No it wasn't a rotary shift on the 350 GTR, it was on the smaller bikes, in particular, the 90. I know, I rode a 350 GTR belonging to a friend. Tanyrate, it was never that big a problem. At the time, motorcycle gear shifts were in a state of flux. I quote
"In the 1970s and earlier, the British made bikes that shifted with the right foot. Some were down for first and up for everything else. Some were up for first and down for the rest. Then the Japanese jumped in with neutral all the way up and everything else down, or neutral down and all the rest up. To make things really interesting they also came up with a rotary shift, which went 1,2,3,4, neutral,1,2,3,4, neutral... etc. Supposedly this was to make city riding easier. All you had to do was shift down one more time, to get into neutral, as you come up to a stop light. One bike, the Bridgestone 175*,* even gave you a choice between four gear rotary shift or five gear oneup, the rest down shifting. A lever on the crankcase let you choose. Not only that, but before 1965 there was an extra neutral between fourth and fifth gears too !" In Australia, we had British, Japanese, Italian and Spanish motorcycles. You got used to thinking about what you were doing. A useful attribute in an age of narrow tyres, small cable operated drum brakes and flexible chassis with a motor capable of reaching 90 to 100 mph. Nearly as risky as barrelling down a steep hill on a bicycle with brakes that according to the maker were designed to slow you down not bring you to a stop. George Millwood Wollongong, Australia > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
