Starting in gear?

Hey guys, bought myself my first bike, a beautiful 2004 VFR800 in matte black a couple of weeks ago. Aside from a new battery no problems other than this one.

My bike won't start in gear with the clutch pulled in as the manual says it should. It will only start if the bike is in neutral. Any idea what would cause this? I am thinking possibly something with the clutch, but am not sure.
Was just wondering if anyone else had this problem, and how they solved it, Thanks in advance!

 

Is your side stand down?

 

Nope. Side stand up. If I stall in traffic, I have to shift into neutral to restart it, then back down into first to get going.

 

If I read that diagram right, you'll have a ground from the starter solenoid through either the neutral switch (in neutral), or the clutch (disengaged) + sidestand (raised) circuit, or both.

If you are in gear, you are reliant on both the clutch switch and sidestand switch as they are in series. I'd look closely at your clutch switch first, and make sure that it is engaging when the clutch is pulled in. You should hear it click, and you could check continuity with a multimeter through it to be sure. Maybe you've got an adjustable clutch lever, some of those can adjust far enough that when the lever touches the grip, the base of the lever hasn't moved far enough to work the clutch switch. Clutch switches are small and can get clagged up and stop working, but they are cheap and easy to replace. After that I would do the same checks on the sidestand switch.

 

Have you got aftermarket clutch/brake levers? Some of them won't engage the switch that allows the clutch to be started in gear with the clutch pulled in. Check the workings of that switch behind the clutch lever.

 

What they said above, which in turn sounds like a bad switch.

 

There is a fix for that. Mine now works in all positions.

As for the clutch and side stand switches just jumper both of them and see if it starts.

 

I don't think it's the side stand switch because then it would die as soon as the bike was put in gear. I'd bet money it's the clutch lever interlock.

 

+1. Based on that diagram above and the fact it doesn't die when you put it in gear, it looks like clutch switch is the most likely candidate.

 

Put the stock levers on and it works again. Seems to be the aftermarket levers.

 

How did you fix your lever so it works in all positions? My aftermarket levers only engage the switch on the furthest position, where I want them to work on the second closest.

 

I think some people have built up the back side of the lever that contacts the switch with epoxy or some such so it will work. Seems like a pretty easy fix. Mine won't work with the levers in position one or two, but works okay at the other positions.

 

Hi everyone,

I have a similar problem and need to shift back to neutrel, a real pain and potentially dangerous if you need to move away smartly in traffic. At the moment of writing the bike is in the shop getting a few things sorted as well as a service and new tyres, need another forum to ask about them!

 

I tried that with mine first. My lever has 1-6 positions. In P 4-6 it would start to push/crush the switch when fully engaged. So instead of damaging the switch I put in a .090" x 5/8" spring I had in a goodie box.



This way the spring reseeds in to the lever and doesn't put pressure against the switch if in P 4-6. The spring will active the switch button in all positions without straining the switch. I drilled a .104" (#37) hole 3/8 deep so the spring would stick out 1/4". Put some rtv on the end (so it doesn't fall out later when I forget it's there) and stuck it in the hole. Works great.

I was going to us a ball point pen spring but it turn out to be to big for my liking. It's on the right.

 

American Ingenuity don't you love it?

 

Very nice solution.

 

i just fixed this problem on my 07, stock levers. been putting it in neutral for better than two years now so i guess it never really bothered me. i pulled the switch off the lever (1 screw) and pushed the button and it worked. factory lever wasnt pushing it quite far enough. i used my pocked knife to open up the screw hole just a taste on the inboard side. and to scrape a little meat off the keeper pin on the outboard side so i could slide the switch a little closer to the lever. wallah! did that last weekend and now, when i put my bike in neutral to start it, i pull away thinking "i didnt have to do that"