Frank Cloud Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 The only two problems I've had with my RT is the choke cable and flaky neutral switch. The switch started working intermitently (sp?) after about a year of ownership. Over the last several weeks, it again works perfectly. I am sure this is temporary, but wondered if anyone else experienced this? Link to comment
Ken H. Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Well the degree of "flacky" can certainly vary. 10 cents for your dollar says it will be back! Link to comment
Frank Cloud Posted September 20, 2005 Author Share Posted September 20, 2005 Well the degree of "flacky" can certainly vary. 10 cents for your dollar says it will be back! No deal, I fully expect the flakiness to return. Link to comment
topdal46 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Mine was replaced during the warranty period for the same thing (being flakey in public) and now at 44,000 miles it's doing it again. Link to comment
Marek Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 My neutral light is in and out. I bought the replacement switch from the dealer, but I'm waiting to replace it until my Neutral switch fails. Both are at the same location I think at the back of the trany and I was told it's a job to replace it. The only draw back to Neutral Light being out is that you have to clutch to start it. Mark Link to comment
Murf Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 My 98 is is now being flaky, it can be aggravating to try to get everything "synced" so it will come on. Cluth-play with the shifter-no good-release clutch-play with the shifter-light came on for a second-repeat process-roll bike forward a bit-play with the shifter-AHH there it is!...and of course it is always at a light in heavy traffic when people are watching you the most. Link to comment
Beemeroil Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I'll bet you have just washed the bike. My RS would re awake periodically after washings so I would make an effort to squirt water up in the general location of the switch. Could be that grime would short it out. My RT doesn't have this problem since when ever the switch goes bad I will need a clutch job or a transmission replaced and will replace it at that time. The bike is perverse enough to do this just because I haven't been complementary enough. The bike is now running perfectly and maybe I can enjoy your problem some time in the future. Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Cluth-play with the shifter-no good-release clutch-play with the shifter-light came on for a second-repeat process-roll bike forward a bit-play with the shifter-AHH there it is!...and of course it is always at a light in heavy traffic when people are watching you the most. I just hate to be the bearer of good news..... you can start these bikes when not in neutral by just holding in the clutch lever and pushing the start button..... Stan Link to comment
Murf Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 The above WAS with the bike running.. Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 The above WAS with the bike running.. Why do you care if the neutral light comes on when the engine is already running? Stan Confused in Calif. Link to comment
Frank Cloud Posted September 22, 2005 Author Share Posted September 22, 2005 Cluth-play with the shifter-no good-release clutch-play with the shifter-light came on for a second-repeat process-roll bike forward a bit-play with the shifter-AHH there it is!...and of course it is always at a light in heavy traffic when people are watching you the most. I just hate to be the bearer of good news..... you can start these bikes when not in neutral by just holding in the clutch lever and pushing the start button..... Stan Yep, that's my technique, and that's why I haven't replaced it. Now I consider it a luxury. Link to comment
Murf Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 When I'm at a light (especially one I know to be lengthy) I'll sometimes put the bike in neutral.....so I don't have to keep my hand on the clutch...so when I let go of the clutch the bike dzn't buck foward and make me look silly. I find nothing more embarrassing than "knowing" for sure the bike is in neutral only to find I'm galloping foward to the bumper of the vehicle in front of me....Call me crazy, but anytime I get the neutral light my bike IS in neutral, and I like it that way. Link to comment
Marek Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 My 99 RT has a gear indicator, so even my neutral lights doesn't come on I can tell what gear I'm in. Doesn't 98 RT have the same indicator? Mark Link to comment
Beemeroil Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 You guys do remember when we didn't have these light etc. don't you? If memory serves me we never had problems knowing what gear we were in or how much gas was available. Link to comment
Murf Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Yes, it has the same RID, my habit is to try to keep my head up and looking around and behind even when I'm at a light-stopped. I can easily see the big bright green light come on in my peripheral vision vs the 1/4" black number to the right. In fact I don't look at the RID for the gear I'm in very much at all. Obviously gas and temp but shifting is more by feel than numbers. That's just me and the way I do things on my bike. To each his/her own I spose. Link to comment
Lincoln_Faller Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 No, I don't remember not having a neutral light. My 1961 R26 had one, and so does my 1967 R69S. At the back of the headlight nacelle, right next to the red light that indicated the battery wasn't charging. Or else I'm hallucinating! Too late right now to go out and check in the garage--haven't been on the 69S for some years. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 [hijack] One thing I never cared for on the 1100, 1150 series of transmissions is that all the way down into 1st doesn't have a different feel to it than down for the other gears. Like many other mfg. bikes do. Happy to say that on the new 1200 series this is corrected and 1st has a slightly higher position on the pedal feel. Neutral is of course easy to find by feel from there. [/hijack] Link to comment
Scurrie Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 At 18K miles, my neutral switch had become rather unreliable. I spent too many years on dirt bikes to worry about a neutral light and had no intention of fixing it unless I happened to be in the area for other repairs. During the 18K service, I replaced the tranny oil with Mobile 1 synthetic. My neutral light has come back to life 100%! I'm wondering if this is just coincidence of if anyone else has seen this. By the way, it shifts much better now too! Link to comment
Red Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 My 1100 neutral light went "lazy" at about 25,000. I currently have about 65,000 on the clock. I understand it's about a 6 hour labour charge to fix. Being a person of Scot's lineage, i live with it. I don't really care if it doesn't register after I have it started, but waiting for it to find neutral for the initial start up is a pain in the arse. I'll give it about 30 seconds, which seems like an eternity in hot weather. If it doesn't respond, I do the pull in the clutch trick. I wouldn't wait the 30 seconds except I have been informed that the pull-in-the-clutch starts are hard on the clutch. I'm due for a 12,000 mi service soon and am wondering, is now the time to break down and have the stinking thing fixed? Link to comment
Ken H. Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Here's another take on this subject. IMHO you should ALWAYS pull the clutch when starting for two basic reasons. First off, what if the light, display, switches, interlocks, whatever fail? Who wants the bike lurching to the ground? We already know several of these parts are prone to failure. But more importantly it relieves the starter of the load of spinning both the engine AND the transmission during start. This can be a big difference, in particular in cold weather. Link to comment
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