Hitchcocks Forum

OK papasmurf, I have had a go on mine, mission accomplished.







Here's what you do once you have reasonable access to the back of the bike, lower left-hand side.



1. Locate the switch and its wire;



2. Pull the wire from its harness connector, it's a 3.9mm Japanese-style bullet connector, so it shouldn't need too much effort;



3. Find a thin-wall 17mm or 11/16" AF box spanner and slide this over the wire and onto the switch body;



4. Undo the switch, normal R/H thread;



5. You're welcome.

The thin-wall box spanner is important as the hex on the switch body is quite thin, and the switch sits in a bit of a recess when fully done-up.



A.

Cheers for that there is a 17mm box spanner in the took kit on my BMW K75S. (What it is for I have no idea.)
I have a new switch on the way. (I suspect the old one is stuck shut.)

Let us know how you get on!

I won't be able to get near it for several weeks, due to Destroy-It-Yourself projects I have to finish off. (My wife is very handy at mixing concrete.)

Ok papasmurf, I will ask the question another way, will the bike start in any gear?

Norm, it will only start in neutral (electric start,) with the clutch pulled in, it also will not start (electric start,) or run with the side stand down.
It is NOT a factory bike, it was assembled in Britain in 2006.
It also has our hosts wider swing arm to take 110/80 X 19" Knobbly tyre.

Ok so it should start in any gear with the clutch pulled in. Next test is seeing the switch has a tail on it you should be able tom get to it, disconnect the wire and it should start without the clutch being pulled in, just be careful because if it isn't in neutral it could possibly start and take off on you

Norm I only want to get the neutral light working. It stopped working and I just moved the switch with a spanner and it started working again.
After some rummaging about in general on the bike it stopped working.
I suspect the switch is stuck. Given the cheapness of a new switch I am starting from there.

I'm over it all yours good luck

Update, I now have a functioning neutral light. It was as I suspected the switch. After nearly losing the will to live due to the difficulty of accessing the bulb in the speedo, and checking it was OK. (Removing the bulb needed two pairs of pliers.)

I then attempted to find the join in the neutral light switch wiring loom. After GREAT difficulty I managed to get the wire out if the connector.
The the switch just would not undo from the gearbox, so I had to resort to a long screwdriver and a big hammer to "spin" it out, then screw in the new switch.
That is two hours lost out of my life. The connector is now accessible through the hole behind the air-filter.