Can anyone comment on the 2nd gear? I have no personal experience.

 

Yup happened to me last summer

New battery did the job!

 

Yeah, I can attest to this. When I bought my F4i last year, the previous owner hadn't really taken care of the battery. It died out in the middle of freaking nowhere. So I called him up, and he told me to put the bike in second, sit on it and move with my legs as fast as I could go while holding the clutch in, and then dump the clutch completely and roll on the throttle hard. My baby started right up.

I did replace the battery, though.

 

almost all of last season starting her was a crap shoot. so i got used to push starting her. but i did it in first gear, good or bad. she even died on me at a patriot guard ride, luckily it was after the internment ceremony. they were all gravel roads, but at the bottom of the a hill was a small bridge. so i just rode her down and dumped the clutch on the bridge. the tire caught the pavement and started right up. i bought a new battery for this season, but moral of story- run fast dump clutch. and road=go. dirt road=no go.
my $.02

 

1st gear ratio is too high hence you can't get enough torque? at slow runs to spin the engine. You usually jerk the engine once you let the clutch go and this most often locks the rear wheel. 2nd gear allows a smoother run to spin up the engine. You'd appreciate the difference on dirt , rough or gravel surfaces where grip is obviously less.

Some folks say the higher jerking effect in 1st gear raises chance of wearto engine or gear box but can't really prove that.

 

I use 2nd and can do it on gravel roads wiht no rpoblem