IMO, never, ever put your bike in nuetral when stopped at a light, stop sign, etc. One day down the road, sometime in your future, you will thank yourself for doing so. Your life is 100000000% more valuable than the miniscule life of a motorcycle clutch.

Again, IMO, I would have a PCIII or some type of aftermarket fuel mgmt. programmer installed right away! Your bike is very likelt running way too lean and you could possibly damage it. If you have the ability to find a bike shop that can test your air/fuel ratio it will tell you how lean you are running.

 

A few guys at the delphi forums have run their bikes with aftermarket intake/pipes and have no issues. I actually saw one dyno/af chart and it looked good. I know my Mean streak with Thunder intake and Muzzy meg needed both fuel added and subtracted in various rpm/throttle position areas. If you have a dyno in your area with a a/f sniffer, it might be worth the $15-$20 to have one pull done to see where your air/fuel ratio is. Could be very cheap $$ spent.... Troop

 

My .02..

If you are adding more air you have to add fuel. Stock bikes tend to run slightly lean for emissions reasons.... add more air and generally speaking a bike will run very lean. I have seen bike with pistons burned all the way thru from running too lean mor than once.

 

And you can put your helmet locks on either side of the neck, there is a hole on either side.

 

I agree with others above, I'd definately get your A/F ratio checked to make sure you're safe as the Meanie motor runs a bit lean in stock form, so if you're opening up both ends with more airflow, then you more than likely need to add more fuel. Troop's experience above is the exception rather than the norm on a Vulcan motor. The rule of thumb is new intake= need fuel controller.
Personally, if you've already spent the money on pipes and intake and have altered the bike from stock, I'd spend 2-3 hundred more and get a programmer anyway to get the full benefits of intake/programmer/pipes which is usually a 15-20% gain in h.p. over stock. Turns it into a whole new machine, power-wise. my .028)

 

Mine wouldn't even stay running without the PCIII installed.

 

I've never even tried to go to neutral from 2nd gear. I always go to neutral from 1st gear.

 

>>IMO, never, ever put your bike in nuetral when stopped at a light, stop sign, etc. One day down the road, sometime in your future, you will thank yourself for doing so. Your life is 100000000% more valuable than the miniscule life of a motorcycle clutch.


If your lucky and get through it we can call you crosswalk. Seriously leave it in gear. Kawi has a positive nuetral finder, you should be able to get to nuetral from 2nd. 1/2 up. I never tried it though.

 

As for the tires.....I use the MEtz ME880 on my MS. They don't have the stock size for the front, therefore, I went with the 120/70 and left the rear at stock size. I'm currently nearing the 10,000 mile mark on those tires with much treadwear remaining.

I too had an 800 Intruder but sold it after I bought the MS. I also had the Metz on it and will never use another tire unless they stop making it.

 

IMO, never, ever put your bike in nuetral when stopped at a light, stop sign, etc. One day down the road, sometime in your future, you will thank yourself for doing so. Your life is 100000000% more valuable than the miniscule life of a motorcycle clutch.

Actually, I just prefer to relax the hands a bit when stopped. Not really worried about saving the clutch. Mind if I ask why I should stay in gear when stopped? Does everyone stay in gear? I almost never do that.

I guess I'll need to buy the PCIII. I bought this bike about 1 month ago, and it already had the pipes and thunder air installed.

 

Mind if I ask why I should stay in gear when stopped? Does everyone stay in gear? I almost never do that.

Becuase you never know when you need to get out the way of someone or something. I don't do it as often as I should, but lately I've gotten better and not going into neutral until there are a few cars stopped behind me.

 

I always shift to neutral at a light, as long as I'm not in heavy traffic, like downtown Philly or something. Probably not the safest way to ride, but its not safe when my left hand is numb either. Most of time when stopped, I am watching the opposing traffic for idiots, not studying my mirrors. So if someone came up behind me and hit me, I doubt I could react in time anyways. I think its nice to be prepared an everything, but when the emergency happens, human reaction times generally are not fast enough to do anything to help.

The best way to get to neutral is to shift into first while still rolling, and then once you stop, shift up to neutral. The positive neutral finder is designed to only allow you shift up to Neutral if the bike is stopped and you are in first gear, at least to my understanding.



And you really should get the PCIII. You will be saving yourself a massive overhaul in the future.

 

Thanks guys. I'll prolly be ordering that PCIII this weekend. And I'll look for those holes for the helmet holders. I appreaciate all the great responses.

I'll prolly just stick with the 'neutral' thing when stopped. I pretty much think like Lattimer on this one. I'm just not sure I could avoid very much, even in gear, if some nimrod decides to rear-end me.

 

The best way to get to neutral is to shift into first while still rolling, and then once you stop, shift up to neutral. The positive neutral finder is designed to only allow you shift up to Neutral if the bike is stopped and you are in first gear, at least to my understanding.

My understanding is that your understanding is correct. The neutral finder is intended for going from first up into neutral. Also these gearboxes are difficult to shift down into first unless you are rolling, best to shift down before you come to a stop.

 

Suit yourself. If your not leaving an escape route at all times your asking for trouble. I know guys that have been rear ended at stoplights. A car doesn't have to be doing 60 to kill you. I can usually tell if a car is stopping or not. If he is getting close going fast I move. You can ride in front of a car beside you and get out of the way, be careful, you can ride between cars waiting at a light, you can rev the hell out of you loud pipes (if you got em) and close some of that distance you wisely left between you and the car in front of you. Or hell, you can jump off your bike and RUN AWAY RUN AWAY!
Or you can sit there in neutral making sure no one is going to run into your mug while you studying your mirrors.

Yeah thanks PNF is up from first ok. I'd go try it but...................