Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech False neutral

What causes a "false neutral"? It happened when I was upshifting into fourth and got nothing but neutral! A quick squeeze of the clutch and some shifting gave me forward motion again. It's only happened twice but it was when I was accelerating hard and clicking thru the gears. I thought this only happened to Harleys!

Use a firmer foot.

it happens

There has to be a neutral position on every shift. Otherwise, the transmission would lock up while both gears are engaged. If you shift quickly and hard enough that the dogs on the shift clutch hit between the slots they are supposed to engage with enough force to keep the front and rear halves of the gearbox in sync, you will be in neutral when you let go of the shifter. Try shifting just a little slower and it shouldn't happen as much.