Neutral \ Side Stand issue

[TripWire]

Thanks for the info Troll.  I had done some Googling and that had me looking in the wrong location too...LOL.  I will get in there this weekend and see what I can find out.

[Troll]

I was looking in the wrong place for the neutral switch... it's located on the lower side of the bevel drive, under the chrome cover on the left side of the bike...single black wire..There is a big plug in the bevel drive bore directly above it...and just to the right is the prop shaft. Sorry if I sent you on a wild goose chase......

[TripWire]

So where is the neutral switch\connection located?   thought I know where it was but I was wrong.

[chief]

I had a similar issue and discovered the switch on the clutch lever wasn't making securely connected... I had replaced the levers previously, everything ran fine at the time.

[Troll]

    If the signal going from the light to the ECU indicates the trans is in neutral, then the ECU will let the engine run. The light on the cluster finds a path to ground through the switch. If the switch is loose, or has a bad (intermittent) connection, the ground path will be lost, and the ECU will think the trans is in gear. If the stand is down, this will cause the engine to stop. If the wire were shorted to ground, the light would be on all the time and the ECU wouldn't think it was ever in gear, and the engine would continue to run no matter what. Life was so much easier when all these switches did was turn on a light...

[TripWire]

Yes, I did have the clutch released to verify that I was in neutral.  I also tried coming to a complete stop and just sitting on the bike for a minute or two to verify it wouldn't stall out on it's own.  After a minute or two I kicked out (deployed) the side stand in within a few seconds she was sputtering and then she died.  If I tried to restart her she would fire up but not stay running for more than a 5 seconds before she died but if I put the side stand back up she would run fine and not die.  The funny thing is in the morning when she is cold she will fire right up on the side stand and run.  The problem seems to only start happening one she has been run for a while.  Gonna get under there and made sure everything looks ok and try cleaning any connections I can find first and see if that helps.  I have about 3 weeks to get this figured out before I attempt my first Iron Butt run around Lake Michigan.

[chief]

I assume you'd released the clutch so you are sure it was actually in neutral. Don't ask...

[Troll]

I reread my post...left out the word switch...sorry. It should be located near the oil pressure switch, on the left side of the engine case next to the oil filter. 1 wire connects it to the harness, and it finds ground through the engine...simple circuit.

[49Reo]

The neutral switch could be on the way out; it may be starting to short out, causing the neutral light to flicker, could be it is loose, same result. If the switch doesn't prove neutral, it will stall out your bike when the side stand is put down. It could also be a bare spot in the neutral switch wiring or a loose or damaged wire in same.

Good luck, let us know how you made out.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[TripWire]

Not sure if I get what you are saying.  Could just an issue with the light itself cause the bike to stall when I deployed the side stand?  I was thinking the light flickering was related to the neutral sensor not detecting the bike was in neutral.  Just trying to form a plan of attack to correct the issue..what to look at disassemble first.

[Troll]

sounds like an electrical issue with the neutral light or the wiring harness coming from it.

[TripWire]

Have an issue with my 1500 that started yesterday.  Started bike, let her warm up and off I went for a ride.  About 40 miles down the road I pull over to take a few pictures and as I put the bike in neutral I notice the neutral light seemed to flickered every now and then.  When I kicked out the side stand the bike stuttered and then died like it would if you tried putting out your side stand and it was in gear.  Pull the side stand in and she starts right up.  She pretty much did the the rest of the ride.  When I stopped if the neutral light started to flicker and put out the side stand off went the motor.  I tried putting back into first and then back into neutral a few times but the flickering of the neutral indicator light continued.  So where should I look first?  My first thought was something with the neutral and not the side stand safety switch but it never hurts to ask before you start wrenching.