Neutral switch actuator

[Paul Bryant]

O.K. so I'm in a real fowl mood (been dealing with the local Council all week, bunch of wimps !) I have a few things to do then I'm out on the bike for some stress relief !
So keeping my cool I do all I gotta do, go to get the bike out and the flippin (I'm being nice here !) won't flippin start !
Ignition on, both gauges sweep, all lights on, but then no neutral light.
Check I'm in neutral, yes.
Check again, yes !

I ring a mate, he says check neutral switch, so I pull it out, it's kinda gummy so clean it up and emery tape the contacts a little.
I look inside the back of the engine and pull out the little plunger and spring.
Now here's where it gets interesting, the shaft that comes out the gearbox some where has about 20-30° rotation in it.
This can't be right !
So I put the switch back together, ignition on, no neutral light.
Down into 1st, up to neutral, up to 2nd, am on my way to third (engine not running, just sitting there) and the light flicks on then off again.
So I *****around, get the light on, pull the clutch and sure enough the Engine starts, find neutral (no light) and let the clutch out, all is good.

So what is happening at the forward end of this shaft that has allowed so much rotational slop ?

Obviously in (real) neutral with no green neutral light showing the ECU is not getting a signal to allow the starter to operate.
So as it turns out this is a mechanical issue as proven above.
I guess the Engine has to be stripped to fix this issue, or alternatively can I re-set the ECU to ignore this "green light go" command ? And would there be any other issue's associated with doing this ?
I'm not interested in the safety issue of the bike not being in neutral to be able to start, I've been riding Big Bikes all my life with out the need for an ECU to Nanny me.

 

[mr hunt]

Is there a chance the bolt (#12) is loose? Not an uncommon problem.

 

[Paul Bryant]

I don't think that is a problem as the bike shifts gears O.K.
And yes, I've been there done that one
The gear lever movement moves the gears accurately enough, it's just that that shaft doesn't move accurately with the movement of the lever.

 

[idk]

With your kickstand up, you should be able to start even if not in neutral. Of course this will mean that you can't let your clutch out when you are in neutral, but at least it will get you riding. Check with TuneECU to see if it is registering each gear correctly as you shift through the gears. If not, then (depending on which tune is in the ECU) you may be running wrong tunes for each gear as well.

 

[warp9.9]

Probably wallered out and split the hole in the end of the shaft that the split roll pin goes into. Its real close to breaking thru the O.D. of the shaft from the beginning.

 

[Joesmoe]

I hope I never encounter this -- but is there a fix for this ? Say I get lucky, and purchase the @Neville Lush parts and install them, is there something to be done to or in place of that obvious weakness ?

Come to think of it, it would be neat to have a list of items one might do to the engine as part of otherwise having to go into it (alternator stator gone bad, for example).

 

[Paul Bryant]

With your kickstand up, you should be able to start even if not in neutral. Of course this will mean that you can't let your clutch out when you are in neutral, but at least it will get you riding. Check with TuneECU to see if it is registering each gear correctly as you shift through the gears. If not, then (depending on which tune is in the ECU) you may be running wrong tunes for each gear as well.

Thanks Ian, as there is so much rotational slop in this shaft I would say that the mapping would be all over the place.
As I said in my first post the neutral light came on after 2nd, but before 3rd.

 

[Paul Bryant]

Probably wallered out and split the hole in the end of the shaft that the split roll pin goes into. Its real close to breaking thru the O.D. of the shaft from the beginning.

Scot, could you show me a photo of these two bits, the selector drum and this shaft, just so I can picture this in my mind.
I'm seeing this is a "strip the Engine" fix

 

[scot in exile]

Wild guess here but could it be that nice looking exhaust causing the problem does the rat bike that you just spent a fortune on have the piece you could salvage?

 

[Paul Bryant]

Wild guess here but could it be that nice looking exhaust causing the problem does the rat bike that you just spent a fortune on have the piece you could salvage?

Yes I did consider that it was the exhaust causing all my problems Scottie, mainly cos it sounds so nice at higher RPM
And yes my rat bike does have complete Engine and I'm sure that the component that I require would be just fine from it.
The big issue is of coarse I have to strip the whole Engine to fix this problem