Shift Patterns...Still cant get over it!

[ATC-Eric]

I have an 84 that is neutral at the top, 5th at the bottom. My 85 is neutral at the bottom, 5th at the top. If you have 5 gears, and neutral is at the opposite end of 5th just roll with it.

[donwon]

thats good advice lol. just wanted to make sure I wasn't in the process of trashing it. did not know they they changed it up after a certain year. I had opportunity to purchase a motor fairly cheap but passed on it cause neutral was at the wrong end.

[tri again]

reminds me of the euro bikes vs. usa.
shifter was on the opposite SIDE of the engine.
Go to hit the brake and downshift instead.

I wonder if 'down to neutral' was a safety thing. Climb on a running autoshift bike/trike and step on the shifter by accident, and immediately go fwd.
stepping down to neutral may have been a thought.

[Degoragon]

I was reading some old posts abut shift patterns and i cannot get over the fact that my 200es was a diffrent shift pattern to everyone elses on the board. I said the parts 200es motor i had was neutral down 5 up. Its not i made a mistake. The parts motor i still have sitting in my garage is 5th all the way down and neutral all the way up.

Ok, now the 200es that i was riding when i had it (its sold now) was neutral all the way down and 5th all the way up. That is:

- 5th
- 4th
- 3rd
- 2nd
- 1st
- neutral

Some of the guys on here said that their pattern was completely opposite to this. I am COMPLETELY sure my 200es was neutral all the the way down! No doubt about it. I am also sure my parts motor is neutral all the way up.

My 250es has its neutral all the way down also, not including reverse. What is everyone elses 250es shift pattern?

Anyway does anyone have any explanation to why my old 200es had a diffrent shift pattern to everyone elses?

Thanks,

Matt

Most likely, the one with the "5 Down" was a 1984 model year engine, Honda used that shift pattern in 1984 200 Engines, oddly, it is unique to that year. other years used either the "5 up" or the "dogleg first" (1 down, 4 up,1,N,2,3,4,5). I actually like the "5-Down" better, even though my 83 has the "5-up" pattern.

[Ghostv2]

Most likely, the one with the "5 Down" was a 1984 model year engine, Honda used that shift pattern in 1984 200 Engines, oddly, it is unique to that year. other years used either the "5 up" or the "dogleg first" (1 down, 4 up,1,N,2,3,4,5). I actually like the "5-Down" better, even though my 83 has the "5-up" pattern.

That shift pattern is not unique to that year. Jump on an 82 110, has the downshift pattern. Jump on an 83 200e, same thing. 84 200s, same thing.

1985 generally speaking Honda switched to the up shift pattern. GENERALLY speaking 1984 and before were downshift. Obviously it is not the same for some models like the 83 200x, 82 250r, etc. Those sport the typical motorcycle shift pattern.

Without seeing what transmission you had on your 200es, I have no idea why it had the up shift pattern. Maybe it had a different engine, transmission, who knows.

[DohcBikes]

Yes degoragon but im sure his concerns from 12 years ago have passed

[atcmatt]

Still a damn mystery!

[Gearheadtom]

I believe that all the Honda auto clutch engines made before '85 were all shift down to upshift. '85 and up were shift up to upshift.
Kawasaki did something similar, my '86 300 Bayou was shift down to upshift, but the '88 motor in it now is opposite.

I figure it was a safety thing, so the bike couldn't get knocked into gear as easily while getting on, and so that it's easier to downshift when stopping in a hurry.

It gets confusing, jumping between my '82 185s, '84 200es, and '85 250sx. Have to think everytime before I shift.

[jakeesspoo]

I have a couple 200s. I never checked i guess to see if they are the same years or not but they have opposite shift patterns. I had one of them since high school so im most used to that one. So every time i jump on the other one it is totally confusing by habit.