Neutral problem?

[macmac]

Been there in second and shut off... Made for a piss poor get go.. I was 2 up with a trailer somewhere in Ohio.. I didn't know there was a tranny gremlin in there holding me from what I wanted to get done. Dam busy little devil...

Most bikes have a start lock out these days, side stand switch and clutch switch.

Don't by pass these and don't settle for side stand down only starts if yer a city boy. The traffic is getting to be one big angery mob....

Originally Posted by wolfman

It shouldn't start in gear with the kickstand down THAT is a safety hazard. (driving away with the kickstand down)

If you let the clutch even 1/4" out with the bike in gear and the kickstand down, the engine will stop. To actually go anywhere you have to put the kickstand up.

Originally Posted by Yellow Jacket

Down In gear In No start

OK, well they've changed it since the 2004 then.

[ells]

Mine will not start with stand up, clutch in,and in first gear, or any other gear. Never any problem getting into neutral from first or second but from second or higher can take some tapping. Per CQ, I'm headed to a wrench, probably dealer. Should have asked about this sooner. Is mine the only one? I do hear a slight clicking when hitting the starter when in first but no engaging the starter.

Mine also makes a slight clicking when I hit the starter IF THE KICK STAND IS DOWN.

Ells, I am totally confused by your bike. Logically it makes no sense to me. If your bike doesn't start in gear with the stand up, then theoretically it should stall the second you go from N to 1st with the engine running. How could the bike know the difference.

I can understand Caddmans bike if the clutch is electonincally linked in a strange way to the kickstand but your bike does not make sense to me

Originally Posted by Ells

..Never any problem getting into neutral from first or second but from second or higher can take some tapping....

I can shift through the gears if I just rock the bike forwards & backwards to keep the gears moving. Once in first or neutral, however, it won't shift up higher unless the bike's moving a few MPH. I don't know the exact speed, but just coasting along dead slow I've had it refuse to shift up to second.

Originally Posted by wolfman

Mine also makes a slight clicking when I hit the starter IF THE KICK STAND IS DOWN.

Ells, I am totally confused by your bike. Logically it makes no sense to me. If your bike doesn't start in gear with the stand up, then theoretically it should stall the second you go from N to 1st with the engine running. How could the bike know the difference.

I can understand Caddmans bike if the clutch is electonincally linked in a strange way to the kickstand but your bike does not make sense to me

Well, there is a difference between the bike continuing to run, and the starter actually being able to crank. It all depends on how things are wired.

My only though is that if you cannot start it in gear by pulling the clutch lever in and pushing the button (regardless of kickstand position), and you stall it (in any number of situations) you could be in serious trouble.

[dtrider]

Thanks again everyone for your input. I really can't remember for sure that I was in 1st gear
when I stopped. I know that I tried to downshift to be sure that I was in first, but now I am
learning that I must be there when I shut down. I will remember.
Thank You,
Don

Originally Posted by caddmannq

Well, there is a difference between the bike continuing to run, and the starter actually being able to crank. It all depends on how things are wired.

Thats true since the starter is not running all the time. Here's my theory: The safety switches are wired in series through the starter, Ells has a bad safety switch on his kickstand, (his bike thinks the kickstand is always down) Because it is wired in series through the starter the starter will not engage, but it will shift into first after the engine is running because the starter is no longer in the circut. Ells has a bad kickstand switch.

On second thought, putting the kickstand down with the engine running should kill the bike the same way the red kill switch does, so his kickstand switch is fine, something is just wired funky.

Yer, more than welcome, Don. How's life in Cincinnati?

I was born in Covington, but I haven't been back that way since 1967.

My wife is a California born Mexican, and she freaked out the first time I cooked her a Covington 5-way*. She'd never seen chili and spaghetti on the same plate.

*For the uninitiated that's chili, spaghetti, beans, cheese, and onions, served in fine chili parlors along the muddy Ohio River and points beyond.

Originally Posted by wolfman

On second thought, putting the kickstand down with the engine running should kill the bike the same way the red kill switch does, so his kickstand swith is fine, something is just wired funky.

Yeah, I don't understand either. I wish I had a later model wiring diagram but mine only go through 2004.

[blowndodge]

Covington 5-way? Sounds like Nicos been visiting the UK with SWB again!! :-)

[ells]

Okay, figured it out, just a little red-faced. Dealer maintenance chief said, "it sounds like a bad clutch safety switch." So I checked and it was unplugged but held in place by the boot. No charge. Apparently been that way since I got it last summer. Plugged it in and works like I think it should, starts in any gear, dies if you put it in gear with the stand down etc.

I thought Maw Kaw had gone overboard in making sure it was in neutral to start - doh!! At least I got pretty good at not killing it at stop lights. Bike had two owners before me with 3K mi, I wonder if it discouraged them???

Thanks all for the discussion, but guess it doesn't really address the original topic.

BTW - Welcome dtrider, hope you can sort it all out, its how business is done here.

75 deg and clear blue skies as far as I can see - I'm outahere!!! Oh yeah, the skies' blue is almost as beautiful as the bike's - man that gorgeous metal flake sparks in the high sun.

[macmac]

The wiring is the same.... The bike should start if stalled at a red light side stand up in 1st gear or 2nd with the clutch IN... Fishing to 1st might be tuff, but you can go in 2nd 2 up pulling a trailer.