Downshifting To 1sr Gear

Check the free play at your clutch lever
It’ll be in your owners manual

 

I agree with Dilli, almost certainly clutch adjustment.

 

If the revs are too high you may find it difficult to engage, 2nd to 1st is best done at low speed/low revs
When downshifting from 4th and going through the gears to 1st in one go I also try to release the clutch a little between gears to help engage the action, otherwise the gear lever (sometimes) feels like it is floating and not engaging any gears, a little bit of clutch helps the selector change the gear.

Just a thought
(Speed Triple 2010)

 

E by gum,
I remember, as a lad, I had a triumph that had a little foot lever on the gearbox that would take you from any gear and into neutral. Handy little thing I could do with on my Street Twin which flirts between 2nd and 1st, then back to 2nd as though there isn’t a neutral in the box.
Ken.

 

Providing clutch adjustment is ok it should not be a problem, also do you blip the throttle on downshifts as this helps by speeding up the lower gear to the higher gears speed aiding engagement.

 

Who designed the Bonneville? I know that the diaphragm clutch on the Sportster was designed by the same designer as the unit on the late Norton/Triumph models.

The Bonneville /T100 transmission was/is the 955i unit - but reversed to allow the engine styling to take the required form (small triangular right side cover, clutch cover on left). Sportsters share this feature, to retain the traditional cam cover shape and right-side drive chain.

The Sportster also has a notoriously “touchy” neutral selection. It isn’t impossible, you just have to know how it works... actually I’ve been riding my 1992 Sportster lately and it’s a very similar bike in a lot of ways, to the 865 Bonneville.

Are they by the same design team?