Started the bike this morning to warm up while I put my lid and gloves
on: sidestand down, in neutral, ignition on, clutch in, thumb starter,
engine catches, release clutch... oh, it's stopped. Odd.

Clutch in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch... it's stopped
again. Curses.

Finish putting on lid and gloves, and get on bike. Sidestand up, clutch
in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch, engine keeps running.

My educated guess is that the neutral switch isn't talking to the
sidestand/neutral/clutch interlock doohickey; the neutral idiot light
was on, so it's not the switch itself.

Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?

Is it part of the ignition switch mechanism? There was a problem with
that last year: the connector had corroded enough to upset Kawasaki's
anti-hotwire resistance checking trickery, and IIRC one side of the
connector was replaced with some direct wiring and a load of sealant to
solve the issue quickly and cheaply. I was meant to sort out a
replacement, but somehow it's never been fitted...

(... so much for a reliable Japanese bike... mutter, mutter... never had
these problems with the Aprilia... mutter...)

"Eddie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Started the bike this morning to warm up while I put my lid and gloves on:
> sidestand down, in neutral, ignition on, clutch in, thumb starter, engine
> catches, release clutch... oh, it's stopped. Odd.
>
> Clutch in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch... it's stopped
> again. Curses.
>
> Finish putting on lid and gloves, and get on bike. Sidestand up, clutch
> in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch, engine keeps running.
>
> My educated guess is that the neutral switch isn't talking to the
> sidestand/neutral/clutch interlock doohickey; the neutral idiot light was
> on, so it's not the switch itself.
>
> Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?
>
> Is it part of the ignition switch mechanism? There was a problem with that
> last year: the connector had corroded enough to upset Kawasaki's
> anti-hotwire resistance checking trickery, and IIRC one side of the
> connector was replaced with some direct wiring and a load of sealant to
> solve the issue quickly and cheaply. I was meant to sort out a
> replacement, but somehow it's never been fitted...
>
> (... so much for a reliable Japanese bike... mutter, mutter... never had
> these problems with the Aprilia... mutter...)

I had a similar problem with my old ZXR750. The interlock thingy is hard
wired between the clutch, neutral switch and sidestand. On my old bike the
neutral switch (IIRC) was around the area where the clutch cable/pipe went
in the engine. The switch went on my bike. Sidestand switches are a common
problem on older bikes and the clutch switch connectors do corrode. I just
followed the wiring by pulling and poking until I found the connectors then
crimped on new ones.

Which model Kawasaki is it?
--
Molly
Carlsberg don't do motorcycles BUT if they did it would be a Kawasaki
www.MollyG.net www.smartmotorcycles.co.uk/
ZX10R; GS500E, GSX600F (Feisty Racing Colours
http://www.sportsbike.org/pink.jpg ).
GHPOTHUF#27 TGF, UKRMFBC#7, BOTAFOF#11, YTC#9, GYASB#1. SbS#23.
DFWAG#2, DS#2, DIAABTCOD#20. remove "thisbit" in the reply
http://www.Sportsbike.org

On 13 Apr, 09:54, "Eddie" <e...@deguello.org> wrote:
> Started the bike this morning to warm up while I put my lid and gloves
> on: sidestand down, in neutral, ignition on, clutch in, thumb starter,
> engine catches, release clutch... oh, it's stopped. Odd.
>
> Clutch in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch... it's stopped
> again. Curses.
>
> Finish putting on lid and gloves, and get on bike. Sidestand up, clutch
> in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch, engine keeps running.
>
> My educated guess is that the neutral switch isn't talking to the
> sidestand/neutral/clutch interlock doohickey; the neutral idiot light
> was on, so it's not the switch itself.
>
> Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?
>

On all Kawasakis I've come across, the wiring from the sidestand
switch goes behind the sprocket cover. Two wires, that plug into the
loom via bullet connectors, one male, one female.

Unplug them, and plug together the now 'empty' bullet connectors in
the loom bit. Job done.

<TOG@toil>; <(E-Mail Removed)>;
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>>
>> Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?
>
> On all Kawasakis I've come across, the wiring from the sidestand
> switch goes behind the sprocket cover. Two wires, that plug into the
> loom via bullet connectors, one male, one female.
>
> Unplug them, and plug together the now 'empty' bullet connectors in
> the loom bit. Job done.

Aye, I know how to do that. I suppose as long as it doesn't think the
sidestand's down, it doesn't matter whether it think's it's in neutral
or not.

Still, it's reminded me to pull my finger out and sort out the ignition
connector...

"Molly" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6_GTh.14$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?
>
> I had a similar problem with my old ZXR750. The interlock thingy is
> hard wired between the clutch, neutral switch and sidestand. On my old
> bike the neutral switch (IIRC) was around the area where the clutch
> cable/pipe went in the engine. The switch went on my bike. Sidestand
> switches are a common problem on older bikes and the clutch switch
> connectors do corrode. I just followed the wiring by pulling and
> poking until I found the connectors then crimped on new ones.

The switches themselves are all fine, since the neutral light works, it
knows whether the clutch is in or not, and it knows whether the
sidestand is up or down; it's just the actual interlock that's not
working, but to get around this I can just do as TOG suggested and
disable the sidestand switch.

> Which model Kawasaki is it?

ZX-9R E2, with added exposure to northern commuting conditions.

"Champ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:54:07 +0100, "Eddie" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>My educated guess is that the neutral switch isn't talking to the
>>sidestand/neutral/clutch interlock doohickey; the neutral idiot light
>>was on, so it's not the switch itself.
>
> Yes, this seems to be the obvious conclusion.
>
>>Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?
>>
>>Is it part of the ignition switch mechanism?
>
> No.

Ah. I'll leave that well alone for now, then.

> Certainly on the 90s generation Kwacks I've worked on (ZXR750, ZX7R,
> ZZR11), there's a junction box thingy under one of the side panels
> that does all the logic for this. With a wiring diagram, it's not too
> difficult to work out - in fact, the genuine kawasaki manual has a
> separate sub-diagram for the ingnition and starter circuits showing
> all this.

I have a not-so-genuine copy of the genuine Kawasaki manual (for a
slightly older model, but it didn't change that much), so I shall peruse
it over the weekend.

> First guess would be to obviously check the neutral light signal to
> this logic circuit.

Yeah, as long as I can find where they've hidden it.

"Champ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:59:40 +0100, "Eddie" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>>I have a not-so-genuine copy of the genuine Kawasaki manual (for a
>>slightly older model, but it didn't change that much), so I shall
>>peruse
>>it over the weekend.
>
> That should do.
>
>>> First guess would be to obviously check the neutral light signal to
>>> this logic circuit.
>>
>>Yeah, as long as I can find where they've hidden it.
>
> I can tell you now that it's the light green wire (how sad is that?)

Heh... once upon a time I'd have been able to make an educated guess,
but the number of examples I've looked at closely enough was too small
and too long ago to be sure.

Somewhere under the left side panel, yes? Seeing as the neutral and
sidestand switches are on that side, it would make sense.

Champ wrote:
>
> I can tell you now that it's the light green wire (how sad is that?)

No, no - you should always cut the *red* one first!

--
Chris

CT <(E-Mail Removed)> typed:
> Champ wrote:
>>
>> I can tell you now that it's the light green wire (how sad is that?)
>
> No, no - you should always cut the *red* one first!

aren't you meant to go to the blue for a short while first?

--
Paul - xxx

Eddie wrote:
> Started the bike this morning to warm up while I put my lid and gloves
> on: sidestand down, in neutral, ignition on, clutch in, thumb starter,
> engine catches, release clutch... oh, it's stopped. Odd.
>
> Clutch in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch... it's stopped
> again. Curses.
>
> Finish putting on lid and gloves, and get on bike. Sidestand up, clutch
> in, thumb starter, engine catches, release clutch, engine keeps running.
>
> My educated guess is that the neutral switch isn't talking to the
> sidestand/neutral/clutch interlock doohickey; the neutral idiot light
> was on, so it's not the switch itself.
>
> Anyone know where the interlock thing lives?
>
> Is it part of the ignition switch mechanism? There was a problem with
> that last year: the connector had corroded enough to upset Kawasaki's
> anti-hotwire resistance checking trickery, and IIRC one side of the
> connector was replaced with some direct wiring and a load of sealant to
> solve the issue quickly and cheaply. I was meant to sort out a
> replacement, but somehow it's never been fitted...
>
> (... so much for a reliable Japanese bike... mutter, mutter... never had
> these problems with the Aprilia... mutter...)
>
>
I -nearly- managed to start my Pan in gear the other day. Was a bit of a
surprise for sure. I guess I need to check the clutch switch thingmabob.

--
/Simon