I guess this is an old topic. My Norge has an intermittent neutral light. Sometimes it flickers. Sometimes it is difficult to get it to come on at all. The trick seems to be to put the bike on the centre stand, the slight bump seems to remake the contact!
Normally I would put this down to Guzzi character, but the problem is the bike won’t start unless the neutral light is on, even if I pull the clutch in (which I always do anyway). I assume this is a safety feature.
So I would like to check and clean the neutral switch. I have seen from Guzzitech forum that the switch is on the back of the gearbox, but wondering if anyone has any great tips regarding access and recognising the part? What is the quickest and easiest way to get to it?
No specific knowledge of the Norge, but on the older models it is on top of the gearbox, slightly to the left behind the starter motor. I doubt if they have moved it. All it is is a piece of copper that malkes contact with a bobble on the selector drum. When the drum is in the neutral position, it completes a circuit to earth and the light lights up. That bit is pretty bullet proof. The problem is more likely to be a corroded connection somwhere behind the dash or on it’s way to the gearbox. If you can get at it, pull the connector off and touch it onto the gearbox casing. That should make it flash on and off as you touch it to the metal if the contacts are all good.
I had a similar problem with my Breva 1100, so I cleaned all the wiring connections.
Now the neutral light is on constantly! Oh well!
The switch looks like a mini spark plug at the rear of the gear box, very difficult to get to.
Tolerance is a wonderful thing. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
The switch will act as a final contact to earth so shouldn’t be permanantly on unless you take out the copper strip and bend it so it is always contacting the selector drum.
Or have another leak to earth in the circuit.
“Switch can be seen from under seat or just below big nut down by rear brake reservoir. Rubber cover conceals female blade / spade connector. Switch is a plunger so had that out and WD40’d it for a bit and torqued to 10 - seems good enough.”
Apparently they let water in so replace the crush washer and tighten after cleaning switch.
the problem is the bike won’t start unless the neutral light is on, even if I pull the clutch in >
It should start when you pull the clutch in, for instance if you stall at an intersection. On my Breva, the cam on the gear lever wasn’t engaging the pin which allows a start when the lever was set on some of its 4 positions. I glued a tab of plastic to the cam to ensure full engagement.