Posted by George on April 01, 2000 at 07:29:10:
In Reply to: Graduation to Intermediate Riding posted by Linnette on March 30, 2000 at 19:57:13:
For what it's worth -- I keep my bike in first gear when I'm stopped at an intersection, and I check the mirror frequently while stopped. My opinion is that the odds of getting rear-ended -- and smashed or pushed into traffic and then smashed -- are much greater than the odds of getting badly hurt if the clutch gives out. (I've been rear-ended in a car; some guy didn't stop two cars behind me and caused a chain reaction. That seems to be a relatively common occurrence at stop lights.) I also keep the hand brake pulled in, if only a little; if the clutch fails when I'm stopped like that, my reactive braking and the laws of physics should stall the bike before it gets me into serious trouble. Unlike, say, a maverick 1884 Audi 5000, an idling Savage is not an irresistible force.
Staying in gear is a habit I've had to develop since returning to riding after almost three decades: my beloved two-stroke Yamaha Catalina had an "AutoLube" system that was coupled somehow to the transmission, so keeping the clutch disengaged during a stop deprived the engine of lubrication. I still sometimes go to neutral at an intersection out of old habit, but I try to be alert to that and to put the bike into first gear immediately. Being in gear and ready to jump feels more like being in control, and that's what I want.