Motorcycle transmission questions - 1 down 4 up?

[fanaudical]

My dad left a '69 Honda CB350 with <2500 miles on it in a storage locker when he died. and it's found a home in my garage. Officially I have no interest in riding it (am not a motorcycle guy in case the wife is reading) but the more I tinker with it to get it running the more I'm thinking about riding it. Obviously the safe thing to do should I decide to ride it is to go take the MSF beginner course and get all geared up. I think I'm most likely to get a couple friends who ride to test it out for me. But I digress:

I understand that the bike has a sequential transmission but am puzzled by the shift order. From neutral, it appears 1 is "down" and 2,3,4,5 are "up". The sequential shift stack is 1-N-2-3-4-5. Does anybody understand the rational behind that?

[unclebilly]

Pretty much every bike is like this.

Newer auto clutch bikes are all up whereas older ones were all down.

[unclebilly]

Also a cb 350 is a really cool bike. My brother had a 70 450.

[LWJ]

You have it right on the shift sequence. Neutral is sort of a 1/2 click up from 1st or down from 2nd. It can be elusive to find at times. But I don't ever notice skipping over it from 1 to 2 unless I somehow goof up and find neutral by mistake.

I have found great joy in wrenching on bikes in the last few years. I like how you can see everything as well as the simplicity. I ride a dirtbike but have a neighbor/friend who is a street rider. I am not really qualified to offer opinions on street bikes. I think there is a high probability that if you bring it over we can have neighbor/friend test it out at a local school parking lot. Shoot me a PM if you are interested.

Also, I wouldn't learn to ride on a bike that is prized or sentimental. I would learn on something slow, ugly, and forgiving. You can buy a solid TW200 for under $3000. Take the course. Gain some skills. Sell it for what you paid 6 months later.

[stevej37]

Along the same subject....

On an episode of ItchyBoots, she was pointing out some different bikes and she showed one with a left handlebar lever that she said was a quick shifter.

She didn't explain it.....How does that work?

[oldE]

Speaking from (long ago) experience, I can say the shift mechanism on a Honda 350 of that vintage is very intuitive. Tapping your way through the gears, up for a higher one, down for a lower one. From 1st to 2nd if all is functioning properly you won't hit neutral by mistake. At rest a gentle nudge from 1st should reward you with the blue light in the cluster.
Mine was a 350 CL which meant a huge rear sprocket on the rear wheel and high mounted "scrambler " pipes. Supposedly it was a dual purpose machine. In reality it meant you could climb almost any hill two up without down shifting but you were turning 1000 rpm for every 10 mph.

Best
Les

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Along the same subject....

On an episode of ItchyBoots, she was pointing out some different bikes and she showed one with a left handlebar lever that she said was a quick shifter.

She didn't explain it.....How does that work?

Broad stroke explanation is that a quick shifter is an electronic device that lets you shift without the clutch or rolling off of the throttle.

[Steve F]

Unless it is an early Norton, then it's 1 up 3 down and on the right side!

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Broad stroke explanation is that a quick shifter is an electronic device that lets you shift without the clutch or rolling off of the throttle.

Thanks...the video explains it well. I think it would be fun.
It's almost like my Civic's rev-matching feature.



.

[fanaudical]

I guess my question is "Why put Neutral between 1 and 2?"

I guess it makes sense that to find 1 you just click down until you can't. LWJ's explanation that N is something like a 1/2-click from 1 makes sense (full click bypasses N and goes straight to 2). I've yet to actually try shifting it when running (and don't have a battery yet - hopefully will get it to idle after Thanksgiving).

[unclebilly]

The reason it’s between 1st and 2nd is so that you never accidentally put it into neutral by shifting down.

This mistake could be treacherous on a dirt bike. Perhaps less so in a street bike.

You can always find 1st by shifting down and it’s intuitive to get to the rest of the gears from there. It’s not like a gear shift where you can tell where you are by looking at the shift lever.

[unclebilly]

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/1083789-why-1-down-and-4-up/?tab=comments#comment-11574930

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Along the same subject....

On an episode of ItchyBoots, she was pointing out some different bikes and she showed one with a left handlebar lever that she said was a quick shifter.

She didn't explain it.....How does that work?

I think flatbutt has it right re quickshifter in this particular case.

But, you may be interested to learn that vintage Vespa have left handlebar shifting. So you clutch with your hand on the left lever (just like on most motorcycles) and twist the grip back or forward to select gears. This leaves your left foot "free" whereas braking is set up in the traditional way (right foot and right hand).

[Sawyer911]

I reworked the ratchet shifter on my 52 Harley panhead chopper. I did 1 up to first than Neutral 2-3-4- down. It was fun to bang thru the gears quick and than lifting up to engine brake.
Oh was also a way to keep unauthorized use, always messed others up.

And than onto my 54 Harley KH with a right side shifter and left foot brake. And my 55 Harley Trike with left hand tank shifter 1st forward Neutral than 2 - 3 - Reverse.

Or try and borrow my brother in laws Indians with left hand throttle.

I still have the 54KH the others re-homed.

Sawyer

[stevej37]

^^^ That could be confusing to own and drive all those combinations.

Any bike I ever owned was 1 down 4 up.....except for my first bike, a Honda 90 step-thru. (maybe it was a Honda 50?...too long ago)

[908/930]

Prior to riding your CB350 or letting anybody else ride it how old are the tires? If it has been sitting for a while they are probably hard as a golf ball. Nice classic bike.

The reverse pattern of first being up is known as GP shifting, pretty normal for race use, easy to shift up while bike is leaned over, shifting down done prior to turn. My KTM can be configured both ways but it would just mess me up when switching bikes.

[Bill Douglas]

A great bike. Well worth the effort of new tires and a riding course.

Same as your Porsche, change the oil regularly and don't thrash it when it's cold, and it will last forever.

[Jeff Higgins]

Three out of my four bikes are left hand shift. One down five up on two of them, one down four up on the other. The odd man out is my '76 Sportster. It should be a left hand shift, since Federal law mandated that starting in 1975. It was when I bought it in 1980, but I soon converted it to right hand shift. Harley's "solution" to meeting that new Federal mandate was somewhat less than satisfactory for the first two years but, thankfully, it was quite easy to switch it over to the right side.

A lot of folks ask me how I manage to ride both configurations without screwing it all up and hitting the shifter when I want the brake. It's funny, though, I have never had a problem. I don't even really think about it. I must just flip some subconscious switch when I hop on the old Sporty.

[LWJ]

^^^Temporary sidenote. I am really not a fan of HD bikes. Don't get me started. Except. Higgins' old Sportster is pure fricken porn. Damn. That is a great looking motorcycle.

Back to the regular channel.

[otto_kretschmer]