No Neutral Light - No Start

[washburn]

Hey everyone, if anyone has any guidance on this, I'd really appreciate it.

Bike: '97 Ex500.

This week when turning the key, the neutral light came on then went off. I turned the ignition on and off, and the light was intermittent--sometimes on, sometimes off, sometimes on then blinking off, or vice versa. The bike was in neutral, I wasn't touching the shifter.

Now when in neutral, the neutral light won't come on at all. I took it apart down at the neutral switch, but it all has good continuity down there.

Could this be an ignition switch problem? The Clymer manual doesn't get into this situation much. There IS power to everything else--signals lights, emergency lights...--when the key is ON, but no neutral light, so the bike won't start at all. I checked all the fuses in the junction box with a meter, and they're good.

Any thoughts? I greatly appreciate any input.

[washburn]

To clarify: I just took off the chain cover, took out the neutral switch, checked continuity, checked the wire, it all seems good down there. The metal conductor inside comes into view when shifting into neutral, the switch and the wire are making a good connection, but still no neutral light.

[dinoSnake]

I think your idea of it being the ignition switch is a sound place to start.

[antiq]

Clean the ignition switch with contact cleaner. May solve the problem. I've no idea if your switch is old enough to still be able to take it apart for cleaning.

[Sinister]

I had a similiar problem, it was the ignition switch.

Does anything else come on, like the headlight? Turn signals?

[washburn]

Originally Posted by Sinister

I had a similiar problem, it was the ignition switch.

Does anything else come on, like the headlight? Turn signals?

Headlight doesn't come on, but the signals and the hazards do. I'm trying to take the ignition switch out/apart as we speak.

[antiq]

Be careful and don't lose the tiny little detent balls.