Neutral switch failure

[MULCH63]

I attached pics of the inside of sprocket cover. If your neutral light seems to go on or stay on while in gear it may be a short. First pic is the whole bike torn down. We bought it used last year with 2800 miles. Second pic is the inside cover. Third pic shows two arrows. The red points to the kickstand switch. If you look close it is melted a bit and exposing wires against the cover. The blue arrow shows the repair under process. I cut out the exposed/burned section. Last night soldered wires and shrink tube each wire and the lower part of the harness.

jim

PS I know the chain looks rusty but bought the bike that way. I cleaned it and covered with Synthetic Gear oil. The rest of the junk I ranted about is all removable......

[SchOX]

Looks (imho) like someone has forgotten to use chain lube

[MULCH63]

Looks (imho) like someone has forgotten to use chain lube

I washed the bike before opening it. I use Simple Green and sprayed the chain. still need to PM bike.

[SchOX]

I'm not saying you forgot it, but that clutch push-rod clearly indicates that the chain has not been lubricated frequently... My '91 Kat1100 has "the same" design (I believe that all kat's has it) - and that rod is (when degrease'd) as good as new.

My bike is used a lot on wet and dirty roads (in the spring we also have salt remains on the roads - it's a nightmare for things that rust), and I have NO rust under that cover (other places has some rust, but the amount of chain-lube-remains under that cover prevents any oxidation)

[DumbLuck]

i have to agree with the above. looks like lack of proper care by the PO. no chain lube, and being put away damp or in a damp area. cant blame suzuki for that

[scottynoface]

Yup, terrible maintenance.

And isn't Simple Green an organic cleaning solution? That's cleaner, not chain lube...not even close...you sure it wasn't you who didn't lube the chain?

[2K Katrider]

Getting back on track here (not a chain maintenance thread), my neutral switch is exhibiting the opposite problem. Neutral light doesn't come on at all. Haynes manual gives information to determine if it's bad or not, mine is. Will be replacing during next weeks oil change.

Bummer is that this neutral switch keeps the kickstand interlock in place, so I can't start the bike at all in neutral if the kickstand isn't in the up position. I've already jumpered the clutch switch as it wasn't working at all, meaning no starting no matter what. Funny that all this should be happening on a 2000 Kat 600 with 1100 miles on it that I picked up in February. The thing was still new.

[bigbike-r]

you could always wire the kickstand switch up to bypass it till you sort the problem with the neutral switch out? just an idea so you can at least fire her up

[DumbLuck]

if you ground the wire leading to the neutral switch the light will stay on making the skoot think it's always in neutral till you swap out the switch

[2K Katrider]

The bike starts fine with the nonfunctional neutral switch, the kickstand just needs to be up. Not a biggie, it'll all be sorted out next week with the 4K oil change. Then I'll have a neutral light and will be able to start it up with the kickstand down.

[MULCH63]

Yup, terrible maintenance.

And isn't Simple Green an organic cleaning solution? That's cleaner, not chain lube...not even close...you sure it wasn't you who didn't lube the chain?

You need to re-read....... bottom of 1st thread. ALL my bikes get TLC. Happened to jus tdig into this one. Not ridded much and bought used.

[scottynoface]

You need to re-read....... bottom of 1st thread. ALL my bikes get TLC. Happened to jus tdig into this one. Not ridded much and bought used.

Sorry, I calls em like I see em.

Either way, that chain is dry as hell, which almost undoubtedly caused your problem.

[smokeyob]

Help!

I attached pics of the inside of sprocket cover. If your neutral light seems to go on or stay on while in gear it may be a short. First pic is the whole bike torn down. We bought it used last year with 2800 miles. Second pic is the inside cover. Third pic shows two arrows. The red points to the kickstand switch. If you look close it is melted a bit and exposing wires against the cover. The blue arrow shows the repair under process. I cut out the exposed/burned section. Last night soldered wires and shrink tube each wire and the lower part of the harness.

jim

PS I know the chain looks rusty but bought the bike that way. I cleaned it and covered with Synthetic Gear oil. The rest of the junk I ranted about is all removable......

I am having a similar problem with my neutral light. But I need urgent help from someone right now. When re-installing the cover that I removed to get to the neutral switch in your third picture, is there anything special I am supposed to do? I put the cover back on, making sure the pin was in the clutch lever mechanism, and screwed all the screws back on. My problem is, why can't I move the rear wheel anymore when the bike is in gear (with the clutch lever pulled)? I recall that when the bike is off, its very easy to roll in Neutral, and in gear, with the clutch lever pulled, there was only slight resistance to roll the bike. Now, There is a ton of resistance and I can barely move the bike. I put it on the center stand, turned it on, and switched few gears and gave it some gas, it seems fine, but I'm not sure if I was supposed to do anything special (timing related) when putting that cover back on.

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

Regarding the neutral light - It works for about 5 minutes, then the neutral light shuts off. And I don't think it has anything to do with the engine warming up, because the other day, when the bike was completely cool and sitting overnight, I turned the key to ON (bike still off), and the neutral light was working, then about 20 seconds later, the neutral light is off and non-functional.

Today, while trying to diagnose the problem again, the neutral light has been on for a good hour, and I'm waiting for it to "break" so I can run tests with a voltmeter.

[DumbLuck]

your clutch is out of adjustment now that you messed with the cover and clutch mechanism. do a search in mech 101 for clutch adjustment. there is a very good how to to be found. you have a break or bad connections somewhere. i'd start with the power up front and check each connection all the way down to the switch. power comes into the light via orange, exits as blue. at prolly the big connector block up front it changes to blue/black and runs back to the side stand diode. exits the side stand diode as blue and runs to the neutral switch. when in neutral, the switch closes and lets power go to ground thru the motor itself. any gear and the switch is open. if there is power with key on all the way down to the switch, you either didnt reassemble it right if you removed it, or have a bad switch. there is a little spring and bearing ball that likes to pop out of the motor when the switch is removed. those two pieces are what actually completes the circuit to turn on the neutral light

[smokeyob]

your clutch is out of adjustment now that you messed with the cover and clutch mechanism. do a search in mech 101 for clutch adjustment. there is a very good how to to be found. you have a break or bad connections somewhere. i'd start with the power up front and check each connection all the way down to the switch. power comes into the light via orange, exits as blue. at prolly the big connector block up front it changes to blue/black and runs back to the side stand diode. exits the side stand diode as blue and runs to the neutral switch. when in neutral, the switch closes and lets power go to ground thru the motor itself. any gear and the switch is open. if there is power with key on all the way down to the switch, you either didnt reassemble it right if you removed it, or have a bad switch. there is a little spring and bearing ball that likes to pop out of the motor when the switch is removed. those two pieces are what actually completes the circuit to turn on the neutral light

I read about clutch adjustment, perhaps I did it wrong. correct me if I'm wrong, but I need to turn the screw (under the rubber plug on the sprocket cover) clockwise all the way tight (while holding the nut), then loosen it about half a turn, while the bike is in neutral, then lock the nut. That will basically push the pin in all the way to the clutch, then release it a bit for play. After that, I need to futz around with the clutch lever cable adjustments to get lever the way I like it.

When you mention "if there is power with key on all the way down to the switch" is that when the bike is in neutral, or in gear?

Also, regarding "there is a little spring and bearing ball that likes to pop out of the motor when the switch is removed". Is that after I remove the switch, because I didn't remove it yet. I started to loosen it, but then oil started flowing out, so I tightened it back up. Is that clutch oil? After I replace the switch, where do I fill up the clutch oil?

Thanks,