Neutral Lite Malfunction After Tranny Recall

[al_roethlisberger]

Is your dealer located near the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot?

50371[/snapback]

 

 

.... aaaaaaaaaactually, yes

 

 

Well, their Santa Cruz branch is just a few miles away from it. And yes, it is lame, but the kids love it

 

 

al

[dlaing]

Does it really need to be in neutral to start?

50345[/snapback]

Only if the sidestand is down.

...one good reason to bypass the sidestand safety switch.

...but one reason NOT to bypass it, is that it is in fact a safety switch.

 

As for Joe's bike's problem, it should be pretty easy to test as Jason (JRT) suggested.

If it is intermittent it may require more patience...

One test would be to wait till the bike is in neutral, but with no light, and too simply put the sidestand down. If the ignition dies, the switch or whatever activates it is likely bad.

If the ignition continues, it is probably just a bad neutral light bulb or socket....or the sidestand switch has already been bypassed...

 

 

As for the mystery spot, I have got to check it out....

[RacerX]

Joe, did you check the actual connector to the switch hidden behind the starter by chance? Sounds simple, but it's a really cheesy connection, that I could see could become easily disconnected.

[Guest ratchethack]

Joe, I just read your tale of woe on your "extended" trans recall experience.

 

Ack! My sympathies go out to you. I don't mean to make you feel worse after the fact, and it looks like you had some extenuating circumstances in the mix conspiring against you. With warranty work, most folks make entirely reasonable choices to rely on authorized dealers. But my take is that your experience is far too common, warranty work or otherwise. It's exactly the kind of thing that's made me become as close to 100% independent of dealers and service shops as I can get. I've owned a dozen bikes, and other than head and cylinder work, and the actual inside-the-trans recall work on my Guzzi, no one has as much as put a wrench to any of 'em other than myself.

 

With me, it started out as learning by necessity when I was a kid with no money. If I didn't maintain 'em properly or fix 'em myself, I didn't get to work. After a few "starter" bikes, it morphed into a philosophy where: 1. I became fixed on the idea of always knowing, to the best of my ability to comprehend, exactly what's going on with my bike in every aspect of it's state of tune, and 2. I began to understand that gaining mastery over what boils down to mostly simple concepts freed me from what appeared to me to be gawd-awful, unpredictable lengths of time that other guys were without their bikes, not knowing what some unknown new kid in the back of a crowded, dark, confusing, messy shop was doing to them - not to mention the uncertainty after getting it back of not knowing exactly what could happen going forward as a result of what he/she/they/it did when the bike was opened up on the "operating table". As your story illustrates, Joe - With a few very reputable shops excepted, there are many things that can happen when you drop off your bike to have someone you don't know work on it - only a precious few of which are good things.

 

I'm just offering up encouragement to anyone who might be hestitant to do it themselves with their Guzzi. As such Guzzi luminaries as Roper and others have said many times, Guzzis are among the easiest of all bikes to work on. I say, "go for it". Teach yourself this stuff. Between this Forum (your #1 resource!), Guzziology, and a shop manual and/or CDs, there's virtually nothing you can't do yourself as long as you're competent enough to change you own oil.

 

Not to rub it in, Joe, but my trans recall was about as quick and painless as it could have been by contrast with yours. Meredith at MGNA convinced me that there was no way I was going to get ahold of a recall kit, or I would have done the whole job myself. But with the willingness to remove the trans ("crabbing the frame" technique learned HERE), I waited until my local Guzzi shop had a dozen trans recalls under their belt, and I was confident that they had reached a level of competence and consistency. I made sure they had a recall kit for me in-house before I disassembled my bike, brought them my trans, and set it on the counter. They had it back on the counter with the recall work done in less than 2 hours. The dealer loved it because they got credit from MGNA for the whole job. I loved it because I had the trans back in my bike the same day and was riding it the next, with a deeper understanding of how the bike was designed and how it works - and with no doubts whatsoever about how my bike was re-assembled. She's been running like a champ ever since (10K+ miles).

 

I'll get off my soapbox now. Just a do-it-yourselfer evangelist spouting off again. Maybe this'll encourage somebody who might be on the fence about doing their own work.

 

Rgds.,

 

Ratchethack

[Guest aironepony]

Joe, did you check the actual connector to the switch hidden behind the starter by chance? Sounds simple, but it's a really cheesy connection, that I could see could become easily disconnected.

50512[/snapback]

 

 

When my neutral switch connector came loose I had a flashing neutral light, lumpy running in neutral and a tachometer that wandered from zero to 3000 whilst on tickover in neutral.

 

The connector was the problem; loose under the little rubber cover.......