Virago XV1000SE Neutral Switch.

Paul Sutton

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Just a quick one for those who have experienced neutral switch issues.

Does the brass contact on the neutral switch slowly wear down and eventually result in very high resistance due to poor contact when the bike is in neutral?


Additional Notes:

My Virago sometimes fails to start when I press the start button. The fault does not lie with the thumb starter switch or the wiring.

Key Point - The start circuitry uses a relay to apply current to the starter motors solenoid and requires the bike to be in neutral.

When I test the circuitry all is well from the fuse box to the starter switch and back to the relay, but the neutral switch introduces about 500k - 2M Ohms resistance which prevents the relay switching the solenoid power on.

I removed the neutral switch and the the brass dome contact shows a shiny wear mark/indent. The ohmmeter shows no resistance when connected across the two switch contacts. I refitted the neutral switch and without any circuitry connected the high resistance returned across the switch and the engine casing. Wriggling the gear shift cause the resistance to fluctuate from open circuit to a couple of mega ohms.

Based on this I just wonder if the contact tolerance is very tight such that the wear on the switche is giving me a very poor electrical contact????

Thank you Guys.


Edit: Examination of the switch shows there to be an intermittent fault resulting in poor internal electrical contact - Perhaps a fault with the spring?? New switch ordered.
 
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