I was wondering what it is that triggers the neutral light. I replaced it and it still blinks when I shift, but for the most part stays on. I looked in the hole for it and saw some mechanism in there to trigger the switch but if I knew what it was I'm looking at I can troubleshoot it better.
The neutral light is triggered by a simple plunger switch located on the bevel drive housing. Single wire. If you disconnect it and the light stays on, you probably have a short to ground in the wire, itself.If it goes out, you probably have a stuck plunger in the switch.
I did replace the plunger/switch and washer with new parts. (I tried 2 spares I have while waiting for the factory parts). It only lights when plugged in so it's not the wiring, I thought it might be the part in the bevel gear (which I know Troll knows inside and out) that's not switching the plunger properly.
I just looked at the pictures I took during the repair, and also in my factory manual. The shifter wheel has some kind of "face cam" on it that may have an insert that could have fallen out (?) The manual doesn't say anything, and the pictures are not very enlightening
I have studied you Front Bevel pic's and comments also since they are a generous amount of information you collected. I was not sure if it was the pawl or the cam/shifter wheel. It's hard to tell what I'm seeing when looking in the plunger hole. I suppose I'll have to pull the bevel gear cover and see. Even when I put a DVM on the plunger it's all over the place.
Removing the bevel drive is A LOT OF WORK...just a warning. The manual says to remove the engine, but it can be done without doing that, but you have to remove the engine mounts, exhaust, swing arm....voice of experience..If it were my bike, I'd pull the bulb out, your positive neutral finder will do it's job just fine.
I think I will follow your advise since there is not problem other than the bulb being lit. Thank you for your help Troll.
Dave