Parking Bike...Neutral or no?

Bineano
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Bineano
Edited Date/Time 4/30/2021 1:22am
So been riding MX since the late 70s, and have ALWAYS parked my bikes in neutral. Street bikes too...
Easy to start and go!
Not even sure why, it’s just how it is!
I hop on my Sons bikes and he is completely opposite of me, drives me nuts!
So of course I give him sh*t, saying “You just HAVE to Son, that’s how it is!”
And of course, he says “Why Dad, bike is more stable parked in gear?”
Ok, yeah yeah, he has a point... but still!!

What does everybody do when hopping off their steeds?

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500 Mike
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500 Mike 4/27/2021 10:22pm
4/27/2021 10:22pm
Always neutral. Is there any other way? 😂
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stangkag
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stangkag 4/27/2021 10:33pm
4/27/2021 10:33pm
500 Mike wrote:
Always neutral. Is there any other way? 😂
This my entire life. Leaving it in gear would have the same feeling as watching SX without whoops, it just ain't right!
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Ted722
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Ted722 4/27/2021 10:34pm
4/27/2021 10:34pm
Does he have an electric start? If so, get rid of bike and get him a kicker. (sarcasm alert, but curious if he has the button)
Boomslang 4/27/2021 10:35pm
4/27/2021 10:35pm
Bineano wrote:
So been riding MX since the late 70s, and have ALWAYS parked my bikes in neutral. Street bikes too... Easy to start and go! Not even...
So been riding MX since the late 70s, and have ALWAYS parked my bikes in neutral. Street bikes too...
Easy to start and go!
Not even sure why, it’s just how it is!
I hop on my Sons bikes and he is completely opposite of me, drives me nuts!
So of course I give him sh*t, saying “You just HAVE to Son, that’s how it is!”
And of course, he says “Why Dad, bike is more stable parked in gear?”
Ok, yeah yeah, he has a point... but still!!

What does everybody do when hopping off their steeds?

Why that even a question.....asking for my Grandma...she is now very pissed off. Her bike has been parked in neutral since the late 1950's.
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Spudnut
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Spudnut 4/27/2021 10:36pm
4/27/2021 10:36pm

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Bineano
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Bineano 4/27/2021 10:40pm
4/27/2021 10:40pm
Ted722 wrote:
Does he have an electric start? If so, get rid of bike and get him a kicker. (sarcasm alert, but curious if he has the button)
Nope, old school kickstarters for us.
Every time I ride his bike (or he rides mine), I’m just pissed when I go to start lol.
I’m thinking everyone is the same, but shoot.... maybe not?!
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mx617
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mx617 4/27/2021 10:46pm
4/27/2021 10:46pm
Whatever is easy. If I pull up right beside the stand, it's in gear. If I have time roll it, neutral.
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scott_nz 4/27/2021 10:49pm
4/27/2021 10:49pm
I typically don’t recommend corporal punishment for children , but this might just be that line

Neutral every time for me
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Boomslang 4/27/2021 10:51pm
4/27/2021 10:51pm Edited Date/Time 4/27/2021 10:53pm
I'm repying to this out of extreme shear boredom.

Place the damn thing on a bike stand in neutral, that way you can roll the real wheel evenly when lubing the chain whilst inspecting the spoke tension and for any other potentional defects or damage such as rim cracks and those notorious sprockets bolts which in some cases tent to come loose. Also easier to check the tyre pressues with having to look for the stinking valve.

Any decent and respectful rider with leave the bike in neutral on the stand as a courtesy to those anciently impoverished mechanics.

And it aint good for the gearbox to hit the happy button whilst the bike is in gear.

Lastly and to end off...have you tried pushing the damn thing in gear....my grandpa chimed in with that question.

I'm just pulling the piss here but the leave the thing in neutral...its the right thing to do.
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Bineano
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Bineano 4/27/2021 11:03pm
4/27/2021 11:03pm
So I’m out for a Street Bike rip a year or two ago, and I’m looking for Neutral... when my Honda Gold Wing , 70-something Buds rips me a new one when doing so...
I’m like. WTF?
Old habits die hard, but maybe I’m off in my thoughts?
creature654 4/28/2021 3:09am
4/28/2021 3:09am
You guys are fucked up!28 been racing since I was 6 and EVERY time I pop the clutch while it’s in gear to shut it off and then either lean it on the house/truck/tree or put it on the stand...if I have to move it I do this crazy black magic called pulling the clutch in.
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EngIceDave
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EngIceDave 4/28/2021 3:28am
4/28/2021 3:28am
Gearbox is not a kickstand
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BikePilot
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BikePilot 4/28/2021 3:54am
4/28/2021 3:54am
I usually leave the dirt bikes on a stand in neutral, but if I’m out and about and use the kick stand on the trail bike I park in first , and the street bike I usually park In first. It’s hilly enough where I am the brake effect of being in gear helps keep it from rolling and falling over.
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Bearuno
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Bearuno 4/28/2021 4:08am
4/28/2021 4:08am
Some of us old bastards picked up the habit of stopping / 'parking' in Neutral because our earlier bikes wouldn't start otherwise.

You youngsters should count yourself lucky to have no idea about the differences between primary / non primary Kickstart mechanisms! Evil .
Last Braaap
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Last Braaap 4/28/2021 4:17am
4/28/2021 4:17am
Neutral 4 lyf

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llaliberte22 4/28/2021 4:34am
4/28/2021 4:34am
MX = neutral
Street bike = 1st gear
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Hman144
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Hman144 4/28/2021 4:55am
4/28/2021 4:55am
This. Was just going to post the same thing. Street bikes and dirt bikes is differnt.

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KMC440
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KMC440 4/28/2021 4:58am
4/28/2021 4:58am Edited Date/Time 4/28/2021 4:59am
I'm just glad I'm getting off the bike on my own and not watching someone else put it on the stand for me as they ask "what day is it, do you know where we are, do you believe in vaccines" ...

Screw it if it's in gear.
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EngIceDave
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EngIceDave 4/28/2021 4:59am
4/28/2021 4:59am
llaliberte22 wrote:
MX = neutral
Street bike = 1st gear
Agreed
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zippytech
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zippytech 4/28/2021 5:31am
4/28/2021 5:31am
I always park mine in gear.. They don't roll away as fast.
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neverwas 4/28/2021 6:00am
4/28/2021 6:00am
I always park dirt bike in neutral street bike in 1st
Funny story, one day at the track, guy next to us has his bike leaned up against his van, his buddy comes in from his race and as he rides up hits the rear wheel of the bike leaned on the van, the bike is now bump started and taking off scratching the van with the lever and rides about 25 feet before falling over still running. The guy why owns the ghost riding bike was on the other side of the van and he runs over and kills the motor and picks up his bike perplexed as to what just happened. His buddy is trying to explain but he's not getting it, my dad confirms the guys story, but he's still pissed at the five foot scratch on the van.
So another reason be to keep it in neutral and on a stand.

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Nairb#70
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Nairb#70 4/28/2021 6:14am
4/28/2021 6:14am
Yup, I always put the bike in nuetral, just a habit and learned behavior more than anything. Also it's much easier to move the bike in nuetral. Also it's much harder to find nuetral with engine not running when you want to take it off the stand. But if you want to mess with your buds, you can always put his bike in top gear whens he's not looking. Just rock it back and forth while manually upshifting. This makes for some funny antics when they realize their moto is in the chute and they're late for it.Grinning Grinning Grinning
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kNewc
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kNewc 4/28/2021 6:14am
4/28/2021 6:14am
neverwas wrote:
I always park dirt bike in neutral street bike in 1st Funny story, one day at the track, guy next to us has his bike leaned...
I always park dirt bike in neutral street bike in 1st
Funny story, one day at the track, guy next to us has his bike leaned up against his van, his buddy comes in from his race and as he rides up hits the rear wheel of the bike leaned on the van, the bike is now bump started and taking off scratching the van with the lever and rides about 25 feet before falling over still running. The guy why owns the ghost riding bike was on the other side of the van and he runs over and kills the motor and picks up his bike perplexed as to what just happened. His buddy is trying to explain but he's not getting it, my dad confirms the guys story, but he's still pissed at the five foot scratch on the van.
So another reason be to keep it in neutral and on a stand.

Bump started that easy!? Was it a 125?
Mr. Afterbar
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Mr. Afterbar 4/28/2021 6:27am
4/28/2021 6:27am
I just shift into neutral as I'm rolling up to the stand. Not sure why anyone would leave it in gear, but to each their own.
PDUB481
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PDUB481 4/28/2021 6:30am
4/28/2021 6:30am
How you going to lube your chain for next ride if its in gear ?
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neverwas 4/28/2021 6:59am
4/28/2021 6:59am
neverwas wrote:
I always park dirt bike in neutral street bike in 1st Funny story, one day at the track, guy next to us has his bike leaned...
I always park dirt bike in neutral street bike in 1st
Funny story, one day at the track, guy next to us has his bike leaned up against his van, his buddy comes in from his race and as he rides up hits the rear wheel of the bike leaned on the van, the bike is now bump started and taking off scratching the van with the lever and rides about 25 feet before falling over still running. The guy why owns the ghost riding bike was on the other side of the van and he runs over and kills the motor and picks up his bike perplexed as to what just happened. His buddy is trying to explain but he's not getting it, my dad confirms the guys story, but he's still pissed at the five foot scratch on the van.
So another reason be to keep it in neutral and on a stand.

kNewc wrote:
Bump started that easy!? Was it a 125?
1977 YZ 125, one of thr oddest things I ever saw.
Must have had a high idle or close to tdc, the planets were aligned for it to happen.
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KTMmarkus 4/28/2021 7:01am
4/28/2021 7:01am
PDUB481 wrote:
How you going to lube your chain for next ride if its in gear ?
Start the engine and lube it while the engine is turning the wheel? I thought that was the only way...
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Falcon
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Falcon 4/28/2021 8:54am
4/28/2021 8:54am
There's a small chance that if I leave my bike in gear, something heavy will fall on it, bump start it, and simultaneously stick the throttle wide open. Then it will bang around inside my garage like one of OG725's bulls with hotsauce on its eyelids, destroy everything inside, and finally get loose when it punches a hole in the garage door. All Hell will break loose after that, as it goes on a citywide tear down the main street, breaking windows and causing automobile crashes, sowing terror and starting a riot. Women and children will be petrified and scarred for life. The National Guard will be called. Eventually the bike will come to rest when it runs out of gas or seizes, all alone out in a field somewhere, lost to the weeds, making those little ticking noises that hot metal makes when it cools.

I just can't be responsible for something like that.
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J-Mill
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J-Mill 4/28/2021 12:07pm
4/28/2021 12:07pm Edited Date/Time 4/28/2021 12:08pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one getting super annoyed with my 8yr old that NEVER parks his bike in neutral... I subconsciously have always put my bike in neutral when parking it. That goes for putting it on the stand or leaning it AWAY from my truck with a tie down holding it off the side.
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FreshTopEnd
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FreshTopEnd 4/28/2021 12:12pm
4/28/2021 12:12pm
In neutral, unless leaned on the side of the van/truck rather than on a stand

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