Won't start in gear

[harper]

There are a few threads in which this problem appears but I found it difficult to search I think because of the wording. The symptom is the bike will only start in neutral. Trying to start in any gear with the side stand up and clutch lever depressed does nothing. No click, no turnover, just dead. This of course happened to me twice while loaded in the very front of a Washington State Ferry. The culprit is the clutch switch being broken, sticky, or disconnected. When I got home I found that the button plunger was sticking in my case. I could depress the clutch lever and snap the button with my fingernail and get it to release, so I sprayed the plunger and the spring visible from under the clutch lever with WD-40 to clean it. I wiped it down and followed it by a squirt of silicone spray onto the the plunger. I exercised it a few times to distribute the silicone and it was hunky-dory (for now, anyway).

Also difficult was searching the part number for the replacement switch on the forum, Partzilla, or Revzilla. The replacement part appears to be 3GM-83980-00-00 listed as a stop switch. I would appreciate it if someone could verify that.

 

[wes_van]

I looked this up on ronayers.com and you have the correct part number. (Former parts guy here) What year is your bike? I looked it up for my '09, look up your specific model/year to be sure.
https://www.ronayers.com/oemparts/a/yam/50046b2af8700209bc796974/front-master-cylinder-2

 

[RossKean]

There are a few threads in which this problem appears but I found it difficult to search I think because of the wording. The symptom is the bike will only start in neutral. Trying to start in any gear with the side stand up and clutch lever depressed does nothing. No click, no turnover, just dead. This of course happened to me twice while loaded in the very front of a Washington State Ferry. The culprit is the clutch switch being broken, sticky, or disconnected. When I got home I found that the button plunger was sticking in my case. I could depress the clutch lever and snap the button with my fingernail and get it to release, so I sprayed the plunger and the spring visible from under the clutch lever with WD-40 to clean it. I wiped it down and followed it by a squirt of silicone spray onto the the plunger. I exercised it a few times to distribute the silicone and it was hunky-dory (for now, anyway).

Also difficult was searching the part number for the replacement switch on the forum, Partzilla, or Revzilla. The replacement part appears to be 3GM-83980-00-00 listed as a stop switch. I would appreciate it if someone could verify that.

I had to lube that on my '07 at one point. No issues after that. Not sure if it can be taken apart to clean contacts or not...
As per @wes_van , you have the right part number, in case you ever need it. #12 in this diagram:



I also had a problem one time (also on the '07) when the neutral indicator wasn't working so the bike didn't "understand" that it was in neutral. As a result, it would not start or run in neutral with the sidestand down. I might have had problems if both the gear indicator switch and the clutch switch had happened at the same time. (Had to replace the gear indicator switch.)
https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/neutral-light-resolved.127581/

 

[harper]

I looked this up on ronayers.com and you have the correct part number. (Former parts guy here) What year is your bike? I looked it up for my '09, look up your specific model/year to be sure.
https://www.ronayers.com/oemparts/a/yam/50046b2af8700209bc796974/front-master-cylinder-2

Mine is a 2008 so it's the correct part for it. Thanks.

 

[spectreman]

I had the same issue and sought advice for rectifying it. Some people offered that I needed to take the plunger unit apart, clean it and reinstall. I'm not comfortable w/doing that so I looked at it from a simpler perspective. I ended up doing like you did, spraying WD40 directly on the plunger and working it in, back & forth. Contact was re-established and blammo, the issue was gone, at least temporarily. I've had to repeat that process a couple times, all to the same success but for me, it's easier than taking it off and disassembling/reassembling/reinstalling, and it takes little time at zero cost.

 

[GoldFJR]

I’m going to throw this out there too, on my Vmax I had a kickstand switch intermittently go out while riding , almost killing my butt.
In case the other post done work.

 

[harper]

Some people offered that I needed to take the plunger unit apart, clean it and reinstall. I'm not comfortable w/doing that so I looked at it from a simpler perspective. I ended up doing like you did, spraying WD40 directly on the plunger and working it in, back & forth. Contact was re-established and blammo, the issue was gone, at least temporarily.

I agree. The contacts aren't carrying a lot of current and are unlikely to burn or corrode. I also thought disassembling a switch unit to service it would be overkill. If I ever removed it I would replace it rather than perform surgery on it.

 

[Whooshka]

It's better to use electronics contact cleaner than WD-40. Or something like ACF-50. That's why they make the stuff.

 

[RedRiderMN]

I recommend DeoxIT D5 for electrical connections:

 

[Bounce]

Annual PM is to lube the lever pivot pins (both of them). I use the same Mobile 1 lube I use for other things for the pins. Then also FLOOD the control pods on the handlebars with a contact cleaner, followed by Aerosol Spray Silicon lube (flooding the pods again to flush out crud). DO NOT use WD40 because it attracts grime and can cause to happen again... sooner.

 

[harper]

It's better to use electronics contact cleaner than WD-40. Or something like ACF-50. That's why they make the stuff.

I recommend DeoxIT D5 for electrical connections:


View attachment 6475

I suppose the ultimate solution would be to just buy a new motorcycle.

 

[rbentnail]

I suppose the ultimate solution would be to just buy a new motorcycle.

At the very least just new switches. I know that a spritz of whatever is a good temporary solution to get by but isn't good enough for me to not stress over the long term. They're not all that hard to replace.

 

[Whooshka]

I suppose the ultimate solution would be to just buy a new motorcycle.

Well there's that too. Or since we're talking crazy you could give up motorcycling.

 

[harper]

Well there's that too. Or since we're talking crazy you could give up motorcycling.

Now that IS crazy talk.

 

[Mr. BR]

As mentioned above, you can take the switch apart.... I just did this today on my '05 for no particular reason except that I hadn't had it apart in my 10 yrs of owning the bike. The switch on my '12 Super Tenere is the same. It's a simple unit to take apart, clean and reassemble. I lightly dressed the contacts plus a tiny bit of white grease on the sliding parts (Electrical contacts left clean and dry). About 20 min start to finish.
Regards,
Mr. BR

 

[Bounce]

At the very least just new switches. I know that a spritz of whatever is a good temporary solution to get by but isn't good enough for me to not stress over the long term. They're not all that hard to replace.

As mentioned above, you can take the switch apart.... I just did this today on my '05 for no particular reason except that I hadn't had it apart in my 10 yrs of owning the bike. The switch on my '12 Super Tenere is the same. It's a simple unit to take apart, clean and reassemble. I lightly dressed the contacts plus a tiny bit of white grease on the sliding parts (Electrical contacts left clean and dry). About 20 min start to finish.
Regards,
Mr. BR
View attachment 6478

Exactly. Why think of these things as disposable? I wouldn't go to this length every year because the flush works so well. I could see doing it maybe every 3rd or 4th year.

I found that doing it once or twice a year was no great inconvenience and saved me the cost of replacing switches at any time throughout the time I owned 3 different Wings and the FJR's pods are near enough as makes no nevermind.