A couple of Qs. Has anyone managed to replace the neutral switch on a 2007 Norge 1200 without dropping the engine and/or gearbox? Looks like it is very inaccessible. My neutral switch is mostly NG although it sometimes works.
Also, when the switch is not working (no dash light), it seems to me that the idle speed is higher when in neutral. This does make some sense as it may be that when the switch IS working, it sends a message to the ECU that the bike is not in gear and to lower the idle speed. When in neutral but the switch doesn’t work, my idle speed goes up to around 1,600-1,700 rpm. When it decides to work, idle speed drops to around 1,200 rpm, which is what I’d expect. Anyone?
PS, if this happened to you, make sure that you have a functioning clutch cut-out switch as if the neutral light doesn’t work, you need to pull in the clutch to start the engine. I had to short out the clutch switch wiring while I waited for a replacement switch.
I’m not sure if this will help, but my neutral light switch (Breva 1100) failed at about 48,000 miles. At the 50,000 mile service I decide to delve into it, and you’re right it is fairly inaccessible. When I checked it out, it turned out to be fair wear and tear. The repair was simply to replace the alloy washer (1mm thick) with one 0.5mm thick (never throw anything out).
As for the increase in revs, could that just be coincidence? or possibly the stepper motor needing cleaned? or the F.I. needing checked and re-set? or a combination of everything?
Accepting that the control system on that bike is way smarter than me; I would expect the idle speed to be higher in neutral. The engine is driving less of the stuff sitting in the gearbox (oil), so is less loaded.
I could learn to live without the neutral light if fixing it became that complicated.
The switch is at the rear of the gearbox on the right hand side underneath the glove compartment to the right of the battery, it looks like a little spark plug and has a single wire running to it with a rubber boot. My first thought was the connection, which I cleaned and failed.Therfore I had to gain access to do a proper job, so everthing had to come off. Which was why I put the job off until I was doing other jobs. I can’t remember whether I had a suitable box key, socket or spanner, but I found something in my toolbox that fitted properly (rose jointed knuckles, wrists and elbows help at this point), took out the switch and cleaned it and checked that it was working. I then put as little as I could back together to check its operation, all seemed ok. I then put it all back together, and guess what? it’s not working. So, I took it apart again, checked which way the switch operated i.e. whether to use a thicker or thinner washer (I didn’t fancy doing the job a third time) and put it back together. Its been working fine ever since, but unfortunately I must have disturbed a 12 year old electical connection somewhere else and now have an intermittent red warning on the dash, the next challenge!
Thanks, MaxRevs - so it sounds like the switch can be removed (with difficulty) in situ. I have a new switch so I’ll have a look. Looks like the RH metalwork (footpeg mount and brake pedal) need to come off. I’ll have to write it up for Gambalunga.
Regarding the revs, I think it is the case that when in gear, the revs rise a bit as you let the clutch out. 1600 rpm sounds about right. If the neutral switch isn’t working, the computer might think it is in gear and let the revs rise. I found I had to pull the clutch over right back to the bar to get it back to normal 1100;idle speed when in gear. I think the idea is that it makes it less likely to stall.
You can check this by slightly letting the clutch in and out a few mm while in gear. You should see the revs alternate between 1100 and 1600 as you do this.
I also found I had to pull the clutch right back to start the bike when the neutral light was off.
If you are pulling the big metal foot peg mounting plate off, take a bit of care. I had a nightmare with this as one of the bolts supports also the centre stand mounting, so with the bike weight, it can all get a bit out of line and I had real trouble getting the bolt back in. As you are taking the RHS off I guess you could leave it on the side stand so should not have this problem. I was taking the left off to sort a starting problem which involved reconnecting a wire to the back of the starter solenoid, and cleaning up the earth wire mounting which is on that side of the gearbox.
Hello Roger, I had the same problem with the neutral light switch. All it took to fix was to clean the corrosion from the connector and pinch it a little tighter on the switch itself and dress it in WD40. No problem since. (8 years).
Once I had everything apart, there was no way I was going to reassemble with the original switch! I wrote about this in Gambalunga a couple of issues back. Had I thought, I’d have tested while the airbox was off but put in a new switch. Thanks for the info, though.