Only start in neutral?

Hi everyone-

First of all, apologies for my newbie-ness; I JUST picked up a 2000 VFR, and have the following question: the bike will only start when in neutral. Now I know that some motorcycles are wired to only start in neutral, but from reading the manual and the various forums here, I gather that VFRs should be able to start in gear, obviously given that the clutch lever is engaged.

Any ideas? Other posters seem to think this is a problem with the clutch switch- can anyone explain to me what the clutch switch is, and where it's found? Like I said, I'm a bit of a newbie, especially mechanically.

Safe riding!

 

Make sure your sidestand is up.

 

Yeah, sidestand is up... I typically start in neutral anyhow, but I discovered this problem when I stalled once, and had to find neutral to start back up.

 

The clutch switch is kinda under the clutch lever. It has 2 wires going to it. To test the switch, disconnect the 2 wires from the switch, and connect them together. If the bike now will start in gear with the sidestand up and the bike in gear (clutch in of course), you got yourself a bad switch. A new one is about 20 clams (or one Pres. Jackson). If the sidestand is down, the bike will only start in N, no matter if the clutch is in or not. Hope this helps.

 

Great, thanks a lot for the info. I'll try it when I get home tonight!

 

If you can't fix it, I'll take that yellow 2000 off your hands...

Just kidding! Welcome, and congrats! Those yellow 2000's are one of my favorites...

 

There is also a diode located in the main fusebox, quote from the workshop manual...
"The diode is part of the safety circuit which prevents or stops the engine running if the transmission is in gear whilst the sidestand is down, and prevents the engine from starting if the transmission is in gear unless the sidestand is up and the clutch lever is pulled in"

 

Welcome to the boards! Nice yellow vfr! I just purchased one too