Why 1, N, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6?

I've got two questions about shifting.

#1 - Why have displays on bikes I've seen put neutral between first and second?

#2 - I've heard a lot of people talk about first gear taking you up to incredible speeds. One salesman was telling me that on the 650cc bike he was trying to sell me, you could go 120mph in first gear. Is there any truth to this at all? If so, is it safe/advisable/something that won't hurt your bike? If it is true, doesn't this mean there's rarely any reason for anyone to get out of first gear for any reason?

I guess #2 is really more than one question, but it all pertains to the same root curiosity. Real riders, remove the blinders of my ignorance that I may see the path to a sweet ride one day.

1 because tis is the way the gear stack lines up in the transmission.

2, no.... Bikes like the R1, Busa, GSXR1000, CBR1000RR and ZX10 will just clear 100mph in first where the 600cc machines like them will hit 70mph or there abouts in 1st.

In town on any of these and you won't often be out of third.

First gear is on the bottom to get to easily. When the lever stops moving down, you know you are in first. It would be a pain if neutral were on the bottom, because you would have to click all the way down,move your foot, then up one.

I don't know of any bikes that will do 120 in first. You can go as fast in first gear as the engine will turn before redline. All bikes are different.

and the reason that you would be getting out of first, no matter how fast it will go, is that the faster you go the more RPM's your turning, and it is not a good thing to turn max RPM's for a long time in low gears (it does bad things to the transmission)

it is not a good thing to turn max RPM's for a long time in low gears (it does bad things to the transmission)

Why? The transmission doesn't care but the engine will....... Downshifting will also be an issue as the rev limiter in most cases only works on the acceleration side.

When I was riding my son's supersport Ninja ZX-6R. I could easily get it up to 70 MPH in first and was not close to redlining. I didn't want to pust it though, since it is not my bike.

And the need to go 70 - 100 in 1st gear is.....?

And the need to go 70 - 100 in 1st gear is.....?

Showboaters