Japanese reliability

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?

 

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>; <>;

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...

 

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.

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

 

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

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.

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

I suspected as much... might be the junction box under the seat, I
guess; I'll study the manual.