[MotoMike]

I've found it harder to find neutral 1.5K miles in than it was a couple hundred in. Sometimes I like to coast to a stop, so when I'm going 30 you can't shift into 1st without a horrible scraping noise. If you miss neutral you scrape first! I've got use to it but I'd think Honda could have done a better job with the transmission.

There is no problem with the transmission... for the record Honda has been manufacturing motorcycle gearboxes since the 1950's, so it's fair to say that they know what they are doing.

nayr14- you should not be trying to shift into neutral, and especially 1st gear, while doing 30 MPH... to do so is asking for trouble. You should always be in the correct gear that corresponds to the road speed you're traveling at.

 

[MotoMike]

So the transmission is designed to scrape to keep you out of first? It even happens when I'm around the teens, like 15MPH when I'd want to be in first. That doesn't seem right to me since in 2nd I wouldn't have a lot of power, but like I've said I've got use to it.

First gear is not a syncromesh gear, which is why you're hearing this 'scraping' noise (to my ear it's more of a 'clunk' sound). Regardless of how the sound is described, you really shouldn't be shifting down into first at 15 MPH either, as that is too high of a speed... you'll likely see the engine RPM's fly towards redline by doing that and possible break traction at the rear tire. There is no reason to let the clutch lever out when down shifting from 2nd to 1st... at that point you should be just using your brakes, and not trying to engine brake using 1st gear.

I don't down shift into 1st gear until just prior to rolling to a full stop, at 5 MPH or less.

I think you'll find that in 2nd gear at 15 MPH, the engine has plenty of torque and power to accelerate the bike.

Just because a company has made something for a long time doesn't mean they know better than another company in my experience.

Lol... obviously, you haven't been around motorcycles very long.