Shift Dang It! Shift!

Which Gear Are You In?

My Harley is a six speed standard transmission. Prior to starting the bike, I put it in neutral. Starting in neutral frees my left hand up to do other things on the bike prior to taking off. Neutral is a funny gear to me, as nothing really happens in neutral. I’m not moving forward or backward but just sitting there while my motor warms up. No matter how much I rev up the engine, the bike does not go anywhere. I can stand on the back brake and clamp down on the front brake and still, nothing happens. There is no forward or backward movement. I’m just sitting there idling and waiting for the bike to come up to operating temperature. Once the bike is warmed up and I have everything in order for the ride, I engage the clutch with my left hand, depress the foot shifter to put the transmission in first gear, slowly release the clutch, add some throttle, and I’m on my way.

I sometimes look at life like a transmission and see people, me included, just stuck in neutral. They are not moving forward or backward and are really revving up their motors and going nowhere. Lots of energy gets expended when you are revved up, but no movement is happening. There is just a lot of noise being made. You can sit there in neutral with your engine revved up and pretty soon you run out of fuel. You can also twist the throttle to the point you can blow up your engine. In either case, you have burned a lot of fuel, energy in our case, and gotten nowhere. You’re left with either an empty fuel tank or blown motor as you are stuck in neutral.

There is a balance in life of engaging the clutch, getting in gear, adding some throttle and slowly releasing the clutch to be on your way moving down the road. As you build up speed, you shift into the next gear and repeat the process until you are cruising down the road. It all starts with getting out of neutral and in to gear.

So! Which gear are you in? Are you stuck in neutral just idling and going nowhere, or maybe revved up and making noise, or have you blown your motor? I hope the answer to all three is “nope…not in neutral…just warming up my engine to put my life in gear, and start rolling down the road of life...”

Rodney - In Gear and Engaged In Life