spurs. I wish to be enjoying my time on my bike and although that doesn't mean not paying attention, I do constantly when I ride and I feel even more so as I get older because I realize that my reflexes aren't what they were years ago. But I may sit at the stoplight with the bike in neutral and my hands folded across my chest, both feet flat on the ground. Or I may have the bike in gear, foot on brake. In gear with hand on brake right foot on highway peg, left foot on ground. There may be a few more combinations I get into without really thinking about it, but I don’t ever, ever spend the entire time at a stoplight looking into my mirrors, anticipating the jackwad. Not even with one eye.

Nobody I’ve ever heard talk on the subject of being struck from behind ever even knew it was about to happen. They realized they’d been rear-ended after they got up off the ground. Now you may say that if they had their eyes glued to their mirrors they may have seen it coming, maybe you’re right, and maybe if they did and they “escaped” into the busy intersection and got “t-boned” by one of those vehicles travelling at a high rate of speed, legally thru the intersection and completely took them out, you probably would’ve wondered why the guy ran the red light and put himself in a position of vulnerability at all, but he may never be able to tell you he thought there was a jackwad about to slam into his *** so he was escaping.

Come to think of it, I don’t believe I ever took a MSF class. When I first learned how to ride a bike it was in ’64, out in the California desert. Then when I became of licensing age I just went down to DMV and took the test. Passed it and have been riding ever since. Lots of ways to get hurt riding a motorcycle, the guy plowing into me from behind is certainly one of them. Just not the one I’m concerned about most.

Just my opinion, and like yours, I know everybody's entitled to one.

 

If I'm gonna be sitting for awhile I will go to neutral, no need to bake the clutch.