[Smiley]

I got over the clunk into 1st whilst owning 2 Concours- much more pronounced with the shaft drive, the bike lurching forward. The ease of finding neutral more than makes up for the clunk. I've owned Hondas that required me to reach down and shift into neutral by hand if I wore work boots and didn't find neutral before stopping.

As for shifting gears, my V is smooth- I rarely ever use the clutch on upshifts once I'm in 2nd gear. I too tend to shift upwards of 5000 rpm. Most bikes I've ridden tend to shift a bit more coarsely below 4500 rpm. Rev that damn engine, it won't break and that's where the fun is! With a redline above 10k there is little grunt below 1/2 engine speed.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

...as a footnote, i've been running that often mentioned transmission taming oil for longer than Eduardo, and that makes it about 100 years in Canuck time, he's kinda old....

I don't know EXACTLY how old Dave (Mr jdrocks) is, but he's a good guy to listen to in referring to the V650, tho' I would advise AGAINST following his beer recommendations....

 

[jdrocks]

...I would advise AGAINST following his beer recommendations.

well folks. we find that Father Eduardo Fast is a beer snob, and the chances of finding a Canuck beer snob on the face of the earth is now exactly 1/38,929,902.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

well folks. we find that Father Eduardo Fast is a beer snob, and the chances of finding a Canuck beer snob on the face of the earth is now exactly 1/38,929,902.

Nanya, nanya, nanya!