Here's How Kawasaki Transmissions Are Different From Almost Every Other Motorcycle
When you're driving around on a motorcycle and either come to a stop light or need to park, you're supposed to shift the engine to neutral. The annoying thing about this is that, unlike with driving a car, you don't have a simple visual selector to use for this. While the precise means of shifting depends on the kind of transmission you're using, on a manual transmission bike, the gears are shifted using a foot-based lever, the operation of which is not always an exact science. On many motorcycles, you need to "fish" for neutral, shifting a few times between first and second gear until you find the sweet spot. While it's not a horrible burden, it's not much fun either.
However, if you usually drive a Kawasaki-branded motorcycle, this irritating little pursuit may not sound familiar to you. That's not unusual, as thanks to a particular piece of technology present in their transmissions, Kawasaki bikes don't need to fish for neutral. What kind of hardware could allow for this, and how exactly does it work?
The Positive Neutral Finder
The secret to Kawasaki's easy transmission shifting is a little bit of technology called the Positive Neutral Finder. Thanks to the Positive Neutral Finder, when a Kawasaki bike is stationary and the shift lever is pressed, it won't shift into second gear. Instead, it automatically shifts into neutral gear every time. This eliminates the possibility of accidentally shifting into a different gear when parking or stopping.
The trick to this feature is a set of ball bearings within the transmission. When the motorcycle is in full motion, the balls spin around in their casing, allowing the gears to shift unhampered. When the motorcycle stops, though, the ball bearings stop spinning and lock into place. With the balls in the way, the transmission can't shift into second gear, so it defaults to neutral instead. It's a surprisingly simple little system, but it can make a big difference.
Do other motorcycles have this feature?
The Positive Neutral Finder comes standard on all Kawasaki motorcycles. Currently, Kawasaki is the only major motorcycle brand that utilizes this system or one like it on all of its vehicles. Interestingly, both Harley Davidson and Royal Enfield used Positive Neutral Finder systems in their motorcycles back in the 1930s and 1940s, respectively, but the feature is no longer standard on either brand. On the Royal Enfield Model G and 500cc Model J, this feature was called the neutral selector.
While Kawasaki is the only brand you can buy with Positive Neutral Finders built-in, it is possible to add a Positive Neutral Finder to just about any other brand of bike, thanks to aftermarket modifications. It may not work exactly the same as Kawasaki's system, with some using locking pins instead of ball bearings, for example, but the general principle is the same.
By that same token, some Kawasaki riders have said that you can manually remove the Positive Neutral Finder system from your Kawasaki bike if you find it to be unhelpful or intrusive. In theory, all you would need to do is remove the ball bearings from the transmission, and you can shift freely. This would require a strong working knowledge of Kawasaki maintenance, however, and it could also void your warranty.