Neutral light stuck on?

[Acton67]

So as you guys know I recently ran new clutch and brake cables. Ran air out of them today. Bike seems to shift through gears fine now but the neutral light stays on no matter what gear I'm in. Is this an electrical issue possibly or a problem with the clutch?

[hillsy]

You've moved / re-routed a bunch of wiring recently, yes?

[Designer]

So as you guys know I recently ran new clutch and brake cables. Ran air out of them today. Bike seems to shift through gears fine now but the neutral light stays on no matter what gear I'm in. Is this an electrical issue possibly or a problem with the clutch?

It is a Grounding Switch, do check of a Short in the Wire leading to it.

There is a possibility it might be that it is stuck, but I've not heard of that very often.

[Acton67]

You've moved / re-routed a bunch of wiring recently, yes?

I did, but I also changed my clutch fluid last fall because I thought I was having problems shifting the bike out of neutral. This light stuck on may have been my real issue. I didn't touch any of the wires running to the neutral switch. Just disconnected the blinker wires and handlebar controls.

So as you guys know I recently ran new clutch and brake cables. Ran air out of them today. Bike seems to shift through gears fine now but the neutral light stays on no matter what gear I'm in. Is this an electrical issue possibly or a problem with the clutch?

It is a Grounding Switch, do check of a Short in the Wire leading to it.

There is a possibility it might be that it is stuck, but I've not heard of that very often.

Where is the neutral switch located? Never worked on it before.

[Designer]

Navigator is THE expert on the 800 specifically.

But, if it is at all like the 1400, it is located behind the Chrome Side Cover, right near the Clutch Slave Cylinder.

Off the Bike,...A Neutral Switch looks kinda like this;

[Lechy]

[Designer]

Aha! So, we have TWO 800 Experts, eh?

Thanks Lechy, for posting that Picture.

I now know that the Neutral Switch is OUTSIDE the Chrome Cover on the 800!

You learn some thing new, every day!

[Acton67]

It's hard for me to tell where that is exactly. I've never taken the primary cover off before. The only cover I've taken off is the cover for the clutch slave cylinder.

Took a look at my bike and I think I know what happened. Me and my uncle where strapping the bike down to my lift table. He put the strap across these wires, one of them could possibly be going to the neutral switch? He also put the strap across the pipe going into the cylinders, think it's the pipe that carries the radiator fluid to the motor to cool it? When he started torquing the strap down where the pipe met the engine what looked like radiator fluid started leaking out. As soon as we loosened the strap the leaking stopped. My plan was to top off the radiator fluid and check to see if there was still a leak.

From what I see on the bike there's wires going into a cover that I mentioned before may have been crimped. I also see what appears to be a ground wire in the last picture attached. Are these wires to the neutral switch?


you are special images



Edit: Figured it out. It's directly below the clutch slave cylinder. The cover for the clutch slave cylinder has to be removed first. I must have crimped a wire when I changed the fluid last fall possibly. Will check it this weekend.


you are special images

[Lechy]

The orange piece is where the clutch slave is located (I removed it to give it a de-gunk). You don't need to remove the slave to access the neutral sensor. When you remove the sensor you may get a small amount of oil seepage, the sensor is quite fragile so gently does it.

[Acton67]

So I took a look at my neutral switch today. Not sure how the switch itself works and how it detects the bike is in neutral, but even with the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness the neutral light stays on. My kickstand safety switch was bypassed. All the wires leading to the switch seem to be fine. I see there's a ball bearing behind the switch that doesn't seem to be hard to press in. Any thoughts/suggestions? I don't understand how the sensor would tell me that I'm in neutral still even with it off the bike.

[Designer]

So I took a look at my neutral switch today. Not sure how the switch itself works and how it detects the bike is in neutral, but even with the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness the neutral light stays on. My kickstand safety switch was bypassed. All the wires leading to the switch seem to be fine. I see there's a ball bearing behind the switch that doesn't seem to be hard to press in. Any thoughts/suggestions? I don't understand how the sensor would tell me that I'm in neutral still even with it off the bike.

I surmise that there is a Short-to-ground somewhere along the Wiring to the Neutral Switch.

If I may make a suggestion, were I you, I would first disconnect the Neutral Switch from the Harness to see if it is along that wire.

Do that and tell us what you get.

[Acton67]

So I took a look at my neutral switch today. Not sure how the switch itself works and how it detects the bike is in neutral, but even with the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness the neutral light stays on. My kickstand safety switch was bypassed. All the wires leading to the switch seem to be fine. I see there's a ball bearing behind the switch that doesn't seem to be hard to press in. Any thoughts/suggestions? I don't understand how the sensor would tell me that I'm in neutral still even with it off the bike.

I surmise that there is a Short-to-ground somewhere along the Wiring to the Neutral Switch.

If I may make a suggestion, were I you, I would first disconnect the Neutral Switch from the Harness to see if it is along that wire.

Do that and tell us what you get.

When I disconnected the neutral switch from the harness the light turned off. With the neutral switch off the bike but connected to the harness the light should be off right? I moved the wires around and pulled on them all. The light didn't even flicker.

[Designer]

So I took a look at my neutral switch today. Not sure how the switch itself works and how it detects the bike is in neutral, but even with the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness the neutral light stays on. My kickstand safety switch was bypassed. All the wires leading to the switch seem to be fine. I see there's a ball bearing behind the switch that doesn't seem to be hard to press in. Any thoughts/suggestions? I don't understand how the sensor would tell me that I'm in neutral still even with it off the bike.

I surmise that there is a Short-to-ground somewhere along the Wiring to the Neutral Switch.If I may make a suggestion, were I you, I would first disconnect the Neutral Switch from the Harness to see if it is along that wire. Do that and tell us what you get.

When I disconnected the neutral switch from the harness the light turned off. With the neutral switch off the bike but connected to the harness the light should be off right?

Yes, it should be off because it is not grounded to anything on the Motor/Bike.

I moved the wires around and pulled on them all. The light didn't even flicker.

I assume you did this when the Switch was connected to the Harness, but attached to the Motor.
This seems to indicate a faulty Switch. Just to make sure, try grounding the switch to the bike and see if the light goes back on. Then push on the Spring loaded Ball Bearing in the Switch.

[Acton67]

So I took a look at my neutral switch today. Not sure how the switch itself works and how it detects the bike is in neutral, but even with the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness the neutral light stays on. My kickstand safety switch was bypassed. All the wires leading to the switch seem to be fine. I see there's a ball bearing behind the switch that doesn't seem to be hard to press in. Any thoughts/suggestions? I don't understand how the sensor would tell me that I'm in neutral still even with it off the bike.

I surmise that there is a Short-to-ground somewhere along the Wiring to the Neutral Switch.If I may make a suggestion, were I you, I would first disconnect the Neutral Switch from the Harness to see if it is along that wire. Do that and tell us what you get.

When I disconnected the neutral switch from the harness the light turned off. With the neutral switch off the bike but connected to the harness the light should be off right?

Yes, it should be off because it is not grounded to anything on the Motor/Bike.

I moved the wires around and pulled on them all. The light didn't even flicker.

I assume you did this when the Switch was connected to the Harness, but attached to the Motor.
This seems to indicate a faulty Switch. Just to make sure, try grounding the switch to the bike and see if the light goes back on. Then push on the Spring loaded Ball Bearing in the Switch.

Yes I had the switch connected to the harness but off the bike; meaning I took it off the bike where it's usually mounted. Behind the switch on the bike is where I found the ball bearing.

How would I go about grounding the switch and then pressing the ball bearing in to see how it works? There's already a ground wire coming off the switch to the bike and another return wire back to the harness. I know you mentioned that the switch is a grounding switch. Does that mean If I ground the surface of the switch that makes contact with the ball bearing the light should turn off?

[Designer]

Yes I had the switch connected to the harness but off the bike; meaning I took it off the bike where it's usually mounted. Behind the switch on the bike is where I found the ball bearing.

How would I go about grounding the switch and then pressing the ball bearing in to see how it works? There's already a ground wire coming off the switch to the bike and another return wire back to the harness. I know you mentioned that the switch is a grounding switch. Does that mean If I ground the surface of the switch that makes contact with the ball bearing the light should turn off?

So,...there are two wires to this Switch? That's not what is in the picture shows that hillsy posted on your other Thread is.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13590&start=13

I was going on the idea that he had it correct. So much for going with what he posted, eh?

Since it has two wires, it is not a grounding switch,...but a pass-through Switch.
I would connect it to the harness,.,...and then press the Ball Bearing to see if it turns off the neutral light to check and see if the Switch is defective.

[Acton67]

Yes I had the switch connected to the harness but off the bike; meaning I took it off the bike where it's usually mounted. Behind the switch on the bike is where I found the ball bearing.

How would I go about grounding the switch and then pressing the ball bearing in to see how it works? There's already a ground wire coming off the switch to the bike and another return wire back to the harness. I know you mentioned that the switch is a grounding switch. Does that mean If I ground the surface of the switch that makes contact with the ball bearing the light should turn off?

So,...there are two wires to this Switch? That's not what is in the picture shows that hillsy posted on your other Thread is.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13590&start=13

I was going on the idea that he had it correct. So much for going with what he posted, eh?

Since it has two wires, it is not a grounding switch,...but a pass-through Switch.
I would connect it to the harness,.,...and then press the Ball Bearing to see if it turns off the neutral light to check and see if the Switch is defective.

It's similar but not the same. It looks like this. The Blue and black wires are for the neutral switch. Green and black for kickstand switch. The long black coming off the switch grounds to the bike. My kickstand switch has been bypassed.

[Designer]

So,...there are two wires to this Switch? That's not what is in the picture shows that hillsy posted on your other Thread is. I was going on the idea that he had it correct. So much for going with what he posted, eh?
Since it has two wires, it is not a grounding switch,...but a pass-through Switch. I would connect it to the harness,.,...and then press the Ball Bearing to see if it turns off the neutral light to check and see if the Switch is defective.

It's similar but not the same. It looks like this. The Blue and black wires are for the neutral switch. Green and black for kickstand switch. The long black coming off the switch grounds to the bike. My kickstand switch has been bypassed.

Any word on what you got when you reconnected your switch and tested it by running the test I suggested?

[hillsy]

Since it has two wires, it is not a grounding switch,...but a pass-through Switch.
I would connect it to the harness,.,...and then press the Ball Bearing to see if it turns off the neutral light to check and see if the Switch is defective.

You were right the first time - it is a grounding switch. But I have no idea how you would test the switch by pressing the ball bearing on the shift shaft when the switch covers that.

If you have the switch disconnected and the neutral light is still on - then it's something other than the switch. The switch itself is really simple - the shift shaft ball bearing aligns with the contact when the bike is in neutral - and this grounds the circuit through the engine.

BTW - the image I posted that you copied was just to show him what the switch looked like when he was looking at the cases - it wasn't meant to be the exact switch with identical wiring.

[Acton67]

Since it has two wires, it is not a grounding switch,...but a pass-through Switch.
I would connect it to the harness,.,...and then press the Ball Bearing to see if it turns off the neutral light to check and see if the Switch is defective.

You were right the first time - it is a grounding switch. But I have no idea how you would test the switch by pressing the ball bearing on the shift shaft when the switch covers that.

If you have the switch disconnected and the neutral light is still on - then it's something other than the switch. The switch itself is really simple - the shift shaft ball bearing aligns with the contact when the bike is in neutral - and this grounds the circuit through the engine.

BTW - the image I posted that you copied was just to show him what the switch looked like when he was looking at the cases - it wasn't meant to be the exact switch with identical wiring.

I had the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness and the lights still on. What could this be?

[hillsy]

Since it has two wires, it is not a grounding switch,...but a pass-through Switch.
I would connect it to the harness,.,...and then press the Ball Bearing to see if it turns off the neutral light to check and see if the Switch is defective.

You were right the first time - it is a grounding switch. But I have no idea how you would test the switch by pressing the ball bearing on the shift shaft when the switch covers that.

If you have the switch disconnected and the neutral light is still on - then it's something other than the switch. The switch itself is really simple - the shift shaft ball bearing aligns with the contact when the bike is in neutral - and this grounds the circuit through the engine.

BTW - the image I posted that you copied was just to show him what the switch looked like when he was looking at the cases - it wasn't meant to be the exact switch with identical wiring.

I had the switch off the bike but still connected to the harness and the lights still on. What could this be?

The switch probably has a short. If you have a multimeter you can check the resistance between the neutral wire and the ground wires. It there is continuity then there is a short.

But first of all unplug the neutral wire from the switch / harness and see if the light is still on.

EDIT: I can see in another post where you said you unplugged the switch and the light went off. Check the switch continuity.