1st gear CLACK

[metalmaven_imp]

My 14 std does it too. Sounds like it is hurting something but folks seam to think its fine. I'll go with that just to ease my mind.

One thing I started doing if I know I wont be sitting long is shifting into 1st just when I get under 10mph out of second gear coming to a stop or whatever. It doesn't clunk or clank or any of that noise when I do that.. Just something to try.

[veech_imp]

If you think the clack/thunk is bad on the CB, try riding a Harley...feels like someone hit the motor with a sledge hammer shifting into first.

That's interesting. That Harley trail-of-oil-tears...the H-D guys think it's their needy pets marking their territories.

In fact it's cracked crankcases!

That's interesting. That Harley trail-of-oil-tears...the H-D guys think it's their needy pets marking their territories.

In fact it's cracked crankcases!
LOL, that's good-I never heard the trail of tears analogy. I can tell you that after 25 years of exclusively Harleys, I don't miss them even one bit. The CB is KING!

[emptysea]

My wet-clutch TW200 goes in fine.

But I've discussed the Honda clutch with two techs at two Honda bike agencies, and they all agree - mine is normal; and I'm guessing it sounds just like yours.

I don't take it out of gear at lights. If it's a long light, as many near my home are...I kill the engine. Only rarely do I put it in gear with the engine running. If I start it up cold in neutral, I'll kill it to put it in gear and restart it.

I may eventually have to buy a starter - but that's probably cheaper than a transmission rebuild.

Yeah...ummm...don't anyone think that a) it's a good idea to shut off your bike at long lights or b) that starting your bike in gear in any way saves your transmission.

The thunk (aka clack, aka clunk) is normal and is not harming your engine or transmission at all.

It may be; but the force and the jump, show something intense is happening in the gearbox and driveline.

I don't know why shutting the engine down and then restarting it would be harmful. Engine is warm; oil has been up. Those lights near home are LONG - a couple over five minutes, sometimes, to cycle. No, not a dead sensor - an idiot traffic engineer who wants to discourage people from driving; driving ANYTHING. ANYWHERE.

Shutting the engine down and then restarting it, prevents overheating or "over-warming" from long stationary idling. It's not the same as a dry-start, COLD, with no oil on the top of the engine.

I'm sure the starter wear will add up. So be it....

It may be; but the force and the jump, show something intense is happening in the gearbox and driveline.

I don't know why shutting the engine down and then restarting it would be harmful. Engine is warm; oil has been up. Those lights near home are LONG - a couple over five minutes, sometimes, to cycle. No, not a dead sensor - an idiot traffic engineer who wants to discourage people from driving; driving ANYTHING. ANYWHERE.

Shutting the engine down and then restarting it, prevents overheating or "over-warming" from long stationary idling. It's not the same as a dry-start, COLD, with no oil on the top of the engine.

I'm sure the starter wear will add up. So be it....
I don't really care much if you or anyone else chooses to start their bike in gear or in neutral; I just didn't want anyone who was reading the thread to think that doing it one way or another was anything more than personal preference. Your bike will be just fine either way.

I also don't care much if you or anyone else chooses to shut their bike down at a long stoplight; I just didn't want anyone who was reading the thread to think that it's a good idea to trade a nebulous theory that they are saving their engine for the very real risk that they will not be able to move quickly enough to avoid being run over. Again, it's a matter of personal preference, but your bike will be fine if you leave it running.

[veech_imp]

Personally, I like to shut off my bike when right in the middle of a high speed turn as I'm passing a semi on a two lane freeway...makes me feel alive.

[emptysea]

Personally, I like to shut off my bike when right in the middle of a high speed turn as I'm passing a semi on a two lane freeway...makes me feel alive.

I think I saw you shut it off when you were riding through the ravines on our ride. At least I THINK that was what happened because you were going really slow.

JK, of course.

[kmoney_imp]

All the clunk is is the gearbox and drive train losing all its combined slack when first gear is engaged. Because of the wet clutch, the drag on the plates from the oil ensures our clutch is never truely 100% released. On cable clutches you could just adjust it tighter so that it released the plates more when you pulled in, but not so much on our hydraulic system.

Bleeding the clutch can help a bit (assuming there has been enough time for small amounts of air to get in) setting the adjustable levers to their farthest position can also give you a tiny bit more pull, but otherwise it's unavoidable.

It's not like our bikes (or any bikes for that matter) make enough power at idle to beat on the drive train that hard anyway.

[flynrider]

All the clunk is is the gearbox and drive train losing all its combined slack when first gear is engaged. Because of the wet clutch, the drag on the plates from the oil ensures our clutch is never truely 100% released. On cable clutches you could just adjust it tighter so that it released the plates more when you pulled in, but not so much on our hydraulic system.

Bleeding the clutch can help a bit (assuming there has been enough time for small amounts of air to get in) setting the adjustable levers to their farthest position can also give you a tiny bit more pull, but otherwise it's unavoidable.

It's not like our bikes (or any bikes for that matter) make enough power at idle to beat on the drive train that hard anyway.

+1 If you watch the chain while shifting from neutral to first, you can see this in action.

I've had a similar 1st gear "clunk" on every chain drive bike I've owned. My CB750 is actually a bit clunkier than the CB11.

I recall this question popping up routinely over on the old Nighthawk forum. Mostly from folks that were used to shaft drive bikes that had a lot less slack in the drive train.

[JustPassinThru_imp]

My wet-clutch TW200 goes in fine.

But I've discussed the Honda clutch with two techs at two Honda bike agencies, and they all agree - mine is normal; and I'm guessing it sounds just like yours.

I don't take it out of gear at lights. If it's a long light, as many near my home are...I kill the engine. Only rarely do I put it in gear with the engine running. If I start it up cold in neutral, I'll kill it to put it in gear and restart it.

I may eventually have to buy a starter - but that's probably cheaper than a transmission rebuild.

Yeah...ummm...don't anyone think that a) it's a good idea to shut off your bike at long lights or b) that starting your bike in gear in any way saves your transmission.

The thunk (aka clack, aka clunk) is normal and is not harming your engine or transmission at all.

It may be; but the force and the jump, show something intense is happening in the gearbox and driveline.

I don't know why shutting the engine down and then restarting it would be harmful. Engine is warm; oil has been up. Those lights near home are LONG - a couple over five minutes, sometimes, to cycle. No, not a dead sensor - an idiot traffic engineer who wants to discourage people from driving; driving ANYTHING. ANYWHERE.

Shutting the engine down and then restarting it, prevents overheating or "over-warming" from long stationary idling. It's not the same as a dry-start, COLD, with no oil on the top of the engine.

I'm sure the starter wear will add up. So be it....

It may be; but the force and the jump, show something intense is happening in the gearbox and driveline.

I don't know why shutting the engine down and then restarting it would be harmful. Engine is warm; oil has been up. Those lights near home are LONG - a couple over five minutes, sometimes, to cycle. No, not a dead sensor - an idiot traffic engineer who wants to discourage people from driving; driving ANYTHING. ANYWHERE.

Shutting the engine down and then restarting it, prevents overheating or "over-warming" from long stationary idling. It's not the same as a dry-start, COLD, with no oil on the top of the engine.

I'm sure the starter wear will add up. So be it....
I don't really care much if you or anyone else chooses to start their bike in gear or in neutral; I just didn't want anyone who was reading the thread to think that doing it one way or another was anything more than personal preference. Your bike will be just fine either way.

I also don't care much if you or anyone else chooses to shut their bike down at a long stoplight; I just didn't want anyone who was reading the thread to think that it's a good idea to trade a nebulous theory that they are saving their engine for the very real risk that they will not be able to move quickly enough to avoid being run over. Again, it's a matter of personal preference, but your bike will be fine if you leave it running.

Uh...okay.

Speaking logically, I think the very-real potential for overheating an air-cooled four with no fan or forced airflow, is a greater concern than the hypothetical that something is going to happen at the rear of the twelve-car line behind me that will make me, again hypothetically, figure correctly it's safer to bust the read and dive in front of that TOWN PUMP double-trailer gasoline tanker that's bearing down on the intersection with the green.

All hypothetical, of course. In a calm moment, I can figure that if the guy twelve cars back gets rear-ended at 20 mph; he'll hit the car ahead, which wil hit the car ahead and the car ahead. Still leaving me with a six-car cushion.

Peace... Out.

[emptysea]

Sorry...again you're free to do what you choose, but I wouldn't want someone reading this thread to think that shutting your bike off at a stop light is safer than letting it idle, in gear. Also, how'd those twelve cars get lined up behind you? Did you just magically appear in a line of stopped vehicles? Oh, and if you think your only "out" in this scenario is to pull into cross traffic, you need to take/retake an MSF course.

As to the potential wear or strain on the motor due to idling for the duration of the light, I stand by my choice of the word "nebulous"-- vague, indeterminate, imprecise. I don't think there are any statistics that can correlate idling at a long stoplight directly to a shortened engine life, but even if there was a correlation, I'm trading a shorter engine lifespan for a longer Matt lifespan.

[ClassicVW_imp]

Shutting off an engine at only a long stop light is not necessary and is probably harmful. If you were in extended stop and go traffic on a hot summer day, then maybe an occasional shut down and restart is OK, but jeez, the oil cooler will handle stop lights.

I have experience with police Harleys and BMWs both the pre- and post cooling fan eras. We ran in city traffic, long stoplights and all, sometimes idling while on traffic stops, slow riding in parades and funerals, etc, and no one around me had engine damage. If we were to be stationary for a long time we would not run the engine but keep the bike "ON" because it had an extra battery and higher rate charging system. IDK if any bike runs hotter than a Harley in July, and we had temperature gauges on the bikes. Do you know what happens for a couple of minutes after you shut the bike down in hot traffic? The temperature actually rises for a short time before it starts to go down. So you may be actually doing more harm to your engine if you shut it down at lights. And what about those restarts after the oil has drained into the sump? Most engine wear occurs at startups.