Interesting catch, and I tried it. Under 200kts it still does not work. But during this test I discovered some things.
First, when I do have the lever UP(and the wheels and instruments show it is still down), it apparently is actually up. How do I know? Well… with zero throttle, I do get that verbal warning “landing gear, landing gear, landing gear”. When I pull down the lever, and still keep throttle at zero, it stops the warning.
So, it does do something effectively with the gear, it just does not show on the instruments or the outside render of the plane.