Idling whilst in 1st gear.

[MartinRedcoat]

Hello all, a quick question from a new Spyder RT Ltd 2016 owner. I'm 1500 miles into the run in period, and wonder if you more experienced riders put your bike in neutral if you are at a prolonged traffic light, or other stop? During my 40 odd years of two wheel travel, I always stayed in gear, and checked my mirrors to avoid being rear ended. Will I damage the auto gearbox/clutch system if I remain in gear, no throttle?TIA.

[Dudley]

​From my experience with 2 SE Spyders, I would not worry.

[Chupaca]

you are fine as long as you remember you are in gear...if you rev her up your gonna leap out into traffic....:yikes:

[Ex Winger]

Leave it in gear it could save your life if you need to move out of the way of some idiot texting or just not paying attention.
Bill

[SpyderAnn01]

Where I live I never seem to be the only one stopped, you can't make a quick get away if there is a car stopped in front of you. I put my Spyder in neutral since I have a manual transmission

[GearHd]

If you stop far enough back from the car in front of you and shift to either the left or right side of the lane you usually always have a place to go. In trucking it's called, "leaving yourself an out".

[Bob Denman]

Just leave it in gear: it's built for it! :thumbup:

134878

[Peter Aawen]

The reasoning behind putting a Manual into Neutral when stopped is so you don't hafta hold the clutch the entire time. Buuut, the Semi-Auto has a 'clutch' that disengages when you stop & let the engine idle anyway, so it really doesn't matter if you change to neutral or leave it in first, the clutch is still going to disengage.... So you might as well leave it in gear & have access to the potential to move if you need it - and sadly, with the number of slack drivers that are on the roads, I think that 'potential to move' is becoming the most important thing these days!!

[HayRog]

The reasoning behind putting a Manual into Neutral when stopped is so you don't hafta hold the clutch the entire time. Buuut, the Semi-Auto has a 'clutch' that disengages when you stop & let the engine idle anyway, so it really doesn't matter if you change to neutral or leave it in first, the clutch is still going to disengage.... So you might as well leave it in gear & have access to the potential to move if you need it - and sadly, with the number of slack drivers that are on the roads, I think that 'potential to move' is becoming the most important thing these days!!

:agree:

[ARtraveler]

Just keep the :spyder2: in gear for the usual stop lights. :thumbup:

[ConnieF3]

you are fine as long as you remember you are in gear...if you rev her up your gonna leap out into traffic....:yikes:

Keep your foot on the brake, just like in your 4-wheeler (Sebring Convertible for me...) :f_spider::spyder:

[MartinRedcoat]

Many thanks for all who replied; this really is an informative and friendly forum.

Safe riding to all!