Project Suzuki GSF600 Bandit Part 1 Game Changer

Modern bikes have gear position indicators, Bandits do not. Mike Cowton (below) gets help to fit one from Martin Goodwin (above!)

- Mike Cowton

I have come up with a new game. I don’t think anyone has a patent along similar lines yet, so that might be worth consideration. I have named it ‘Hunting for Neutral’.

Whilst anyone with a motorbike can play, there are bound to be many fine CMM readers that have cracked the code already, so there would be no point in you taking part, because that would be cheating.

I have to admit it isn’t much fun though, so you’re not missing much. In fact, it is possibly the most frustrating game I have ever dreamt up, and even though I say so myself, I’m damned if I can get a handle on it. You see, it all revolves around one’s left foot, the idea being to find neutral on a bike whenever you are planning on coming to a stop. Sounds simple, you might think, but in my case, try as I might, the end game is never in sight, unless I accidentally stumble upon the answer… neutral, that is.

The solution to all this comes as somewhat of an embarrassment. Although it is not in my nature, and having told you not to do so, I decided to cheat, and I’ll tell you why. All I ever wish to do is sit at idle whilst at stop lights and road junctions, having relaxed my left hand on the clutch without the bike jumping forward and stalling, because it is still in gear. It is incredibly frustrating, and not a little embarrassing when this happens, particularly as car drivers in general are not the most patient of people these days, and as I concentrate on trying to flick from what I presume is second, via neutral to first gear, I can sense their frustration about my sudden immobility, and they end up driving round me, whilst giving me the evil eye and shaking their heads. What’s more, I encounter a similar problem when I am accelerating through the gears, never knowing whether I have made it to sixth or not, even when silently counting. Did I just flick up from first to third? Goodness knows.