Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

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scooterme
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Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:27 am
Location: Portland ME

Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by scooterme »

I'm looking to dip into the brain trust.

I have an '08 R12R with a hair under 60k miles.

My bike has two, I think unconnected, problems. First the bike will only start in Neutral. I have posted about this before. I believe this is due to a faulty/out of adjustment switch on the clutch lever. It's been too cold in my Maine garage to spend much time fixing this.

The second problem is new as of this morning, the gear selection indicator is not working correctly. This is a real pain as the bike needs to 'know' it is in neutral in order to start.

Often times the gear indicator window is blank. Often when the bike is in neutral the indicator window does not show this and the green N symbol is not lit. More alarming was once when both the green N and the N indicated in the window, I let out the clutch only to find the bike was in gear.

Any thoughts or suggestions? thanks
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scooterme
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Location: Portland ME

Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by scooterme »

I spoke with my dealership over the phone, they suggest it is the Potentiometer on the back of the gearbox... I will try pluggin and unpluggin to see if that does anything before buying a $173.55 rheostat.
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deilenberger
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Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by deilenberger »

Adjusting the clutch switch is fairly easy to do.. barely loosen the torx set screw in the bottom of the housing and slide it around until you get a distinct click when you pull in the clutch lever.

Unfortunately - what it may need is replacement. And that is obviously more costly. Not a lot harder to do - but DO be prepared for the little metal disk the set screw bottoms out on to fall out when you remove the switch. It goes into a hole in the bottom of the switch, and it will simply fall out as you remove the switch, heading for the darkest corner of the garage (where the spiders keep the red plastic spray can tubes they collect..)

I adjusted mine when it first started doing this. That worked for a while. Not it doesn't. Still makes a nice click noise, but doesn't tell the ECU that it's OK to run the starter.

The gear indicator potentiometer can be reset with a GS-911, then there is a process to calibrate it which I forget offhand. Wasn't a lot to it - I think just running through the gears was all that was needed IIRC.

I'll let you know how much the clutch switch is - it's been on my list of things to do before taking off for California on the bike in May..
Don Eilenberger - NJ Shore
2012 R1200R - I love this bike!
scooterme
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Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:27 am
Location: Portland ME

Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by scooterme »

Thanks for your response.

I will have another go at adjusting the screw on the clutch lever. The gear selection indicator has remedied itself. It has once again started acting as it should... this is alarming, as I'm sure it will fail completely at some point!
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winkeldc
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Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by winkeldc »

Did you by chance just wash the bike or ride through heavy rain before the issue arose? I had that happen back in 2009 (I believe) and someone from the board pointed that out. After the system and Potentiometer dried out, the gear change indicator started functioning as normal again. I haven't had any problems with that since even after washing and riding through some torrential downpours. It seemed to be just a fluke event where water got where it normally doesn't.
scooterme
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Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:27 am
Location: Portland ME

Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by scooterme »

Wash the bike?? What is wash the bike?

Just kidding, no I hadn't just washed it or ridden through any crappy weather. With that said, I did just ride her through my second Maine winter, so no doubt any amount of crud could've gotten sprayed up in there... I figure the bad weather riding is quite probably at the heart of the matter.

Knock on wood, the problem seems to have settled down, no further weirdness from the gear display. Hopefully this means it stays fixed and doesn't fail, leaving me stranded, in Newfoundland or on the Cabot trail this summer!
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PhilSB
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Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by PhilSB »

On Sunday my gear indicator started missing seeing neutral . It was a poor day - 2degrees C , sleet and rain . An inch of slush on the road! This was in the north Pennines (hills) near the highest pub in England on a rideout with the Sunbeam Owners Fellowship (a classic bike club- I have a Sunbeam S8 1956).
Perhaps it will right itself when everything dries out, but really I'm not bothered as I have just ordered a new R1200R sport. Delivery in June, UK dealers don't seem to stock new bikes only take orders.

Phil
scooterme
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Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:27 am
Location: Portland ME

Re: Gear selection indicator gone wonky??

Post by scooterme »

Yes, I rode my bike through all kinds of ice and snow this winter, I guess that was/is a large part of the problem. Particularly considering where the switch/sensor lives, right in the path of the crap coming of the rear wheel.

Knock on wood, I have not seen a recurrence of this problem.

Glad to see a fellow Yorkshire man on here PhilSB, I grew up in Hull just up the road from Donny.
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