I notice on my 2005 VFR if I redline in 1st gear and then I shift to second but I missed it because I didn't bring it high enough so I caught neutral, it won't engage smoothly if I just try to shift it into second, it grinds into second. I have to slow down to about 3000-4000rpm and then it will go in smoothly, of course I have the clutch pulled in when trying to shift. Is this normal behavior?
Yes because when you tried to grab second and let the clutch out and throttled it, you spun up the input shaft of the trans pretty high and then engaged a much slower moving gear. Don't feel bad, it happens to all of us from time to time.
I also love me some 1st to 2nd romping so I just ordered the Factory Pro Tuning EVO shift kit. I love this bike but miss the high rev shiftability of the R1 I had. The R1 was just not commutable thus my VFR purchase. I also just raised the front end and handle bars up to top position. Previous owner lowered the forks about 1 inch and lowered the bars about 3/4 inch. I like the cornering with it lowered but not at the sacrifice of hands falling asleep on 100+ mile days.
