| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
I had a weird one this morning. I was getting ready to take my Uly for a ride for the first time in a little over a week. I pushed the bike out of the carport, put the sidestand down, and turned the key on- no neutral light. "Hmm, that's odd." I thought maybe I'd somehow bumped the shifter when I'd put the kickstand down, but the bike seemed to be in neutral. I pulled in the clutch and hit the starter, and it fired right up. I eased out the clutch, and sure enough, it's in neutral. I pulled the clutch in with the bike running, bumped it down into first, bumped it back up to neutral, still no neutral light. I finally shut the bike down. Since I knew the bike was in neutral, I tried to start it but the engine wouldn't turn over until I pulled in the clutch. I finally climbed on to ride away, and when I leaned the bike to the right to pull up the kick stand, I seemed to hear a click and the neutral light finally came on. The only thing I can figure is that the neutral switch stuck somehow. At any rate, it worked fine for the rest of the day and is working now. Anybody else ever had a glitch like this? | ||
| Tsorl76 |
It isn't unusual for me not to see a neutral light when I reach down and hit the shifter before backing the bike out of the garage. At first I thought the same thing, that I must have bumped it into second or something only to find it was still in neutral. I usually shift it before turning on the key. I wonder if the switch needs an adjustment? | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
Can't say I've seen that problem...I've only had my Uly for little more than week. But one of the first things I did was try to start the engine in neutral w/o applying the clutch. It started. I was surprised. I figured all manufactures had clutch/starter interlocks simply for liability. Tipsy | ||
| California |
my 08 has done exactly the same thing at least twice. No neutral light under any circumstance, and then a few minutes later, it's back! I have nothing to add, it's a mystery to me! | ||
| Hughlysses |
Tipsy- the interlock requires that either you have the bike in neutral or you disengage the clutch. That's standard on modern motorcycles AFAIK. | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
My Bandit required both. I figured it was design redundancy in case the neutral switch failed in the "safe" position. What about the kick stand? Will it stay running if you select first gear with the kickstand extended? Tipsy | ||
| Dynasport |
My Harley assumes you know what you are doing. If you want to try and start the bike with it in gear or drive off with the kickstand down it will happily embarrass you in front of whoever happens to be watching. Experience is a wonderful teacher. | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
Experience is a wonderful teacher. I suppose so. I just figured most manufactures have had had the "experience" of being sued as the result of their customers stupidity and would want to protect themselves from as much liability as possible. Tipsy | ||
| Rwcfrank |
My situation was similar, I started the bike and ran it a few feet coasting to a stop. I thought I was in neutral and got off the bike while it idled. I noticed that the idle was quite high and dint know why. When I got on the bike I noticed the neutral light was not lit but the bike was in neutral. So what I took away is this thought, the idle runs high when the bike is cold and it thinks its in gear, Secondly I am very glad it didnt drop into gear and roll away and dump | ||
| Towjam |
What about the kick stand? Will it stay running if you select first gear with the kickstand extended? Domestic (US) Buells have no kickstand interlock - you can ride off with the kickstand extended. However, HDI Buells (exported outside the US) do have an interlock. | ||
| 911_racer |
my 06' doesnt have anything. it will start in gear with the kick stand down and the clutch out. I dont know why but i like it. I have had other bikes that wouldnt start cuz the safety switch got stuck leaving me stuck. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Check the neutral switch connector under the front sprocket cover. It's kind of a loose fit anyway (at least mine is) but it is easily bumped loose and if so it will cause what you're experiencing. Or the switch could be actually bad. Either way you override the switch when you pull in the lever to start the bike, but the switch will still tell the light that it's in gear even if it isn't. | ||
| Rays |
Hugh, I would check the push-on connector that Xbimmer has mentioned as a first step. The Uly neutral switch is actually a switch (not just a contact) and can go completely crazy. In my case it would switch on when the bike was in gear at times (- visions of hitting the starter with it in gear had me paranoid in the end) and at other times it would have a very resistive connection that would light the low current neutral light but cause the starter solenoid to chatter as if the battery was low. At other times (when the engine was cold), the switch wouldn't work at all - similar to what you have seen. I eventually replaced my Uly's neutral switch - it was still under warranty but the dealer couldn't reproduce the fault on several service visits (and wouldn't take my word for it) so I gave up and replaced it myself. If you do need to change the Neutral switch you will find the Workshop Manual is a little simplistic in the directions for this task. The '06 Manual has these simple instructions: 3. See Figure 7-79. Remove the wire lead (1) from neutral indicator switch (2). 4. Remove neutral indicator switch and washer (3). Well the problem is that the front pulley partially covers the switch and with the belt fitted you have no chance (if there is some 'special' tool it isn't mentioned) - even with the belt removed from the pulley a 1/2" drive 5/8" socket still won't fit. The neutral switch is mounted in a depression in the crankcase with little room for a socket so I had to grind down the socket to a 21.5mm OD to fit. Sockets vary a bit in diameter depending on whether they are 6 or 12 point so you might be OK for this dimension. To get the socket to clear the teeth on the front pulley I had to grind a further 1.5 mm off the top half of the socket. You could do the whole socket but I was lazy and only did about 1/3 of the diameter which was enough to get it loose and tighten it the last little bit. The switch is only half a dozen threads deep and not very tight at 60-84 in-lbs. The neutral switch and my 'home-brew' special tool are shown below:  With the belt removed from the front pulley this tool makes this a 5 minute job. I did it when I had the rear wheel out for a tyre change and it was dead easy. | ||
| Djm |
Anybody else ever had a glitch like this? Once so far... | ||
| Gtmg |
I have had the same problem for quite a while after I drove in a major bellywasher. The finally I drove a long run in the hot summer sun and it worked again. It was probably like this 1500 miles. I also had the milky primary thing that I changed. My feeling there was some water in there fooling in the inductive sensor into not reading. It does work now. I deferred on pulling the switch because I could see it would be a pain in the ass. It worked out for me. (Message edited by gtmg on April 27, 2008) | ||
| Ratbuell |
FWIW, the Blast is the only Buell that will not start - in gear or in neutral - until you pull in the clutch lever. HD Police bikes are the same way...and the '07/08 HDs will not start unless they see either neutral or the clutch pulled in. They will no longer jump if started in gear (although it is entertaining to watch, LOL). | ||
| Dynasport |
Experience is a wonderful teacher. I suppose so. I just figured most manufactures have had had the "experience" of being sued as the result of their customers stupidity and would want to protect themselves from as much liability as possible. Tipsy Does anyone know of a case where a motorcycle manufacturer has actually been sued by someone who tried to start their motorcycle in gear. I mean, it's embarrassing, but not generally dangerous. I have heard of people dumping their bikes by leaving the kickstand down. My guess, though, is that instead of liability issues, the manufacturers put these devices on their bikes because their customers want them, not because of liability issues. I may just be naive though. I mean, it is a motorcycle after all. It will bite when you screw up. I have screwed up on my motorcycles before. Suing the manufacturers never entered my mind. It is like someone suing Suzuki because the Hayabusa is fast and they crash. Screwy logic I think. Back on topic, I hope you get your switch fixed. Good luck. |
